First Manic Monday in Shanghai #162

How often do you change your toothbrush?
I seem to lose my toothbrush a lot. I don't know how it ends up missing since I keep it in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. I think it's the Borrowers.

What is your favorite item of clothing to shop for?
I really can't decide. It actually depends on my mood and the day. But my top three would be dresses, shoes or lingerie.

Do you use social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)?
Yes. I was sucked into the abyss that is Facebook. I recently joined Twitter and I've been a member of Myspace for a while.

Which do you use most often?
I'm ashamed to say I have an addiction to facebook. Acceptance is the first step right? RIGHT?!?!

French Concession East

I finally ventured out past the 5 blocks around the apartment. I made my way into a part of the city called French Concession. With it's mixture of European and Chinese architecture it is a great example of what Shanghai is today, a perfect blend of the old and new. Just a few blocks away from the trendy cafes, hip designer shops and art galleries you can find street vendors and other small shops. Shanghai is a walking or biking town. Since I am the klutziest person in the world there is no way I will ever get on a bike in this city of crazy traffic, so I will be walking or when necessary use public transportation. I decided to take a taxi to the French Concession. Having Lonely Planet's guide to Shanghai is proving to be priceless. They have a tear out map with both English and Chinese characters. I just pointed out where I wanted to go on the map and was whisked away to enjoy my first Shanghainese adventure.

First stop: Fuxing Park. There was a stall where you could to buy/rent a fishing rod (basically a small stick with line and hook attached), bucket and bait. People were using them to catch the goldfish that were conveniently supplied to a nearby pond. It was quite fun to see their determined faces as they thought they got a catch only for the fish to escape the hook. I did see one kid who was about 8 or 9 catch one, outdoing all the adults around him. There were a lot of older people just sitting and relaxing or enjoying a game of cards or mahjong with friends. I'm not sure if gambling is legal but there was money on many of the tables. And just in case you forget about the country's political stance there is a statue of Carl Marx and Fredrick Engles, co-authors of the Communist Manifesto. My next stop was the Museum of Sun Yat-sen's Former Residence, which was adjacent to the park. There were two buildings and for Y20 I had access to both. The first building you enter is the museum. To the right of the entrance there is a huge statue of Sun Yat-sen and on the left is a sign in both English and Chinese describing his life in Shanghai. After viewing all the artifacts you exit the rear door to a small yard. To the right you can enter the second building which was actually his residence. As you enter there is an employee who scans tickets and also ensures that guests put plastic bags over your shoes. They looked like shower caps for the feet. About 3 huge blocks away was Xintiandi, where I saw the most tourists since being in China. Everyone was sitting outside cute little cafes and restaurants. I made my way inside to a place called Din Tai Fung. I heard they had some of the best xiaolongbao or soup dumplings. It's quite easy to get used to the cheap prices here so when I saw the cost of 10 mini dumplings and soup I balked. The meal which included 2 cans of Sprite, 10 mini dumplings and 2 bowls of soup came up to about Y80. That's about $13. But it's hard to accept when you can get the same dumplings for about $1 somewhere else. Most places we go to have plates for about Y12 or Y22 at the most and they all come with soup! Anyway, enough ranting about my cheap habits.When eating the dumplings pick it up with your chopstick and place it onto the soup spoon. Bite the top of the dumpling skin leaving a small opening and dip into the soup allowing the dumpling to fill with liquid. Since they are pretty tiny, you can eat it all in one bite. I have to say they were pretty yummy but I'm going to go somewhere cheaper so I can compare. I'm not sure it was worth that much RMB.

About 6 blocks away you can escape the chic atmosphere and delve deeper into "old" Shanghai. Dongtai Road is spread over two streets. I found tons of stalls selling a hodgepodge of antiques some real and some fake. This is where my haggling skills came into play. Vendors didn't speak English but they all had calculators. They would enter a number into the calculator and I would shake my head no and enter a much lower price. This goes back and forth for a while until one person gives in. When they refused I would start walking away and this would immediately bring a response of "ok, ok, ok" and my price would be accepted. Haggling has become my new favorite hobby. No one should ever pay the first price quoted. I have managed to bring prices down to less than 50%. I am constantly trying to do better. The guilt of paying way too little for some items makes me want to give in , then I remember they are quoting "foreigner prices." I think what I pay is still a lot more than the normal price. Across the street from Dongtai and I discovered a plant and animal market. There were hundreds of crickets, grasshoppers and locusts being sold. As you can imagine the sound of chirping was extremely overpowering. There were also many different species of birds, cats and dogs. I even came across a store selling chinchillas. They were very cute.Right after that I took a taxi and headed back to my cousin's apartment. After all that walking my feet were tired and I was in need of a nap.

What's that smell?!?!?!

I have been here for a little over 48 hours and there are no signs of culture shock. Maybe it's because of all the Asian movies, tv shows and documentaries I watch. Shanghai is pretty modern though. I've seen many familiar brands including Best Buy, KFC, Papa Johns, Dairy Queen, Starbucks and the ever popular McDonald's. It actually feels like being in New York's China Town...just on a grander scale. Some things do stick out though. I'll try and do a separate blog about those.

