This Happy Birthday Was Rescued by Disneyland

So, my day started out pretty normally...got up early, hopped on the Metro and didn't go the wrong direction at all (new one for me).  Got to Disney, took the never-ending line ride for way too long for someone who already had a sunburn, finally got into the park and...couldn't find my phone.

The plan was to jump on the app and fast pass a bunch of rides so I could actually go on rides today.  but no phone.  I looked everywhere, in every pocket of everything...no phone.

So I went over to the helpful folk at the Disneyland lost and found who took a report for me and told me to keep checking back every couple of hours.  I headed into the park, had a yummy muffin, a very awful bite of donut, and a cappuccino for breakfast.  I walked around a bit, made my dinner reservation at the castle,  and checked out the ride times...then I sat in the shade and played with my crappy phone with the Chinese SIM card.  I figured out the phone number and headed back to lost and found.  No phone, so I updated them with my local phone number.   They found out it was my birthday and gave me a birthday button.

Went to the Metro station and fruitlessly tried to locate a lost and found by using my phrase book and a lot of gesturing...no luck.  I decided that I needed to go back to the apartment, log into my Norton Security and lock down the phone, just in case it had been stolen...although I was more leaning toward it being lost when I was taking off my jacket and getting out my umbrella (to use as a sunshade) while waiting in the line.

Took the hour long ride back, tried to locate the phone and/or lock it down, but everything said it was offline.  Thank you Great Firewall.  I finally decided to call the damn thing and someone answered...it was Disney lost and found!  I happily hopped back on the Metro and picked up my phone in time for me to rush up the hill to the castle for dinner.

Got to the castle and the guy at the door saw my button and SANG "Happy Birthday" to me...lol.  Now, the castle in Shanghai is enormous and has a couple of shops (including the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique) and a theme restaurant where you can dine with Disney characters.   Which is exactly what Donna the big kid did.

You get checked in, go up the stairs and meet your first princess...

My new friend Minnie and I...and my awkward fanny pack. You can see my birthday button which will get you a lot of attention at any Disney park.  If you go to any park on your birthday, get the button.  Sometimes,  you will have to ask for it (in Shanghai, for example).

 I was then seated and met my charming and delightful server, Christine, who was very excited to see my birthday button.   I was told that I get a choice of a two or three course meal and that the experience would last one and a half hours.   I was also offered the opportunity to purchase a VIP experience for the light show and fireworks that happen at the end of the day.  For about 30 bucks,  you get to be up front and not have to grab a seat a couple of hours before the show starts.  I was in!  Oh and you get a souvenir (I opted for the Tangled chalice).

I was one of the first people seated, so I got a decent photo of the dining room I was seated in.

There were about 6 or 7 rooms in all, each with a different princess theme.  This one, Sleeping Beauty, was the largest.  A couple were tiny and only had one large, round table for a large party each.

I ordered scallops for the appetizer, braised duck for the entree, and triple chocolate for desert (of course).  The food came quickly, as did the characters...

During the scallop course, it was Prince Mickey, who gave me a birthday kiss...

I was served my entree, which was beautiful and delicious...

Which was a delicious duck with potatoes, apples, and cabbage.  It was cooked to perfection.   But, I had a bad feeling about what was coming next....

I hope Prince Donald didn't notice what I was having for dinner.  Things only got worse...

I think it's cultural differences that keep kids from realizing that their parents could be dining on Donald and Daisy's cousin?

I had fun watching the kids with the characters.  When it was time for desert to come out, I had several of the waitstaff serenade me, along with Donald.

I can't tell you how long it's been since I had to blow out a candle... Olaf was made out of marshmallow, in case you are wondering.  The only complaint I had was that the dining room was very warm, as evidenced by my quickly melting ice cream.

I then paid, and my lovely server personally escorted me around (she carried my backpack too) to show me all of the different rooms.  She then brought me to the exit and admonished me to be back at 7:45 for the VIP seating I had purchased for the show.

I had a bit of time to wander the park (not enough time for any more rides unfortunately...) so I got some shots of Disneyland Shanghai at night.

This is the waterfall that looms over Adventureland...

This is the new Toy Story Land that will be opening in 6 days.  There are some specially invited guests in there now, but it was not open to the public.

This is the hunnypot ride at night.  It's so cool with the beehives that flicker and look like there are actual bees buzzing around in there...

After a quick run to the restrooms, and I was ready for my VIP experience.  We were given stickers (for our hands) after showing our dinner receipt showing proof of purchase.  Then, we had to follow the leader after a sign holding cast member through the thronging, pushing, shoving crowd.  That was fun.

