Shanghai II

For some odd reason, our air conditioning doesn’t work. It starts out OK, but by morning it is fucking hot in the room. I woke up because of the heat. The others said they woke up in a pile of sweat. So lovely. Our breakfast came courtesy of the hotel, and it was in the basement. Very yuck. The only thing edible I could find was a few slices of white toast with margarine. Not really very filling.

The day started off as cool and overcast, and our plans were to walk to the Bund, which is the eclectic architectural area near the river then go up the Pearl Tower and go inside to the Shanghai Museum. Because of construction we walked in the street until we could get back onto the sidewalk. It was pretty scary, let me tell you. We stopped into a Giorgio Armani store and old bank that has been restored. The ceiling has some beautiful art work celebrating cities around the world, including New York, Paris and Calcutta. I think everyone was tired of Chinese food, so we ate at Pizza Hut for lunch. But this wasn’t your typical Pizza Hut experience. They had a Hawaiian theme - it was decorated with tropical flowers and some of the workers were wearing leis - and you were handed a menu, with choices ranging from smoked salmon salad (I had it and it was essentially another appetizer) to pizza. They also had French style desserts like a mango mousse pie to a chocolate cake. Interestingly enough, even though the desserts were rich, the portions were tiny. The cake alone was probably three-quarters the size of one you would get in the States.

Because I always use my cell phone as a clock, I didn’t bring a watch. And that’s been a pain because we are always meeting at such and such place at such and such time. I tried remedying the situation the night before, by buying this cheapy Mao watch, but it died five minutes after I bought it. Now I was going to be serious and get something that wasn’t shit. I had seen a Swatch on the way to the restaurant and decided to go back. Their selection wasn’t huge, and I was having a hard time finding a watch I wanted. I contemplated getting a commerative Beijing Olympic watch, but wasn’t sold on them. I decided, finally, on a James Bond villain series watch from one of the old Roger Moore vehicles. The reason I got it is because it is decorated with a skeleton (the face is a skull), and it glows in the dark!

Since I was in the back of the group, and trying to get every photo that I could, I didn’t hear what exactly was going on, but we took this Sightseeing Tunnel that, I think took us under the water, (I could be wrong). It was the funkiest thing ever. It was like a Pink Floyd light show with spinning Twilight Zone effects in the beginning and then random words spoken like Paradise and Hell toward the end. It ended with computer sounds. I recorded it, because it can’t really be described in words. It doesn’t make any sense. (At one point, those wavy armed guys who draw your attention to car dealerships crashed into the side of our train.) Just bizarre.

On the other side, we went up into the Pearl Tower, which reminded me a bit of the Seattle needle. Since it was positively pissing it down, you couldn’t see anything. It was very cloudy. Eventually, though it cleared up, just in time for some of our group members to tell us that if you go down one floor, you can have an unusual experience. You can go out into this area where the floor is glass. It’s longer than my body, and it’s very unnerving at the beginning. You are terrified you are going to fall to your death. Thankfully, there is a railing on the outside of the building that gives you a sense of stability. Actually the floor and the outer wall is glass. I got loads of photos. Before I left the area, an Asian girl came over to me and asked me to get into a photo with her. They don’t often see freaks like me, apparently. I shudder to think which social network site I’m showing up on.

One of Peter’s former students - from 13 years ago - lives in Shanghai, and he said he wanted to take us to dinner. It’s in a mall, believe it or not, but this mall must be high end as all of the designers have shops in there. I forget the name of the restaurant, but apparently it stated in Toronto, Canada, and then came over to China. It has been written up as one of the best in Shanghai. I got buckwheat noodles with mushrooms (fungus as they call them) and scallions. It is the best meal I’ve had so far. They also got some delicious spinach cooked in garlic oil. (I could eat this every day of my life.) And for dessert these huge towers of shaved ice mixed with milk and then surrounded by mangos or all kinds of beans. The bean one was good but it was overwhelming. Too many beans. On our way out of store, I stopped at a Doreamon shop. I have been pretty surprised that this Japanese cartoon cat (it is blue and doesn’t have ears) is as popular as it is, and also Astroboy. I got a cheap aluminum water container (about $7!) and a plush Doreamon. Naturally, I’m the only one in the group who knows who the cat is so no one was impressed with my purchases.

Robin wanted to get back to the hotel for more shopping, so four of us piled into a taxi. We handed him our hotel’s card, but the address must have been too small of print for him, because he was asking us all sorts of questions in Mandarin. Of course, none of us speak Mandarin, so I was terrified we would end up back in Hong Kong. Somehow, we miraculously got there. Sarah, Robin and I walked around a bit, but I was kind of tired. I got a few shots and went to the hotel.