Welcome to Shanghai, what I think is the most beautiful port so far! The amazing creativity in tall building design is stunning as you will see by the pictures. It is situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta and is the 7th largest city in the World as well as one of the busiest ports. Often called the “Paris of the East” it is comparable to New York and London. What is really cool are the many sampans creatively decked out in lights that flow up and down the river at night serving dinner and music. The waterfront is famous for the walkway called the Bund and it is completely filled with tourists and locals alike. Problematic to the already teeming streets, is the fact that the World Expo is here till October 27. But they redeveloped the city in anticipation of this event so it’s good timing for us. Many of our fellow travelers went to the expo but the lines were horrendous and I still can’t stand for a long time so we opted for a short city tour and walkabout of our own.
Below are pics of the beautiful skyline, a nearby park on the water, the Bund – located in front of the old clock tower and a view of the city from the 88th floor of the Jin Mao building.
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The first day we took a tour which included the stop at the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Building where we took these incredible pictures. But we got an idea about the city so we could do our own thing the next day. Before we went back to the ship we stopped for lunch. We mistakenly ordered a course of birds nest soup among other good sounding items. Here they bring the bill first so when we got it we were shocked to see it was $200 US! So we asked the waiter and she indicted – in Chinese – the soup we ordered was $30 a bowl! Yike! So we agreed to go ahead with it – well they wouldn’t let us change our order so we sucked it up – so to speak!!! LOL. The rest of the meal was pretty good and then we got the aforementioned, very expensive cup of soup! First, it was lukewarm but kind of tasty and looked like chicken soup. that is until we saw the floating jelly fish! EEEWWWWWWWW!!!! No one ate it except Mark who claims he “Loved it”! Anyway, we all figured we just got “Shanghaid”. After a brief rest back at the ship we went out on another tour to a fabulous Acrobatics show that rivals any Circque de Soliel you have ever seen! We couldn’t take pictures but it was a very dramatic and death defying show.
The next day we were out on our own, mingling with the crowds and doing a little shopping. We walked pretty far on the biggest street (can’t remember the name). which is similar to Rodeo Dr. but wider and filled with about a million more people! But the same stores – Rolex, Cartier, Tiffany, Louis V., Coach etc. Same prices and no bargains there. But we found some side streets and were approached by many private sellers who offered the deal s of a lifetime. Not so much. We also walked along the Bund and had some ice cream (Haagen Das) and watched the crowds.
But wait, it gets better. After a brief respite on the ship we went back out for drinks at the top of the 32 floor Hyatt and Mark suggested a place for dinner – Japanese Teppanyaki. We were a little reluctant after the lunch caper but how can you screw up teppanyaki. So we sat at the bar in front of the grill and watched them make a spectacular meal that we all enjoyed very much. Till the Udon noodle course – which was last. The chef cooked the noodles in front of us and it smelled heavenly, mixed with some veggies and garlic. He piled each plate with a portion of noodles and then added a sprinkle of what looked like dried mushrooms. When I got mine I mixed it all together and dove in. It was quite good. However, Hank started to eat his when lo – the sprinkled dried mushrooms? started to move – it can only be described as like little worms. Well that put everyone off but mine didn’t do that so I ate more. Robin claimed it was “NOT ALIVE” but Mark said it some form of fish. The look on Hank’s face was priceless and he ate no more! We have retold this story many times and get a laugh out of it every time. Except Hank who may never trust anyone’s food suggestions again! Yep – Shanghaid twice!.
Stay tuned for more adventures with the Brocks and the Nicoletti’s. Love to all for now… Maryann and Robin
