Shanghai with Eric

April 30, 2011
Shanghai, China

As noted in last night’s blog I was up early (at least early to me!) to meet Eric for breakfast at 9AM. We ate in the lobby restaurant at Le Royal Méridien Shanghai. It was a large breakfast spread. Most things you could imagine wanting to eat for breakfast were there, as well as many things you would never want to eat for breakfast or at any time for that matter. The highlight was my raspberry yogurt. It was very clearly labeled with a picture of a raspberry and the word in English. When I opened it, I noticed it had an orange hue as opposed to pink. When I tasted it I realized that evidently in China raspberries are peaches.

After breakfast we set out on our day’s adventures. Our first stop was the fashion market. Eric had a list of things that his family wanted. I didn’t have anything specific on my list, I mostly just enjoy seeing the products, people and bargaining for the sake of bargaining. To get to the market we took the subway. I hadn’t ridden the subway in Shanghai yet. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. The shear mass of people and pushing and shoving that occurs is exactly what you would expect in a place where people have no concept of personal space. Eric told me to take note of how the people board the subway cars. It’s hilarious. They don’t allow one another to get off before boarding. Instead they stand directly in front of the doors and just push their way in. I’m not sure why it hasn’t seemed to occur to anyone that if they waited for people to get out of the car, they could then just fill the vacated space.

Eric visits Shanghai with some regularity so he has vendors with whom he most prefers to shop. He had warned me going into the market that he can be a bit of Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to negotiating. I was looking forward to seeing this because Eric in my experience can only be described as super nice, mild mannered guy. Stop one was Sammy the bag lady. Eric wanted to check colors of new arrivals. I peeked around the store, which is more like a six foot by six foot cube. Across from Sammy was Xiang the watch guy. Interestingly enough when I looked around Xiang’s cube, I didn’t see any watches. He was featuring sun glasses. Next on the list we went to the board shorts guy. Eric and his family live in San Diego, so he buys board shorts for his boys with regularity. I was entertained by the fact that the shorts (Billabong, Quicksilver and Hurley among others) come with wax scrappers. This is very practical for all the surfers in Shanghai. While wondering I found an item that interested me. I won’t mention what in case the person who will be receiving the gift reads this. I will say, however, that Eric was a force when it came to negotiating for it. Jekyll and Hyde definitely showed up.

Once we completed Eric’s to-do’s at the market we decided to stroll down to and around Pudong, both to see the sites and hoop hunt. We found one fun court with cool Chinese characters in the background but only a little of Shanghai’s iconic skyline. This was a taste but my thirst for a Shanghai hoop was still not quenched.

For lunch we ate at an awesome hole in the wall dumpling place. We didn’t have napkins, utensils (other than chopsticks), or a plate bigger than a silver dollar but that didn’t matter. I made a mess of myself and didn’t really care. It was that good.

The stop on the shopping portion of our tour was a DVD shop. I had not been in a counterfeit DVD shop in all my previous trip to Asia. It was pretty much just like the movies. You enter a main door where things appear more legal. A guy scopes you out a bit. Eric knew where he was going, so we first when through one “secret” door, then another, then up some stairs and we finally arrived in the “new releases” section. I thoroughly enjoyed this stop.

On our walk back to the hotel (we were probably a good 30 minutes or so out at this point) and later on in the evening, we saw all kinds of fantastic things that are probably better represented in pictures than words. Below is a sampling. Be sure to read the captions.


Talent: Very close to our hotel there appeared to be a “Talent” show or search. It was laughable terrible. I wish I had taken a video. This guy danced around with morocos tied with ribbons and occasional threw in a karate move. Eric just kept saying, “It has to get better... it has to get better!” I wanted to know the location of the gong.


I wonder if Obama would like or dislike being included in this crowd?


Canadian Gigalo - I wonder if he has any idea what this shirt means.


Eric had a fantastic line in regards to this. Only in China do you see men and boys peeing in the streets (you really do) and dogs in diapers.


I’ve seen next to no college gear for sale in the first few days in China. This picture would be the one exception. It crack me up that I can 7000 miles from home and the Civil War is still at play.

I concluded today by heading back to our first stop, the fashion market. After spending a day seeing what was out there I felt like I now had a better idea of some things I wanted to buy or at least negotiate on. I ended up acquiring more than I had planned but had I had a lot of fun in the process and I think I got some pretty darn good deals.

Shopping can be exhausting (no really!). It’s time for bed.

Until tomorrow,
Katy

Inside the Pearl Tower

April 29, 2011
Shanghai, China

I should have brought my Nike+ chip because I’d love to know how many miles I walked today. I’m guessing the over/under is 10.

