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The kids and I went to She Shan on Wednesday. It was about an hour twenty minute journey via 2 subways and a taxi on the way there (door to door) and a little less than an hour on the way back by taxi. I thought the subway would be more adventurous but it turned to just be more difficult. I had to lug a suitcase up and down many flights of stairs--where there were no escalators. Emily was immediately unable to carry her own bag so I had to carry hers and mine. Plus, when we arrived at the stop near the hotel, it turned the hotel was too far from the metro station to walk there and we had to take a taxi. Not a big deal, but the only taxis were gypsy ones and so I was a little nervous, but decided it was probably fine, and got in one and we did arrive without incident. Well, almost without incident. While trying to figure out if we could walk to the hotel or if we needed a taxi, I was swarmed by very aggressive taxi drivers. I finally tried to ask the subway guard for help but he was confused by my Chinese and walked away. Turns out he went to get someone else to help me but that guy was horrified at the information I had with me. I left the Chinese directions on the printer, and before I could pull up another version on the iTough I was being berated for having English/Pinyin and not Chinese addresses. I finally told them all to back off with gestures and a few growls and called the hotel. The hotel said "take a taxi" and so I did. But it was a little hectic and I wish I'd called the hotel before we set out. The kids were fine, but a little impatient with me and I was not as organized as I could have been.

The trip was okay. It was definitely good to have plans when the kids were off school and Mark was out of town, but the weather was bad for being outdoors. Also the kids moods were volatile and so, after much refereeing, was mine.

I felt brave and independent. Mark is our travel planner and travel logistics coordinator. I can do it but when we travel, he tends to be that guy. So, this was good for me. I organized, booked, looked up, got us there, got us back. All fine. The hotel was nice. Le Meridian, She Shan. A modern, nicely decorated facility that is set among a very scenic backdrop of trees, a lake and parks. If it hadn't rained, we would have enjoyed the grounds more than we did. As it was, we had a nice walk around the first afternoon before the rain came. We also took advantage of the afternoon tea service in the hotel lobby which was tasty and fun. Overall, I thought the prices were a little high but it's a hotel, so nothing too shocking.The food was for the most part good and full of western options which the kids appreciated.

We took advantage of the nice indoor pool, but sadly I could not make use of the gym due to the aforementioned volatile moods which prevented even the possibility of a little me time away from all that us time. I had a fantasy of turning on a movie and leaving the kids for 30 minutes, but it was not an option. We had a fun dinner of room service--as I had promised the kids--the first night. We watched dvds on the big screen tv in our room. All nice enough.

The trouble came on Thursday, when it rained and rained and our planned hike and wandering were cut short by our soggy shoes. The hotel helped us get a taxi and the driver took us to the west forest and waited while we hiked. We walked around in the rain and saw very few people in the forest. It was really pretty and the areas we explored seemed like they'd be a lot of fun when the weather was better. We wandered into a cute little mineral museum (10 RMB for all 3 of us--$1.50 USD). They had some fossils and a bunch of crystals and other minerals on display. The signs were mostly in Chinese, not surprisingly, so we don't really know what we saw.

Went back outdoors to explore some more and ventured up this huge set of stairs to the top of this peak. At that moment, my phone rang. It was Mark checking in and I gave him the update while we were hiking along. I love that pretty much everywhere we've gone so far in China I have mobile coverage.

The driver then took us to a town we had read about in the guide book. I asked to be taken to the old part of town but ended up being dropped off in a very boring shopping area that did not capture our interest or offer any lunch options. We stocked up on crackers, popcorn and water and headed back to the hotel where we snacked, watched a movie and then went swimming again. I felt like we didn't do enough, but the day was pretty miserable with the rain. I'm glad we at least did something outdoors.

On the last night the kids begged me to let them do the dinner buffet. Basically, they wanted to have access to the dessert buffet, and I really could not blame them. There was a chocolate fountain. So, we did the buffet and that was the night's entertainment. Again, not the most economical option, but not so much more than room service the night before.

We ran into someone we knew while dining at the restaurant. Emily has this incredible ability to recognize people she's met even one time before. Seated next to us was another family with a little girl named Emily. We all heard her mom call her Emily and that always makes us smile. Turned out though that this Emily was a friend of my Emily's friend from school. They met at a birthday party months ago. Yet another small world moment. So we said hi, wow, small world and all that typical chit-chat and that is the end of the small world story. I would have loved it if we had made some new friends to hang out with on the the trip. But nope. Didn't happen.

We are now back in the apartment, the rain has stopped and we've spent a lot of the last 2 days at Zhong Shan Park. Now that is a bargain as far as entertainment value goes. The people watching is free, and the junk for sale, the rides, and art projects you can purchase and spend time doing right there in the park are cheap. Today's weather was nice. Sunny, not too windy and in the high 40s.

The park was full of other people soaking up some sun and I guess spring really is on its way to Shanghai. I continue to be amazed at the number of layers Shanghainese children wear outdoors. There's certainly a story there. Cultural differences regarding appropriate amount of clothing aside, these kids look miserable. I saw these kids today who were so overdressed they could barely walk. These little puff bodies hobbling about the park. On the train the other day, there were several children that appeared to be sweating. Their cheeks were blazing red and they seemed to be really uncomfortable, but their parents and grandparents didn't seem to know or care that they might indeed be sweltering. I have had older women yell at me here for not putting enough clothing on my kids, so I imagine there's a Chinese woman blogging about the crazy foreigners who don't put enough clothing on their kids.

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