You just got Scam'd... or not

So Hong Kong is pricer than the Mainland and not only does it charge for the internet (GASP) it's money I would rather spend on delcious food in SOHO so I may be relatively out of touch but we'll see.

OUTLINE

Shanghai Day 2

* I made my way to the Shanghai Theatre Academy to access their collection of videos where I saw a bust of Shakespeare prominently displayed outside (see I told you they liked Shakespeare here!) and accessed a production of 12th Night where everyone was some sort of clown...

* That night I saw the aforementioned production of Romeo and ZhuYingtai which was beyond fabulous! Not only were there pop culture references I understood (Phantom of the Opera, Ain't no Hollerback girl, Dirty Dancing, Kung Fu Hostle, etc) It's turned out be be extremely valuable to my research. professor Huang is even asking me to send him details so I feel I chose well! Also.. I understood quite a bit of it so I feel exceedingly proud

Shanghai Day 3

* I tried to delay my departure for as long as I could because my plans involved me staying out late but there was only so much I could do before I was heading out the door witha bag of fresh cherries from a street vendor.

* When I got to The People's Square I was almost taken for a scam but I'm too smart for that! A sweet college student asked if I wanted to practice English/ Chinese and since I had heaps of time and a huge desire I said yes as long as she walked with me on the way to the museum. She agreed if I made a quick stop on the way so I thought... what could be the harm? Turns out it was the infamous "tea scam" but before they poured anything I absolutely refused to pay money so the sweet girl ducked out and walked me to the museum anyway. hey I don't mind! I'm proud of my street smarts and I got a full half hour of Chinese practice for free! Who got scam'd NOW hmmm?? The same thing happened a few hours later but I steered the conversation away from tea and towards S.H.E without budging from the spot. More Chinese. No paying. Victory for me!

* The Shanghai Museum is beyond beautiful and it's recently been opened to the public for free! I adored the halls of goregous jade sculptures and the display on the evolution of porcelin (though that sounds so boring when I type it out...) but I only glanced at the Chinese character exhibit. Sorry, no way am I spending hours looking at penmenship. Walking through the halls of this brand new building took quite a few hours but I was still reluctant to leave.

* After more jiaozi at a mall across the street I took the subway under the river to Pudong, the land of freaky buildings. It wasn't long before I had made my way to the top of one of the world's tallest buildings (the 4th? i'll see the 1st in a week) I timed my visit perfectly so I was there for daytime, sunset, and night all in an hour. It was breathtaking to see the city from above and watch the clouds turn purple and the lights of 19th century buildings flicker on the water.

Getting to Hong Kong was hell. I understand when the competitors on the AmazingRace have terrible days where nothing goes right... this was one of them
1. Wake up at 5 AM.... GROAN
2. After droping some extra Yuan into a donation box for the Earthquake ( a decision I don't regret at all) the woman at the hostel tells me the trains aren't running so I need to take a cab. Well NOW I don't have money...
3. I run to Bank of China and see the closed signs. DAMN. Fortunately ATM is open. Get money.
4. Catch cab. He takes me to the Wrong terminal. Need to catch bus. By this point I was pretty tired and stressed and high strung.
5/ Check in, wade past seas of Chinese tour groups. Stopped before security and told to check my small duffle. DAMN. Run back through Chinese tourists and breathlessly get back to security.
6. I have to stand behind a group of giggling preteens who have no IDEA what to do and want to go through the checkpoint together. It takes forever. When I get there the man goes through literally every inch of my backpack while I stand theri awkwardly as he looks through my flip flops. Finally finds my door alarm, shakes head, throws it away, pushes waht's left of my bag to me for me to repack.
7. Plane is nice. I read Austen and I was fed! HURRAY!
8. Get off plane, get to Central station by way of super fast train. Looking good. Unfortunately the rude lady behind the bus desk leaves out major details about how I am supposed to get on the bus which results in me dragging my heavy bags back and forth before I can sit down. Am already dying in Hong Kong humidity and heat and bus exhaust.
9. Bus #12 takes forever to arive. Already been 2 hours since my plane arrives. Driver almost drives away rather than wait for me to get luggage under control.
10. Driver decides that I have to pres the hidden button to stop at Robinson Road and my waving my arms at him is not a sufficent signal so he passes my stop and drops me way down at the bottom of a hill. I walk around Hong Kong for 45 minutes with heavy bags sweating and frustrated before I find the midlands escalators, check into Hotel, and lay down on my bed exhausted.

However a shower improved everything and my discovery of Cafe O and their heveanly pesto made the world perfect again. I adore everything about Hong Kong. As a certain Austen character would say " The Air is full of Spices" How true.

Off to dinner! Will find some time somewhere to tell you more about this delightful city and my adventures here. As a preview they involve rollercoaster hills, puffy birds, honking horns, incense coils, secret stairs, and magical fountains. Intrigued? I hope so cause... it's all I have to offer!