Travelog

Took our time in the morning, then headed to Yu Yuan Garden in Shanghai. I was looking forward to some sight seeing, and the girls were sad that they had to take a break from shopping. As it turned out, Yu Garden offered a little bit of both. Lots of small shops lined streets of more traditional looking Chinese buildings.

We found a nice dollar store-esque place, and the girls stocked up on various knick knacks. Even I broke down and spent 18 yuan (about $2.50 Canadian). Next to the dollar store was a market with very narrow aisles and lots of tiny shops. We puzzled over how some of the shopkeepers even managed to get into their shop, because they were surrounded by products. The market did not seem tourist oriented, which was a nice departure. I bought a small pocket mirror because sometimes I forget how beautiful I am, and it’s nice to have a reminder (and mosty because Victoria and Gabriella have been chipping away at my self esteem over the past week).

We headed to Nanjing Rd. – which is a pedestrian street in Shanghai. The dialect on this street is quite different – instead of hello they say “bags, Gucci, Prada, Sunglasses, Watches, dvd dvd dvd”. I’m not exactly sure what that translates to in English, but I’m intent on finding out. Had lunch there, at a Chinese place called “Subway”. I had the sandwich of the day, which was a very exotic Spicy Italian 6″.

After dinner we walked down to the Bund, and took some pictures of Pudong across the river. Quite different than the view we had from the Pudong side on Wednesday. We walked around there for a while then headed back to the car and picked up Fransis at work.

Headed home from there, had dinner, and did some packing to prepare for our trip to Beijing in the morning.

A designated shopping day. We were supposed to meet with one of Elizabeth’s friends, but she called to say she was sick, so we ventured out on our own. The girls wanted Ugg Boots, so we headed to Hot Wind, where we’d heard rumours we might find them. The first Hot Wind store was fresh out of Uggs, but they directed us (read: Jay) to another Hot Wind that apparently had some in stock.

At the next store they did indeed have Uggs, but unfortunately they were not the right size for the girls. We waited around at the store while they had one of the employees fetch a pair from yet another location. The next pair fit, but were an ugly shade of purple, and quickly dismissed. The girls were pretty upset, but hopefully they’ll find Uggs again. Apparently they’re much cheaper in China. Go figure.

It was lunchtime next, and we haded to Pearl City and had lunch around the corner at a western place called Zentral. Had a yummy tuna melt sandwich, then headed to the Pearl City market for some more shopping.

Shopping here was pretty much the same as the underground market we were at on Tuesday – but the girls managed to find some more stuff to buy. Sunglasses, mostly – and some jeans. With the help of Jay (who knows how much one actually should pay, and laughs at the prices westerners pay), Adam picked up a coat and some watches. I left empty handed again.

With the first floor complete, we headed to the second floor, which was nothing but pearl jewelery shops. While the girls talked to one of the shopkeepers Elizabeth was familiar with, I headed up the stairs to the third floor. More shops up there, but obviously they don’t see a lot of people on that floor, because the sales people were chasing me through the hall. I headed back downstairs as the girls were finished with their pearl browsing, and we headed back to the car.

Another fantastic meal at home, and we stayed up to entertain Esther (who came by the night before when we’d all gone to sleep early).

Got off to an early enough start, bidding Fransis goodbye, as he headed to Wuhu or Huha or someting to that effect for a business trip. Christiaan was feeling better, so he caught the bus to school, and we had breakfast.  When Jay got back from dropping off Fransis, we prepared to head out, but Christiaan’s school called to say he still wasn’t feeling well. Jay drove us to the school to pick him up, and we took him back to the house.

Stopped at the bank to get some money, then headed to the Pudong side of the river, or the Eastern Promenade. Nice views of the old Bund from our vantage point, and the river was quite busy with boats. Stopped at a small grocery store to get a variety of things Elizabeth needed. The store caters to expats, and had a lot of foreign brands.

