Shanghai 02/05/11 - 03/05/11

02/05/11 – Shanghai

I woke up this morning and Linda made me a banquette to bring on the train. Linda is obsessed with food by the way; she should be a food critic or chef. I also get the impression she is obsessed with sleep but not sure what career path that could lead her down. She made sure I got in a taxi ok and we said our farewells before I left. I really like Linda, I’m sat on the train now remembering the two days we spent together pretty much consisting of her running around Wuhan waving at buses and taxis like a lunatic. In the space of two minutes she managed to hang of a taxi door handle trying to get in as the thing was driving along the road and then just jump into some random girls car because it looked like a taxi haha.

The train is currently doing 250km/h across the centre of China and I’m happy because I have a western toilet and paper is supplied, where was this two weeks ago!!
Arriving in Shanghai I hopped across a few metro lines and got to the Shanghai Soho Int Hostel. Johnson had emailed me to I gave him a call to arrange a meet up in the evening. Johnson came to the hostel and we ventured out to some outback part of Shanghai where Johnson’s old college owned a bar. When we got in we were surrounded by neon lights and girls shouting things like “I love you, I love you, I love you”. It’s ok I thought, Johnson wouldn’t bring me to one of these rip off places. Then we were escorted to a karaoke room and supplied with beer, fruit, nuts and other snacks and green tea. If I was with anyone else I would have been out the door but things were fine as we sat down with the owner to reminisce (in Chinese) and sing the night out with classics from the beatles and Britney Spears, my favourite was Zombie with was filmed on my phone but it won’t be making it onto the internet.

We caught the last metro back and Johnson went home to bed. I had other ideas though and decided to drink in the hostel bar until 5am and get about 10 different nationalities to play killer on pool… at least I knew what was going on if no one else did.

03/05/11 – Shanghai – Last day

Woke up and ate breakfast, then headed out for an hour in the back streets of Shanghai to explore the weird and wonderful goings on of the locals. I found an indoor market which sold about 20 different types of eggs and also some sort of shell fish that were engaged in a water fight, one even squirted water on me. After that I met Johnson and we went around some markets looking for a Chinese tea set for my auntie, I had already bought a little cup in the morning for 1 Yuan but I decided that wouldn’t be good enough. We mooched about all day and then Johnson treated me to a going home meal and then a beer back at the hostel as I had completely spent up. Now it's 22:20 and I need to get up at 04:50 for my flight home so time for bed.