Shanghai, China 11'25'2013

The last time I was in Shanghai I was too hungover to tour the place. This time around I tried to rest well and prepare everything to explore parts of the city and save time as I did not have much of it.

We arrived in Shanghai early in the afternoon, but the trip through the airport and to the hotel soon took all our afternoon away and dusk came. I wanted to rest as it was a very long flight to Shanghai but before that I unpacked and even prepared some of my stuff to leave already haha! And I also took pictures of some parts of my room...

The bed. 

A banana and an apple by the side table.

Office table.

A really comfy chair.

I took a shower, brushed my teeth, closed the curtains, and switched off all the lights but, being me, I still wanted to take a picture of something. So I took a picture of the bed with only the side and ceiling lamp as sources of light and it turned out pretty well...

A desolate bed. Ready to sleep!

I slept soon after. When I woke from the alarm I felt fresh! I pushed myself to stand, opened all the lights to take a shower. I was heading to the bathroom when I forgot to open the curtains. When I did, I immediately ran to my camera to take this picture...

A beautiful sunrise greeted me just to say good morning.

I honestly can not remember the last time I actually saw the sun as it was rising from the horizon. I have never been a morning person, the places I sleep in and the differing hours of my sleep time prevent me from seeing stuff like this. At that moment, I felt happy and lucky and I prepared to move out!

I took a shower again, put my clothes on for the day and headed out to walk to the train station...

Waiting for the train.

Only one lady taking the train on the opposite side.

View of the inside of the train.

While on the escalator out of the station, I looked back to take this picture. I didn't know someone was looking.

Our hotel was once again pretty far from the city. It took us nearly an hour to get to the center of the city because of numerous stops along the way and the train was even stopping in between stations to let another trains pass. It was a very busy morning rush hour indeed.

My first stop was People's Park. The very center of Shanghai. But before that we crossed the street to eat...

People waiting to cross the street. Heading to work or wherever. 

Noodles with pork something and egg something. Haha!

Noodles and Dumplings. 

The view of the chinese fast food restaurant we ate in.

It was still early in the morning and most of the restaurants were closed. And we were already very hungry so we decided to eat in the nearest, at least it was chinese, restaurant we could find. The fact that it was fast food didn't bother me at all as long as it was chinese!

After the restaurant, I parted ways with my companion as she had different plans. I soon proceeded to walk inside People's Park...

The elderly hanging out by the pond. Purple fringing :(

Tourists? Resting and taking in the nature in the middle of a busy city.

A pathway leading deeper into the unknown. Will you walk through it with me?

People's Park exit way.

A lady and her son admiring the views.

It was a nice, albeit, small place filled with people exercising touring, and even some advertising.

After People's Park, I looked at Google Maps on my phone and decided to go to the other side to People's Square but before that I got distracted by what seemed to be Takoyaki...

My Takoyaki being given to me by this wonderful lady.

The Takoyaki.

When I took a bite of it, I suddenly remembered I was not in Japan! Hahaha nevertheless it was good and when I finished it I went on to walk to People's Square...

A baby and her grandmother. How sweet. How cute.

People feeding the pigeons.

The pigeons loving the feed.

An escalator leading underground to what I'm guessing is a shopping mall. 

The view of People's Square.

The sun was getting pretty high but it was still cold because of winter and all so I didn't mind it. The square was also full of tourists, mostly from people from within China itself.

I was soon running out of time and so I opened Google Maps again to choose a road to walk to my final destination for the day: the Bund. I was looking at the map and I decided to go to the farthest road from where I was to walk to the Bund. Little did I know that the road I took was an amazing shopping district where no cars are allowed or could pass through. It was called Nanjing road...

Right at the entrance. So many shops!

The sun casting its gaze upon the road from behind the buildings.

Century Square in Nanjing road.

I was very happy to have chosen this road. I had no idea that it was famous and had many boutiques and restaurants, clearly I did not do my research enough! However, I had already eaten and I didn't want to shop so instead, I took pictures of random people...

People doing promotions, I guess, by dancing in front of a cosmetics shop.

A lady buying stuff.

A random guy who happened to fall into the focus of my camera while it was on manual focus. Perfect timing.

If you have money to spare or spend or throw away then Nanjing road is the place for you! It is full of so many tempting shops and restaurants that would easily sway the weak willed. Hustling and bustling, there were many people giving out print ads and sales talking the shizz out of would be shoppers!

Walking through and straight down Nanjing road I finally reached my final destination for the day, The Bund...

Statue of Chen Yi. The first communist mayor of Shanghai.

The Shanghai skyline with views of the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Financial Center

Huangpu Park in the northern section of the Bund.

A couple posing for their wedding photos right by the Bund.

Old colonial buildings in the Bund.

The Bund (pronounced as the same as "fund") had the perfect view of Shanghai's skyline and right beside it were multiple old colonial buildings of banks, restaurants, cafes, and hotels among many others. It was my final destination and it was foggy/smoggy making the views of the near horizon very hazy. Soon, when my legs were already in pain from all the walking I did, I regretted the shoes I wore and I remembered that I needed to go back to the hotel and rest for the flight back.

On the way back to the hotel. The train stopped suddenly, I panicked! I looked at the station guide of the train and confirmed that I was still six stations away from where the hotel is. I looked at other people and figured out that I just needed to wait to get to another train that will go further into the train line. *phew*

When I reached the train station I walked to the nearest Bakery store to buy some snacks to eat before my flight...

The Bakery I always go to in Shanghai called Touch.

All the bread I bought. The most delicious was the Sea Salt Cheese Cake!

Throughout the short trip I realized that the Shanghai metro, in my experience, is one of the best in the world, rivaling the ones in Seoul and Osaka. It will give you easy access to all the tourist spots and anywhere else you want to go in between. I know there are few cities in the world that can boast brand new train cars and many train lines that would span their their respective cities, and Shanghai is one of them.

Overall, I loved Shanghai. I truly wish I had more time there because I still wanted to go, do, and eat so many things. I especially wanted to buy tea, sit for a long time by the Bund or Nanjing road while taking in the city and my surroundings, just relax you know? But sadly, I didn't have time to do that. Maybe, on the next city I'll go to, that is what I would do, just relax in one place and not walk around taking pictures of everything.

Until my next trip, Zaijian!