When Worlds Collide: Part 2

A Day in Shanghai

People may disagree with me, I may be shunned, hated, and scorned by all who know me but I think Shanghai is overrated. Don't get me wrong! I think it has the coolest skyline I have ever seen, New York pizza, one of the coolest shopping centers, Diet Coke, and I have wonderful memories there from New Years Eve 2013. However, I don't think it deserves as much hype as it gets. I've been three times now and I've found it to be the same thing every time (of course, I can be proven wrong and I will gladly eat my words but for now I stand by them). I enjoy myself whenever I go but it is always so much more of a hassle than it is worth. However, when Mama Woomer came for a visit, of course it was on our to do list of things to see and places to go. 

March 22nd

Once again, it was an early morning for the gang of three. Two bus rides and a subway later, we were at the old train station with our breakfast wraps (not as good as the ones in Cangqian) and train tickets in hand. The trains from Hangzhou to Shanghai run fairly regularly and it usually takes about an hour to get there. It's a nice introduction to the trains in China (especially since we had a six hour train ride coming up a week later) without being too overwhelming. 

We arrived in Shanghai just in time for lunch and I knew exactly where to go to get our Western food fix (don't you dare judge). Every time (all two of them prior to this) I have come to Shanghai--New Years Eve 2012 with Rachel and Olivia and New Years Eve 2013 with Adam--I have eaten at a restaurant called New York Style Pizza.

Stolen from Adam from our New Years Eve trip

This place is awesome! I am a hardcore pizza lover. Anytime I go down to Long Island (and especially Manhattan) I make sure to get at least one slice of pizza. Usually if you see pizza available in China, you know it'll be wonky Chinese pizza--small, not a lot of cheese, bizarre toppings (who the heck puts corn on pizza?!)--however, New York Style Pizza is as if you have walked right into a shop in the middle of Manhattan and it is glorious. 

Adam may be an advocate for Chicago deep dish pizza, but even he cannot deny the deliciousness that is this pizza. It reminded me of the pizza on Long Island, but the true test was to see what Mama Woomer thought of it. Right away I knew she would like it. How did I know? One word: Forks.

The verdict? The pizza passed the test!! Mama Woomer was impressed and thought it was delicious. The pizza, the beer, and the waffle fries did not last too long. Huge slices, thin crust, cheese, and actual pepperoni... I'm hungry just thinking about it!!

With (very) full tummies, we hopped back onto the subway and headed to the only thing I have ever really done in Shanghai (and honestly, one of the only things I actually know to do): The Bund. 

 It really is very beautiful. There is sort of a cement park (too big to be a sidewalk or path) right along the river and the Bund is seriously the coolest skyline I have ever seen. The Pearl Tower (Shanghai's TV tower) definitely draws your eye but there is also a sphere and the bottle opener building (no clue what their names are--they just look cool). It's the perfect backdrop for some great photos. It was where I rang in the New Year with Adam this year; the sight never gets old for me even though it rarely changes.

To try and mix things up a bit for us, we decided to cross the river and get up close and personal with the Pearl Tower. In the past, I've always just taken the metro over but wanting to be a bit different from every other time we've visited (poor Adam has been to Shanghai WAY more than I have), we decided to take the River Tunnel Thing (too lazy to actually get up and check what the ticket stub says). 

You go underground and travel under the river for 50元. It had such potential. I couldn't help but think back to Disney attractions and maybe that was what they were going for but they fell short... Oh God, did they fall short. You get into a small car (a gondola on wheels?) and follow a track under the river with lights flashing.

Sounds cool right?

WRONG!

Right away a man starts speaking in English with the absolute worst Chinese accent ever. He talks about journeys, shooting stars, hopes and dreams, heaven and hell, and soon there are those creepy blow up people that you see outside of used car shops that shake and dance back and forth as they were playing terrifying clown music. Yeah...

We had made it to the other side in one piece (though I think we might all be slightly traumatized... good thing we didn't buy a round trip ticket through the tunnel!!) and we were standing right at the base of the Pearl Tower. We attempted one of the classic, "Make it look like I'm holding it up!" pose. I don't want to brag, but--DANG!--I am good at taking these photos for other people (but that usually means that the photos where I attempt to pose fails miserably... my struggle is real). I was lying on the nasty Chinese sidewalk where babies pee and old men spit, trying to get the perfect shot for Mama Woomer. Meticulously, she moved her arms and hands to make it look like she was holding the Pearl Tower up just like I told her... She was so close before she dropped her hands and burst out laughing. This was the best I could get:

I had a difficult time forgiving her, but soon we continued on to the epic shopping center under the Science and Technology museum. Seriously, this place is obnoxious. Hats, shirts, jerseys, shoes, handbags, watches, scarves, sunglasses, movies, stuffed animals, tea, ceramics, electronics, artwork, jewelry, and kistchy souvenirs. If you can think of it, you can bet that it's there... and overpriced.

I have learned from the best when it comes to haggling (thank you, Rachel). This is really the only place in China that I have bought anything but any time I've bought souvenirs, I've been able to talk the prices down... sometimes way down. Now I don't pretend to be anywhere near as good as Rachel (but I'm still working at it). Mama Woomer had found something to get a friend of hers at 60元 each... About $10... Not awful but not great. What if we bought two? The man offered us two for 100元. Eh... Still not great. Some haggling and nearly walking away, we managed to talk him down to two for 70元. BOOM. Every place we visited that day, we haggled and got the prices down... I think we all got a sick kick out of it. Rachel, you would have been proud!!

By the time we made our way back to the train station on the other side of the city, it was getting dark and we were exhausted! It had been a long day filled with a lot of walking and haggling. We got back on our train and headed back to Hangzhou, all of us happy to relax our feet. We had gotten up early on our Saturday morning and it had been GO, GO, GO all day... we definitely were going to sleep well tonight!!

She really fell asleep!!

 Mom's first outing outside of Hangzhou was a success! It was back to dirty ol' Cangqian...

Until Next Time,

Amanda