Made it to Shanghai yesterday after a fun, but maybe a bit too long trip through Kuala Lumpur (- where i learned some Malay: Bagasi means luggage, great, eh?!). I was a bit curious about how I was going to find my hostel here, as the from-the-airport directions were a bit vague and i don't really speak any shangaiese or mandarin for that matter. However all went well, especially after i dicovered that large parts of the extended city is laid out quite similar to East Berlin (-- where i lived during my college years). There is something about plan economy urbanization that never fails when it comes to "the subway entrance will be in the most non-descript building on this block of houses". So, I made it and even managed to get off the right subway stop in only two attempts -- on the first one i never made it to the door of the train before it slammed shut due to rush hour chaos, on the second i had learned that it is totally legit to push, fight and hit people with you 18k bag if you are trying to get off the train... good little intro to Asia after having been very relaxed in the Australia outback for a bit!
After checking in to my luxury room (-- i decided to splurge on the $38/day private room with air-con & tv, rather than bunk it (-- please don't hate me, hard core backpackers out there!)) i took my first stroll along The Bund, walking along the Huangpu river that seperating east & west Shanghai and admiring the Shanghai skyline. After that i ventured in to the Old City, which is sort of like a China Town within a chinese city, however, I'll add more about this later, as I am about to head out for today.
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