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Shanghai Nights
March 12th - 17th
As i left the train station and headed off to the subway, i started to get a bit worried by all the strange looks i was getting. It was a warm day, so i had shorts and flip flops on, much to the amusement of the locals who were dressed for winter.
A huge difference from everywhere i have been so far, as i was the only western face all the way from the tube to the hostel, and hardly anyone understands english, or they are too embarassed to try in case they "lose face", so it is very difficult to find help, whereas up until now, either more signs were in english or the locals could speak a bit, so i was starting to feel like a proper traveller now (still minus the B.O., dreds and tattoos)
oh by the way i went up the wrong street and went miles in the wrong direction again.
anyway, eventually the force delivered me to the hostel, my first ever shared dorm experience, and mixing with poor people!!!
As it happens it was the best thing that could have happened as the social side is much better and i met loads of people (no leg over though) and it was a totally different experience. Only problem was the beer was cheap, and i became the resident pool champion - winner stays on, so i got hammered every night.
I will start the diet and exercise when i get to Japan.....
Shanghai is great. Far bigger than i imagined and a big contrast. One minute you can have more food than you can eat for a pound with the locals, the next minute you are walking past ferrari garages and drinking £5 a glass beers in the highest bar in the world in the 5th tallest building in the world, Jin Mao Towers (see photos) and paying £4 for a bottle of Corona in a club where women jump on the bar and start pouring out Tequila like at Coyote ugly.
Actually i bumped in to some idiot there who reckoned his brother knew me, and bizarrely the name did ring a bell. What a small world.
The river area rivals Hong Kong for the view and the shopping rivals Dubai, but turn a corner and you are back with the locals paying local prices.
Everyone smokes everywhere, and they ride these awful electric scooters. Awful because you can't hear the blooming things, so just when you think it is safe to step in to the street to avoid the crowds, you nearly get run over, again and again. I deserve to be in hospital by now.
Loads of hawkers, and the big scam here is to get young students (birds) to come up to you and pretend they are happy to welcome you to China, and then you get talking, and they invite you to go for some "bubble tea" with them (no it is not a sexual position, it is tea with bubbles of jelly in it) and then you get ripped off when it comes to the bill. Not that i would fall for a pretty girl wanting to talk to me.
Getting in to and getting round Japan was looking expensive, so i was in 2 minds, but thought you only live once and blew even more money booking a flight and a rail pass. but what the hell.
Went for some Shanghai dumplings which were delicious and cost next to nothing, and had loads of other food that i can not tell you what is called but it was good.
The hostel is a rarity in that it is very sociable and has a bar area and a pool table downstairs, and in fact quite a few people choose to live there as it is as cheap as an apartment (foreigners can not buy property), no cleaning to do and you can play pool all night. But, you can get such a good wage teaching, you only need to work weekends to pay the bills..............
perhaps the lap dance bar is looking like too many hours now???
Caught the MagLev train to the airport and it was unbelievable, you hardly felt you were moving, it was so smooth and quiet, and only cost £2.50. Unfortunately it only does the 400 Kmh during the day, but i had to be at the airport early, so had to make do with just 300 kmh, and it kept the speed up even around the bends, it was a great experience.
The airport at PuDong was not what i expected either, it was as big if not bigger than Bangkok. So it was all a bit low key really.
This is certainly not Communisn as i imagined it.....
Next Installment............ The sniffer dog and customs........welcome to Japan.!
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