Wow, time is whipping by. We were so busy yesterday that I did not get a chance to blog/write you. I took a lot of pictures and posted those last night knowing I would have more time today to recap the day's adventures today.
Shanghai is everything I envisioned...lots of bonsai trees and winding rivers and traditional chinese architecture...reminds me of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", one of my favorite movies. From what Drew explained to me, Beijing and other parts if mainland China are not like Shanghai. It appears that the financial explosion in Shanghai has made it a lot like the western world. It definitely has several classes of people as displayed in its neighborhoods.
I woke Drew up early so that we could take a taxi to Fu Xing Park to watch Tai Chi. Unfortunately the weather was uncooperative and it was raining, however, we were assured that rain or shine, Tai Chi would go on. We decided we had had enough of the hotel breakfast food and decided we would find food on the fly.
Getting a taxi in Shanghai when it is raining is impossible. We waited 20 minutes and then snagged one! Yea!! We got to beautiful Fu Xing Park at 8:00 a.m., however, no Tai Chi,...too wet. Bummer! With raincoats on, we walked through the beautiful park and contiguous neighborhoods on our way back to the center of the city. But first, I needed COFFEE!! We walked about 10-12 blocks and came upon some food, unidentifiable food. Discouraged, starving and no caffeine, our luck changed!! We came upon a Japanese bakery that brought tears to my eyes!! Butter!! Hadn't seen butter on or in food for a week!! The pastries were croissant like sandwiches with ham, cheese, bacon, you name it, beautiful pastries!! One of the croissant like sandwiches had fruit cut up in a cream cheese and stuffed in between the the buttery crust. MMMMMmmmmmm. Drew grabbed a ham/cheese croissant and then suggested I grab the same one except with spinach. I love spinach, so I was excited and drooling! The Japanese bakery was called Ichido and I want to buy a franchise for the States!! Definitely a hit!!
The pastries were bagged up and we were now in search of coffee. The perfect morning breakfast!! Two doors down we found a coffee place and I ordered a latte and Drew ordered "American" coffee. My latte was excellent, however, I think they misunderstood Drew and gave him a cup of Texas oil. My gosh, it was so thick! We laughed! You couldn't even use a straw to drink that stuff!! So funny! American coffee!!! Lol!
Drew loved his ham/cheese croissant, which was half butter. My breakfast treat was not ham/cheese with spinach, but tuna with spinach! I wanted to beat Drew! If it wasn't for the buttered croissant, I don't know if I would have eaten tuna for breakfast!! Again, we laughed our fanny's off! Tuna for breakfast!! The icing on the cake was the cream filled croissant, to be split between the two of us, for a little something sweet. Again, Ufda, the cream filled croissant was half fluff and half bean curds!! Very good, but what a surprise. I still want to open a Ichido in Minnesota!!
At this point we were good and damp from the rain. We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and decided to relax and dry out for an hour or two before taking off for some more sight seeing!!
About 3:00 we woke from a mini nap and decided to take the "Big Bus" back to Yu Garden. We were both hungry and thought we could find some street food around there. Also, we were curious about the big jade rock at the Garden that was emitting steam. The bus took us near the entrance of Yu Garden, but first we had to walk through the fabric, button and lace district (oh darn!!). Because it was super busy we just kept walking. Drew lectured me again about crossing China streets...look straight ahead, don't stop or flinch, just keep walking. Wow, even though the cars have the right away, just keep walking. Unfortunately I flinched and Drew pushed me forward and yelled don't stop!! Cars were turning in front of us, back of us, on the side of us, all over. Crazy drivers!! And honkers!!
We got to the food street and the smell was not enticing. I suggested that we look for soup with noodles. We found a place that cooked the noodles right in front of you in a huge kettle of water and then placed them in the bowl, mixed with a prior prepared beef sauce. The hot water in the soup bowl warmed up the meat sauce and kept the noodles steaming. Not too bad. I used CHOPSTICKS and felt like no one was laughing, so it was a good meal!!
We then paid to enter the gardens...worth every penny! It was like a maze and beautiful. The buildings were amazing Chinese architecture and ornate from roof to floor. The koi fish were gorgeous. HUGE! The calligraphy and art were spectacular. Very enjoyable couple of hours walking and enjoying a tranquil setting of plants, art and achitecture.
We grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and fell asleep early.
Tomorrow we leave for Tianjin, China. Drew will be in Tianjin for three months studying.
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