We got to our front rows and everyone plopped down on the ground.  I ended up next to a group of college aged young ladies who thanked me in English after I scooted down to make room for them all.  The young woman sitting next to me asked where I was from and I found out that she had been to Texas (Dallas and Houston) I got to explain that Austin is right between them.

I was quite comfortable on the ground and settled in taking a few quick photos...

Then the show began...

It was a light, laser, water, and fireworks show with stories projected right on the castle.  Of course, it was all in Chinese, but I didn't even notice...

It was a little difficult to capture the characters projected on the castle, but I managed to grab Simba!

I mentioned water show and fireworks, right?

One good shot of it all...and it was over.  Then...the crazy mass exodus to the exits.   Urgh.

This led to the jam packed Metro station, the jam packed subway car...

I was glad to get back to the apartment.  No rides today, a bit of shopping and some stress, but it all worked out for the best.  If I had spent the entire day in the park, I would have been fried even worse than I am now.  I have a mild sunburn on my arms and face (just a little pink and was not even sore in the morning) and a rather ouchie one across the back of my neck where my shirt didn't cover my skin.

I may go back to Mickey Town, which is the shopping area outside of the park, to get a couple of Christmas presents I didn't get while in the park...if I get really bored (HA!) I may try the park again for some rides.

If you're ever thinking of going to an overseas Disney, I highly recommend Shanghai.  You know the Peter Pan ride that is no longer in Disney World?  Shanghai has it.  Tron was amazing and I thought it was better than Space Mountain. And there is NO "It's a Small World" (although some kind of truck or something keeps driving by my apartment building blasting that damn song all day).

The crowds can be a little crazier, but not in a more numerous way...but in the way that nobody makes any apologies or excuses for pushing through to get where they want to go.  It's kind of freeing actually once you join in...LOL. 

Shanghai Disneyland!

Holey Moses I am sore!  No, I'm in pain...ouch!   And I'm going to do this again tomorrow and I have to get up early again.  So, I'm gonna throw some photos at you and maybe explain the day later (you know how I am about that...)

SURPRISE!  It's two days later and I am updating you.  So, I did eventually get on the trains going the right direction to get to Shanghai Disneyland and arrived right at opening.  Although the park officially opens at 8, you probably won't get in until 9 or later due to the lines and shoving and pushing...

As you can see, I did finally make it inside.  It was a lovely day...bright, sunny, and warm.  In retrospect, maybe a bit too sunny.  I'd pay for that later. 

Once you get through the gates, there is what looks like the Train Station in Disney World.  However...no train and no opening show.

Main Street looks pretty much the same, it's called Mickey Avenue here and is a little shorter.  And the signs are in a mix of English and Chinese.

However the castle is A LOT bigger.

A lot goes on inside this castle too.  Big walkways through it with Princess mosaics,  a crystal store, the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique (for wannabe princesses) and a banquet hall...more on that tomorrow.

I then just wandered through the park to figure out where everything was. There are currently 6 sections to this park, Gardens of Imagination, Fantasyland, Adventure Isle, Treasure Cove (entirely based on Pirates of the Caribbean), Tomorrowland, and Mickey Avenue.  They are *this* close to opening a seventh, Toy Story Land, but I was a little early for it.

I managed to spot Rapunzel's tower in Fantasyland...

I was thinking about having lunch here...never got to it though. 

I did spot a photo op with my favorite bear, Pooh, and the line was very short, so I got my photo on!

Treasure cove was what it would be like to base a theme park on the movie rather than basing the movie on a ride...

Kind of on the edge of Gardens of Imagination and Tomorrowland, there is a Marvel thing...not a ride, but some photo ops and props.. apparently, you can get your photo taken as Iron Man somewhere in here.  You could also take your photo with Captain America and/or Thor. 

I accidentally stumbled upon the parade...

Donald is driving the train, while Mickey waves to the other side of the crowd.

In China, Mulan gets her own float...and it was a pretty spectacular one. 

And of course there is the Toy Story float...because that section of the park opens very soon.

At the end is a float with a miscellaneous collection of unrelated characters...LOL.  It was getting near lunchtime, and I was looking for some actual Chinese food, so I ended up at The Wandering Moon restaurant.

I got the seafood noodles.  It was actually quite good, although I wasn't sure exactly what half of the stuff was that I was eating.  I found out later that the spikey looking bits are cross-cut squid.  

