Sunday, June 04, 2006

Shanghai Day 3

I feel like it's been forever already, but I've only been in Shanghai for three days. Partly it's because my cousin has decided to take me around as much of the city as possible this weekend.
Today I went with him, his wife and baby, his grandpa and his aunt to the Century Park out in Pudong. Pudong, in case you aren't familiar with Shanghai, is the newer district. There's a lot of new development out there, mostly skyscrapers that look like rocket ships, imitation art deco or vertically inflated temples. The new airport is out there (photos to be posted on facebook when I'm not so lazy). It takes about an hour to get to Pudong by car and once you get there, traffic is so confusing that my cousin pulled a tricks that would have had him arrested in the US. For example, we missed a turn, so we did a U-turn and went the other direction - right into oncoming traffic. Fun...
Outside the park, Yuko (my cousin's wife) and I were accosted by a teeny old lady who was trying to sell us plastic bottles filled with tap water. Normally I would just say no thanks, but she followed us and kept waving the bottles in our faces. Fortunately, Kaikai (my cousin) and his aunt came to our rescue by whisking us quickly and efficiently away. We went into Century Park and enjoyed the sights. I think the whole landscaping of the park is geared towards framing the skyscrapers in the back. The skyscrapers that look like they could blast off at any second, that is.
We got back to the apartment around 7:30 for dinner and afterwards, while everyone was still eating, I brought my eating-ware into the kitchen where the maid/nurse was eating. I asked her why she didn't eat with the family. She said something unintelligible (For some reason, she speaks only in her dialect and expects that I understand every single word) and then thanked me for always putting my bowl in the sink. I responded that my parents would kill me if I didn't. Haveing a maid, or help of any sort, is really really strange. I don't really like it....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's intersting to hear about your adventures over there. :D Lady trying to sell bottles of tap water. Hah.

As for the maid thing.. my family had a maid when we were in Hong Kong. Except we insisted that she eat with us at the table.