lots of walking and shopping around Shanghai

This morning was my one day to sleep in...and it was great to get caught up on all the jet lag and actually be ready to tackle the day with my eyes open.

We met in the lobby for our day of shopping all over town. We walked over to "The Tourist Tunnel" to make our way to the Pu dong side of the city. This thing is hilarious! It's like a Disney World ride if they just had a huge movie flop and were told to use 1% of their original budget. But, the funny thing is, there is always a line. You hop into a little pod and ride through lots of twinkle lights, blow up people (you know like you see on top of gas stations) and listen to the techno music with creepy voice overs as you enter each section. The man tells you which section you're in with this dramatic voice..."Heaven, Hell", "Melting Magma" and "Shooting Stars" are a few awesome examples!

Once we popped up on the other side, we took a little break in the train station while RC picked out a stone to carve a photo of his family on...while we waited I saw this great Chinglish sign...

We stopped to take a few pics in front of The Pearl too.

And here's the shopping crew...RC, Teresa, John, Jeff, Ron and me. Six people in a self portrait? Piece of cake, people!

We then took the train to the first market. This one has clothing, purses, watches, video games, etc... There are a couple of schools of thoughts in the markets. You either take a price you're happy enough with or you spend the day bantering and haggling (over a couple of bucks). The majority rules when you're travelling as a pack...so the negotiators won. First, we hit up a place with jackets...North Face, Columbia, Spyder, etc. The guys wanted rain jackets and I was thinking about getting one for the soccer game that night. Just knew I wouldn't use it again and didn't know if I wanted to spend the money. So, a couple of the guys talked and talked with the sales guy...and no deal. He wouldn't come down low enough, so we walked on. You know you have a pretty sweet deal if they don't come chasing you...especially for as many as we were getting. We walked on to a few other shops and figured out...the first place was as good as it gets. The funny part was, when we returned, with sagging faces, he pulled out the bag with all the jackets. He hadn't even put them up, b/c he knew we'd be back! That says we already had a great deal!! :)

I decided not to get the jacket and just risk it...then Ron came up with a brilliant idea...Jeff was getting one for his wife...how about I lease it from him? Perfect...so I got a jacket for the evening and didn't have to find a place to store it once I came home...so smart! :)

We wrapped up the shopping there and headed to the famous DVD place. We went into this little alley through a turn style and there was the little shop. The lady there is great...and will tell you if the movie you picked up is good or not. Movies and TV...this was my kind of place to splurge!!! I found 30 Rock, Weeds, The L-word and my all time favorite Arrested Development! I couldn't resist getting the series with all the info translated into Chinese on the box...and I've loaned mine out a bunch, so I've misplaces a few of the disks. I also snagged a some new movies...so it was a total jackpot! :)

Jeff took this pic of Ron and me in the Times Square area (yeah, Shanghai has two areas called Times Square...take that NYC)...my peace sign is a little hostile!!! He wouldn't take the pic until I gave the signature Japanese tourist peace sign...so it looks a little more like the finger!

From there, we walked through the drizzling rain to the Blue Frog restaurant. The food was good and familiar. The fries were awesome!! My sandwich, on the menu, said it had egg mayo on it. I laughed, thinking they just meant mayo since it's made from eggs. To my surprise, they DID include the egg!! It was like a Turkey sandwich with egg salad on top. It was pretty good, but so rich!

My feet were a little achy and I have a few less Yuan in my pimp roll...but so excited about my purchases and off to the Olympic soccer game tonight!!!