I made it out of my room this morning shortly before 11AM. I didn’t have much of a plan in mind other than that I wanted to explore the city by foot and look for hoops. I also knew that I wanted to venture across the river towards the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Eric told me the best way to cross the river, or at least the most efficient way, is to take “the tourist tunnel”. It was hilarious. It cost roughly eight dollars for a roundtrip ticket on what Frohmer’s describes like this: “For a look at Shanghai kitsch at its worst, you can take a trip across—actually, under—the Huangpu in plastic, capsular cars. The accompanying light show is part Disney, part psychedelia, complete with flashing strobes, blowing tinsel, and swirling hallucinogenic images projected on the concrete walls. The five-minute ride will make your head spin; you'll wonder if the Chinese central government isn't giving Shanghai just a little too much money.”

Upon arrival on the other side of the Huangpu I instantly spotted some tennis courts I had seen on Google Maps. Often times tennis courts have a hoop hidden at one end and I was hopefully in this case that would be true. Unfortunately it was not. Had there been, it would have been a great shot with the Oriental Pearl Tower.

After failing to find a hoop on the tennis courts I decided it might be beneficial to go up in the tower to look for a hoop from above. I had read on Trip Advisor that lines are often insane to go up, so I decided to purchase lunch which includes a stop on the viewing levels. This worked out very nicely. I didn’t wait more than two minutes for the elevator.

The revolving restaurant which is located some 269+ meters above the ground was a nice little respite from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Shanghai. The food was only okay but the expedited access to the elevators and the view made the exorbitant price ($45) worth it (it cost $20 to go to the viewing levels). Something I’m still bitter about, however, is having paid an additional $13 for 750ml of water! I swear the guy told me it was 18 RMB ($3) but he ended up charging me 80 RMB!

I spent my entire rotating meal and an additional hour on the viewing floors of the tower looking for a basketball hoop. I spotted several more tennis courts but not a single basketball court. One neat part of the Pearl Tower is the viewing level with a plexiglass floor. I walked an entire lap around the building looking down some 250M. Below is a photo of the view I had while doing this.



Since I didn’t spot any hoops from the tower I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon walking around Pudong to see if I’d just stumble across a hoop. I walked for over two hours and didn’t see a single court. In a country as basketball crazy as China I can’t believe that it doesn’t have more outdoor courts. I have to believe that more will be built in the future. I guess that just means I’ll have to come back to Shanghai soon.

Even though I didn’t spot any hoops I did see all kinds of fun things on my walk. The architecture in Pudong is phenomenal. There are skyscrapers galore. The designs are quite varied, with the only common denominator being that most buildings appear to be seventy stories or higher.

One funny sight on my walk was the “Shanghai Hooters”. I fully realize writing this next bit that I’m a terrible person. I couldn’t help but wonder when I saw this, “Where do they find the waitresses to work there?” In general Chinese woman are a very flat chested bunch.

After riding back though the magical tunnel I had another funny inappropriate encounter, this time with the Shanghai Financial District Bull. Like the Wall Street Bull, this a large copper statue located in the financial part of town. Unlike the Wall Street Bull there is a cop constantly manning the statue to make sure no unsatisfactory behavior takes place. Touching the side of the bull, leaning against it, and almost sitting on its legs all seem like perfectly fine actions. Grabbing the bull’s balls, however, is greatly frowned upon. I saw a kid, probably in his late teens, go to the back of the bull and cup its balls with his hands. The previously stoic guard started blowing a whistle like crazy and running toward the kid. It was really quite entertaining. I hate to say it but I fear my dear Robin would not be welcome here.

I walked an additional couple hours around Puxi. I finally found a couple basketball courts. The courts had decently fun Chinese scenes around them but no iconic buildings. By the time I made it back to the hotel I was beat. I put my feet up and watched a bit of the Royal Wedding before heading back out for a little more evening exploring.

Around 11PM I met up with my cousin Eric who had arrived for the weekend from Wushi where he is currently during the week. We checked out the impressive views from the bar on the 66th story of the hotel and then decided that we both were too tired to get a drink. We made plans to meet up at 9AM for breakfast before exploring the city.

It is a shade passed midnight now and being that I have to be ready to go at 9AM I’m hitting the hay.

Until tomorrow,
Katy

Arrival in Shanghai

April 28, 2011
Shanghai, China

I’m tired. I played way too much Tetris on the 13 hour flight. I fell asleep shortly after take off and slept for the first five hours. When I woke up I went to the restroom, changed into more comfortable sleep clothes and then stopped by the galley to ask for a drink. When the flight attendant saw me she said, “Where did you come from?” She was thoroughly confused since I had been completely hidden and asleep in my cubby for the first five hours of the flight.

