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2005-10-17 | 6:38 p.m.
China 2005-Part 5 of many
Friday we had a wicked-early flight to Shanghai, so we met in the lobby before most of the staff was stirring. Brigadoon was outside, and we literally couldn�t see the sidewalk outside the full-length windows. On our way to the hotel, the roads were full of people on their way to work and the airport. Oh lord, the airport was full of people. Due to my international flights, I was flying first class on this leg (I tell you, this trip was a first for so many reasons) and my coworker and his wife were in coach. We were on separate flights five minutes apart, so we�d meet in Shanghai to compare experiences. Once again, the car included a handler who got us to our check-in counters and took care of things and then it was thru security and into the seething mass of traveling humanity. I sat near some German tour group and watched in fascination as gates changed last-minute and a wall of people swarmed the new gate to board. The gates were really busses that would transport you to your plane for a tarmac boarding, so the gates� changing wasn�t as disturbing as one might think. However, I had to keep strict watch on my gate as it was boarding another flight promptly before mine. And sure enough, all of a sudden the people waiting at my gate for what I assumed was my flight rushed over to another gate and fidgeted in line. We wedged into the bus, and headed out in the rain towards our plane on the other side of the parking lot. First, tho, 4 big daddies had to roll past us with their wings dusting our heads. Seriously. I thought those planes were huge from a mini-bus. Imagine standing directly under the wing as it taxies over you� yeah. Awesome and slightly scary. We boarded thru the rain and I found myself pretty much alone in first. I had slippers and a drink of something and a nice nap. I woke up to the in-flight snack; not the pack of wasabi peas I was initially served, but the entire three-course breakfast on real china with silverware I was served. The terrain shifted from verdant hills to dusty plains, and ribbons of water and road held things together. Huge factories with their attendant buildings popped up and then more and more as we reached the far outskirts of Shanghai. We debarked in gleaming sunshine and puffy clouds dotting the bright blue sky, and I didn�t realize how much I had missed it.

Shanghai has a LOT of asphalt. And concrete. And neon. Holy crap. It�s like Vegas, only more refined and without the surrounding desert. I�m only going to gush about the architecture once I promise, but I can�t help it. It�s so very awesome how they planned the city and let the imported architects have free reign when they designed their highrises and civic buildings. Everything has a lot of space around it, so they don�t have the concrete canyons we have here. They also have a lot more green space, so it�s open and lush and gorgeous and I could breathe there, great gulping gasps of freedom.
Oh man, do I love it there. Our hotel was fantastic as well, with all the very nice amenities I adore. I was one of those horrible tourists and stole every bar of soap I could get my hands on�L�Occitaine verbena for my momma, and oh how yummy it is. We had a meet-n-greet across the river in Pudong, so off we went to count the Starbucks dotting the landscape. Then we went to dinner at M on the Bund, somewhere I had been thinking of for a while. Our reservations were for 9p (good god people, who can eat that late?!) so we had tapas and drinks prior in another neighborhood. But at M, oh the food was yummy and the view was divine and the people were pretty and so were we. Rumor has it that there is a picture validating my story about being in Shanghai, but I�m still waiting for that email. I got a totally dorky giggle of being the M on the Bund at that moment, so you�ll have to excuse me.


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recent entries:
I ain't no skating queen - 2006-01-18
Tie-dye should only happen in college - 2006-01-09
Homeowner 101, or: Why I rent. - 2006-01-04
The Great Tree Debacle - 2005-12-06
China 2005-Part 5 of many - 2005-10-17