Shangri-La Breakfast

The flight from Austin was rather like an endurance test. Up at 3 am. saturday morning, arriving at Shanghai Pudong airport at 2 on sunday afternoon. Not a lot of sleep on the plane, but finished a rousingly silly adventure novel called Rembrandt's Ghost and was pleased to find that my seatmate was a Shanghai native, Charlie Li, who gave me lots of good tips for seeing Shanghai as he travelled home from his first trip to the U.S. Thank you, Charlie!

I took the Maglev train from the airport, the fastest train in the world. It was a kick, especially to note that almost everyone who got on the train immediately took out cameras and snapped away en route. I only took a picture of the sign at the station cautioning passengers to 'Be Gentle.' Words to live by . . .

The hotel is the Shangri-La, and it is quite nice. The afternoon was overcast and threatening rain so when I got to the room and settled in, the call of the city was not so loud. I sat down and started to turn into a pumpkin and simply gave up. Dinner in the hotel was light: consomme made from duck and pork with a hint of cabbage with a light dish of mixed fungus and very delicate bamboo shoots in a mild sauce. One glass of Penfold's chardonnay and the pumpkin effect was complete. The night view from my room is spectacular but I did not enjoy it long. I hit the sack at 7:30 pm and slept like a rock.

Morning has brought new adventures and I haven't even left the hotel yet. Coletta you would have enjoyed the breakfast buffet, I think. There were stations for cuisines from around the world: chinese, japanese, american, and others I could not identify. I opted for a sashimi breakfast featuring smoked salmon and dried tuna and yellowtail, all delicious, with excellent coffee. Then I had to go back and sample some of the chinese selections: dumplings, noodles, and fried plaintain. It was a lot of fun, and I wish I could have tried it all. Maybe tomorrow I will think to take pictures.

This morning the tour will go to the Yu Gardens and Old Shanghai. I will take lots of pictures and post them here. Stay tuned!

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