Shanghai - Part One

I finally made it to Shanghai. And let me tell you it was not easy. Booking the ticket itself was even hard (a special thanks to Neenie for the ticket for the graduation present!). I learned, the hard way, that booking tickets in anywhere is Asia is not easy. You can't just go to a discount website, book it online, put in your credit number, and print your e-ticket. You have to go through a travel agency no matter what. And if you want to use a credit card you must pay a 6% service charge and fax over a filled out credit card form to the agency. On top of all of this (which I had to do at work where the fax machine was), I had to make sure I flew into the correct airport in Shanghai. Shanghai has two airports, Pudong, the main/large airport, and Hongqiao, the smaller/newer airport. Of course I flew into the smaller and less known airport. The first time around I accidently booked to Pudong. oops! Lucky you don't pay when you book and can cancel before you pay. In addition to the airplane ticket fiasco, I had to get a visa to get into China. Kind of annoying since I already have one for Hong Kong and this China visa would set me back $110 US dollars. yuck. So FINALLY after getting my flight and visa sorted out weeks ago I made it to the airport with HOURS to spare on Thursday afternoon. I gave myself tons of extra time since I was unfamiliar with the airport/was traveling internationally/don't speak cantonese. Turns out it was too much time since my flight was delayed an extra 45 mins. I got to the airport around 3pm and my flight didn't leave until about 7:45pm after all the delays.

Plane ticket and passport visa

However, once I finally got on the plane it was smooth sailing. One thing Asian airlines have on the US airlines, customer service. I was only a 2 hour flight and the stewardess came around with free newspaper at the beginning of the flight (in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English), drinks twice, and a meal! Crazy! Lucky Kris was waiting right at the gate when I got off the plane since my cell phone doesn't work in Shanghai.
Kris and Micheal have an amazing apartment in the Shanghai Raquet Club (SRC) and I feel honored to be the first family member to visit them here! We didn't get to the apartment until late so I said a quick hi to everyone (including the dog Petey) and went to bed. Molly was kind enough to let me have her room for the weekend.

My activities of Friday, although dull to some, were, for me, very much needed. I slept in until 9AM and it felt great. I got up and did laundry! FINALLY! I don't think I've every been so happy to do laundry in an American Style washer and dryer in my life. I spent the morning having real breakfast, doing laundry (although not without their nanny/maid trying to help), and reading. It was amazing. Then I hit the gym at the veryyy nice country club. After the gym I went to the spa (also located in SRC) called Dragonfly for an hour long Chinese massage (thanks Kris!). After that is was back 'home' for a real, i repeat REAL, shower. I didn't think my day could get any better. It's the simple things in life these days . Amazing what living in a hostel for 2 months with no money can do to your perspective on life.
Kris and the kids came home from school around 3:30pm. From there the kids changed into their Halloween costumes and the 4 of us went trick-or-treating around the complex with some of the other families who live in the SRC complex that also work at the school. They passed out candy for the kids and some houses had drinks for the adults. Fun for all ages! Afterward there was a dinner for the ~60 people that were a part of the group. With that we called it a night!

Halloween - Molly is a dog and Benjamin is a skeleton

Tomorrow Kris and I are off to do some site seeing around Shanghai while Benjamin has a swim meet and Molly and Micheal hang out. I'm excited to get out and see the city!

More to come soon!
Love, Kels