새해 복 많이 받으세요! I'm Off to Shanghai!

Jan 31- Feb 6, 2011


Having slept away most of the weekend, I was well rested to start the week. I got up Monday around 9am and took care of some laundry and cooking up the last of the food I had so that my fridge would be empty while I was away. Now that intensives were over, I had a lot more time before work to wake up and get ready for the day. Once I was ready, it was out the door, with high hopes that the last two days before our vacation would round out smoothly. The day went by just fine, except for the black eye I was sporting that was was evident every time I blinked. Some of the teachers caught it right away, while others had to take a couple glances. I tried not to call too much attention to it, but once the story was out it was hard to stop it from spreading. As for the kids, they picked up on it immediately. With the majority of them I was able to pass it off as an accident, and told them that I fell out of my bed and hit my eye on Goah's carrying case. Those that didn't buy that I told either a story about the Korean teacher hitting me, or the truth. Before I knew it, it was 10pm and I was on my way home. I through on a playoff game while I folded my laundry and cleaned my apartment, then called it a night around 1am.
Tuesday was similar in nature, except I didn't have anything to cook for myself, so on the way to work I picked up some food instead.  At work I talked with Chrissy about how we were going to get to the airport, and about how I told Frank that we would meet him at the hotel since he was flying in earlier than us. I also, printed off a few maps and lists of things to do, but like a stooge forgot to print off directions to them. I had arranged with John to stop by and feed Goah, so I gave him my apartment code at the end of the day, and let him know that she would most likely hide under the bed while he was there. Before we left ,Mr. Kim the owner gave us all a New Years gift set of cooking oils and tuna. It's always nice to get gifts, but I am only one man, cooking for one person, so I'm not sure what I will do with so much cooking oil. After that I went home to pack, even though I had been invited out for some drinks in Itaewon (because Alex N lost his job). I thought it would be best to not be hungover on the flight the next afternoon. After my things we packed, and I was ready to go, I threw on one more game before falling asleep around 2am.
Wednesday morning I got up just before 9 and made sure I had everything I would need, then I ate some breakfast before heading out to meet Chrissy for 1030. Our flight wasn't until 230, and I suggested taking the subway to the airport since it was the first day of the long holiday, and I really didn't want to get stuck in traffic. Before I met Chrissy I stopped by the pet shop to pick Goah up some more litter, then took it home to refill her box before I left. Chrissy and I met at the station and got on the train to start our trip. We got to the airport by 12, checked in and then went to wait for our flight at the gate. We grabbed a bite to eat while we waited, which killed quite a bit of time before our flight left. Eventually we boarded our plane and were off to Shanghai. The flight was good, and we touched down at 330 local time, grabbed our bags, and headed for the subway, which was the easiest way to get into town. I had spent some time looking at how we would get to our hotel, and was pretty confident in my ability to navigate the distance between the closest subway station and our hotel. Then the beginning of a trip full of funny/disappointing failures started. While on the subway, we reached what we would eventually find out was an end of the line station for the trains coming and going between the airport and the city. Even though it was all the same subway line, the trip form the airport to about 6 stops out was run by one train, and the rest of the inner city circuit was run by a separate train. Now, since we didn't know this, and the process of a train switching directions was different from that in Korea, Chrissy and I stayed on the train and ended up going one stop back towards the airport. We realized the mistake we had made, and quickly got off the train, went back the other way, and then made the transfer as we were intended. Frank was meeting us at our hotel for 430, but having messed up with the trains, we didn't show up until closer to 5. Frank had already checked into the room, but they had given him a single room instead of the double room that we had booked. The hotel quickly changed our rooms, and then we were off to explore the city.
We started out by trying to get a cab driver to take us to the famous Nanjing Road, more importantly, the east end of the road. We showed him the map, and thought we had it figured out, but after only a short ride he pulled over and told us we were there. I had my suspicions, but we got out anyways. As it turned out, we were at the wrong end, and after taking some quick photos of a temple and along the strip, we got in another cab to go to the far end of the street like we wanted. Once we got out of the second taxi, we took a walk along Nanjing road taking pictures and trying to find a place where we could get some food. Things weren't much different in Shanghai than they were in Korea. A good portion of the people were also away visiting family, so naturally most of the restaurants and shops were closed as well. Eventually we found a place to eat down a side street, and for $15 we all ate our fill and had a couple beers. After we finished our dinner, we headed toward the famous river front view known as The Bund. We came out of Nanjing Road right at the point where a large statue of  former Chairman Mao Zedong stood overlooking the river. We continued up onto the promenade and walked north, stopping frequently to take pictures of the incredible buildings, and the lighting surrounding them; and the many scattered firework shows that were going on around the river. The temperature, which was above zero while the sun was up was beginning to drop drastically, and we were sure that we wouldn't last outdoors until midnight. Once we reached a lit bridge over a tributary river to the Bund, we turned and went south towards where we had started. We passed Nanjing Road and went south as far as the marina before we we all pictured out, and cold enough to call it a night. It was only 10pm, but having been up all day, we were all in need of a rest. We hopped in a taxi, and headed back to our hotel.Frank and I grabbed a beer from the store and we all went up to our room. Throughout the day and into the night, we had heard and seen a plethora of fireworks, and now that we were back in our hotel we had a clear view of the entire cityscape and the true magnitude of the fireworks being set off around the city. We watched the city light up in a nonstop show until midnight when it was officially the new year, and at which point the city went insane with their fireworks. Though there was no centralized show, every corner, and in front of every building seemed to light off more fireworks than most cities do for the 4th of July. It was incredible, and lasted longer than than 45 minutes. It was officially The Year of the Rabbit, and time for us to go to sleep.