Today I went to Zhongshan Park, which is about 2 blocks away from the apartment. Apparently Sunday is a day for people to gather in the park because it was pretty crowded. There were vendors selling all sorts of goodies. I bought some cotton candy for Y5, which is less than $1 but I think the guy charged me more than usual. When someone else came up and asked the price (in Chinese) he wouldn't answer until I walked away. Oh well. It was still a lot less than I would have spent in the States. There were also people selling little bunnies, chicks and hamsters on carts. They were so cute. When the police came in blowing whistles they all scattered but returned soon after the cops left. There were also the usual fair-like items: balloons, silly toys for kids and bouncers. You could also chose to ride along in little boats along the pond or separate bumper boats equipped with water guns. It looks like fun but I'm not too interested in being splashed with city pond water.

Yesterday while walking into the mall I caught a whiff of something that smelled like a chicken being burned with all its feathers on. My cousin wanted to know how I would even know what that smelled like but that was the picture that came to mind as soon as I inhaled. Today I smelled it again and if you don't have any idea what a chicken smells like when being burned alive let me just say it's a stench you don't want to experience. I can't explain it better than that. I finally deduced it was sticky tofu being fried. G-R-O-S-S! I'll probably try it soon. LOL!

Yummy dessert!!!

This morning I woke up totally refreshed. My advice to anyone traveling outside of their timezone is to stay awake until it’s night time at your destination. You will be extremely exhausted but at least you’ll escape the symptoms of jetlag.

Today I had noodles for lunch. My chopstick skills are not what they should be. Usually I start my meal with them, get frustrated and pick up my fork. I can't do that here. There are NO forks. Needless to say it took me quite a while to finish eating. I could only manage one noddle at a time. It was a poor sight to witness. I'm sure people were making fun of the stupid foreigner. I will get better though! Or so I'm hoping.

After eating I had the most delicious dessert. It's the reason I came to China. Ha ha. It's shaved ice with various toppings and milk. I've had it in the states many times but nothing could have prepared me for how delicious it is here. The place we went to had a bunch of toppings: mango, red bean, green lentil, peanuts, strawberry, etc. My cousin got strawberry and I had mango. You can't tell from the pic but there is shaved ice below. Tomorrow I think I'll try the red bean. Mmmmmm....

First day in Shanghai: Customs, Shower and Food

At last, after months of anticipation and a 14 hour flight, I'm in Shanghai. The flight was not as bad as people think. There are individual screens right above each tray. That was super cool because the choices were endless. There were about 300+ movies to choose from, plus tv shows, music and games. You could even track the flight on there. That was amazing to see. We flew north over Canada then turned right over the arctic, headed south over Russia and into China. It's so strange to look out the window and see clouds below you. We kept ahead of the darkness so it was always bright outside. I kept my window closed, opening occasionally to see what was out there but the sun was blinding and we were too high.

I should have slept more on the flight but that was where my greed came out. I wanted to watch movies and eat the food they gave us. lol. They fed us a lot. We got 3 meals plus snacks in between including ice cream! Because of all the beverages I had to use the bathroom like a billlion times. It wasn't too bad though. It's just hard to balance yourself in a tiny closet while squatting. lol. It was clean and didn't smell bad, but that didn't mean I was going to touch anything. I was seated at the window and there was only one person next to me so it wasn't too much of a bother. She was a nice older Chinese lady, upper 60s. She was very motherly, taking my trash to throw away and telling me where to visit in Shanghai. I hope I'm that lucky on the flight back. When I did finally look down and see China it was overwhelming. My eyes teared up. After so many years of dreaming I was finally in the East.

When we landed it took a while for the plane to get to to the gate and open the door. Then people were slow in getting there stuff and getting off the plane. I went through inspection where they look at your passport and visa and finally baggage claim. After you have to chose between 2 lines. Either you are declaring goods or not. I was randomly chosen and had to go through the declared goods line where they sent my stuff through the scanner...again. The one thing I know I’m going to learn on this trip is patience.

I finally made it out of customs and into a line where everyone has to walk through these railings. People were on both sides waiting. It was like walking along the red carpet. HA HA! My cousin was there waiting in the crowd to greet me. We took the Maglev train to the subway. Apparently it's one of the fastest trains in the world. I didn't notice a difference from the other trains I've been on but overhead there was an LED that displayed the speed. We hit 410 kilometers per hour. When we got off the subway we walked to his apartment. I bought a reusable pass and put 100rmb on it. I can use it on the subway and bus and in taxis. Pretty convenient.

The first thing that stood out (besides all the Asian people of course. lol) were the signs. Instead of English and Spanish, which is what I'm used to, everything is Chinese with a bit of English. Another is there is little to no interest in common courtesy. People cut you in line and push right by you without a word. It’s like being in New York times 10. The subway was immaculate and the streets are so clean. That was very surprising.

As soon as I got to my cousins apartment I hopped into the shower. (He has 3 roommates so I'll be using flipflops in there. ha ha.) Then I took a nap. He woke me around 8pm and we went out to get something to eat. My first Chinese meal. I had bbq pork and rice. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic. So I’ll go back and get that dish again. Lol. It was good. The rice was shaped into a heart. Very cute.

Currency exchange: $1US = $6.84RMB