(Surprising) Things Shanghai People Must Love:

I knew two things about Shanghai before going there-- the kids tested really well on math and language arts on the PISA, & it's the epicenter of bird flu. I spent almost my entire time in Shanghai in bed with the flu (luckily the non-fowl variety.) But, during my few days alive and well I witnessed a man almost get killed with a metro car and found Three (Surprising) Things Shanghai People Seem to Love.

Girlmances- India was the land of the bromance. China is the land of the girlmance. It takes spending a bit of time in a foreign country to realize just how "hands off" Americans are. I am greatly looking forward to my future of handshakes and the occasional hug. Girlmances, and to a lesser extent young couples (of all types) are incredibly lovey-dovey with tons of PDA. Arms around each other, giggling and the thing I can not quite get used to-- matching outfits seem to be all the rage. Girls seem to never be out alone and it seems they never have to be. With a population 1.36 billion, this is probably for the best.

The Bund (& epicenter of the girlmance in its natural habitat)

Dancing- What better thing to do with your girlmance than go dancing? But, who needs a dance studio, or a club when you have the street? I came back from my first of many unfortunate dinners of corn and chicken feet to hear lovely swing music outside my hostel. With about 30 couples and many more viewers, the entire street corner was packed. I also saw (mainly elderly women) do choreographed aerobics, tai chi, and my personal favorite, a boppy musical theater number straight faced outside a subway. In one day I counted 45 of these "dance troupes" all with at least 15 participants, the largest I saw had well over 70 people. And, of course, Martha came to mind every time.

Take it away.

KFC- What is with China and KFC? Say you're at the Shanghai Train Station and fancy some fried chicken. You walked past one on the right part of the building but don't want to turn around. Don't worry there's another on the left side. But, there aren't just one or two KFCs in the area. Oh no...

Count 'em up. You're set.

You can also pick up some rice congee and tree fungus salad while you're at it-- Finger Lickin' Good.

Traveling Transitions

I was a bit sad to leave Thailand-- in part because going to China was a bit of a tough transition... quite literally. I received an email the night before that my first flight was cancelled. I was rescheduled but on a flight that would make me miss my second flight. After quite a few phone calls I finally got a new flight, but, it would still be very close. When I learned my bag wouldn't go straight through I was sure I wouldn't make it.

Thai Airlines came through. Upon arrival in Bangkok I was met with a sign and a small army of Thai airlines workers... about 8 of them. We walked briskly through the airport, got my bag, was met by another Thai Airways person for my ticket, went through priority immigration and security and made it with five minutes to spare.

Source: Wikipedia.comRun Run Run

Big Bird & I had something in common:

I made it to Shanghai-- "in China!"

Chinese culture feels quite foreign to me. But unlike in India, at least everyone isn't staring... at least not as much. Since I've yet to find anyone that speaks any english-- I can make my mistakes in peace.

I do have a confession though. I don't particularly like Chinese food. Everything is eatable here, which makes the old "blindly pointing to Chinese menu" a rather dangerous sport. You don't know the animal or the part of the animal until it arrives. But even then, I frequently didn't know what I was eating even after I had finished it.

The most frustrating part of it, though, is that I can tell it was dreadfully unhealthy and it then had the audacity to not be delicious.

The Art of Cooking

Probably the highlight of my time in Thailand was the food. So, unsurprisingly, the cooking lesson I took (cooking is an art, right?) was wonderful.

I just hope TSA lets me keep my supplies.

The temples were great too.

My trip went so smoothly that I didn't even get any stories. Better for me, worse for my blog.

Sadly, I did not get to see the temple I really wanted to see as I did not get to cross into Burma (for a variety of reasons.)

But, ladies and gentlemen, I give you "A Temple Owl." And yes, I was going to make a special trip to another country just for this joke. I am the child of my parents.

Source: John Meckley

I know I can count on mom to be laughing right about now.

Thanks for that.

