SHANGHAI!
Day 5 - Oct. 4th
After our fabulous night at the airport, we woke up and headed to our hostel. Rock & Wood International Youth Hostel. We were able to drop off our bags and found some breakfast around the corner from our hostel. I've found that some of the best food is street food for two reasons; not only does it taste good, but it's usually pretty cheap! Our first stop of the day was the Yuyuan Gardens. Within the grand architecture of a crowded street market you will find a very beautiful and intricate garden, as the Chinese call it. However, in this garden I only found one flower. Again, garden doesn't really mean beds of flowers here. It's more like a large area to walk around that has buildings and places to sit and enjoy company. I can't think of what the equivalent would be in America. Probably because we don't have anything like it. In any case, it was really pretty.
After a quick nap back at the hostel we set out to find some dinner. We found a place called the Noodle House so we figured it was a safe bet. One of the items on the menu was called specialty fried rice. I ended up ordering that and some of the others got some noodles. They brought out noodles and more noodles, but no rice. When we asked them where the specialty fried rice was they pointed to one of the plates of noodles. Hmmm. Interesting. But it was the best specialty fried rice I ever had! It was so good!
We then went to one of the tallest buildings in the world called the World Financial Center. We took an elevator up the 94th floor and were able to see out the windows overlooking the entire city of Shanghai. It was really cool. Especially at night with everything being all lit up. We explored the city a little bit more and then called it a day.
Day 6 - Oct. 5th
What's a trip without some good souvenirs?! Yes, we went shopping again! This time the market we went to was under the Science and Technology Museum, apparently. It was a pretty big market with some really good deals. Either it was way easier to bargain there or we were just getting a lot better at it! We got some really good stuff and we were all feeling pretty good about ourselves. That night we decided to go to the Bund. It's a part of town in Shanghai that is really popular mostly for the view across the river. It's similar to seeing the New York City skyline. The view was really cool but getting there was a nightmare! Since it was still the holiday we were among thousands of people in this city. There were so many people that they had the military out on the streets to help control the crossings. When we weren't supposed to walk there was a line of military men standing in front of us blocking us from walking. Then when we could cross they moved out of the way. It was really cool to witness. But also really crazy that it was so crowded they had to be there. After being around all these people all day and walking so many miles we were pretty tuckered out so we headed on back to our hostel for the night.
Day 7 - Oct. 6th
This was the day I got to ride an Elephant!!!! We woke up bright and early and made our way to the Shanghai Wild Animal Park. It was really cool to see so many different animals! Pandas, Giraffes, Camels, Lions, Tigers, Flamingos, Monkeys, Apes and Elephants! Just to name a few. They had an area where you could hold a baby tiger and it was kind of sad to see just how drugged up the tiger was. :( At first it looked like it was sleeping but as they continued to pass it from one person to the next you could tell that it wasn't asleep, it was drugged. That made me sad. I liked seeing the animals because it's cool to see these animals that you don't get to see everyday. But it does make me sad that they are kept in confined spaces.
We ate dinner at the Noodle House again. Yummy! And then we headed to the airport to again, sleep there and wait for our flight. Unfortunately it wasn't that simple. We got the airport late and turns our we were in the wrong terminal. So we had to get to terminal 2 which is doable if you go by subway. The subway didn't close for another 10 minutes so we all ran to the security entrance but they wouldn't let us go through. We couldn't wait until the morning because our flight was early so we had to take a taxi to terminal 2. We get there and the terminal doors are closed!!! We had resigned ourselves to sleeping outside in the somewhat cold weather, until a kind Chinese man told us that the arrivals gate was open and we could sleep on the floor in there. So that's where we went. And let me tell you, I hate sleeping on the floor!
But after a restless nights sleep and a bout of procedures in the morning, eventually we made it home in one piece.
It was such a fun trip. I have loved being here in China, experiencing the culture and seeing the sights. It's been a huge blessing.
Well that's all for now! Until next time!
Enjoy the Ride
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