Karaoke and more travel

I am currently typing this in my funky hostel off of People's Park in Shanghai, not off of the Bund as I originally thought. I got my hostel confused with another by the same company (with v. similar names) and spent a lot of time in cabs when I first arrived here. The keyboard I am using is worn away and many of the keys are sticking, so I apologize for any typos.

I left dear Elaine and Amy this morning and found my way to the bus station in Hangzhou and somehow managed to buy a ticket and get on the correct bus. It was sad to leave my friends. I've had a really great time exploring Hangzhou with them.

Before I get on to telling you about Shanghai, let me tell you about our karaoke experience at KTV yesterday. After lunch on dumplings in a mall basement and fresh gooey donuts made of rice flour, we met up with Ivy, one of the girls' translators at the hospital, and a couple of her friends for some karaoke at KTV. They had rented a room for us and bought snacks (like Lays potato chips flavored in tomato and cucumber). They sang great and it was fun to watch all of the Chinese pop music videos. The English selection was hilarious for several reasons. One the options were very random and two though some of the songs worked, many had their tempos slowed waaaay down and not in even ways, which made singing VERY difficult. We had a blast, though. To end we all sang 'Happy Birthday' followed by 'Moon River,' because they were two songs we all could sing.

Today, once I found my ACTUAL hostel and plopped my things in my locker, I headed out to People's Park to see what I could see. My hostel is very close to the Shanghai Theatre/opera house (I can't remember its actual name at this moment), and the theatre is shaped like a traditional Chinese hat, with big sloping wings on the roof. I walked past it and found the Urban Planning museum. I went in a looked in awe at the huge scale model of the future of Shanghai. It was interesting looking at old photos of the city coupled with recent photos. And looking at photos of famous houses from the 1930s reminded me of Shanghai's history, of which I read about in December, but it's faded a bit.

I was set to go to the Shanghai museum when I was stopped by a cry of, 'Hello! Where are you from?' coming from a trio of Chinese college students, two guys and a girl. They were visiting from Nanjing and wanted to know all about me, and to practice their English. They invited me to join them for a tea ceremony and I did. It was fun meeting them and having a tea ceremony. They translated for the girl performing and we tried 7 types of teas. I bought some of a very fragrant jasmine. It was a lot of fun and the group walked me back to the park when we were done.

After the tea, I spent a couple of hours at the Shanghai museum, soaking up a LOT of Chinese traditional arts. I spent most of my time looking at the huge exhibit of pottery. I was really taken with some of the monochromatic pieces and took some not-so-great photos of favorite pieces. I also enjoyed the calligraphy and painting exhibits. I had wanted to spend more time in the museum, but you have to just go with life sometimes.

It started raining on my walk back and has been raining ever since. I ate at the cool lounge/restaurant the hostel has and plan on turning in early. Tomorrow I plan on visiting Yuyuan Gardens and the French Concession. Hope you are all well!

Comments

[Jennifer]

Claire- this all sounds wonderful! You're obviously an adventurous soul.

When you return, you'll find spring is waiting for you...or maybe summer. It was 79 yesterday!

[amy]

i am so glad that you're having such a good time - and am a bit jealous of all the different experiences you're having. I can't wait to see pictures!

I think I may have to start a secret travel fund :)

[Dan]

Sounds like you're having a great time, Claire! Awesome.

[Sharon]

Sounds like you're having a blast! What wonderful tales. Keep having fun and writing us about it. Thanks!