I attended my first Mandarin-only play last night… no subtitles and it was awesome! Sooooo good. Based on the Hollywood film starring Adam Sandler (I haven’t seen it), 50 First Dates is about this guy who falls for a woman lacking short-term memory. It’s a bit Groundhog Dayish, but the play was a perfect introduction to Shanghai theater with plenty of modern-day dialog, a small cast, a cozy stage, and lots of hilarious scenes. I was totally surprised by how good the acting was… and the physical comedy too was so entertaining. I almost want to go see it again.

Afterwards, Helen and I went to O’Malley’s to grab some food. I actually hate O’Malley’s, but we were meeting up with her hubby and that was his pick. I suppose the calamari was decent (there just wasn’t very much of it) and the apple pie was unexpectedly good. But the ambience was a nightmare, especially on opening night of the World Cup. World cup, schmirld scup. Who the fuck cares. Floods of annoying drunks. Seriously, I felt like I was at a frat party. Disgusting. It’s too bad the games won’t be during the day; otherwise, I’d have the malls and shops all to myself (like I did during American football games at UF). Shame.

In other news, Ozzie continues to be a bundle of joy. That dog is so playful. My god, I’ve lost count how many times he’ll chase after a bone or ball. At least all that’s required of me is some arm action. The rest is just sitting on my ass. Speaking of laziness, I need to get back to the gym. Argh. It really is a constant battle. I really just do not like the gym. I like the results, but I hate the means.

Man, the mosquitos are out now in full force. Earlier this week while I was out walking the dog, I got nailed on my ears. Yeah, fucking a. So itchy and now my ears are red as hell. And my friends make fun of me setting up shop on the bed under the tent. It’s no games when it comes to these bloodsuckers, man.