Auckland To Shanghai and London

Auckland to Shanghai and London

We said our goodbyes to Ed and Joy in Auckland, who once again hosted us so well, before being taken to the airport for a late flight out to Shanghai. Great to catch up you two and hope we can return the favour soon.

We had shouted ourselves Premium Economy flights all the way to London via Shanghai ( AirNZ and then Virgin) and I have to say it was worth it for the extra legroom and the better menu. AirNZ seats were less comfortable though. Service was OK in both but once again I think AirNZ have slipped in the rankings.

We arrived in Shanghai on the 14^th of June, Cathie’s Birthday, for 7 nights in a hotel close to the Bund, a pedestrian promenade by the river. As we waited for our room to be ready we sat in the lounge in the foyer and struck up a conversation with a couple from NZ who were on the same flight. They had pre-booked a night at the Acrobat Circus (like Cirque De Soleil), so we asked their guide to book us tickets as well and that would be our celebration of Cathie’s Birthday. What a great night it was. We bypassed the long queues, had good seats and saw some amazingly talented young people do flips and balancing acts and supple young girls twisting their bodies into impossible positions while balancing on one hand on a 2 meter pole! The whole show was slick and professional…. probably not as good or as big as Cirque, but exceptional all the same. The finale was the ‘Ball of Death’ A hollow ball into which motorbikes looped around inside pretty quick. Then another bike entered, and another and another until there were 8 bikes in together, all zooming around and crossing lines. Scary stuff! The audience gasped each time another one went in. Wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Shanghai has 22 million people so we thought there would be standing room only everywhere! It was certainly crowded in places, but not as crowded to walk through as the Nelson Market on Saturdays. The hotel was in the ‘nuts and bolts ‘ district of the city, which meant we had to walk past all of the stores selling taps, bolts, steel rods, brass widgets, bearings, washers, and even shops full of petrol compressors and water blasters. Lots of shops all the same so don’t know how they make a living. Although when we pass them on the way back from town they all have courier parcels wrapped up on the pavement to be sent god knows where. On-line trading is alive and well in Shanghai!

Naturally we had to ‘walk the Bund’ which we did next morning. The weather was warm but overcast for the whole week…. Or was it pollution? Didn’t smell like pollution and was quite high so I guess not. All of the motorbikes, well 98% of them, were electric so they obviously had a policy of low emissions. The Bund was ho-hum really. A hot walk of about three kilometres with other tourists, taking pictures of the scenery and themselves, and then of themselves taking pictures of the scenery. All giving the V sign. Then at right angles to this was ‘walking street’. A wide street with all of the Top shops with expensive wares, and Macca’s. Not interested but walked it all the same.

On our way back we stumbled on a side-street where a little lady was cooking fresh food. We pointed and smiled and gave the thumbs up and she brewed up a nice concoction of chicken and bean sprouts and garlic, onion, chilli and noodles and some green stuff with sesame oil….. tasty! All for about $3.75. We sat on low stools at a table across the alley and soon became a source of entertainment for the locals. We promised ourselves to return for more if we could find the little street again. Bought some beers in a supermarket as the mini bar ones in the room were too expensive. In fact we found Shanghai prices to be quite high after our time in Thailand earlier in the year.

The restaurant in the hotel did not pass inspection. Smelly, untidy, disinterested staff (er… the staff were not smelly and untidy, the restaurant was. J ) and a menu more suited to the Russians. There was even a Russian themed night club/bar on the 4^th floor. No thanks.

Next day we walked for miles in the heat and found the old city. Fabulous. Sure it was massively touristic, but there was an atmosphere and it was alive. Lots of photo opportunities and food choices. We bartered for 4 blue-tooth speakers like the one we already have and a phone charging system which was fun, but ultimately had to return the charger as it was broken. The speakers were $8NZ each so that was cheaper than AliBaba.com. We had done so much in a few days and it was raining intermittently, so we actually thought we had made a mistake by booking 7 days. The concierge suggested a tour to the famous ‘water town’ for 900 yuan each. $170 NZ each! You gotta be joking. So we found a local bus that left from Peoples Square at regular intervals to the same place and hailed a taxi in the street to the bus station, found the right bus by asking and bought tickets. The ride took about 90 minutes and we walked all around the ‘Water town’, had lunch and a beer overlooking the canals, took lots of pictures and mingled with the crowds. Nice, but not as nice as the ‘Old Town’. We found the return bus and after getting dropped off at Peoples Square again we decided to walk back to the hotel to save a 40 Yuan Taxi. J. All of this cost just 100 Yuan for two …. less than $20NZ! The hotel tours were a rip off!  On the way back we saw a girl with a bike and trolley selling cold food. Cathie stood and watched as she prepared the ‘salad’ and decided we should have some. She now calls this her “heaven in a bucket”. It contained two sorts of noodles, garlic, coriander, lime, bean sprouts, nuts and a special spicy sauce. We shared this in a small park alongside a sleeping homeless man and watched some old ladies do Tai Chi and a slim couple practicing Tango dancing complete with music. Awesome!

We did find the lady selling street food again, but it is never the same second time around aye. We taxied to Tianzifang, another old village center and explored its’ alleys and restaurants and photographic shops. We brazenly took photos of the photos even though the signs said not to. Well everyone else was doing it! Cathie saw a cat in the alley which was playing with a huge rat…. It ran off into a bar. An entrée perhaps? We were approached by a chap who said he would take our photo on our camera. Now I can see what you are thinking, we thought it too, so refused. He turned out to be a most interesting man. A Taiwanese American, probably in his late 40’s and did not speak mandarin but was married to a Chinese and they owned a baby clothing shop. Designed and manufactured the 1920’s way. But he also had a business designing and manufacturing fishing reels which were world renown. The brand name escapes me, but we spoke for ages about all sorts and yes, he finally took our picture!

Woke to more consistent rain and had a lazy day so didn’t stray too far from the Hotel, as we had a 5:30am start next day to get to the airport by 7:00am. Just as well we ordered a taxi as it was bucketing down. Some of the motorway off-ramps were like small rivers about 250mm deep. Anyway we made the airport in plenty of time but the scanner found something in my check-on bag which meant we were taken to a small room where I had to unlock it and pretty much empty it. Buggar! The culprit was a solar light I had purchased from Kathmandu in Nelson. Apparently it looked like an explosive device. It was Ok to take it in my carry-on bag. Go figure. So it was Premier Economy again but with Virgin Airlines this time, and another 12 hour flight to London.

We took the train and tube into London and out to Lewisham but we took our time so that Brenton could be home to let us in and we had to purchase our Oyster Cards for buses and trains. Next day we had arranged to meet up with Sarah, my God-daughter, and her partner Jim to catch up with their life living aboard a canal boat in the middle of London. Brenton joined us and we had a nice meal at Sophie’s Steak House in Covent Garden area. Next morning Brenton took us to Greenwich Village for a look around the docks and a walk in Greenwich Park which, if you climb a small hill, gave good views of parts of London. It was fabulous to see so many people in the park having picnics, playing Frisbee, or sitting in groups chatting. Had a pub lunch sitting in the sun and caught the DLR home.

Two days later we were doing the return journey to a different airport, flying from Stanstead Airport to Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus for a week. It was one of those last minute, bucket trip, all inclusive holidays.

That’s next……………..