Shanghai - A sea of sights and smells!

Since I arrived last night in Shanghai it's been one adventure after another. I'm staying at a fabulous place. The JC Mandarin is a very western hotel complete with HUGE fitness center (all cardio machines have their own flat screen tv), little amenities like every toiletry you can imagine including a bathroom scale which can actually weigh you in pounds, a Starbucks just across the street and even little slippers in the closet.

So first let's talk Starbucks. Many people know I'm hooked on the 'bucks to the extent that I even got myself a gift card so I could keep track of my spending there :) Some of you also know how complex my latte or frappachino order can be, so I'm sure you'll find my experience at the Shanghai Starbucks amusing. First that there even is a Starbucks here is pretty crazy but in the course of my day I've actually already seen 3. They're beautiful and really blend in well with the architecture. They have identical drinks here and in the US except they are translated a little differently.

There is no word for sprinkles in Mandarain, which is a riot to me since they are a critical component to one of their main drinks and it literally took every employee who had any grasp of English to try to understand sprinkles before I gave up. They also don't have Splenda in China, or at least not at Starbucks. They did have Equal which tastes like crap in coffee, ah well live and learn.

After coffee and a low-fat muffin (see note about no Splenda, translation, blech) I met up with my co-worker Patrick and we set off to shop and see the sights.

Until you've been to Shanghai, you really can't comprehend just how massive it is and how brimming with humanity. People are everywhere, there were times when I didn't even feel like I was walking but rather gliding in the sea of people. Sights, smells and sounds bombard you from every direction and here in this huge city, personal space is a luxury. The city is absolutely beautiful as it blends old world China with new world commerce. Here are just a few of the sights:



We had lunch at one of the top restaurants in Shanghai where there were several pictures of global leaders (Clinton was a favorite) enjoying the fare. Smoking is rampant so that made lunch a little less enjoyable but OMG I did not expect what came next. Turtle is a delicacy here so we got that in addition to several other dishes. There are virtually no real fruits or vegetables (bamboo shoots do not count) on the menu so I ordered sauteeed cauliflower and hoped for the best. Note to self, they do not do much preparation in China with their food so when the "turtle" came out, all it was missing was it's head :( I tried a bite of meat to be polite but it was too much for me especially after swimming with the beautiful sea turtles in Hawaii last month on vacation. It wasn't until I was spooning some soup though that I just about lost it when I scooped up this turtle claw. Yikes!!!!!!
Otherwise, I've gotten extremely good at bargaining, marveled at how many US products are being knocked off in the underground markets and decided something I pretty much already knew which is I am not a fan of Chinese food.



So I'm off to bed with my first day of meetings tomorrow. Work here doesn't start til 10am and it ends at 6pm so who knows what the days will be like.