Link's Blog

After a grueling 22 hour commute from New York City, I arrived to Shanghai, China.

I arrive to my hotel room at night time. My full panel windows on both sides of my room corner allowed me a fantastic view of Shanghai at night. I walked to the windows breathe in the view. It was an interesting feeling. This was my first intercontinental business trip. I was already looking forward to many more to come.

After unpacking a showering, I meet my group downstairs for a quick bit before bed. The menu had traditional Chinese food and regular western fare. I had something I could not pronounce and I am glad I did. It was delicious! 

THe next morning, after more chinese food for breakfast we head down to the convention center were we will be working this week (business trip after all) just to find out that our materials will not arrive until the next day. We suddenly had a free day! 

We hail a cab (¥ 20) to Nanjing Road, the largest (3.4 miles) shopping strip in China. We roam for a while, constantly being pandered by beggars, sales people and other assorted characters. I must have been offered this same toy (some wheels you ca attach to your heels) about 20 times. 

It was chilly so we wondered into some shops looking for coats. I bought a bright mean yellow and purple vest for about ¥300. ($40) at Astro boy. It was interesting how, each time I picked up something that call my interest, several sales people would surround me and offer me that item in XL or XXL sizes. Where they calling me fat? 

At some point, our local host (a very nice, polite Chinese business man called Chang) invited us to a hot pot restaurant he knew. To get to this restaurant, we had to walk through a knock-off NBA store that only had the name in common with the original NBA stores around the world (not even a basketball in sight!) and up the elevator to floor 8 1/2 (this hot pot was so hidden that they didn’t even had a full floor number.) 

The restaurant was full on Chinese, not a word in English in sight, neither a server who can speak it. The menu was a mess of asian symbology and if it wasn’t for our host, we could have not manage to order anything.

The server invited us to the kitchen to see the ingredients and point to what we want in out hot pot soup. Once we got in the kitchen, there was a lot of screaming, pointing and what I assume was explaining, but we had no idea what they were saying. We tried to speak and ask for more information, but nobody understood what we were saying. The server who took us to the kitchen run to our table and brought our host with him to translate. Wwere then taken to another section of the kitchen where there was a photo menu of the ingredients, we point and nod while the server took notes. 

My general rule when traveling the world is to order items in restaurant (or stores) that I won’t be able to find back home. I have found wonderful items of food this way. The most interesting item in the menu was river turtle. Not just chunks of meat, but a small, still with the shell, river turtle. Of course, I had to order that item.

WIth the risk to sound like a cliche, the turtle meat tasted like chicken. 

One of out traveling companions refused to eat. Her face was twisted with repulsion all throughout the mean (not only the turtle, which I can understand, but EVERYTHING in the table, from tofu to bok choi)  She waited for the meal to be over and asked to go to a McDonalds, where she stuffed her chubby face with chicken mcnuggets and french fries. I asked her why is the logic of traveling to the other side of the world to eat the same stuff she eats at home.. 

-“If i don’t know it, if it looks funny, if is no from somewhere I know, I don’t eat it!” - I keep my mouth shut, but I lost a lot of respect for her. Her world will forever be narrow and boring.

At the end of the meal, we were stuffed, sleepy and ready to crash, but we keep wandering. When it started the feet dark, form one of the balconies facing the shopping street, a saxophonist, wearing  bright sequined blue jacket emerged a starting playing jazz. Some people started dancing, while everybody else just stared. I noticed than only senior people would dance. If this would happen in New York, people of all ages would have danced

The night had fallen when we hail a cab back to the hotel. It had been a good day, but the jet lag was catching up with me. I got to the hotel, took a shower and I was sound asleep by 7:30 pm.