Shanghai day one (Saturday)
-By the by, I'm posting blog entries from my IPhone, so please excuse the grammar and possible autocorrect errors that will inevitably be littered throughout them-
Found our hostel, le tour, that provides free Internet and a host of other services and even has and exchange or borrow (impromptu) library for travelers. It has both pool and ping pong tables to satisfy both east and western tastes and a bar on the roof that seems to please everyone. We were told to avoid touching the stray urban animals here, but the hostel cat must have had kittens recently, because they roam and play together around the property and atop the terrace bar, and the locals love to play with them! They are adorable, look just like the ones back home.
After dropping our stuff off in our simple yet amenity ridden room, dad and I headed to the nanpu bridge (in the style of the canadian Alexander Fraser bridge) textile marketplace and after 2+ hours of bargaining, I had a hairpin and dad had 2 tailored suits to be made for the following Monday afternoon. However, in attaining our bargains rates, we feel we lost friends and therefore preceded to avoid the corner store tailor on subsequent visits :s.
After several rides, we became old hats at riding the clean, bright and air conditioned metro. However, our first visit could not have been successful without the help of and Asian-American elderly women that took pity on us and guided us step- by-step through buying a ticket at the automated, and only, tellers.
Everyone we meet is overly friendly and helpful, I'm amazed that we had the impression they wouldn't be! We had been told the opposite by people back home, but I can't fathom why?!
I believe our first meal was at a chinese chain restaurant- soo cheap, but not as good as the small local places, that also cost nothing. In china, It couldn't be easier to stuff 2 people for much less than 10$ Canadian at every meal.
I'm learning very quickly that dad and I have different sense of direction. After choosing to keep my mouth shut and appease him by walking my feet off in search of a garden I didn't think was in the area, I now speak my mind in cases of directional doubt, so as to avoid plunging myself into drink on the hostel terrace bar at the end of the night!
The first day was hard for us both, we had too little sleep and too much walking, but we quickly learned from our mistake and now keep sane by monitoring each others levels of fatigue.