Shanghai, China

The morning immediately following a good night is, undoubtedly, not as good. I woke up early again, wanting something to help settle my stomach. I didn't know it at the time, but I would wake up like this many more times during this trip.

Took a walk to a nearby Cantonese restaurant to get some char siu (Cantonese BBQ pork) and beef brisket noodles in soup. Ah, the taste of home. It's incredible how much you miss little things without even knowing it. Hard to find good char siu.

As we waited for the food to come, we looked out the window and talked about what we would do for the rest of the day. I still hadn't really seen anything yet in Shanghai, so it was decided that I would get my fill of the sights today. First up: Xu Jia Hui. If you've read my other entries, you'll know that I usually don't bother giving backgrounds or histories of places I visit or things I see because Google and Wikipedia do a much better job than I do. I just provide the colour commentary and the odd photo here and there.

It was nice walking in this area...it was the Shanghai that I seemed to remember from my last visit here. High end shops, and people NOT walking directly into you from all directions.

Jeff needed to change some currency, so James and Eddie started looking for a money changer. These guys usually stand in front of banks, holding a man-purse and looking really shady. They give good rates and are, apparently, honest. I don't know what it is about handing over all my money to some Chinese guy standing outside a building that makes me feel uncomfortable, but Eddie assured me it was safe. Wasn't my money, so what the hell.

Oddly, we couldn't find any money changers (must be on holiday) so we had to stop into a bank.

Banks in Shanghai are strangely reminiscent of the ones in Tokyo. You walk in and take a number from a machine that looks like an ATM. Based on what transaction you are looking for, you get a different number, for a different queue. Then you sit and you wait. And wait. And wait. This part was no different than home.

When it was finally our turn, we found out that a passport is required to change money. So we wasted a lot of time and got nothing done at the bank. Again, no different than home.

The Bund

The Shanghai skyline is fast becoming one of the most recognizable in the world. Apparently, 20 years ago, this was some sort of undeveloped marsh land. Incredible what lack of building codes and corrupt government can achieve. I say this tongue-in-cheek, though I can't help but think of the 3 or 4 years it took to build the Sheppard subway line in Toronto. Anyway.

If I had to describe the Bund in two words, they would be: fucking crowded. 30 seconds after arriving at the Bund, the sky started getting dark and people were everywhere. It was maddening. Almost immediately, I asked to leave because I was feeling ill from being around so many people.

We walked 20 minutes toward where there should have been a crosswalk, but it was sealed for some reason, so we had to walk back the the direction we came from to another crosswalk. Perhaps "walk" isn't the right word, it was more like treading water, trying to keep my head above the waves of people, terrified that I would lose sight of my guides in the crowd. Never before did the words "all look same" hold so much meaning for me.

Nanjing Road

Finally wound our way out of the insanity along the waterside, only to find ourselves landlocked in more crowds. At least near the Bund, I could have chucked a few people into the water. Here, all hope was lost.

Last time I was here, Nanjing Road was empty. I could see the ground and I was actually smiling. Eddie later confessed that he was hoping that I wouldn't ask to visit the Bund or Nanjing Road. Apparently in the past few years, the number of visitors has exploded. Wish he hadn't humoured me.

I whipped out my camera to take a short clip of us walking through the crowds. Now that I watch it again, it doesn't seem quite so bad. I don't know why I was wishing for great flood waters to wash us all away into blissful oblivion.

Original Ray's

Ended the night in a pizza joint that served surprisingly good pizza. We were all so stressed out by the end of the day (because of the crowds) that Eddie took us to get massages. Personally, I hate being touched, so I had my doubts but he said it would make me feel better, so I relented.

The massage room had three beds, so all of us (James stayed home because he was feeling sick) were within arms' reach of each other. The masseuses/masseur showed up and went to work. The woman I had kept laughing at me because I was squirming under her touch. Couldn't help it, not used to being poked and prodded. Felt uncomfortable. I don't know why people would pay for this...until I got the head massage.

I never thought I could fall asleep with someone pressing their fingers into my face, but it happened. Afterwards, I asked Eddie if I could go back and just get the hour and a half of face/head massage. He said I could, but my face would probably turn to mush.

Damn her magic fingers.