Anyway, we arrived in Shanghai and found our hotel quite easily. We stayed at the Ascott due to the convenience of apartment living with little kids!! My thoughts on this Ascott were that it was in a great location for what we wanted to do, but it could use a bit of updating. It was definitely older than the Beijing Ascott, but it was still very nice! The hotel was located in Pudong which, for those of you who know Shanghai, is on the opposite side of the river from the Bund. The view from our balcony was a skyline of fantastic modern architecture!
After settling in, we decided we were hungry. You see, on domestic Chinese flights, they feed you even if the flight is only about 1 1/2 hours, but, the food is not really to my liking!! Ellie eats the roll and the boys pick at the noodles! I wonder what the Chinese people think when they fly around the US and for most flights, you are lucky to get a drink!! So, we are hungry and Danny gets the grand idea that we should go to Hooter's!! I agree primarily because it is located in the mall that has a Toys R Us, plus I really miss spicy chicken wings and buffalo chicken sandwiches! We make our way to the mall and find Hooter's. We are basically the only customers there, so we are given quite a bit of attention, much to Danny's liking!! As I was walking to the restroom with Ellie, she asks me ever so politely, "Mommy, why is this place called Hooter's?"! I'll leave that question for her daddy!!
After eating, we were overwhelmed to be in what I would call, a real mall!! There are 6 floors of shops that I have heard of...Toys R Us, Best Buy, Zara, Next, Espirit, Sketchers (they don't stock shoes big enough for me though!!), you get the point! Even though it was a beautiful sunny day, we spent over 4 hours walking the mall, shopping and letting the kids play at the play area!!
On Friday we woke up to grey skies, so we made our way to the French Concession area which is also home to the brand new House of Barbie. We were there when the doors opened, although it wasn't necessary because there were only two other customers at the time!! There were six floors of pure Barbie. The boys were not happy about this at all even though there was one bathroom with Hotwheels lining the wall (they were not too impressed!)! Ellie decided to design her own Barbie, so she went off to the computer "design center" for about 45 minutes to work while we tried to control the boys!! She was very proud of her finished product...Lin!
We decided to lunch at a very popular tourist restaurant called M on the Bund. Probably not the best place to take three children for lunch!! I should have known when I saw the white tableclothes that we were not wanted!!! We acted as civilized as possible and made it through the entire meal without spilling or breaking anything!! After we finished and paid about $12 for two small glasses of Coke, we went out on the deck to get a view of Pudong from the Bund. Too bad the weather was still grey!!
Next stop was the aquarium...I am so like my father...I insist on checking out zoos and aquariums wherever I go!! It was very clean and an added plus was that it had an English translation for all of the exhibits!! A lot of places we visit do not have English descriptions, so I have learned to enjoy by observing and creatively thinking what things might say!!!
The kids had had enough sightseeing for the day!! Here they are in front of the famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower!!
Later Friday night we met up with good friends of ours to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and then go to watch the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. All I can say is that the kids were mesmorized the entire 1 1/2 hours during the performance! It might have helped that we were there with their principal, but I was happy I actually got to enjoy it!!!
Saturday was a rainy day, but no problem because I decided we would go to the Science and Technology Museum!! The museum is huge, with 4 different Imax theaters in it! We chose to see Dinosaurs in 3D only because it was showing in the next 10 minutes. Eens was not a big fan - he flinched everytime something came towards us, even a little harmless bug! He really did not enjoy the huge dinosaur opening his mouth and looking at us like we might be lunch either. Not such a good choice for the young ones, but it was fun to see a film. Oh yeah, the whole thing was in Chinese!! We roamed the museum for a couple of hours and then got hungry (of course!)!
Maybe this is a bit gory for children, don't ya think?!!!
After a much needed afternoon nap, we made our way back to the mall (I think we went there everyday at least once!!). Coop was insistent that we play at Tom's World (think huge arcade with hundreds of Chinese people!)! It was his little Chuck E Cheese fix I guess!! Danny and I both had a headache by the time we finished!!
Sunday was a warm, sunny day, so we walked and walked and walked!! We ended up back at the mall for lunch! Then we went along the river and found the underground tunnel to take to the Bund. It was quite entertaining, but when we reached the Bund we were overwhelmed by the sheer number of people there. It was suffocating and a bit irritating because as usual, we were about the only foreigners out and we were gawked at and had our pictures taken over and over. Friends in the states, over the summer, please take lots of pictures of my kids because otherwise they will feel really out of place!!! Hehe!! I told Danny that I needed to have a T-shirt made that reads "Yes, I really have 3 children!!" translated in Chinese characters of course!!First, we took a leisurely stroll through Lujiazui Park.
This picture is taken from the Pudong side of the river with a view of the Bund!
On our way to the Bund in the underwater tunnel!!
Tai duo ren (too many people) had the same idea that we did - visiting the Bund!
We are now on the Bund with a view of the Pudong side!!
After a whirlwind four days, it was time to leave this east meets west, old/modern city with its spectacular skyline and architecture!! Enjoy the contrasts, amazing these are all in one city!!
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