 I then continued to Tomorrowland.

This is the big dealio I was interested in, the Tron ride.  It's what they have here instead of Space Mountain, and the only ride I did go on in the entire park.  I intended to do most of my rides on my birthday, but we'll talk about that then...

Anyway Tron!  It was awesome!!  I thought it better than Space Mountain.  You got strapped into speeders and the ride was both inside with the cool lighting effects, but also went outside (so I did get a picture of that bit).  This is one of the few rides in this park with a Single Rider option that lets you skip part of the line if you are ok with not riding with your group.  As I have no group...this was perfect for me.  Only thing is, I didn't get any shots of the cool light effects.

For the rest of the day, I just wandered around.   I did start to feel a bit worn out, so I thought it was a good time for some ice cream...I went to Il Paperino.

I don't remember exactly what this was called, but I am absolutely sure there were the words "fruit" and "butter cake" involved.  The cake, I did find under the ice cream....the fruit was non-existent.  But this was a superfun sundae!

Tables were at a premium, you had to double up and I sat with a couple of young Chinese ladies who were chatting and playing with their cell phones.  A young guy asked to sit with us and exclaimed that he was thrilled to be able to have a conversation in English.  His name was Billy and he was from Canada. I soon discovered that he is a huge Disney fan and is visiting them all.  We soon entered a debate on Space Mountain versus Tron.  We parted ways as he wanted to run to catch the parade, which I had seen earlier. 

I wandered through the Gardens of Imagination area

I found the Alice in Wonderland maze which is actually along the edge of Fantasyland.   Based upon the Tim Burton version, not the original, obviously.

This is the Fantasia carousel, which has characters from the movie instead of boring old carousel horses.  

It was starting to get dark, and only about a half hour before the park closed, so I decided to get outta Dodge, to try to beat the crowds.  Got a t-shirt (hard to find in my size!) and a snow globe (which will not live at work). 

Headed past the Steamboat Willie statue and fountain at the entrance, which I had missed earlier, but looked much cooler at night anyway.

I did hit crowds in the Metro as many had the same idea that I did, but they thinned out as we got closer to downtown and I was able to get a seat.  I was beat and had another day of this ahead of me...

Oh and I got sunburnt...ouchies! 

Shopping Day?

So, today I started out by puttering around as I have no solid plans.  Now that I have an idea of how the subway works, I feel a little braver too.

The exciting thing this morning is that I figured out the dish sanitizer!  Remember how the water here is unsafe and untreated?  Yeah, washing dishes in it doesn't sound safe, right?  Well I figured out that the kitchen contraption above the sink is an ozone dish sanitizer.  So I took all the grungy dishes out, washed them and started the sanitizer!  Now the apartment smells like ozone, but I know the dishes are safe!  Yippee!!

After that exciting revelation, I showered and got ready for the day.  I've decided that the one experience I had with rush hour on the Metro was enough, so I was in no hurry.

Full disclosure, I brought my camera, but took no pictures all day long.  I should have, but I totally spaced.  Basically, it was a pedestrian shopping street, just like any in a big city.  The only difference is that the signs are all in Chinese.

I found my way to Nanjing Road without much trouble...got a little turned around coming out of the subway, but not by much.  Like I said looooooooong pedestrian shopping street.  There are trolleys to take you up and down if you want for 5 yuen (one way).  I should have, but I forgot that I'm not as young as I used to be.

There are tons of designer shops and gigantic department stores on this street.  Didn't find much in my size, but that's ok.  Lots of jewelry stores and I think I'm determined to get something in lavender jade, but we'll see...it's pricey.

Now, I did see a couple of TV shows on Shanghai before I left and the one I most clearly remember (but not the one that convinced me to travel here) was Samantha Browns Places to Love.  She did a trip to Shanghai and visited the Zhang Xiao Quan knife and scissor shop on Nanjing and raved about the prices.  I found it and the prices are really good for high quality stainless steel knives, so I bought one...

See, you got a photo today, my shiny new kitchen knife.  I was thinking of going back to get a cleaver...but what do I need it for?

So I was on the return trip back to the Metro and I think I hear my name being called.  Now, I'm in China...Donna is not a common name anywhere anymore....nevermind China, so I think I'm imagining things.  Then, I hear it again.  It's Rolundia from my tour yesterday getting in some last minute shopping before she heads to Hong Kong. Who knew?

Let me steal something from her Facebook...

This is the two of us from the tour yesterday...so I guess  you get two photos.

