Rather late blogs (1)

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Well the flight was good, got us there atleast! Next challenge we were to discover was actually getting to our pre-booked hostel..........uh-oh! Not having too much experience with the language, the culture, the road naming tendencies....we set out with the 'how hard can it be?' attitude! Only to discover - quite hard! We followed the rather minimal instructions we were given on the website as far as we could.......i.e bus number xx to People's park! That was as far as we got before we encountered trouble. Here we were supposed to change to a differently numbered bus.....which would be where?......this had to be found within about 30 bus stops which line the square - joy! One up and down of the one side of the square and a brief sighting of the bus we wanted going away from us led us to believe that the stop must be elsewhere on the square. So, fully laden off we went.....around people's square (and a lovely square it is - just better seen without all your wordly belongings on your back!) .....sighting yet another bus gave us hope, that was until we had done almost the entire square. Only to discover that a further 10 metres 'up' would have got us to the bus stop! Sod's law or what! Just life I think!

Ascertaining our stop was to be the next challenge. Jen likes to be particularly certain about these things and with minimal Chinese this can be difficult! So off she went, in typical British fashion, repeating the road name, in as many different ways as possible and getting louder all the time. Some strategic deductions outlined that we could get to the street we wanted - excellent.......except for the fact that the street was a rather long one and our hostel was at the other end.....NOT the end that we were dropped off at. A quick text to Lis (a friend from Uni) and her very well recieved call deduced that she had no idea where the street was - no suprises there - Shanghai is pretty enormous - but that zhong - part of the address that we had - meant middle which atleast meant we were on the right lines. Finally, we arrived. Checked in and went for dinner! Also taking in the Bund and getting our (much needed) bearings!

** Random!!! Back at the hostel that night, having a drink before heading to bed I was astonished to see someone the spitting image of one of the BBA girls in Bath, slighltly puzzled I kept glancing across trying to decide..........and you wouldn't believe it...it was HER!!!! Gemma, she was Harry's girlfriend to those of you that knew the course or Harry, she was in Shanghai, in the bar, in the same hostel, on the same day AS ME!!! Incredible - man it's a small world! She was actually teaching a couple of hours out of Shanghai but was there to do some shopping! Bit of gossip - she and Harry have broken up!!! Couldn't quite believe that one myself!!!!

That aside though, our first full day in Shanghai was spent with Lis, who did a wonderful job of showing us some of the sights, The Bund, Yuyuan Gardens......introducing us to local cuisine, some pretty good noodles and pearl tea......and generally made us feel very comfortable! Our second day in Shanghai was again with Lis, (she's pretty ace - very hospitable!!!! THanks hun!!!) After a trip to the aptly named Cheapo-Lu (or street in chinese) where you can pick up brand name bargains if you so desire - in reality I just wanted a warm jumper!!!! One hoody later - fashioned in pretty much all the photos - isn't it nice - and for a fiver - unbeatable! Post shopping we met up with Lis again who treated us to a very good sandwich at a dining table! Oh the luxury!

No joke though - she was staying in the most amazing apartment in xintiandi (the wealthiest, modernest most expensive bit)- with family friends. This really gave us an insight into how the other half live - the flat - sorry apartment - was HUGE! Centred around the elevator shaft it was a full square, about 4 bedrooms (the size of paddocks!!!) and every other room imaginable pretty much, including 2 kitchens - a 'chinese one' and a 'western' one! Unbelievable,and with some of the most stunning views over Shanghai you have ever seen! I think I could definitley cope with ex-pat life! The afternoon was spent at yet another temple, whose name escapes me, a park and a market, just generally taking in the sights! That evening Lis once again came up trumps as host, organising a pretty good Indian Meal (although not quite up to Malaysian standards!) and a night on the town at a Mexiacan place called Zapatas - where ladies got free cocktails! A good night was had by all!!!! Also met up with a girl from the FRIMML course in Bath which was still more freaky! Small small world!

The following day saw a trip to the business district and the base of the Oriental Pearl TV tower, which, naturally cost a small fortune to go up, which we naturally weren't going to spend! So views from the bottom sufficed! As well as a stroll along the bund, coffee and cakes and generally living it up. This whiled away the day fairly convincingly and our next stop was to be Hangzhou, with a return to Shanghai planned!

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