The sites so far.

I promise that there will be pictures to show, just a bit of a technical challenge!. The relic that is this computer will not (amongst other things) plug and play, hence will not recognize the camera via usb cable! Will hunt for card reader today (sister assures me that will work). Haven't seen any big box stores that i can run into for it. Mostly luxury items, souvenir places and clothing boutiques.

On to what I've been doing. I arrive here and to the aparment by around 1pm. Took a shower and walked around the area. It's an interesting mix of new, upcoming and old! Construction every where. I enjoyed the walk into Xiantindi (a park, some intersting alleys and historic buildings), got some Starbucks (sometimes you need one!) - my sister was kind enough to leave me directions on how to find Xintiandi, some money and told me there was Starbucks there.

I found that the people working here were very friendly, the touristy stores were fun to look at but they didn't want you taking pictures (doesn't stop me, hehe). I had been warned about the restroom situation (not very clean, no tp, etc, so I came well prepared) but the restroom here were very clean, with an attendant, nice contempary fixtures (vessel sink), I could go on but you'd think I am nuts.... only problem is people don't believe in lines here, so unless you edge your way into the stall around the others, you're likely to be standing there until the cows come home!

Came back as the jet lag started to catch up with me. My sister arrived from work later that evening and we set out for dinner. Many choices in cuisine here, and my sister was particular in pointing out the many regional options under "chinese" - we went to a schezwan. The restaurant is called Leting and the food was very good, but a bit slow in arriving. We took a walk around the area, some interesting stores (the luxury mall), etc, got some Hagen Dazs and eventually got back here and crashed.

Day 2
The plan was to do things that would be beneficial to have my sister with me (speaks some of the language). So after a light breakfast (where my sister comments on why I must take pictures of food... why not?), we head out to the "market" for some shopping. I had thought this would be some outdoor type of place but it was in a building, 3 floors and store after store of "product". There were some interesting handicrafts and chinese clothing stores but mostly it knock off products from high end makers - purses, jewerly, clothing, etc. Shopping here is not for every one. Why? 1. The minute you touch anything, the sales staff swarm in on you to try and get you to buy it. 2. They expect you to bargain, so the price they give you is bogus 3. Foreigners beware. 4. The sales people are very pushy. I am a leisurely shopper and all of this just made it rather tedious. My sister is quite the bargainer and knows how to talk them up. I was curious as to why both her and sales clerk was laughing at a particular location and the clerk caved on her price - she told me that she said that is the price she wanted to pay and told the clerk she is very pretty! Ha ha, this is something they normally say to butter people up. After a couple of hours here, I walked away with a lot less money and some very interesting cultural items (a little girls chinese outfit, some chops, interesting abstractish asian theme small paintings, etc etc.



















We had shanghai-nese dim sum (it was very good but I didn't see why it's shanghai-nese). Headed home for a break after that.



















In the evening, we set out for a pedicure (some much needed pampering for my feet). We went to a place near by, it had one of those massage chair and foot spa things. The ladies that worked there were friendly and very tentative.

After the bit of pampering, we set out to the tallest building, the Grand Hyatt, and the restaurant on the top called Cloud 9. We were still quite full from lunch so we ordered up a sampler dessert and some drinks. My sister says it was a perfect girl day - shopping, pedicure and dessert - indeed. The sights were lovely from up here and considering the location, the prices were too bad (we paid about $35 US).














Observations:
1. Vehicles can make a right on red, but don't expect them to stop just because you're crossing in their path.
2. 2 wheeled vehicles (bicycles, mopeds, scooters) will not follow the rule of the road, including driving the wrong way up a one way street.
3. Signals count down to when they will change color.