My weekend seems to be a very busy one once again. Last night I had dinner with Thijs Bosma, and then we went to The Blarney Stone for a drink with the Dutch Club. I had not been to these drinks in two years or so, and did not know many people. I only stayed until 11:30 PM, because then my wife arrived back in Shanghai.
This morning I got up early to do some work, and then went over to the Jianguo hotel to buy some hard rolls for breakfast (one of the few places where hard rolls are available). While preparing breakfast I downloaded some songs from the latest Rolling Stones album.
This afternoon Marcel Ekkel will arrive from Hong Kong, and I plan to meet him. It seems we might work together on some ideas Spill Group has for online gaming in Hong Kong. Then we will have dinner at Arch with Jim Feldkamp and his girlfriend, before heading to the Rolling Stones concert. I look forward to the performance: the concert hall is quite smalll (8500 people), so a different atmosphere from the usual big stadium concerts.
After the concert we plan to go to another concert. DJ Tiesto is in town and plays at Babyface tonight. Completely different from the Stones, but nice to relax and dance the night away.
But it will be a short night, because at 9:30 AM we have to be at the Shanghai Concert Hall where the Shanghai Jazz Orchestra will give a concert (recorded live for CCTV). I have worked with Rolf Becker (the band leader) and some other people over the past weeks to promote this big band, and I think we will soon see some significant progress. A concert tour all over China is planned, and we are even looking at Jazz festivals worldwide. Tomorrow’s concert is completely sold out (even though it’s on a Sunday morning) and that’s good sign.
After the concert we plan to have a brunch with some friends, and then I plan to meet with Marcel Ekkel again. Late afternoon Qi and I might go to the press event for the launch of the new Volkwagen Sagitar (produced in Changchun by the VW-FAW joint-venture) in Anting district.
A relaxing weekend? Not so sure, but at least it’s lots of fun.