Shanghai Nite

I just came back from a whirlwind field study to Shanghai. Overall, I really had a great time. It was as if I was back in school.....talk about some anti-agin treatment. There was none of my classmates' usual talk of having to do OT at work, bosses that drive'em nuts, etc....etc....
All we talked about (most of the time, at least) is where to go after this, what to eat, what to buy, take pictures, take pictures and take more pictures.....

Shanghai was really interesting. I can seriously picture myself going back there for a short stay, at the very least. Not during the summer, though... as I suspect some parts of the place will smell just like the slums of Jakarta..... Maybe in the fall or even winter in cooler, as in our trip, the smell is not there, I suspect.

Things I hated about Shanghai:
- Non-English speaking taxi drivers
- my very first window-less hotel room (Quite impressive how they claim to be a 3/4-star business hotel)
- my very first hotel with no english-speaking tv channels: C'mon people.... there were at least 50 channels there... can't u just squueze in an HBO or something?
- people-shovers at the metro and queue-cutters at the metro ticket station(I scolded one of each)
- the smoking: Geez.... don't think I've consumed as much second-hand smoke before in my life. I know it was useless, but I couldn't help pretend that I was really choking at one point (considering I really almost did choke from the smoke after a few days).Seriously people, it stinks.. I mean you stink, ok?!??!
- Smelly cabs
- Lack of smelly cabs on Saturday nights: A 1.5 hr time to get a cab is really bad for a city that claims it never sleeps, ok?
- Clubs that close at 2 am? WTH?

Things I loved about Shanghai:
- Late night strolls at the Bund (This has got to be #1)
- Getting to hang-out with my classmates almost 24/7 for a whole week. I like how you always find that most people are really quite nice once you get to spend some time and get to know them better
- Xiang Yang market (It's one of those love-hate relationships. It really pisses me off to find out how I was overpriced for some items, but when I look at the cute silver earrings that I got.... I just forget about it)
- The 5-Yuan outrageously yummilicious fried dumplings at Wu-jiang Road (must check the name of the place with the guys)
- 24-hr Yong He (Not sure if I like the soy-milk or the idea of a 24-hr F&B within less than 5 mins walk.
- Getting to practice a word or two in Mandarin
- Getting a " Hua yu jiang de man hau ma...." praise from a cab driver, after reading a posted ad in the cab with the level of fluency as a pres-school kid.
- Maglev

The day we were flying back home, on the way to the Immigration counters, a newfound friend patted me at the back and told me that he didn't realize that I was a really strong girl. He said I made him and the guys felt obsolete, as I was handling my incredibly heavy suitcase along with other people's suitcases by myself. A friend once told me that, too.... but I never took it seriously.
I wonder if I really have that effect on guys.......
Lesson learnt: Never try to be responsible for your own sh*t. Always ask the guys for help.
Hey for all I know, I might enjoy travelling even more than I do now. The only trick is trying to convince any guy to travel with me.