Shanghai’ed once more

On board

We took off late as a last-minute illness stopped one passenger from travelling and his/her luggage had to be offloaded. Seated near the front, the 787 wasn’t as quiet as my Scoot flight last month where I had been seated overwing. This felt on the quiet side of normal.

After the supper service, I tried to get some sleep. The cabin was pretty hot and stuffy so it wasn’t easy. After under an hour, I resorted to a sleeping pill and managed to get about 6 hours of light sleep. I was wide awake for an hour before breakfast was served.

Arriving in Shanghai

Despite the short delay getting away, we landed ahead of schedule after a good flight. I was surprised by the poor detailing on the 787 door though. In the open state, cables and insulation is left in full view without any kind of aesthetic or protective panel.

Arrival formalities were swift and we were landside in no time. Going to the Maglev (magnetic levitation) train bound for the city, I noticed the Metro also served Pudong airport. I hadn’t realised or noticed this from last visit, but I wanted Kim to try the Maglev.

Despite my relatively long (but light sleep) I wasn’t feeling too coherent. Kim had dragged me one carriage forward on the train in order to be seated in forward-facing seats. When we got to the transfer station at Longyang Road, I had forgotten all about our luggage in our original carriage. I nearly walked off without them but fortunately Kim remembered.

The Maglev turned out to be the right choice as the metro takes about 90 minutes (but costs about one-fifth). It would have felt quite long in the rush hour crowd on the metro. As it was, Kim was unhappy in the metro for the relatively short ride from Longyang Rd station to our hotel.

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The Fish Inn was located a short walk from the metro, down an alleyway that had people selling veges and fish. I had expected the lively clamour of a wet market from some of the “complaints” I had read in the hotel’s review but it was a very small non-event. Some people do need to get real.

We had a couple of hours rest in bed. I tried to sleep but simply couldn’t. The rest was adequate to get me through the day without felling too traumatised.

Sightseeing and Secret Passages

We headed down Nanjing Road pedestrian mall first. Our attempts to grab a feed were foiled by touts offering watches by offering a small folded page of various models on offer. We were taken down an alley into an old simple building then up the stairs. The door opened into a lavish showroom of fake watches and bags. As Kim had very specific desires for a Ferrari watch, no purchase eventuated.

We had other similar encounters, some being located behind secret doors (disguised as shelves) that led into an Aladdin’s cave of counterfeit products.

We found a large food hall in the pedestrian mall with lots of goodies which tempted us. Unfortunately the queues were long for both the payment and the food collection counters. We couldn’t be bothered and ended up eating at McDonald’s! But we did try their local Chinese burger which appeared to be steamed grey peppery bread.

From there, we walked out towards the Bund to admire the view on both sides. It was fifteen years since Kim was last here. We continued south to Yu Yuan where the crowds were stifling. We had both been here before so it was just a quick walkaround and back to the hotel.

Dinner was at an arty diner (which was a chain, we realised next day). It comprised of garlic broccoli, sweet and sour shredded potatoes and NZ lamb chop washed down with beer. All were good. I’ve always wondered how they manage to stirfry potatoes without a hint of starchiness; perhaps they wash out all the starch. Dessert was warm freshly made mocha and mango.

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Sunset was around 1730. We returned to the Bund to admire the scenery by night. It was very pretty with the lights on both banks and the garish lit-up boats (including one that was like a Mississippi paddle steamer).

Not a bad first day back in Shanghai after 15 years for Kim, but just 3 years for me.