Jay took us to Super Brand Mall after that, where we headed to the fifth floor to get some food. Today was a sight seeing day, so we were trying to avoid any shopping. I’m not sure going to a mall was the best strategy, but we didn’t do too bad. Started out in one restaurant, before determining (thanks to Jay, who had joined us for lunch) that all the meat dishes were really vegetarian dishes flavoured to taste like meat. We left before anyone had a chance to order, and headed to Thai Thai, which was a fast-food Thai restaurant of sorts. Quite odd to see people smoking in the restaurant.  Had a nice variety of dishes there and, of course, we stopped in at a shop or two on our way back to the car.

The Shanghai Museum costs 20 RMB to enter, which is about $2.50 – a nice change from the 50 New Zealand dollars I paid to get into Te Puia in Rotorua. A nice, quiet museum, filled with calligraphy, ceramics, statues, costumes, and currency. A lot of the items were a little redundant, but they had some nice pieces. We had to visit the gift shop next, and they had some actual authentic pieces for sale. Prices were reasonable, as well.

Headed back home for a delightful Indonesian meal.  I think the jet lag was playing a toll on us all – I came back upstairs at 7:45pm and everyone had gone to bed. I lasted a little longer myself, but in the end I drifted off too.

Our motley crew increased by six this morning, when Christiaan announced “We have babies” whilst peeking into the Hamster cage. Turns out Fluffy and Zippy really ought to be Fluffy and Zipette, as they’d just had some new additions to their family.

Christian was still sick, but well enough to tag along with us to the market underneath the Science and Technology Museum subway (note: I link to wikipedia – but I can’t access it from China. The government protects its people from all the website’s lies). Esther, Elizabeth’s neighbour, is crazy enough to drive in Shanghai, and agreed to show us (and by us I mean Victoria and Gabriella) some of her favourite shops. I’m slowly adjusting to driving (or being a passenger) on the right side of the road again. Esther may be slightly crazier than some of the Chinese drivers, but we managed to make it to the market unscathed.

The horrible exhaust fumes that overwhelmed us when we entered the market slowly faded away (or we just got used to them) as we got further into the market. Not nearly as many shoe stores as the day before, which was a nice change. Lots of purse stores – the girls bought several from one place while I chatted with the saleswomen. Adam picked up some watches and Christiaan added to his Gameboy games collection. The girls also got some nice down filled jackets for dirt cheap. “Watches. Good price for you.”, “You want sunglasses?” – no one lets you walk by the store without trying to call you in. Christiaan brought his scooter, and I thought I’d be quick enough on that to avoid their beckoning, but no such luck.

We left just before Christiaan reached total meltdown (he’s not a huge fan of shopping, apparently), and headed back to the house for lunch. After lunch, we left Christiaan at home and Jay drove us to the fabric market downtown. Adam and I both got fitted for a bespoke suit and fitted shirt, and I also got a coat. I won’t see them until I’m back in Canada, so hopefully I’ll still like the styles then. I picked up a couple of ties and a scarf on the cheap too. Other than possibly buying some cufflinks, I think I’m set for any interviews when I get back to Canada.

A bit of a slow start, despite the lot of us being up quite early. Christiaan was still sick, so he stayed home from school, with the Ayi (a housekeeper of sorts), Christy. Fransis had to work, so Elizabeth had their driver, Jay, drive us to the French Concession in downtown Shanghai.

The Concession was a promenade of shops, and a small mall. The girls were keen on doing some shopping so we headed to the mall first. Prices were okay, but certainly not anything too outstanding. After the mall we walked down the pedestrian street and in to a few other shops while we looked for somewhere to have lunch.

Our attempts at lunch in the Concession failed us, so we went to one of Elizabeth’s favourite places in Shanghai – Element Fresh. Jay picked us up where he’d dropped us off, and drove through the city to the restaurant. Element Fresh is a modern restaurant with a wide selection of dishes to choose from. Gabriella and I had the same thing, Middle Eastern Chicken, and everyone else tried something different – but everyone seemed quite happy with their selection. Prices on food were also pretty decent, but not pennies a meal or anything to that effect.