The flight attendant was nice enough to still serve me the meal I ordered prior to takeoff. It wasn’t bad for having been in the oven for many hours. I watched a movie while eating. At the end of the movie I decided to play a little Tetris. This was a terrible idea. Four hours later I was still playing Tetris. With an hour and a half left in the flight I decided to go back to sleep. I awoke just slightly before landing.

Arrival in Shanghai was simple. The customs line was short. The customs lady wasn’t particularly friendly but that’s not surprising because they never are anywhere in the world, except for maybe in the US where 75% of the time they say “welcome home”. Upon moving to the baggage claim area I was quickly reminded that I was in Asia. The first sign was the invasion on my personal space. I had left about three feet in front of myself and the baggage carousel so that others could see their bags. A lady managed to not only get herself in front of me but her luggage cart as well. The second sign was a very nicely dressed young woman, probably in her mid twenties carrying a stuffed animal. She wasn’t a mother. It was very clearly HER stuffed animal. The third sign was having “Hey lady, you want car?” asked of me a thousand times while exiting the baggage area. The fourth and final sign, for now, was the overwhelming smell of smoke when stepping outside. I don’t think the Chinese government has let its citizens know that smoking is bad for them yet.

My cousin Eric, who I will be visiting while here in Shanghai had advised me that the best way to get downtown to my hotel was to just take a metered cab. He noted that the cab drivers typically speak no English and that it would be helpful for me to have the name of the hotel in Chinese handy to give the driver. Fortunately Eric had given me something with this on it when I saw him in San Diego a few weeks ago. The driver spoke no English, so this piece of paper was a life saver. One part of the cab ride was particularly entertaining. There were ads playing on a little digital screen on the headrest of the front passenger seat. More than half the time I had no idea what was being advertised. One ad by Kohler had me thinking that a woman was going to sleep with a piece of household electrical equipment but I have no idea what the equipment was. It literally could have been a coffee maker or a small dishwasher. After 30 minutes or so I arrived downtown at Le Royal Méridien Shanghai.

Le Royal Méridien Shanghai is a very nice hotel, especially when you consider that I’m paying the GE rate. I think it’s very fair to say this is the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in for $110 a night. My favorite part of the room is the secret ninja hiding places. At least that’s what I think they are. There is one door in particular that has no purpose. It can be seen in the picture below. I also enjoy the gas mask in my closet. It’s fitting that I have this in a hotel room for the first time when I’m not traveling with Dr. P.



After acquainting myself with my hotel room, taking a shower and eating a snack I decided to go walk around a bit. I made it all the way down to the Bund which is always an amazing scene at night. One of my favorite parts of my walk was seeing or rather hearing a little people mover bus that went by. The first song it played was Jingle Bells. The second was Mary Had A Little Lamb and the third was I’m A Little Tea Pot. All renditions were sung by what sounded like a seven year old girl.

I’m now back at the hotel and it is pushing 11PM, so I’m going to call it a night.

Until tomorrow,
Katy

Personal Space

April 27, 2011
San Francisco, CA

I’m tired. I’m running on 40 minutes of sleep. It’s 11:09 am Pacific Daylight Time and I need to stay awake for another hour and a half before I can sleep for 13-15 hours and land in Shanghai.

Thus far the trip has been fairly uneventful. The Eugene airport was smooth sailing as usual. I was through security and waiting at the gate 39 minutes after leaving my house. I had a rather annoying seat mate from EUG to SFO. I’m typically well equipped to handle annoying people and crappy flying situations. In my backpack I have noise canceling headphones, eyeshades, snacks and a blanket. These items can typically make any seat mate tolerable. However the guy next to me today had absolutely NO sense of personal space. Sometimes you get ginormous people next to you and you sort of feel bad for them because you can tell they are trying to stay in their seat. That, however, was not the case with this guy. He wasn’t even that big, say maybe 6’ 0” 200lbs with sort of broad shoulders. He was on the plane before me (I decided to go to the bathroom one more time before boarding and therefore didn’t make my pre-board, you’re welcome for that detail). He the tray table in front of my seat down with his coffee cup on it. He seemed put out when I arrived at my row and told him I was in the window. He begrudgingly put up the tray table and stood up so I could sit down. As I slid across his seat to mine, I pulled down the armrest. Before I finished putting my backpack under the seat in front of me he had placed his arm not only on top of the entire arm rest but actually on my side of it. I don’t mean my half, I mean the part of it running perpendicular to my seat. I did my best to just lean against the window and ignore him but that become increasingly hard because he was constantly shaking. Each shake resulted in contact with me. Each time I was close to falling asleep he would elbow me again. How he didn’t find this as annoying as I, I will never know. Thankfully the flight was only an hour and five minutes. Needless to say I was happy to get off the plane in San Fran.

