My friend Kathleen and I were in Singapore at the same time, so it somehow made sense for both of us to do an open water swim event. She swam the full 4K while I opted for an 800m swim.

At the end of the trip, my colleague Judith and I opted to take the bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing. We spent most of our time shopping, but we did manage to squeeze in a trip to the Badaling Great Wall and the Ming Tombs.