July 16th marks my 1st trip to Shanghai.
A cosmopolitan city compared to cultural Beijing and misty from the humid heat combined with pollution. As far as spitting/rudeness is concerned, it seems to fare marginally better than Beijing, though still bad I reckon! The public toilets, even at the high-end malls or restaurants are still unimaginably filthy and smelly according to Marilyn whom I went sight-seeing with, while I chose to persevere till back to own hotel room.
We saw the famous bund at night in the breeze and dazzling lights, noting the contrast of the old charming buildings against the skyscrapers and modern architecture on the other side. Could also hear the tasteless and “obiang” Chinese pop songs playing through loud speakers in the nearby landmark - pearl orient tower - which is adorned with glittering pseudo-disco lights at night. Decided not to go up the tower for the aerial view of the fast-growing city coz of the hazy weather, and the off-putting blaring music does not help too I guess. Was later rather shocked to discover the next morning that the tower is actually a rather unflattering pink and silver…hee…I may sound a tad too critical and biased here but you have to see it to understand.
A cosmopolitan city compared to cultural Beijing and misty from the humid heat combined with pollution. As far as spitting/rudeness is concerned, it seems to fare marginally better than Beijing, though still bad I reckon! The public toilets, even at the high-end malls or restaurants are still unimaginably filthy and smelly according to Marilyn whom I went sight-seeing with, while I chose to persevere till back to own hotel room.
We saw the famous bund at night in the breeze and dazzling lights, noting the contrast of the old charming buildings against the skyscrapers and modern architecture on the other side. Could also hear the tasteless and “obiang” Chinese pop songs playing through loud speakers in the nearby landmark - pearl orient tower - which is adorned with glittering pseudo-disco lights at night. Decided not to go up the tower for the aerial view of the fast-growing city coz of the hazy weather, and the off-putting blaring music does not help too I guess. Was later rather shocked to discover the next morning that the tower is actually a rather unflattering pink and silver…hee…I may sound a tad too critical and biased here but you have to see it to understand.
Pretty happy to chance by Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese restaurant chain, before we head back. Stuffed ourselves full with soup, dumplings, rice, pork, greens, and dessert!
Woke up early next morning for more sight-seeing and shopping. I had a vain attack and decided to wear my pretty Marc Jacobs ballet pumps over my comfy and reliable leather sandals coz I thought the former matched better with my clothes. What a disastrous and idiotic call!! Two hours into scouring the streets near Nanjing road, I was limping into watsons looking for band-aids to soothe my burst blisters on my heels when already disheveled and sweaty from the blistering summer heat.
Then came my second vain attack while picking out what band-aids to get (dun even ask what’s gotten into me that day coz I really dunno!). I was going to pick out the normal band-aids when I spotted these Disney cartoon ones made by 3M. Pondered for a moment and decided 3M can’t be bad since they are known to stick right? Wrong! I spent four times the price getting these cutesy looking strips that are going to be concealed anyway, walked 50 metres to find them rubbing off and tearing apart. Absolutely no cushioning let alone protect my blisters from getting worse. I sighed and whined and apologized to Marilyn for slowing us down with these unnecessary hiccups, thinking if only I had listened to instinct and wore my leather sandals instead.
Exasperated with own goofy-ness and dopey-ness, and also can’t take the abrasions no more, I walked into the first shop I saw that sells shoes in hope of finding a pair of flip-flops. Eventually settled with this pair of sandals that did ease my agony for the rest of the day. Not the best looking ones I know but they are really comfortable, and I was desperate with the capital letter D.
Woke up early next morning for more sight-seeing and shopping. I had a vain attack and decided to wear my pretty Marc Jacobs ballet pumps over my comfy and reliable leather sandals coz I thought the former matched better with my clothes. What a disastrous and idiotic call!! Two hours into scouring the streets near Nanjing road, I was limping into watsons looking for band-aids to soothe my burst blisters on my heels when already disheveled and sweaty from the blistering summer heat.
Then came my second vain attack while picking out what band-aids to get (dun even ask what’s gotten into me that day coz I really dunno!). I was going to pick out the normal band-aids when I spotted these Disney cartoon ones made by 3M. Pondered for a moment and decided 3M can’t be bad since they are known to stick right? Wrong! I spent four times the price getting these cutesy looking strips that are going to be concealed anyway, walked 50 metres to find them rubbing off and tearing apart. Absolutely no cushioning let alone protect my blisters from getting worse. I sighed and whined and apologized to Marilyn for slowing us down with these unnecessary hiccups, thinking if only I had listened to instinct and wore my leather sandals instead.
Exasperated with own goofy-ness and dopey-ness, and also can’t take the abrasions no more, I walked into the first shop I saw that sells shoes in hope of finding a pair of flip-flops. Eventually settled with this pair of sandals that did ease my agony for the rest of the day. Not the best looking ones I know but they are really comfortable, and I was desperate with the capital letter D.
We also find ourselves constantly fighting off aggressive and so-in-your-face hassles chanting and nagging us to go to their nearby shops to look at all their fake guccis and pradas. These “scouts”, they could spot us a mile away and will immediately charge toward our direction, blocking our path and churning out all the brands they know in machine-gun speed. Now, this was something I was not expecting because I thought I looked the same (I am also Chinese!) and could blend in easily…so wrong…again…
I got to a point when I got into this mental shut-down mode and simply refused to acknowledge their presence.
Took the train back to an air-conditioned mall and sought comfort to a nice lunch and later dessert from a famous Hong Kong chain that we happen to pass by much to our delight. While waiting for our lunch I decided to take a “memorial” shot to mark my stupid vanity. I pulled out a fresh Disney band-aid, plastered it to my arm and posed for a picture for the fun of it. That one really stuck like a true 3M tape I must say, without the friction rubbing from anything that is…and no wound.
Took the train back to an air-conditioned mall and sought comfort to a nice lunch and later dessert from a famous Hong Kong chain that we happen to pass by much to our delight. While waiting for our lunch I decided to take a “memorial” shot to mark my stupid vanity. I pulled out a fresh Disney band-aid, plastered it to my arm and posed for a picture for the fun of it. That one really stuck like a true 3M tape I must say, without the friction rubbing from anything that is…and no wound.
Must say this is a pretty funny and haphazard 1st trip, would love to do more sight-seeing and taste more local dishes. I bid the city farewell (for now) with a new bag for 50dh (neither gucci nor prada), 5 big packs of sesame dumplings, another big pack of meat dumplings, fishballs, and century eggs (that got confiscated by dubai customs apparently with new avian flu restrictions?!). Oh, and a couple of pieces of clothing from Zara sale – yes…we went to Zara…!
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