Upon arrival here I walked around the terminal for a half hour to get some exercise. Once I worked up an appetite I went to my usual Anchor Brewery Co. for an omelette. After finishing breakfast I walked down to the international terminal, took a few pictures of the new United paint jobs for dad. After that it was off to the Red Carpet Club where I am now. The best development here has been that the old coffee machines still exist here! In many recent RCC renovations the coffee machines have been changed so that they no longer include hot chocolate or english toffee coffee. I haven’t had either of those yet but I might take one for the road. On that note, I should start packing up to head to my gate. Here's hoping for more space in row 15 on that beauty below ;~)

I’ll write from Shanghai tonight!

Katy

Slurpees, Family and the Phillies

Philadelphia
April 4-7, 2011

This week mom and I went to visit Granny and Pop and the rest of the family in NJ. We arrived late at night on the Monday evening and caught the end of what turned out to be a bummer of a national championship game in the Philly airport. On the way to Granny and Pop’s house mom and decided to get a Slurpee. Normally that wouldn’t be blog worthy but I had an epic throw down with the 7-11 checker.

Mom and I have been on a bit of a sugar free Slurpee binge of late. I’m well aware of the fact that a 32oz Slurpee in San Diego and Eugene costs $1.59, so when mom signed the Visa slip and it read $5.24, I was confused. I grabbed the receipt to look at it thinking maybe the prices were different in the east or that NJ recently instituted a Slurpee sin tax. Upon reading the receipt I noticed that the checker had charged us for two Tron special edition Slurpees at a price of $2.49 each (plus tax). Normally I wouldn’t care that much about a dollar but for some reason on this night I decided to go back and tell the guy that he wrung us up wrong. I showed him the receipt and said it wasn’t a big deal and that I would just like two of the commemorative cups and straws and I’d be on my way. He told me that I could have one. I said, I paid for two and I wanted two. He then told me I was lucky to have one since the sign said what I bought cost $2.49. I walked him over to the sign and he said, “See” and pointed to the Tron sign. I then pointed to the sign for the drink we bought and said, “See”. He then chuckled a little and said, “Okay you can have one straw and cup.” I said, “NO. I want two cups and straws because that’s what I paid for.” He then said, “but you already have a cup.” I said, “Yes but it’s the cheap plastic cup that comes with every Slurpee. Why don’t you just give me a refund and rering me for what I bought.” He then said, “It’s okay, just take one cup.” I again reiterated, I wasn’t willing to take that deal. Five minutes later I finally got him to agree to refund my card and then charge me appropriately for what I bought. After finally making it to the house around midnight, mom and I hung out with Granny for a bit and then called it a night.

We got up at a decent hour for us on Tuesday and made it to Perkins for lunch with Granny, Pop and Ben. As many of you know, I LOVE Perkins. For my west coast readers it’s a cheap, old person’s restaurant. The portions are huge and it serves breakfast all day. Just my kind of a place! After lunch the old people went home for a nap and Ben and I went bowling. Neither of us played great (no games over 200) but we played okay (all games over 150).

For dinner the whole family came over and we had take out Chinese. Later in the evening my friend Enyo, who recently moved to Philly to work at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, stopped by. It was fantastic to see her.

Wednesday morning mom and I got up early to go and see Ben at work at the Philadelphia Pretzel Factory. Ben is currently managing the store on Main Street in Moorestown. Mom wanted to see the production process in action and I was excited to sample. We tried the store’s newest product, the cheesesteak pretzel. It was ridiculously good. I’d highly recommend it to anyone.

Next, we met Beck and baby Jake at Panera. Jake was hilarious. He wanted a banana so bad he was nearly convulsing. For the rest of the poor kid’s life I intend to greet him with a squeal and shaking arms simply because of this lunch.

Wednesday night Ben, Leah and I went to the Phillies vs. Mets game. It was a blast. As you may or may not know the Phillies have what in all likelihood is the best starting pitching rotation in history. The night we went Joe Blanton was pitching (the worst of the starters). The game turned into a high scoring affair with the Phillies winning 10-7.

Thursday it was time to head back to good old PHL. Overall it was another successful family visit. China is up next on my travel agenda...

Until then,

Katy