We reluctantly woke up in time to meet Emma downstairs. I circled the bar area 3 times but there was only one girl in there, although she did keep paying me attention, i thought it must have been my new haircut i got in Beijing. Then Steve arrived and told me that was Emma. I thought about coming up with an excuse like, oh you've lost weight I didn't recognise you or pretending I had OCD and always walked around a room 3 times before sitting down, but that would mean doing it everywhere we went with Emma which on second thoughts would be more embarrassing. Decided to pretend nothing happened. She never said anything. Catching up took all of 10 minutes. Turned out they hadn't really done that much since we last saw her. We grabbed some breakfast and chatted for a while. It was nice like catching up with an old friend. Although nothing was said, reading between the lines it seemed like maybe she wasn't enjoying herself that much or her and Dan weren't getting along. We grabbed breakfast then Emma took us out to show us the city. We went to people's square which seemed an ironic name as it definitely didn't seem to be for the people. It was a big open square amongst the giant skyscrapers in the middle of the city. It was a nice space but you weren't allowed on the grass and there were no seats. The parks in China are really weird they look so well kept and inviting but they have great big signs listing all the things you can't do like eat, drink, smoke, loiter or walk a dog. Basically anything you would go to the park for. I mentioned to a Chinese guy that it was strange not being able to sit on the grass and he looked at me like I was stupid. If you sit on the grass it will die then there will be no grass. He said as if I was from another planet. I explained that we also have grass in English parks and people sit on it and it doesn't die. He thought I was crazy or a liar, I gave up. It was amazingly hot the government had put out health warnings and there had been record temperatures. You couldn't touch hand rails or sit on anything that had been in the sun without burning yourself. I took my top off as it was soaking, as soon as i did someone came over and took a picture of me. Steve and Emma thought I was crazy and big headed when i told them what had happened and said they must have taken a picture of something behind me. But It's not the first time I've noticed it even Steve had noticed them constantly staring at me in other cities I think maybe its my eyebrow piercing. After the park we walked down a street which apparently was the biggest pedestrianised street in the world. You know how I feel about things that are famous for being the biggest so ill spare you the details. At the end of the street was the bund, a long riverfront consisting of old colonial style buildings skirting the river, and a kind of promenade overlooked on the other side by giant futuristic imaginatively shaped buildings. We met Dan who was very sweaty. He didn't seem very happy, we sat on a little wall just chatting on the Bund for a while. People were coming past and constantly taking photos but really slyly trying not to be notices. Finally Steve and Emma realised that i wasn't crazy after we practically drew a crowd. Steve put my hat upside down with some money in it in front of us and said we should charge them. A policeman came over and made us get up. Honestly you can't fart here without being told off its crazy.
Emma said she wanted to go to the beach and I thought it was a great idea getting carried away thinking of candy floss and ice cream. Dan didn't want to go and went back to the hostel. After a while we found the beach it was man made and really just an oversized sand pit, but when we went to go in we realised they were having a special party. Inside it looked like a scene from an American teen movie. There were outside Dj's and bars. And loads of young fit people wearing barely any clothes jumping in and out the pool and dancing, it looked so glamorous. There wasn't an ugly in sight. It was £10 to get in but Emma said it was too much and Steve agreed. I begged and begged but it was two against one. A bit further on I found an easy way up the wall and over into the beach. I was sat on top of the wall trying to convince Steve and Emma to follow me. I was so close I could smell the beauties inside. Two guards spotted me and headed over. I quickly got back down the other side. Maybe I've become too used to being on our own but I was so mad that I had to compromise we were meant to be doing what we wanted when we wanted that was what I loved about giving everything up for this trip the freedom. I was gutted and didn't let it go for a long time. It's been weeks since we have partied and when I set out I imagined it was going to be one great big non stop party. And now here we were so close but instead we were sitting on walls and looking at big streets. We walked past a ferry and without really consulting Steve or Emma this time i decided to go on. I had no idea where it went but it was only 20p. Emma and Steve followed. I was all excited wondering what weird and wonderful place it might take us too. I love being spontaneous. It turned out to be a ferry that took you from one side of the river to the other. We got some great pictures though. Afterwards Emma said she was tired and wanted to head back. On the way back we passed this fun looking place with two giant robots outside. I ran off and poked my head inside. It was the biggest best arcade ever! Again I didn't give Steve or Emma a choice, before they had even caught up I had exchanged a pound of tokens. I had expected to get a few tokens but the lady handed me over 20. I convinced Emma to go on the dance machine with me. Now normally I would say I've got moves like Jagger but the songs were really fast and in Chinese. And the dance machine had a lot more buttons than normal. but it was too late now. A crowd gathered, mainly to laugh and look at how ridiculous we looked, but I had fun making a fool of myself - not that I need a dance machine to help. We spent well over an hour playing old school games like bust a move and basketball then when the 3 of us had finished my tokens we left. In the evening we all went back out to a club it was more like someone's basement and all the pretty people were clearly still at the beach. But it had a stage to dance on and I made up for my poor performance on the dance machine. Unfortunately there wasn't a pole.