Shopping seemed to be on the agenda, so we headed to a small street where every other store seemed to be a shoe store. Too many shoe stores. The girls were keen on going into nearly every store (or near enough to it), so getting down the street and back up the other side was a challenge. We overcame the challenge, despite being swarmed by people on the street intent on luring us to a location where we could see many many watches, sunglasses, purses, etc. “Pu Yao”, meaning “I don’t want it”, quickly became part of our Mandarin vocabulary.

We stopped at the grocery market on the way home, and wandered through the cd and dvd section in the market. Lots of cds and dvds at dirt cheap prices. Quality seems quite good too, although I have to question the legitimacy of some of the products.

I’m not too inclined on stocking up on anything, since I have no dvd or cd player, and don’t want to carry around said purchases for the rest of my travels.

Had a lovely dinner cooked by Fransis’ mom and Christy. Victoria and I started watching “Gone, Baby, Gone”, and were later joined by Gabriella. Victoria had seen it already, but was keen to watch it again. She fell asleep about half an hour in, but Gabriella outlasted her (although she went to bed under the impression the movie was over – when there was still about half an hour to go). Not as good as the book by a long shot, but not too bad.

The Air New Zealand flight was relatively pleasant. I slept a bit, but not nearly enough. I figure Mary Lou, Adam and the girls will be dealing with even more jet lag than me (12 hours difference vs. my 5) so I should still come out ahead. Watched “No Country For Old Men” (good, followed the book fairly closely), then mostly slept and ate (they feed you, despite what time it may be).

No problems getting through immigration at the airport, so I headed to the exit to meet up with Fransis, the best man from Mary Lou and Adam’s wedding. Only problem was that Fransis wasn’t there. To be fair, the flight was early. I checked the arrivals board, and saw that my flight wasn’t even listed – which I feared might only complicate matters.

I asked around and my exit was the only Arrivals area, so I figured I’d wander around there and wait for Fransis. After fifteen minutes or so, I remembered I had his mobile number so I tried to figure out how many numbers (of the 16 digit number I had) would need to be dialed to result in a connected call. With the help of someone who could obviously tell I was completely lost, I managed to get a phone that rang and rang. As I was hanging up, I saw Fransis as he saw me. We shook hands and headed to the car.

Drove through the (unusually, I’m told,) quiet streets of Pudong, Shanghai. Fransis and Elizabeth’s house is in a nice gated community with small (man-made I imagine) rivers running through it. Their house is beautiful inside and out. We chatted for a bit, then I figured I’d do them a favour and have a shower. I multitasked, reading and watching some movies with their 7 year old, Christiaan. It was Fransis’s birthday, so there was a nice spread of food, with a few neighbours heading over for a small get together. Fransis returned from his second run to the airport with some familiar (although tired looking) faces – Adam, Mary Lou, Gabriella, and Victoria.

Spent the rest of the day chatting with the various guests (all expats who’d been in China for years) and eating some good food. After the guests departed and the other Canadians headed to bed, I sorted through some of the stuff (mostly winter clothing) Mary Lou had brought for me and did some laundry and got caught up on this journal. Lorne burned me two episodes of Lost, but I was still tired from the jet lag and overall lack of sleep, so I called it a night fairly early. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get to see some of Shanghai city, since it doesn’t really feel like China yet.

In lieu of a hangover, one can often count on the weather to write-off the day. My room was mostly full of drunk (but friendly) Irish when I got back from being out with Kevin and Karen – so I chatted with them before actually getting to bed. One of them must have left the curtains drawn open, because I woke up to gray skies and rain splattered windows. I decided there was no point in rushing my awakening, so I slept for a little while longer, then decided I’d better get up if I wanted to check out by ten.