Anyway, a quick hello and hug and she was headed back to catch her plane. I was on a quest for liquid refreshment.  I chanced a mango smoothie as it was actually quite warm and I needed something cold.  I then found a food hall, kind of a big market for candy, cakes, and junk foods...so I felt safe heading in with my drink. 

That place was a cacophony of smells.  One minute you were smelling fish, the next some gorgeous buttery bakery stuff.   I wandered around aimlessly and ended up buying a bag of Chinese treats that actually ended up being mostly peanut brittle...some with white sesame and some with black sesame...but peanut candies all the same. 

I was feeling pretty rough by this point, I guess my shoes weren't as good as I thought they were, so I decided I needed to head back to the apartment.  Got distracted by a mall and almost bought a dress.  Went out the wrong door and had to find my way back to the subway station.  I thought I was going to have to sit in People's Square for a few hours to let rush hour pass, but I looked at the time and found it was earlier than I thought, so I quickly hopped a train and made it just as things were looking dicey. 

I'm now in my apartment eating a cheese sandwich for dinner.  I'd grill it but the pan has burnt on crap that I can't get off...the wok is even worse as it's dented to hell and crusted with rust.  I will email KK on it over the weekend to see if she can get me some new ones.  I would like to actually cook at some point on this trip (pot noodles don't count).

I'm probably not going to do a lot of eating out this trip (except for the next two days in Disney) as I am not as an adventurous eater when I don't know what I'm eating.  I don't need to spend time sick from eating red meat (remember, I haven't had any in years and I would likely have trouble digesting it).  I do plan to go back to old town and get some of those crab soup dumplings though...wooohooo.

Maybe a Jianbing from the vendor that sets up around the corner from my building too.  I have to watch people order so I know what to do.  They look awesome. 

Anyway, for now, it's cheese sandwich and cucumber potato chips.  Not sure I like them that much, but I don't hate them.  It's back to the Mexican tomato ones for me....

Early night tonight for tomorrow we Disney!

The Day I Learn Where Everything Is

So, I had booked a tour today called "Best of Shanghai Day Tour" so that I could kind of get a feeling for where stuff is.  It was a fairly inexpensive tour that included things that I knew were tourist shopping traps (silk factory and the jade and pearl shop) but also included a few places that I wanted a quick overview of so that I could come back later and do more.

I got up early enough despite my day long nap yesterday.  My driver was waiting in the courtyard in front of the building when I got downstairs, despite my getting there a couple of minutes early.  I had planned to grab a bottle of water at the convenience store next door, but that never happened.  Dehydrated anyone?

We then stopped at a nice, upscale hotel where we picked up the one other tourist on this tour, a lovely woman from California who was also traveling alone.  She had just arrived from Beijing and was due to leave for Hong Kong tomorrow.

Our first stop was the Shanghai Museum.  This was my favorite kind of museum, free and photos allowed!  We only had an hour, but I wasn't too upset because I knew I would come back.  They have 4 floors each with a theme and I decided to focus on the ceramics floor (shocking, right?).  I am going to be good and not flood you with pottery photos...just a few.

This is an early celadon glazed tripot that dates back to somewhere between 475 - 221 BC.  Gives you an idea of how far back Chinese culture goes, right?  They don't yet have porcelain figured out here so the green of the celadon isn't that lovely creamy color yet.

This charming gentleman is a Heavenly Guardian all macho like stomping on his foes...

This is a pillow, yes, a pillow.  People used to sleep on their back and have their head held up by hard objects (The Ancient Egyptians did it too).  This one is in the shape of a child.

I like this one as it's kind of the reverse of what we think of when thinking of Chinese porcelain.  White clay with blue images.  In reverse, it's just as awesome.

A more familiar looking sort of piece with some awesome dragons.  

And here is some celadon the way we're all more familiar with it.  And more dragons.  This piece was fairly large.  I never was able to throw a pot this large...

A particularly lovely Buddha statue.  I particularly like how the robes drape.  

This, I think, was my favorite piece there.  Look at how the bowl seems to glow from within.  This is a extraordinary piece of porcelain. 

Anyway, we met up with Tom, our guide, and set off for our next destination, the Jade Buddha Temple.  This is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Shanghai and is always buzzing with visitors from all over. You can't actually take photos of THE Jade Buddha, which is the seated Jade Buddha.  However there are many other Buddha in the temple, including two reclining Jade Buddha. 

This is what you see when you enter the temple complex.  The whole thing is comprised of several shrines, a monastery, and a school.  

