Sunday in Shanghai

Today was the day to get in some touring of the city. I met Brian in the lobby at 9:00. We were not sure what to do about breakfast. The concierge recommended we eat in the hotel, and could not recommend anything out side the hotel. I was ready to ignore that advice and see what would happen on the streets of Shanghai. So we set out to explore. We walked past the mall next door, and already at 9:15, many people were lining up to get in. It turns out that Nanjing Rd (where the hotel is located) turns into a pedestrian mall just half a block west of the hotel. The street was filled with people -- getting ready to shop, hawking cheap imitation watches and hand bags, people dancing in front of department stores waiting fo rthem to open, and just a lot of hustle bustle. There were more than one KFC's and MacDonalds, but they were not acceptable for breakfast. We continued to the end of the pedestrian mall, and headed back to the hotel for the breakfast buffet. A rather pricey breakfast, but at least we knew what we were getting.

After breakfast we called Gus, the EMC employee who moved here from NJ. He agreed to meet us later in the afternoon, so we left on a huge hike to see Shanghai by foot. We

* walked to old town to see the old style building and hustle bustle. Lots of small old shops with trinkets.
* Saw the Beautiful 16th century Yu Gardens,
* walked along the Huang River
* Took the sightseeing tunnel tour (movie to be put on YouTube),
* took the subway to the EMC office and Gus's motel, and finally met Gus.

Gus gave us a tour of the EMC offices -- very nice, though there is no privacy at all in the cubes. Then he took us to dinner at a real Chinese restaurant. I'm not sure how I managed to find anything to eat, but I did, and it was prety good. Certainly very different that the normal American Chinese restaurant. Different flavors.

Its now 9PM and I'm exhausted. Jet lag is catching up with me.