Miss Shanghai

No, not the beauty pageant... I mean I actually miss Shanghai sometimes. And with no doubt, I will miss my Le Meridien room the most. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a place in Hong Kong that has the exact room measurements so I can model my home after my hotel room. Sad? Maybe. See before you judge.

The hotel room is the junior suite in Le Meridien. I've been in the bigger suites but have always asked to move back to the junior suite (no, I did not try the presidential suite, as I did in the haunted Taipei Grand Hyatt) cus I like it so much.

In essence, it is a big studio separated by a TV. A rotating TV, to be specific. This way, the room still feels big and at the same time separates the living room from the bed room. Really liked the setting and the idea. Highly highly recommended hotel (if you get this room).

Rotating TV (from the sofa)

Rotating TV when brushing teeth

I've also miraculously lost weight in Shanghai. All thanks to this guy: the electronic weight. Amazing what monitoring your weight every day can do to your diet. Among the findings: Italian food increases your weight by about 2-3 pounds. A night sleep makes you lighter by ~3 pounds. If you have the "full" feeling, you will likely pack 3+ pounds vs. the night before. In winter, my clothes and shoes are about 5-8 pounds.

Speaking of weight loss... I had a bit of fun doing this... but here's a not-so-patented system. The DEWLEI (Canton people will understand the inside joke):

DEWLEI, pronounced Diu-Lei, or Daily Electronic Weight Loss Enforcing Indicator:

1. Buy highly accurate electronic scale with at least one decimal place
2. Place in bathroom
   
3. Weigh yourself right before you go to bed, in your PJs or naked (Naked recommended)
4. Record the weight on a piece of paper
5. Go to sleep
6. Wake up, go pee, and weigh yourself in the same clothes or naked (Naked recommended) - be careful not to take a shower yet
7. Record the weight on a piece of paper
8. Go to the office
9. Open Excel
10. Enter your weight - night and day weight
11. Calculate 5-day running average for night and for day
12. Plot it on a chart
    
13. Think about the chart; think again;
    
14. Do something about it

As an added bonus, if you are truly dedicated, think about what you ate and did that day as the avg goes up or down. That will help tremendously.

DIULEI, it works.

Okay, back to the blog. I'm treated as a royal in Le Meridien... but the most important treatment of all is the breakfast buffet. This is my little creation every single morning. Assorted fruits with assorted nuts and raisins. I add some cereal and dry oatmeal sometimes. LOVE IT. Too bad this will cost a fortune in HK (we import all our fruits). Oh well.