Arrived to a very rainy Shanghai and left it that way too. I’m a little bummed out because I was really looking forward to run on The Bund, especially because the skyline was so beautiful and the temperature was nice. I was expecting colder based on my trip to Beijing last year but it was more like Toronto late summer/early fall, where it’s warm enough to wear a tee and shorts but chilly enough to keep me cool during the run. The rain was light but it lasted my whole layover so I got myself a cheap, pretty-but-tacky umbrella. I guess it’ll come in handy for my stay in Singapore, which is my next stop. I really need to fucking get myself some waterproof shoes because I was stuck with wet socks and shoes again. Eventually I got fed up and just changed to my flip flops. I think people were really weirded out by that. Again, Chinese people were really bundled up while I was wearing a hoodie and skirt… and flip flops. Maybe they were just judging my clothing coordination… like a socks and sandals sort of thing. I was thinking to myself, “Why doesn’t everyone do this? This is amazing!” I’m talking about wearing sandals in the rain. You don’t have to worry about ruining a nice pair of shoes or the nasty feeling of having feet trapped in soggy socks; It made so much sense to me… until I got my foot stepped on in transit. Ouch.
I took transit during my last trip but I didn’t end up getting on a trains that were super crowded. This time I did. People were crammed, pressed up against each other and no one seemed to mind, especially because a lot of people were fiddling on their phones over someone else shoulder or head or the other way around. I tried to take the pushing a lot less personally this time. I actually pushed people myself. It was kind of exhilarating, actually. It was like a mild therapy for my pent-up frustrations.
Crossing the street still scares the shit out of me. Like being on the train, people just have a different sense of space here. Cars and motorcycles are too close for my comfort and like most Asian countries, they don’t stop for you. While crossing the street, people will weave past me, inches away from hitting me. I remember when I first learned the trick from Mike: Act predictable. Don’t suddenly stop. I still hold my breath every time and I pray that I don’t die.
I don’t think I did anything particularly special this quick trip. I guess my highlights were walking The Bund, having a hot pot of tea while overlooking the city at Aura, and eating some delicious dumplings at Yang’s Dumpling. I ran out of yuan so I’m eating Burger King right now. At least it’s one of those novel local specialties, a mango spicy chicken burger. It had two large slabs of mango on top of a crispy fried chicken. Well, it was supposed to be crispy. Sounded better in my head than the taste in my mouth. Oh well.
I’m just one flight away from seeing all my family and friends in SG. I’m really excited to catch up with everyone. (That and using GMail, Google Maps and Instagram.) My ears perk up every time I hear a Singaporean accent. I’m so in love with Singapore… Why don’t I live there yet…