Day 39

22.05.2018 (Weekend in Shanghai for the footy)

WeRun Update: 10324 steps

Today, I'll be heading to Shanghai to watch a match between Port Adelaide and Gold Coast. I actually never thought I'd be going to this, so I'm pretty pumped.

Got picked up by Liam's Didi at 7am for an 8am train to Shanghai, arriving at 940am. There's always lines at the railway ticket office to collect tickets (and we have to collect tickets there because we have passports), so foreigners can choose the shortest line and act like they don't know what's going on. I, on the other hand, could not get away with that because I look Chinese. Anyway, we didn't have to wait long because we went in the shortest line.

It is so hard to find a toilet at a railway station. What pisses me off is how big Shanghai Railway Station is - it's just so massive and inconvenient - and it took me ages to find a place to piss. Anyway, we're taking the subway to Jiangwan Stadium and along the way, I see a whole group of Port Adelaide supporters decked out in their complete gear - and they just look like your average Joe - and looked like they didn't belong in Shanghai. It was weird but almost comforting to see this in China - it gave me a feeling that I was on the train to Richmond about to head to the MCG to watch the footy.

We get to the ground and we meet up with the other volunteers (we will be pouring beers for the VIPs and making sure they are cold - unlike last year where the Chinese thought putting the beers on ice literally meant, putting the case on top of ice - so the beers were served warm). Anyway, there's no much activity outside the stadium, it doesn't look like there's going to be many people - looks like it's about to rain. Some kids are trying to kick the footy outside but it gets shut down by the police immediately - it's not the real footy vibe.

To get in the stadium, we pretend to be staff of the hotel that is catering for the event - they give us shirts to wear to look legit. Once inside, there's a few tents set up around the ground - undercover and with sofas and catering. It looks pretty nice. Heaps of corporates are coming through. I'm stationed at one of the three bars in the main tent and it's right next to the food, so it's busy all the time. They've got aussie champagne and wine, as well as Fat Yaks/VB/Pure Blonde for beers. I have to make sure the beers are poured into cups instead of giving out the stubbies - much to the disappointment of the Aussies. People assume that I can't speak English since I look like the rest of the helpers there so I'm getting a lot of people speaking very slowly and pointing at beers - which is fair enough.

The game was pretty close for 3 quarters, which was better than last years match where people were leaving at half time. I was able to enjoy the game with some beers by standing right next to the boundary line - I don't think I'll ever get as close to the ground as I did today. I was legit 3 metres away from the boundary line - which meant I could get a photo with Paddy Ryder at the end of the game.

After sinking some piss at the ground and having a chat to some people who had been sinking beers all day, I went back into town to check in to my hostel (Le Tour) in Jingan District, 100RMB a night for a bunk bed. Then, a couple of us were a bit peckish so we went to a nice little bar around the corner called Barbarian, which served good beers and very decently priced food (especially in an area like Jingan). Paid 88RMB for a very good umami burger and chips.

Afterwards, we went to Found 158, a nice little open bar area around Jingan to an Aussie bar called Little Creatures to meet up with some other Aussies. It's an underground district with heaps of bars and clubs. Despite the rain, it was still buzzing with people - it's definitely a place I would hit up again. I was with my mate Jenny and she's kind of a celebrity around here - there was a bloke who came up to us at the bar and wanted a photo with Jenny. He was like her No.1 fan - knew all her videos and activities and history - it was actually quite disturbing.