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Published: September 17th 2008
Well, I finally got a bit sick this past week and had to lay low in the hotel room for the weekend. It ended up being a blessing in disguise though, since it rained all weekend. The nerve! I made a small trek to a Buddhist Temple in Shanghai called Jade Buddha Temple. It is an exquisite oasis inside a bustling city. As we pulled up outside the temple courtyard we got out of the cab and the rain began to POUR like buckets from the sky! FLASH!>>>BOOM! lightning, thunder. I can count on one hand that Ive seen it rain like it was trying to remind us just how Noah made it!
Inside the protective walls we ran into a lovely tour guide who led us with charming stories of monks and buddhas. Where he led us was directly to the tourist trinket shop where we were herded like cows through a slaughterhouse of pushy salespeople......we bought his entire story hook, line and sinker! And now we all felt obliged to buy something to support the temple. Oh, well, live and learn!
After spending money on things we didn't really want.....we went back to the courtyard and toured the
Torrential rain
It looks like misty air, but its rain drops!magnificent statues and buddhas. We witnessed a live Buddhist ceremony in progress with chanting and bells. The entire place was tranquil, quiet, and had an overarching subtle scent of incense, which put you into a very grounded and centered space. The art that is housed inside the temples dates back 1500 years and is absolutely stunning. Giant statues of God of this or that, which loomed 20 feet over your head. It was a very humbling and mystifying experience just seeing the art! We followed the Temple tour with a jade buddah temple vegetarian lunch, which was some of THE best food I've had YET in Shanghai. Anyone who comes to Shanghai had better go here! And for five people and all kinds of samples of food, we each paid $6 US!!!
On Sunday we ventured into the Sex Culture Museum. This was a artifact museum filled with sex paraphernalia from Ancient China. From ancient dildos hidden in small casks to erotica painted on pottery and dishware, similar to that of ancient Rome, but not quite as cool 😊 There were even some homo-erotica pieces here with a nod to homosexuality within the Emperor's throne. One of the Emperors
had a male lover who he commissioned custom gold coins for. Then when he no longer trusted his lover, he had him executed! There are never any happy endings (except for modern day massages) in China! So Sad 😞
Early this week, Ann Marie and I went downtown Pudong area (still in Shanghai) and applied for our Vietnam visas and afterward went to a very swanky bar called Cloud 9. This bar is on the 87th floor of Jinmao Tower, and serves up fantastic cocktails for the princely sum of RMB 90 ($13). We made it before 8pm, which is happy hour and you get 2fer one! So we got 2 fer 4!!! Afterward we wandered around the tallest building in Shanghai and snapped some photos. True
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