I had planned on going to Weineke Island, but that didn’t seem too likely. My alternate plans were to tag along with Kevin and Karen to a free concert somewhere in the city. I figured they’d probably bail on account of the weather, but I gave them a call to confirm. They were having trouble getting details on the event, and with the inclement weather they figured they’d probably pass on the concert – but I agreed to call them in a couple of hours to see where things stood.

Kevin told me where I’d be likely to find some secondhand bookstores, so I headed there and picked up “The Name of the Rose” by Umberto Eco, and traded in David Baldacci’s “Total Control”, which wasn’t all that great – but made for a very quick read (nearly 700 pages in three days). Afterwards, I picked up Chinese currency.

I gave the Double Ks a call and we decided to meet for lunch and maybe head to the museum or something. The weather had improved, but they still had no idea when the concert started. Ever so generous, they treated me to another meal, yet again. Not as tasty as the night before, but still quite good. We headed to the bookstore to find out the museum times in the Lonely Planet – and decided we didn’t really have enough time to see the museum (it was a late lunch and the museum closed early).

Instead of the museum we took the scenic bus to the Domain and walked around there. Similar to Sydney’s Domain, we checked out the Fernz Fernery (Fernz is a local company, apparently), and the Winter Gardens (aka greenhouses), then walked past the Auckland museum, and across the otherside of the domain. We were close enough to Kevin and Karen’s place that we popped in for tea. There place is a nice studio apartment close to the CBD. I had an L&P soda, which was quite tasty, and we chatted for a bit – but before long it was time to head to the hostel and catch my shuttle to the airport. I bid Kevin and Karen adieu, with the hope that we’d meet again soon. Their travel plans in North America don’t get them too close to Toronto, but I told them I’d be happy to show them around and offer free accomodation if they do find themselves in the area.

The airport was as airports are. I had a few New Zealand dollars to burn, so I wandered through some of the airport shops, then hopped on my plane at about 30 minutes to midnight.

Woke up and had a look through the guidebook to see what was worth doing in Auckland. Nothing really jumped out at me, so I and turned my last day in Auckland into a write-off decided to follow Emad’s advice and hit up Devonport via ferry. I’d be heading out to Wieneke the next day, but I’d heard good things about Devonport too so I figured why not.

First on my list, though, was the market at Aotea Square. I had a wander through, but wasn’t really blown away by the goods. I decided I’d head to the ferry, but en route I stumbled across a store called Super $3 Japan or something to that effect. It was filled with lots of useless and useful Made-in-China items, ranging from makeup products to gardening tools. Some definitely worth less than $3, but other items that should have cost a lot more. I wandered around and marvelled at everything, but figured $3 was too much to pay when I was flying to China the following evening.

Ferry was relatively cheap. I stopped in at the tourist information booth to get an idea of what was worth seeing in Devonport and she recommended a route. I started out on it – first heading up Mt. Victoria. Devonport is connected with the North Island, but juts out enough that it sits across the harbour from the Auckland CBD, and as a result Mt. Victoria offered some nice views. I took some pictures and then plopped myself on the grass overlooking the city and read some of my book. I was tempted to finish the book and trade it in at one of the local secondhand shops (which I couldn’t find in the CBD at all), but there wasn’t much protection from the sun, and I’d forgotten to put on sunscreen. I headed back down the hill then walked along the shore towards North Head.

Grabbed a late lunch in Devonport, then headed back to the CBD for a look around. Did some more reading in a small park, then went in search of a bookstore. No luck finding anything secondhand, so I headed back to the hostel and had a shower and got ready for my evening plans.

Evening plans consisted of meeting up with Kevin and Karen at the Westpac on Queen Street at 6:30pm. To refresh your memory, Kevin and Karen were the Scottish couple from the Uluru tour. They’d been in Auckland for a month, having taken a break from travelling to work for a couple more months. They’re in Auckland till July or so, then plan on doing some travelling around New Zealand before heading to North America.

