My post for April 16, because I slept through most of it

So, my first day was spent slowly, as it usually is.  I needed to get my bearings and figure out if I could successfully navigate around.  Also, I found that my accomodations lack a few things, the most essential being bottled water. Not even the residents of Shanghai (or any Chinese city) drink tap water as it is untreated.  Most do boil it and I did have to make due with that for the first night.  For drinking I boiled it, then used my Life Straw once it cooled down...and it still did not taste very pleasant.

Anyway...

This is where I am staying and this is REALLY where I am staying:

That photo on the website was REALLY taken with a wide angle lens!

Checking in was a bit horrible.  There is no front desk, but a security guard who speaks no English.  My cab driver (also non-English speaking) tried to help me out, but I luckily had the hotel phone number printed out and a Chinese cell phone, so I called.  Luckily, KK, the woman who answered, spoke some English and came down to get me after having to speak to the security guard to figure out what was going on.  Fun Times!

For one, my reservation does definitely say non-smoking, but there is an ashtray in the room and a slight tobacco scent when I arrived (the window was open for a reason, I think).  There is a kitchenette, but the microwave's knob is broken off (luckily, set to "high") and the hotplate is caked in old grease.  There is one saucepan, one (slightly rusty) wok and a (slightly rusty) grill pan.  The dishes are also dirty and there is one spatula for cooking. No starter supplies at all and no kitchen soap or towels.   Not enough to send me screaming.

I unpacked most of my stuff and got settled in.  I dropped off to sleep rather quickly, despite the hard mattress.  I woke up REALLY early.

Anyway, I needed groceries (especially water) so I puttered around, grabbed my backpack (because I forgot my reusable grocery bags AGAIN) and headed out.  There is a convenience store on my street, so I grabbed a couple of small waters and some cheese wafers.   They turned out to be more like cheese cookies than crackers, but I was starving so it was cookies for breakfast. 

I walked around the block, to get my bearings and found a major bank with an ATM right around the corner...yay me!  There's also an H&M, which I seem to find in every country I visit...LOL.

Got back, fired up the Google Maps, crossed my fingers and headed out.  After a couple of tricky starts, Google figured itself out and I made my way to a grocery store.  VERY Chinese grocery store.  I think that the biggest cultural differences can be seen in a country's grocery stores.  Got my water and was able to locate some bread (yep, no bread here really) that was labeled as "mini French bread," some pot noodles that are likely full of MSG, some yogurt (labeled as fermented milk), and some eggs.  Tried to get tomatoes, but couldn't figure out the scale. 

I emailed KK and asked how to get a metro card and to ask for the "hotel" name written in Chinese (in case I get lost and have to hail a cab back). She replied with the address in Chinese, which I promptly copied to a PDF I sent to my phone and told me she would stop by with an empty Metro card.  So, that made me a little happier with the place. 

I was able to email both companies I had booked tours with and the one tomorrow comes to get me here.  I hope he doesn't get lost like my cab driver did...but I did give him the Chinese address, which I hope will help.

I also have a sideways street view from my window:

The other direction is an interesting building:

Beyond that, I can see the Changshou Road Metro station, which is very close, as is the Jiangning Road station.  So I think I'm set with transportation.  Should be interesting.  I'll check that out on Wednesday.

I think my mission then will be to find the Carrefour grocery store so I can get a few staples for quick eats so I don't fry my brain with MSG.  Pot noodles are yummy, but not nutritious...although it is weird the ones I got come with plastic forks.

So I came back to the room to look through my guidebooks and plan out some other excursions.  I have a tour all day tomorrow.  Wednesday, I'll figure out the subways and maybe hit a couple of museums.  Thursday and my birthday (YAY) I have Disney tickets.  Maybe Saturday, I'll visit the three main Buddhist temples here in Shanghai...one of them looks really cool.

Other things I need to do...

Walk along the Bund.
Find a Market
Look for pagodas (there are apparently a few here)
Spend a day in Nanjing Road (look it up and you'll know why)
More museums...

I'll figure out more as I go

I was exhausted, so I decided to take a nap around ummm...2pm or so?  Woke up at midnight. Guess I was tired, but I need to try to nap a bit more so I'm not exhausted tomorrow.  I messed up my inner clock for sure.

I'm actually composing this post early in the morning on April 17, yes...the future...LOL.

I will have more photos tomorrow!