Thursday morning, we got up at 830 and got ready to get the day started. We had breakfast at the hotel, which was pretty mediocre, but at least we had something in our stomachs before we hit the town.Our first mission was to get to Yuyuan Garden, which was also the location of the famous Old Street, an architectural old area that has become a market these days. We made it there, and found ourselves in a veritable sea of people. We walked around for a few hours, taking pictures, and having our pictures taken by locals. For lunch we decided to get away from the crowd, and walked down some dies streets until we found a small dinner to eat at. The food was good and quite cheap. Once we finished eating we walked to Peoples Square via Nanjing Road. The road that had been so dead the night before was now teeming with people. It was a long walk through all the people, but eventually we made it out of the crowd and to the square. We walked around for a bit and then headed back to the hotel around 6pm to get off our feet for a while. After a few hours we got hungry again and headed out to see what would be open in our area for us to eat. Surprisingly, most things were closed even though it was only 9pm. Even more surprising was the fact that several places let us check their menus for prices,and when we decided to eat there, told us they were closed. Why wold you let us check your menus, if you are closed? Before long we found a hotpot restaurant, where they cooked tofu noodles and meat joints in a pot with some vegetables and other unidentifiable bits. Frank and I thought it was a pretty good meal, most likely due to the caveman in brought out in us; Chrissy however was not as enthused about it, and only ate a little. After dinner we headed back to the hotel around 11pm, grabbed a bottled Jack and Coke, and settled in for the night. I offered to switch out sleeping on the floor with Frank since we only had two beds, but he said he was quite comfortable with it, and we went to bed some time after 12.
Friday morning we got up early again and went to the bakery next to our hotel for breakfast before heading over to the Indoor Stadium to locate one of the tour bus stations. We had planned on going to an old water city, but when we got to the train station, the last train leaving at 1130 was already full. Not being able to go Friday, we booked tickets for the Saturday 1030 bus, and headed to the  Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Chrissy had wanted to go, and hearing science and technology got Frank and I interested. It turned out however to be the underground shopping centre that she was interested, not the museum. So, with our interests going in different directions, Frank and I went out to walk around the museum grounds, while Chrissy did her shopping. In the end I don't think she made out any better than she would have back in Korea, but to each their own. By 230 Chrissy was done shopping, and Frank and I were done walking around the museum grounds, we all headed to the hotel to drop off what Chrissy had bought then went to the Jade Buddha Temple. We were lucky that it was close to our hotel, because it was getting late and the temple closed at 430. The temple was full of people, both local and tourist alike, some there simply for photos others to pay their respects to and pray to their gods. The air was thick with the smoke and smell of incense, and the temple itself was endearing in it's inner city setting. After leaving the temple Frank and I were lucky enough to find some firecrackers for sale at one of the street vendors. Throughout our entire stay we had heard a constant barrage of  of firecracker strands being lit off around the city, and they were no ordinary fire crackers. It seems that the inventors of the firework pack the biggest punches in those products they keep for themselves, because a single firecracker that usually pops off with a blast that makes you blink and laugh a little were going off with a blast that made you flinch and want to cover your ears. Naturally Frank and I bought a strand, and then we all headed back to the hotel to have a drink and rest before dinner.