 

 

 

Oh Mai Mai Mai

Chiang Mai was simply wonderful. It didn't hurt that I was staying in one of the nicest places I've stayed in this year either. I did work in the morning, slept midday though the heat and went to markets and festivals at night. Grad school is going to be rough after this life.

My first day as I was walking home I had a man stop me outside an automechanic. He told me there was a large festival, and that I needed to come back that night. Though I'm unsure exactly what was happening the displays of dance, the outfits and the large baskets of flowers burned as offerings were delightful. I even got to participate writing names for prayers on a large piece of cloth. Locty & Jimmy had prayers made at their respective signs.

You're a Grand Old Palace

No ankles, no chest, no elbows, no stomach, no shoulders, and no flip flops was the dress code for The Grand Palace. I wore my only possible outfit and headed out. I felt a bit too strong a sense of accomplishment for being one of the only tourists not turned away at the door the first time.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. In my long black dress, sunglasses, and black sun umbrella I was fit for a funeral... But what a structure.

 

It's a Thai

Bangkok was warm. Every day it would climb to over a 100 (so much impressive than 37) and just stop. Walking outside was akin to swimming. The weather did wonders for my hair, and my appearance in general. I had no clue I was capible of sweating so profusely. Delightful.

To quote Beyoncé, "I woke up like this."

Now that I could all but be recruited to the Cape Town and Hungarian tourist boards, I'll try out for the Thai one. Thailand is the perfect "Asian Starter Country." You get culture, but it's not so foreign that you suffer from culture shock (you can wear what you'd wear at home, for example.) It's very easy to get around, I took a boat taxi almost every day that got me quickly where I needed to go and metros everywhere else. There's even a train in the basement of the airport that connects to the metro. The food is amazing. Even though I wasn't careful about ice (the water isn't drinkable) I was not sick at all. It's cheap, like really cheap, especially outside of Bangkok. I stayed in the best hostel I've ever stayed in (more on that later.) The shopping is amazing. I spent 7.5 hours on the Saturday milling around a massive outdoor market of 15,000 stalls. There's such variety in Thailand. Even though I stuck to Bangkok and Chiang Mai (a city in the far north) for my project, I've heard wonderful things about the islands, the jungles, and the beaches. But the reason I'd call it perhaps the best destination for travelers who want adventure but are not adventurous and solo travelers is that it's set up for tourism in the best possible way. I never felt unsafe, unwelcome, or tried to be sold anything (I know!) There weren't stares or hard selling. Bargaining is accepted, but it has to be done in a very polite fashion. If you start too low your business is refused. I found most people to be extremely polite, friendly and respectful. (Except for one demographic) I found the tourists to also be relatively polite and friendly.

Shuttle Boat

Sadly, the sex trade is alive and well in Bangkok, and it shows. As terribly depressing as it was, the upside was I had no stares, no weird calling out, touching or anything.

Though my body's natural defenses of frizz, sweat and reddening probably could be cited for this as well.

 

 

 

Dealing With It

I love a good deal. I come from the type of family that proudly tells recipients what percentage their gift was on sale. My flight to Thailand? $300. Why? Malaysia Air. Sorry mom. It was solidly one of the more uncomfortable long haul flights I've been on. My light and TV weren't working and even though it was morning in Amsterdam, they turned off the lights so we could get accustomed to Bangkok time. Meh.

My second flight went better until the landing. We landed so violently everyone screamed and assumed brace position (a first for me.) a man I'd not talked to grabbed my hand. It was over quickly but right after the pilot kept repeating "sorry, sorry, sorry" over the intercom. The rest of the trip I was simply in awe of the public transportation system. How can Bangkok's trains be so nice? (My cousins might need to do a case study here.) Plus, everyone politely stands to the sides in little lines, and let's everyone off before entering. What a novel idea.

Even better than the trains, though, has been the food. I ended up eating the exact same meal every day because it was so tasty... Though it doesn't photograph particularly well. For so long I resisted being that person who took pictures of food... But I succumbed and then didn't even do a very good job. If you're ever in Bangkok, head to "Inter" and get the red curry duck. It is heaven for less than $3.