And so my Shanghai journal entry continues... But this time I get to tell you about the much more enjoyable section of the trip... The adult bit! On arrival at Shanghai train station I decided to walk from the station to the hostel in which I was staying. It was quite a distance but I figured it would give me chance to see a side of the city that I wouldn't normally see, and would also give me chance to familiarise myself with the layout of the city... And I was right! The walk took about an hour and twenty minutes, but I got to see some of real Shanghai and am really please to report that not all of the city has become westernised. Much of it is still extremely Chinese... I just hope that lasts! During the wander, I stopped at a food stall for some dim sum and nearly gave the poor woman a heart attack. I don't think she'd ever served a white person before! The hostel that I stayed in was brilliant. It is called the Captain's Hostel and I can't recommend it enough. The location is ideal, the building is lovely, the rooms are clean and spacious... And it was all topped off rather well by the fact that my room mates were all excellent and interesting people. Happy days! On my first night I got talking to a girl from Washington DC called Kat, who was good fun. We caught a taxi into Tongren Lu and visited a couple of cool bars called Big Bamboo and Malone's... Then stumbled home at silly o'clock and swiftly fell asleep. The next day I did all of the must-see sights around Remnin Square. I visited the very impressive Shanghai Museum, The Shanghai Art Museum, and The Urban Planning centre, before taking a long wander and taking many a photo of the area. That night a visit to a famous rock bar/club called Tanghui Bar involved quite a substantial amount of alcohol and some great music. Definitely a bar I'll visit again next time I'm in Shanghai. It was open-mic night and I was sooooo impressed by some of the talent... I had been a little concerned that it might be too close to karaoke... But that really wasn't the case. Yaayy!!! The next day I went with another room mate (Aine from Dublin) to see Yu Gardens and the surrounding area. We are both normally quite good at finding our way around cities, but somehow we got chatting about all sorts of stuff and got hideously lost... On more than one occasion!!! We had lots of fun though, wandering around the markets, haggling with street sellers (which I really have a knack for!) and taking photographs of all manner of weird and wonderful paraphernalia. We stopped for lunch at a very famous dim sum restaurant and accidently managed to order chicken's feet amongst other things. We were brave though, and I managed to eat my one and Aine licked hers so she could say she'd tried it. We had a great morning, despite the chicken's feet, and we laughed so much that it'll be great if we keep in touch. Who knows... I might run into her in India at some point!? We also stumbled upon the most amazing old man. He was absolutely hilarious and allowed us to take a photo of him whilst he stroked his beard. Definitely the highlight of the trip! The next couple of days involved more walking and taking photos. I visited Pudong using the Tourist Tunnel, which is possibly the most over-priced, over-rated, boring waste of time I have ever come across!!! I wandered along The Bund at night, taking in the awe-inspiring sights of Pudong and the Oriental Pearl. I visited numerous flea-markets, art districts and parks, and I also took some lovely strolls around the French Concession... Which is picturesque if a little strange; it looks very European but still has an Asian feel?!? I met a couple of really interesting guys on my last night... Michael and Gabrial. We spent a very relaxed evening discussing politics, architecture, travel, and society... All without too much arguing. Yet again, we consumed far too much beer but a good time was had by all I think and we got back to our dorms at a reasonable hour. And that was that... On my last morning I took a few final photos, wrote some postcards and soaked up the last of the Shanghai sun (which is much brighter than in Nanjing?!?) before catching my extremely slow train back home. Unfortunately, the train was not only slow, but it was also very over-crowded and the air-conditioning had broken... So there was a lot of shouting throughout the whole journey as the passengers protested about the conditions. Luckily enough, I was sitting next to the one person who could speak a reasonable amount of English... A seven year old girl... Hee hee hee. I helped her read her English book and she helped me to understand what everyone was shouting about... A good compromise I thought! So here I am now, back in my apartment... Tired and amazingly tanned for me. I am about to set to work on some homework for my Mandarin lessons. I have had two lessons now but the two week break means that I have forgotten most of what I have learnt... ... Not that I have learnt much. You don't start with words and phrases, you start with sounds and tones... A bit like a small child learning the alphabet I suppose. ... So a lot of mo, mi, me, ma, po, pi, pe etc will be heard from my apartment today... What lucky neighbours I have! So I'll bid you farewell and get on with it! I send a big hug to all of you and hope that everyone is well! Thanks for all the emails... It is great to hear what is going on in England and I love hearing everyone elses tales!!!