Shanghai Day 1 and 2

I forgot to mention the fog! It was so eerie! We woke up just before dinner on the final night, looked out the door and saw nothing! We were in fog so thick that we couldn't see anything past the balcony, couldn't see the water...every few minutes the Captain would sound the foghorn and it was just so creepy!

We wake on the final morning and head to the MDR. No idea how long it will take to disembark or get through Chinese Immigration so we figure we should fortify ourselves with one last MDR breakfast ;)

If only we had been seated with some of the lovely people we had met at other breakfasts but this morning we met the mother of all whiners! She spent the entire meal (over an hour) recounting every complaint she had made prior to and during the cruise! OMFG! If Nathan had not ordered something already I would have got up and asked to be seated elsewhere. As it was I closed my ears and ignored her as much as possible. Thank God she finished before we did and had left the table by the time the Captain announced that we were running approximately 1½ hours late due to the fog of the night before and hitting heavy traffic coming into Shanghai that forced him to slow down. I'm sure her world would have imploded at that moment!!

Now I have another understanding. When we first got on this ship we didn't care about being seated with others for breakfast and lunch, we had met some interesting people on our previous cruises and are always up for a chat. In the first few days on this ship we did see people insisting they would wait for a table for two rather than share and we thought they were being grumpy or silly. Nope, next cruise I will be one of those people! While we met some great ones the majority were just whiners! Such a sense of self entitlement and their constant negativity just wore me down :/

Even now I am on the cruise forums and some of them have reappeared, complaining about how their cruise was ruined by this, that or the other!

But back on track!

We went back to our cabin to wait for an update. We had selected self assisted disembarkation so our luggage was still in our room and we could just grab it and walk off the ship as soon as the gangway was opened. About 40 minutes later we got the call and about 10 minutes later we were off the ship and walking through Immigration! So easy!

Immigration was smooth and uneventful and we walked out into the terminal to see our names on a piece of paper, our transfer was waiting for us and whisked us out and onto a bus that was transferring us out to the parking lot where his van was waiting.

The drive from the marina to our hotel took about an hour and we got to see a lot of Shanghai on the way.

This place is huge! But the pollution is awful :(  The smog is so thick that they sun doesn't shine through and everything is seen through a haze.

By the time we got to the hotel my eyes were burning, my nose felt stuffy and the back of my throat scratched.

Not letting this stop us we dropped our bags at the hotel and headed straight out to find the nearest train station. Using our amazing Leyland skills we mastered the train system and went to the Shanghai Aquarium, the 7^th largest in the world.

After a quick lunch we then jumped on a HoHo for a tour around the major sights from the comfort of the top deck of a bus. The tour took a couple of hours and then we headed back to the hotel to figure what to do for dinner.

The hotel had a number of restaurants but the menus were westernised and we wanted to experience real Chinese food so we went out and found a place that turned out great! The only writing we understood was Dim Sum so we knew it was going to be like Yum Cha in Australia!

The menu had pictures so that helped! Nathan and I chose 5 dishes and one noodle dish and waited for the waitress to come back....and waited...and waited...all the waitresses were so freaked out by our presence that none would come and take our order!

Finally the manager came over and with pointing and finger indicating how many serves were ordered our meal :)

First 2 dishes come out and we are off to a great start! Then the 3^rd comes out and it is not a Yum Cha sized serving, it is a tureen with enough food to feed 6 people! Oops! 

Then the next dish was just as big! By the time the noodles came out we were praying that was all we had ordered but there was one final dish to come. 

We ate and ate and ate and every bite was amazing but we barely made a dent in the food. We felt so guilty but we couldn't possibly eat it all so we admitted defeat and left the table to go and pay the bill. We tried to let the manager know how good it was and we thing we succeeded. The bill came to about $48. We could have fed 10 people.

Day 2 in Shanghai and we head down to the included buffet for breakfast. Now I could easily eat Asian breakfast forever, pass by that bacon and those eggs and just give me the dumplings and the buns!

We have already decided that today we will go to the Shanghai Technology Museum so we head back to the train station. We loved the public transport in Shanghai, efficient, clean and so cheap! Incredibly easy to get around, get tickets, get on and off.

I wish the picture above was clearer, these were the happiest fish I have ever seen!  Lol huge smiles!

After the Museum we head to Yuyuan Gardens which were stunning! We spent a couple of hours wandering around and every turn had another surprise. You could walk through here and miss so many of the intricate details on the roofs and buildings but we delighted in finding them all :)

We found a place that sold food on a stick and both got a stick to try. Mine was pork and they stick a little bread roll on the end so you can make a sandwich as you pull the meat off! So tasty! Nathan got the chicken version and loved it. We were amused by a woman with an American accent berating her boyfriend as he was ordering one and saying she couldn't believe he was buying what was probably 'rat meat'...if that was rat I want more!

Aside: We went back to the hotel to freshen up. We always carry one hotel key each, just in case we lose one and as we exit the lift Nathan says he'll race me for the key. His is in his wallet in his pocket. Mine is in a pocket of my backpack on my back. We reach the door and I reach around my back, feel for the key, get it out and swipe the door open. Nathan says “How did you do that so fast! Oh, just like taking off a bra I suppose.” Lol

Tired from our long day of walking we decided to try another local restaurant near the hotel. Nathan had seen their ad playing on the side f the building while we were eating breakfast so we knew they actually were a Dim Sum restaurant!

Nevertheless I only let Nathan order 3 dishes and one rice dish. Every bite was again amazing and the “soup bags” were the best! The whole meal came to $8 and we were stuffed full.

After dinner we had a booking to see the Chinese acrobats from the Shanghai Acrobatic School and Troupe at the Shanghai Theatre! I was so excited! This was my must do for Shanghai and I had been looking forward to it for months!

We caught a cab to the Theatre as we didn't have much time and arrived just as the first act was starting.

The acrobats didn't disappoint, I was in awe of their strength and agility. One young acrobat could get to his feet from the splits just by sliding his feet towards each other, I was stunned!

We decided to walk to the nearest train station and get a train back to the hotel rather than take another cab as it was a lovely evening and we had not seen any of that area of Shanghai.