06.12.02 China Trip-Day 3 Today Ashlyn and I got up and had breakfast, cruised around the hotel, and sat around in the lobby staring at business people check in and out. Aric came back around noon to tell me that his company is relocating us to a different hotel in the city. They moved us on my account...they said that if we stayed in the city, there would be a lot more for me and the baby to see and do during the day. *Awww!* How thoughtful! Although I was sad to leave the Ramada Plaza, I was excited to see more of China. We packed up and left for the city. Shanghai is really BIG. The drive to the city took 40 minutes. We checked into the Jin Jiang Hotel. It's an older well known five-star hotel. We stayed on the 26th floor. Aric had the rest of the day off, so after unpacking and getting settled in, we went down to explore the nearby streets. Aric and I had lunch at "Bai Feng Tang" -a dim sum restaurant. It was really hard ordering since neither of us can read Chinese. Ugh, I knew I should have paid more attention in Chinese School. =( After struggling with every other word, we had to finally ask for an English menu. Lunch was great! The food was really good. Dim sum back in the States can't compare. After lunch, we walked around and shopped. We went down this one street which had all shoe stores. I went into some, but got pushed around quite a bit. I realized that I'm used to being courteuos of people's personal space and allowing others to walk in front of me...but in China, if you want to get anywhere, you just have to make your own way...even if it means stepping on some toes. =P Aric and I bumped into a DVD vendor on the street. We shuffled through the guy's box and walked away with nearly 30 DVDs...and only for a buck a piece! We got "A Beautiful Mind", "Monsters, Inc.", "Spiderman", "Seven", "Friends-The Complete 3rd Season", "Legally Blond", "Monster's Ball", "The Lord of the Rings", "Bad Company", and "Sum of All Fears", just to name a few. We spend the whole afternoon shopping and walking around. It was easy to find our hotel since it's one of the tallest buildings in that area. The Jin Jiang Hotel has a doble decker revolving restaurant and club on the 46th floor. We
got back around 7 or 8pm. We were too tired and pooped to go out and
find a restaurant so we opted for room service. Besides, Ashlyn was
still jet-lagged and fussed a lot, and staying just seemed easier. We
noticed that they brought us a crib, turned down our beds, and left
little candied plums on our pillows. =) Once
again, while we were out, Ashlyn got a lot of stares and points. People
here point a lot. I'm sure it's not meant to be inconsiderate. I just
have to get used to the different customs and behaviors. For instance,
hawking a loogie on the street is not considered disgusting...even if
it came from an attractive lady. =/ I also noticed that men go out in
public in their pajamas (complete with leather loafers) like it was
no big deal. Hmmm?!?!?! Pictures from today:
|