Typical night out .... in China!!!

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Our plane landed nearly an hour earlier than anticipated. We could see rain and smog blanketing the Pudong airport as our 14 hour flight ended. Rushing through imigration and customs we found Jet waiting for us at the International arrival's section. We loaded up all of our luggage and crammed into Jet's little Audi TT. Then it was 125KM an hour to our hotel.

We found ourselves only taking a quick cleaning and changing in the hotel before it was back in the TT dodging through Shanghai traffic to dinner. Dinner was at an old Villa. It was very fancy and very friendly (at least I'm assuming what the workers were saying to me were pleasantries)! We had a private dining room and waiting for us were two familiar faces, Cristina and Isa. I hadn't seen Cristina since New Year's of 2007 when I was in Zaragoza Spain visiting her and my other Spanish friends. And Isa I hadn't seen since Caledonian Court in Scotland 2006. Following our arrival came three more Spanish. They were friends of Cris and Isa's who all work in Embassies in China and India. We all exchanged hugs and kisses and we could finally begin to relax.

Jet took care of ordering the dishes for dinner. The restaurant was typical Shanghainesse cuisine. We had different pork dishes, smoked fish, broiled fish, fried bean curd, stuffed lotus root, duck, rice, tofu, noodles, soups and fresh fruit. Everything was AMAZING!!! It was also Melissa's first experience with real Chinese food (she did good with the chopsticks!).

After dinner Melissa, Jet, Cris, Isa and I all went for a massage. We had a one hour Chinese full body massage which was indescribably wonderful after the long flight. After the massage they let us all relax on couches and served us fresh fruit and green tea. This ended up costing $12.50 per person for the hour long massage and tea service afterwards!!! While sipping my green tea in post massage bliss with Melissa and my International friends I remembered how much I love China and how much I love exploring the world.

I'm currently sitting in bed at 7am having had 5 hours of sleep. After posting this I am going to get a shower and wait for Jet to pick up Melissa and I. We are going to meet all of the Spanish again, but for breakfast this time. I'm not sure where it is at, but it is supposed to be typical Chinese style breakfast and very famous in Shanghai.

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Comments

[Jen]

Ni Hao
Where are the pictures? Come on now, get it together.

[Mom]

First Night
Off to a great start! Looking forward to pictures.