I’m in Shanghai now.  This is approximately what I can see out the window of my hotel room.

I’m staying on the Pudong side of the Huangpu River, and looking straight over to The Bund.

We went for a walk along the Pudong side of the river this afternoon, and then had a look at the City God temple in the Old City part of Shanghai.  Planning to go for a walk along the river one night, and tossing up between a trip to Suzhou or Hangzhou on Saturday.

Oh yeah, there’s work to be done tomorrow and Friday.

I’m in Beijing now, for the next few days.  Checked into the hotel early this morning to shower, change, grab a couple of hours sleep etc, before going out this afternoon to do some tourist stuff, and meet up with one of my Chinese colleagues for some dinner.  Normally I have showers, but in this hotel I’m definitely having a bath at some time, just so I can watch TV while relaxing in the bathtub.

Mind you, the glass wall between the bathroom and the bedroom will take a bit of getting used to, especially the fact that I can sit on the toilet and look out the window of my room … hope no-one in the apartments over the road is looking in.

I’m in Kuala Lumpur for work at the moment, till the end of the week, having arrived last Tuesday night.  So that means we had the weekend to do some sightseeing.   On Sunday, we spent the day at the Kuala Gandah elephant sanctuary, and fed, rode on, and swam with, the elephants.

Here’s some of what I did at the sanctuary.

First of all the keepers washed the elephants in the river.

Then we got to feed them, and ride on them, then the finale.  First, sit on the elephant….

over we go ….

the aftermath, drowned rats.

Well worth the effort to get there if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur.  And we got a nice drive in the country, sampled some tropical fruits, had a go shooting targets with a blowpipe, and had lunch, local style.

However, back to KL, and work, now, for the rest of this week.

I’m back again Beijing again this week – its becoming my home away from home.  This will be the fifth week I’m spending here in since the middle of October.  I’m supposed to be back again next month too.

I got here last night, about midnight, and started well by leaving my phone in the taxi.  Bummer!  Haven’t got it back, and not liking my chances.

Went for a walk around the local area this morning and found Yuyuantan Park just down the road.  It has a big lake in the middle, and I thought, gee that water is still as I was walking towards it.

Well there was a reason for that.

Obviously its been bloody cold here lately.  I’ve never seen such a large expanse of water frozen like this.  It may be routine for people in North America and northern Europe, but its a novelty for us Australians.  Pretty cool hey.

I went for another look around the neighbourhood tonight looking for dinner.  Could have had Subway, maybe Pizza Hut, but no, I went to a noodle place and had some nice spicy ramen, and grilled chicken skewers.  Nice and safe and boring.  Unlike these delicacies:

I politely turned down the offer from one stallholder to try a bit of starfish.  Actually, I noticed quite a lot of Chinese pointing at and screwing their faces up at some of these yummy treats – so obviously they’re not on the menu for all.

One of the things I did on my unexpected stopover in Shanghai recently was go for a train ride.  How would you like it if this were the normal speed for trains?

This is on the Maglev train which runs from Shanghai airport to the city – it covers 30km in 8 minutes.  You see cars on the roads that run alongside it and they look to be standing still – when they’re probably actually doing 80-100 km/h

This was in Wangfujing, which is the fashionable shopping area in Beijing.

Phwoooar!

Did I mention how boring it is sitting around in airports?  Well today in Beijing it was snowing, so flights were delayed and/or cancelled all over the place.  End result – missed connection in Shanghai to Sydney and will now be flying back tomorrow night.  So I’ve got a day in Shanghai to fill in.  Shanghai is somewhere I’ve been wanting to visit – but not as an unexpected addition to a month away from home, especially with another week away coming up next week.

Anyway, better make the most of it and check out The Bund and Nanjing Road, maybe some other things.  Not to mention riding on the Maglev train.

flying, airports, Beijing, Shanghai, China

Its my last few hours in Beijing and I have a sore throat.  It might be due to the cold weather, but I am blaming Tuesday night’s karaoke (KTV) bar adventure for it.  Especially my efforts at Bohemian Rhapsody – those high notes were a killer.  Not to mention that song just goes on and on.  Fortunately there was beer, lots of it, and snacks.  All good fun, and ended up costing less than $10 each for 3 hours or so of singing and drinking.

Better start packing soon, my flight is just after lunchtime, and I get home tomorrow lunchtime.

I see a little silhouetto of a man,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very fright’ning me
(Galileo) Galileo (Galileo) Galileo, Galileo figaro
Magnifico I’m just a poor boy and nobody loves me
He’s just a poor boy from a poor family,
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come, easy go, will you let me go
Bismillah! No, we will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let him go!) Bismillah! We will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go
(Let me go) Will not let you go (Let me go) Ah
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
(Oh mama mia, mama mia) Mama mia, let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
So you think you can love me and leave me to die
Oh, baby, can’t do this to me, baby,
Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here

Beijing, China, karaoke, KTV, Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

My last free day in Beijing for this trip.  Been here 3 weeks now, 4 more sleeps now before I fly home.  I really like Beijing, but am really looking forward to getting home.

Looks like the last couple of days here are going to be cold and maybe snowy.   No doubt a foretaste of what it will be like when I come back in December.

Beijing, Summer Palance