Our plan was to grab dinner at a local pub, but as Kevin was waiting in line for the cash machine, a young lady approached us and regaled us with tales of $3000 worth of free alcohol just waiting to quench our thirst at the Globe Bar – which was less than 100 metres around the corner. Our plans suddenly derailed, we headed to Globe Bar (a place Kevin and Karen had been to a few times, as it was steps away from the hostel they stayed in before finding a flat). For someone who really doesn’t drink too much, I found myself staring down yet another pint of beer in the same week. We stared down two more (since the price was so good) then we decided we were much too hungry to wait any longer. The two Ks treated me to a really nice dinner (and more beer) at a pub called (I think) the Playground in Aotea Square.

We headed to K Road (three people whose names start with K heading to K Road – go figure) to seek out the drag queens (but only saw one), then on to the Ponsonby neighbourhood, where we stopped at another bar and had another drink. Two brits, Abby and Michelle, who Karen and Kevin met when they first came to Auckland, met us there. Another bar (and beer, yikes) after that – this time at a place called the Chapel. It looked busy, but we found a table without much effort. Had another drink there, and decided to call it a night after that, which was just as well, as I think one more beer would have lead to my downfall. Shared a cab home and got to sleep early enough that tomorrow probably won’t end up being a write-off.

Up early to do some backlogged work on the internet and get some photos uploaded. Before I knew it, it was nearly checkout time, and I still had to shower and eat. Logged off, and did just that, but in reverse order. Chatted with Fwad and his brother, Emad. Emad lives in Auckland, but Fwad was just visiting for a couple of weeks. They were heading to the same place I was, so I asked if they minded if I tagged along. They didn’t mind at all, and while Emad showered I headed to the bus station to book my bus to Auckland then back to the hostel to meet up with them.

From the hostel we walked to Te Puia. It was about twenty minutes, which was fine with me – but Fwad’s ankle was giving him trouble. It probably didn’t help much that it was raining. After the walk under not so great conditions it was hard to turn away when we saw the entry fee for the centre. In the end we paid, and joined a guided tour getting underway. The highlight of the park is the Pohutu geyser, and the various hot springs and hot mud pools in the area. I was also quite impressed by the kiwis they had on display. Kiwis are notoriously shy, so I wasn’t expecting to see one at all – even in a caged environment, but we lucked out with a rather active kiwi walking back and forth only inches from the glass. Sadly photographs were not permitted.

After the kiwi pavillion we headed to the Maori meeting house to see the Maori concert. The concert was pretty entertaining and, if tears and screaming are any indication, according to the two year old in front of me, terrifying.

It was pouring rain when we went to leave the pavilion, so we called a cab and headed to Fat Dog for lunch. I had kiwi style bangers and mash, which was tasty. Lamb sausage and mashed potatoes. The potatoes were sweet, but there was no indication that they’d used anything other than regular potatoes.

Headed back to the hostel to book accommodation in Auckland. First place was booked due to a Chemical Brothers concert in town, but I had no trouble at the next place I tried. Finished up my web work on the lobby computers (I really ought to have been keeping receipts for all my internet time).

Grabbed my bags from luggage storage, and headed to the bus station. Got on a small bus to Hamilton, and read for most of the trip. The North Island is pretty, but not nearly as nice as the South Island. In Hamilton we switched to a bigger (double decker) bus. Scenery was nicer on this route, but still doesn’t hold a candle to the south. Still it’s nice being able to take in the scenery without worrying about swerving into oncoming traffic.

In Auckland I quickly got my bearings and walked to the hostel. It was late, and I was hungry – I tried to order some wedges from the hostel bar, but the bartender/manager told me that $5 was too much to pay for wedges and sent me to an Oriental BBQ restaurant around the corner. I went, and had the pork and rice that he recommended. Filling, but I wasn’t a big fan of the sauce. Read for most of the night, then hit the sheets.