My last day and a half

Saturday and Sunday have now come to an end for me here in Shanghai. It's bitter sweet, as a part of me is looking forward to getting back to my home and seeing Esteban this next week. But I feel like I haven't done close to what I wanted to do personally while in Shanghai.

Saturday was a fun-filled day of some sight-seeing, shopping, dinner and more sight-seeing. I went to Yuyuan (or Yu Garden in English) and looked at some traditional Chinese architecture and gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous. I did some of the typical tourist shopping and bought some fab souvenirs for the loved ones in my life. And if anyone receives a souvenir from me that they don't want, I'm more than happy to keep it myself. I was looking at all of the loot on my bed last night and was thinking that I didn't want to give any of it away. Ha ha ha!! I'm so selfish. ;-)

The shopping experience in Yu Garden is very interesting. Of course being a white woman, I felt like every other street vendor accosted me and tried to get me to look at their watches and handbags. By the end, I was actually getting really annoyed. At first I was really polite with everyone and said, "No thank you. I'm not interested," and would smile. By the end, I would just say no, not make eye contact and keep walking. I negotiated prices on many of the things I purchased so that was exciting and a first for me. I even got a really fabulous pair of earrings. The woman first told me an amount equivalent to $45 CAD. I immediately said thanks, turned around and starting walking out. She yelled at me to stop and then offered me a price of $16 CAD for the same pair of earrings. We haggled back and forth and I got her down to $14 CAD. I was impressed with myself. But I have to wonder if other tourists always pay the original asking price. I mean I saved myself enough money have four extra pints of beer when I get home.

Which speaking of alcohol, I have been completely sober the entire time I've been here. Not one single drop of alcohol was consumed. Granted, it's only been 10 days, but it seems like recently with all of the activities going on in my life...hockey playoffs, Bree's graduation, Orlando, BBQs, F1 race, dinner with friends, World Cup, etc...I was consuming way too much alcohol. Anyways, not the point of this blog, but it does feel like quite the accomplishment to not consume alcohol on my entire trip. :-)

After shopping in Yuyuan, I went to another market which is more like shopping areas in North America. But there were some amazing shops with unique jewelery, tea shops, accessories and fashion. It was a different experience there but still lots of fun. I was walking around the area and even ran across the China flagship store for Coach, Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton! I was pleasantly surprised and felt very much at home. Although to my disappointment, the prices weren't any cheaper in Shanghai and so I did not end up with any luxury items.

Later on in the evening, I met up with my colleague for dinner (yummy food but nothing as crazy as the first dinner) and then we went to the top of the Shanghai World Finance Center (SWFC). It is the second tallest building in the world but has the highest lookout point of all the world's skyscrapers. And let me tell you, this was one tall building. However the craziest thing of all is that on the 100th floor, which is the highest look out point, there are clear floor tiles down the middle of the entire room. You can see straight down to the ground. At first I couldn't even look down through the floor, let alone walk from one side of the room to the other. Just to put it into perspective, I currently live on the 14th floor in my new apartment building that I moved into just over a month ago. I have a fantastic view of Montreal...just spectacular. I picked this apartment for the view. However, I cannot look over the side of my patio railing and look down at the ground. I have no problem with looking out over the city of Montreal, but I cannot look down at the sidewalk or street below. Now put me on the 100th floor of a building and this compounds the height issue.

Eventually I was able to walk across the room as long as I didn't look down, but even when I got to the windows I had to slowly inch closer and have a death grip on the railing that was at the windows. When did I become such a coward?!?! But man, when you get to the window of the SWFC and look out across Shanghai, it's amazing!! If you remember, in a previous post I was telling you about all of the lights at night in Shanghai. Imagine seeing all of that in one view as you look at the city. It's unbelievable. In order to get to the 100th floor, you have to wait in like 4 different queues; one to buy your ticket, one to see the introductory video, one to get on the elevator to the 94th floor, another to get on the elevator to the 100th floor. Then on the way down, you have two more queues; one to leave the 100th floor and one to leave the 94th floor and go to the bottom floor. I think my colleague and I only spent 15-20 minutes on the 100th floor. But I realized the entire process was about 2 hours. Even considering all of this, it was totally worth it to experience Shanghai like that. This is a definite Must-do for anyone who visits Shanghai.

Oh and by the way, if you visit Shanghai in 2012 or after, you might get to experience the new high rise building which is supposed to be twice as tall as the SWFC. Amazing, huh?

On Sunday, I did some more shopping because I still hadn't found the perfect gift for everyone. I went to a different place for my final shopping. I had intended to go to the Jade Buddha Temple but ran out of time before I had to check out of the hotel and begin my 24 hours of travel on Sunday afternoon. I think that is my biggest disappointment from my trip because I really wanted to see the Buddhist temple. I guess I now have an excuse to go back at some point. I hopped in a taxi and proceeded back to the airport. While waiting in line for the airport check-in, I met 4 really nice women, two originally from China but currently living in New Jersey and two young women living in San Antonio.

The trip home was mostly uneventful and actually wasn't as bad as my trip going to Shanghai. The airplane was much roomier and thus I felt more comfortable during the 13 hour duration. Plus, my seatmate was really nice and kind of cute. ;-) I finally made it home at midnight on Sunday night. And the rest is history...