Shanghai Exploring day 1

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So obviously I was here on Friday 6th but Disney had prebooked the whole day with filling out forms so I didn't really get to do much. But I'll catch you up.

First night and day jitters

After I had gotten checked into the hotel I was overwhelmed I guess with shock because as soon as the door to my room had closed and I'd managed to drag my cases in (sooo glad I left one at home because there's no way I would have managed on my own with 2 large cases a laptop bag, Rose and hand luggage), anyway as soon as the door had closed I burst out in tears thinking OMG what are you doing here Holly. After a quick chocolate bar I unpacked a few things to make the room feel more homely and had a dig through the welcome pack I recieved. I found out my centre will be the Xiaoshan centre in Hangzhou which is aparently the new up and coming rich part of the city (flashbacks of Langley here they come). Being me and loving a good map I cross checked the tourist areas of Shanghai from the money books I have now acquired and made a plan for a weekend of exploring. I managed to get a few hours of good sleep in during the night.

In the morning I had to meet a rep in the resturant of the hotel. I had no idea if there would be other new 'onboarders' (a term used for the new recruits) so made a rather nervous peek into the room. To my surprise there were quite a few people sitting around having breakfast so I made for a table with a spare seat and asked if they were waiting for Jess. On the table was a guy 'Scott' from America a previous onboarder from a few weeks back and a lady from the Phillipenes called Mae.

Jess eventually arrived and those who had arrived a few weeks back disappeared and 6 of us were left. (I've since found out that the previous onboarding group had 44 in it - so obviously saving the best group to last :-) ) We had a short walk then to the nearest centre where we viewed some PPT's and intro to the training, health insurance and how to find housing - although the housing rep was really only related to the Shanghai FT's but was however somewhat useful. There should be a picture on facebook somewhere of the group too.

The smog apparently is the worst in about 2 years in Shanghai so I've been out and brought a mask with Mae which happens to just have the Mickey mouse silohette on it hehe. But its certainly not a great time to have a cough. I'm also finding it funny that some of the people in the group are finding it super cold at the moment, today I could have happily gone out in a vest top and shorts, it is however going to get colder during the next couple of days.

We were shown where the bank we shall be attached to was and some shopping/food places pointed out too.

I ended the day having not enjoyed the noddles at lunch and explored the area near Zhougshan Park so super hungry and managed to find a KFC. A KFC however which serves rice, curry and fish. Thankfully they had a picture placecard that you could just point to. I've never been soooooo happy to have chips in my life lol

Tourism Time

So they America group kinda stuck together yesterday (friday) and I made friends with Mae and found out she had brought her husband with her for this new adventure to China. Mae had asked if they could tag along with my exploring which was good coz then I wouldn't have to go alone.

So a quick hop on the Metro with went to People's Square. I lovely parked area split into two parts one of them having the Shanghai Museum within it. I'm not sure what was going on but the entrance and surrounding walk ways were packed with people with umberella and signs. I think they might have been tours or even missing people. Crazy times.

We had a wonder around and enjoyed the nice day. Mae and Phillip loved it and were telling me how so very different this was to their previous living place. Its been great finding out about their life and learning about this culture too. I had previously discussed with them that Bund one metro stop from where we were in the park was a great place to visit during the evening as the lights from PuDong (across the river) in what resembles London's Canary Wharf were a spectular that couldn't be missed. It was actually a cold wait but well worth it.

We finished the day off with a hearty dinner and watched the dancers in Zhongshan Park - Its most alive in the evening with dancing, karooke and lights. The whole area comes alive at night to be fair. Anyway even though I probably made them walk more today than they would have in a week on their Island they wanna tag along tomorrow for another adventure SHANGHAI ZOO

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Photos

Pasta pot vs Chopsticks
I was sooo hungry by the time I arrived at the hotel as breakfast on the plane wasn't so great. I completely forgot that forks aren't widely found around these parts but thankfully I packed the present Hannah gave me. Lets just say I did not go hungry :-)

Mae and Me
Waiting for the Bund light show on the promenade - Look how bad the smog is

Bright lights and a big city!!!
Across the river or PuDong is the London equivelent to Canary Wharf

KFC
This rather festive looking building and most importantly KFC is about a 5min walk from my Hotel

Comments

[Aunty T & Uncle Andy]

Your Uncle Andy and I really enjoyed Shanghai when we went there from Brunei. The food was lovely and we did all the tourist bits. It was less crowded than other cities. If you get the chance to see the the great china wall and the warriors do it it will take your breath away, an awesome sight. Look after your self

[HollyQ]

Hi
The wall is on my to do list believe me but as its quite a few hours away from me I don't see me being able to do it for a while until I have some significant time off. I also want to plan to go to the less touristy parts of it so that will take some planning. Hong Kong and Hong Kong Disney Land is first on the list during chinese new year