The last day before home

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My last day in China had finally arrived a little too quickly, but it was here and it was going to be a very long day. I had managed to get a whole 3 hows sleep before getting up at 430 for the bus to Shanghai. We had to arrive in Shanghai early to meet two of the teachers flight hence the super early start. But this gave me a whole day to spend in Shanghai along with Shirwa, Marcus, Carlos and Imani. My flight was 1am in the morning so I had to leave for the airport after dinner, Carissa's flight was in the evening so she wasn't able to spend the whole day with us but at least had a chance to take a look around Shanghai.

So we arrived in Shanghai around 930 and after leaving my bag in Lisa's airport hotel room and Carissa arranging hers we took the fastest train in the world for whole 7minutes!! It only runs from the airport to the city and reachers 431km per hour!

Anyway after arriving in the city we made it to Carlos's hotel to leave their bags and then made it to Starbucks to meet Shirwa, but Shirwa had only just made it to his guesthouse so was going to be a while so we went in search of food to fill our very empty stomachs. It took a while because shops and Carissa just go hand in hand. We eventually found a place where everyone could eat somethings and they had 'Italian Noodles' i.e. spaghetti. But it was ok and after we went in search of Shirwa.

After meeting up with Shirwa we walked down to the bund, a really nice part of Shanghai by the river. There is a beautiful mix a old, traditional and modern buildings there and its a great area to just relax and walk around. We walked up and down the river and visited the monument, we then tried to find a building where we could get onto the roof top (many buildings had roof top bars) but most of them didn't seem to open until 6. It would have been a stunning view over the city. After taking Carissa to the train station where she was panicking about making her flight we tried another hotel where Marcus thought we could get onto the roof. Unfortunately they had changed it and there was no bar, so we made it back to Carlos's hotel room and after buying beer the boys were happy.

I have had many Thai massages but never a Chinese so before I flew home I wanted to have a relaxing massage. I talked Shirwa into coming along with me and we found somewhere not far from the hotel : ) It was soooo good!! Very different to a Thai massage but sooo relaxing unfortunately I just didn't have the time for a two hour one. We then we headed back to the hotel to find the others before dinner. Marcus knew the area and tried to find a popular Turkish restaurant but it wasn't there anymore. It took us an hour of walking around to find somewhere and by this time we were having to hurry as I had to make it back to the airport leaving at the latest 9. Eventually we were trying to find something quick but then ended up in a Korean BBQ restaurant. The food was amazing and luckily very quick. It was a great last minute find : ) before rushing off to the train station to make it to the airport on time. And home.

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