This is one of the many Buddha you will see at the temple.  This one is Gautama Buddha, the one we all think of when we think of Buddha.  There are other Buddha, and he's sitting beween two others in this part of the temple. 

This is one of the two reclining Buddha.  It's actually smaller, but older than the other (which I didn't get a good shot of).  The first two statues (seated and reclining) were created and brought to China at the same time, the other reclining status was given as a gift much later.  Yeah, this isn't the greatest shot either.

Then we were off again to the bund, which is an embankment along the Huangpu river.  Basically, a wide walkway with a few vendors, lots of tourists, and a great view of the skyline on the other side of the river.

There you go, the famous Shanghai skyline...

We then did the shopping stuff...jade, pearls, and silk.  Didn't buy a thing, believe it or not. 

Next we were off to Old Shanghai and Yu (Yuyuan) Garden.  This was an unexpected and awesome part of the tour.

Just a really pretty shot of the garden.  This is a brief moment of tranquility as the whole garden complex was really bustling.

More garden lovelieness...

The Dragon Wall, which I thought was pretty cool, for obvious reasons.

The large pond in the garden is home to many enormous koi and not a few turtles as well.

The tall stone there is known as "The Exquisite Jade Rock" and is, apparently, centerpiece of the gardens.  It is kind of cool...but I thought there were many things in the garden which were even more impressive.  I'm chalking it up to cultural difference here.

The last thing we were shown in the gardens is a theater where Chinese Operas used to be performed. I may have to see one of those while I'm here...

Rolundia (my cohort in this adventure) and I were then set free to explore the Yuyan Tourist Mart and it's plethora of pushy vendors trying to get you to buy a watch or purse (genuine designer, I'm sure).  I bought nothing, Rolundia bargained down an old women for some cool toys for her nieces, but she was unsuccessful in her quest for ice cream.

We then had a lightning tour of the French Concession before heading back to our accommodations.  After exchanging Facebook info we parted ways.  Well, we dropped her off and I got stuck in traffic a bit with our guide and driver...LOL!

I got back to the apartment and took a little break.  I then headed out to conquer the Metro...which was surprisingly easy.  It took a little to figure out the machine that tops up the Metro card I was loaned, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Metro signage and announcements are in both Mandarin and English.  

I managed to navigate to Carrefour (the grocery store with lots of Western food) where I located cheese, milk, bread, and butter..yippee!  I also got some more yogurt and pot noodle as well as some crazy flavors of potato chips.  Cucumber chips anyone?  Macha tea?  I am kind of obsessed with the Mexican tomato ones that don't have anything to do with Mexico and taste more like pizza. 

Heading back to the subway, another European tourist (I think he was Swiss or German) asked me for directions.  I actually think I got him pointed in the right direction (with a disclaimer).

I had some fried tofu for dinner (with some soy sauce).   I need to eat some veggies soon though. 

All of my groceries (about a bagful) cost me 151.91 yuen.  Know what that is in US Dollars? $24.19!

I then tried to blog this and felt myself drifting off halfway through.  Full disclosure, this is being finished up in the morning. 

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!

I made it!

Looks like this works. More soon.

UPDATE...I lied.  I'm tired and I've been up for over 24 hours now.  I'll complain about the trip if I still feel cranky in the morning...

It's That Time Again!

Are you back because it's April and another installment of Further Groovy Travels?  Well, you should be because I have something special planned for you this time!  I'm going to be spending 2 weeks in Shanghai, China!!  I knowwwwwwwwww...

It's been a rough year. Working full time and taking an intensive boot camp program to learn data analytics can really take it out of a girl...especially when you're no longer a spring chicken.  But I did it and I now deserve something special.

I thought I would foray out of my comfort zone and try another continent this year.  First, I was thinking India because I've become obsessed with Bollywood films this past  year.  Weird thing is that I have no desire to go to Mumbai...I just want to see India.  However, you know I always have to do some of the main touristy things...like...oh...visit the Taj Mahal.  When I found out that the Taj will be getting a mud pack beauty treatment this year, I thought it best to postpone this trip.

Befuddled, I now had no idea what to do until I saw a travel show in PBS one Sunday morning (and I can't now remember the show) on Shanghai.   I decided then and there to go.

Did you know that there is a Disneyland in Shanghai?  And it costs less than $60/a day.  Guess who is going on her birthday??

And in a new record...I finished packing by 6pm and will possibly get a whole night's sleep.  Yay me!

I hope I'll be able to get outside of the Great Firewall and keep you updated.  VPN purchased and fingers crossed...