For dinner we had plans to meet up with a friends of Chrissy's and his wife who have been living in Shanghai for several years. While we were waiting we started to get a little sleepy, so Frank and I took the strand we bought to some back alley to light it off. We weren't sure if we would get in trouble since everyone else was doing it, but being a foreigner generally brings different rules. A little nervous, as well as excited, we laid out the strand and lit them up. Instantly the air was filled with smoke and the deafening sounds of the firecrackers. Frank made a quick retreat, while I was seemingly paralyzed in place watching the explosion. Within a minute they had all popped, and we laughed our heads off while making a beeline for the store to get one more drink, then it was back to the room to wait. Fully awake, we laughed about it for a good half hour before Chrissy's friend showed up to get us, and we went down the street from our hotel for dinner. It was a very nice place, well out of the range we had been dinning at, and the quality of the food showed. Still being China, it was not overly expensive compared to any comparable meal in other countries, and when the bill came Chrissy's friend picked it up. I usually don't like people paying for me, but it was their city and they wanted to show us a good time, so I offered some money in good faith knowing full well that he wouldn't take it. After diner we hopped in cabs to head to a swanky bar district. We found a spot in a jazz bar with a live band, where the beers were going for 95Yuan a piece, that's nearly $15. I didn't mind paying the price since we were getting a live band, and a foreign atmosphere. By 1am we were all pretty tired, so we said our farewells and headed home for the night.
Saturday morning we all got up early, got ready, and headed back to the bus station to get on the bus to go and see the ancient water city we had read about. Stopping quickly at the bakery to grab a bite, we hit the subway to make our way to the bus station. After several stops we realized that we may not make it on the subway, so we hopped off and got in a cab to make the rest of the journey. It was amazing that we made it on time, because our taxi driver dropped us off on the opposite side of the stadium that we had to be at, and in the end we were a little unhappy that we did make the bus. Getting on with mere seconds to spare, we left the city for the hour long ride out of town. When we arrived at the ancient water town, we were more than disappointed to see that it was no longer a town, but instead a tourist trap of shops and not much more. Aside from a couple of canals that ran through a rather small city, there was not much to it. The crowds were also huge, and it wasn't until we got off the bus that we were told we would have to spend 5 hours there before we could get back on the bus, because that was just how the system worked. Once we were in the city we walked along with the crowd past lots of shops and over some bridges. It was bound to happen, and after the first fork in the road, Chrissy got separated from us. We tried to look for her, but in a sea of thousands of Asian it is hard to pick out one girl. Frank and I went on ourselves, knowing that eventually we would run into her. We wondered the streets and around the shops for a couple of hours before stopping at a coffee shop to have a drink and rest our legs, and then went to see if we could find Chrissy by the entrance. It didn't take long before we found her sitting on a bench near the canal. We laughed about getting separated, and about how shitty the water city turned out to be, then lamented the facts that we still had 2 hours to kill. Feeling that there was nothing left in the city for us, we went out to wait for the bus. Frank and I walked around the outer streets surrounding the city, but in the end it was just a sit and wait thing. Eventually the bus showed up to get us, and we were on our way back into town. Once back in town we took a taxi back over to the Yuyuan garden and Old Street market to pick up some tea for gifts, and then went back to our hotel to back for our flights the next morning. We ate dinner at the hotel, and then grabbed a couple beers to kill the night since we all had to be up and on the go early.
I set the alarm for 6am so that Frank could get up and make his 830 flight. He was flying from the airport closer to our hotel, where as Chrissy and I had flown into the international airport on the outskirts of town. He packed up the last of his things, then head out. I rest the alarm just in case I fell back asleep, and it's a good thing I did. The alarm went off again at 7 and Chrissy and I got up, grabbed our things, then headed to the airport. We thought we had given ourselves plenty of time to get to the airport, and we even made sure to make the proper transfer this time. We didn't account for Chrissy having to use the bathroom however. We had to get off not far from the airport for her to use the washroom, since we had left the hotel in such a hurry and neither of us had used it then. Thinking nothing of it, we got off the subway, found a bathroom then continued our trip. It had however, cost us about 15 minutes, and coupled with train ride that was taking much longer than it had on the way in to town a few days before, we ended up getting to the airport only 30 minutes before our flight was scheduled to leave. We ran to our check-in counter and asked to be let through, but they said we were too late and that we would have to wait for the next plane, and pay an extra $100 for a guaranteed seat. We were having none of that knowing that there are always open seats. After being given the run around for about 20 minutes, we were put on stand by and told to wait until 1130 to see if there would be room on the 1230 flight. We sat down and waited,and when it came time, there was, as we expected, seats on the plane. They gave us boarding passes, and we headed over to get through security. Ironically, we made it through security and to our gate in less than 20 minutes, to find that all planes had been delayed for about 30 minutes due to the volumes of air traffic. This meant that we more than likely could have made our first plane, but instead had to wait even longer to get on the later. Once aboard we sat waiting for another 45 minutes before we even taxied out to the runway. Eventually we were in the air, and back in Seoul by 330. We took the bus back from the airport this time, and were never more relieved to be back in Bongchon. I came home to a whiny cat once again, made my phone call home, then called it a night.


Holiday over, it was nice to be back in Seoul. Though colder than Shanghai, it is more familiar and comforting. Hopefully, everyone else had a good week, and enjoyed whatever adventure they got up to.