Steping back in time

飲茶 - or Yum cha is a traditional Chinese late morning/afternoon tea - Its basically the Chinese equivalent of high tea - and its super yummy! If you have never been to Yum cha, I suggest you go. It is very popular in Western countries and often found at many Chinese restaurants. Yum cha is traditionally more Cantonese and can be found more prominently around the southern areas of China and also Hong Kong.

We are in Shanghai's 'Old Town'. As the name implies it is an old part of the city that is encased in a somewhat circular wall and is home to some impressive architecture dating to the Ming and the Qing dynasty. Inside you will find a bustling commercial hub of market and food stalls. It buzzes with atmosphere, and while some tourist do not like this area, I found it to be sensory stimulating and taste bud tantalizing.


We had yum cha in a local restaurant over looking the water in the centre of the small city. Everything is in Chinese characters - so If your happy to point and eat, then go for it! Lucky for us, out friend, Emma, was able to communicate for us - ordering me some vegetarian dishes and Rani and Jarreth some steam soup pork buns (pictured with the straw below) It was very inexpensive for 4 of use our total Yum cha bill was well under 100 RMB ($15AUD total. If you love shopping and love a bargain - then you will also love this area! The markets are full of trinkets and souvenirs for you to purchase and barter for.


Getting there is easy - there are plenty of buses that go past here. The red tourist sight seeing bus goes through this area also. Taxis - CHEAP! To get a taxi from East Nanjing Road was about 15 RMB ($2.30AUD) I recommend a Taxi purely because we came here towards the end of our stay in Shanghai and I was tired - Lazy I know!

 

Shanghai at night

The main cities in China seem to be awake all the time! At night the city transforms from an actuarial sculpted city into an amazement park of light. The colours bounce off the reflective surfaces and blend into the low cover clouds. Its almost a magical experience! 

Jet lag is a funny thing...

Jet lag in a funny thing, especially when you think it is working in you favour. It's our first full day in Shanghai, I'm excited to get up and start exploring through the city. I woke up grabbed my iPad to check some emails and saw that it was 6:30am. After checking my emails I got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. I was confronted by 6 half naked boys, obviously still intoxicated from their night of partying. They asked me why I was up so early - by that time it was near 7:30, I was a bit confused. I don't think 7:30am is that early... "um, it's 5am..."

It turns out the only clock I forgot to change to Shanghai time was my iPad... I was in fact up at 5am... Wide awake.

If you're a shopping person, don't worry if you Do the opposite of me and sleep in. Most of the shops here don't open until 10am. This is a great time though to get up and out walking about as the crowd levels are pretty low. We walked close to 12km today. Starting from Nanjing East Road heading towards the People's Square.

People's Square was originally a horse racing course that was converted by the government when the communist party took over. It runs along side Nanjing Road, which is basically a pedestrian strip with giant shopping malls running its length (well, nearly the complete length of the street.) It's a nice break from the concrete and lights, lush green grass and gardens, manicured trees and hedges, and beautiful ponds.

In search of the Huangpu River, we decided to jump on a bus. A great way to rest our feet and take in the city sights. The City Sightseeing red bus will set you back 30RMB (about $5 AUD) this ticket will last you a full 24hrs and take you through the entire city and under the river across to the financial district.

Located in the east banks of the Huangpu River is Pudong, Shanghai's financial district. Don't dismiss this side of the city - its actually hard to dismiss it. Sticking out of the heart of the east bank is the Oriental Pearl radio and TV tower. The giant tower with its massive purple spheres strategically placed, is the 5th largest in the world standing tall and proud at 468.0m (1,535ft). Make sure you hang around the area (on the other side of the bank) at night as the light show is impressive. Well, its not a light show - but its close to it. The city comes alive. There are restaurants, shopping at lookout points in the Oriental Pearl, to go all the way to the top, it will cost you around 180RMB (about $30 AUD).

OK, so I'm a little hungry for some veggie food, lucky our friend found vegan restaurant Jujube tree (www.jujubetree.com). The food was amazing! All vegan soy protein and all very very tasty. For 4 people it cost us 136RMB (about $23) total! Not each... Total! So cheap and we were all extremely content, I was very very content indeed.

Shanghai and magnetic levitation

3am wake ups aren't foreign to me. I do this on my normal Monday to Friday working week. Today, I got a 30min sleep-in, the struggling fight to wake up seemed easier. I put this down to the fact that I know in 5hrs I'll be boarding a plane, and not going to work. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love going to work...but I love vacation time more. I packed the night before so I just had the odd thing here and there to add to my very small rucksack. 

The flight left early, boarding the plane at just after 8:30. So naturally we thought that breakfast would be served (along with lunch and dinner), but as the hours clicked over and we got closer to our destination, it was evident we would have rumbling tummies until lunch.

The flight from Sydney to Shanghai is around 10 1/2 hours. It's not too bad of a flight, as far as flights go. Just enough time to churn through a few movies and a couple of TV episodes.

We arrived in Shanghai, happy to be off the plane and stretch our legs. Our friend who we were traveling with, Jarreth, was meeting with one of his friends who lived in Shanghai, Emma. This was perfect! After a long flight, we had someone who could point us in the right direction and translate our crucial first few hours.

We took the Maglev bullet train to the city centre (this is super fast - we clocked 301kmph and apparently this train will clock a max of 400-450 during peak transit hours.) There are cheaper options to get into the city centre - but this is fast and fun. Standard fare is 50RMB (about $8.50 AUD)  but if you present you boarding pass you can ride for 40RMB (about $6.50AUD).

Finding our hostel shouldn't be too hard, we were giving clear instructions at the time of booking... Well, it wasn't that hard...but we did go on small adventure - walking the wrong way down the street for a good 1km. Pointed in the right direction by a tuk tuk driving, we finally found the Blue Mountain Bund hostel.

It's a small hostel, but it is super clean. The rooms are a decent size (we were in a 4 room dorm) and the price is reasonable. For 3 nights 2pax we paid 351RMB (that's about $10AUD per night per person!) not bad!!!

I'm am quickly learning that my Aussie 'she'll be right' attitude to finding vegetarian food I can eat is just silly... Well at 10pm at night it is anyway. On a chipper note, the street food looks amazing. So many different meats on offer all served on convenient sticks - the ultimate fast food!

Skydive the beach - Wollongong

The thought of skydiving, to most people, would normally put the 'fear of God' in them. Not me. I don't seem to get scared much these days by anything extreme (within reason) - I have been waiting to jump for three years. Why? Well, three years ago I was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor and I promised myself that, 'If, you survive this Sarah, you're going to do everything you ever wanted without question - because you can!'

So, after the long wait for my head to heal, after surgery (yes, I am now OK) I was given the OK to jump!

Along for the day was my mate Peter - now, Peter, on the other hand, was a little nervous. But I owe him a massive THANK YOU and a big pat on the back for:

a) Jumping to show support for me
b) Jumping for himself!
c) Being an awesome mate

Good on you DUDE!

Skydiving is unlike anything I have done before, and if you haven't given it a go - DO IT! The free fall, as short as it is, is the most amazing sensation I have ever felt. It's so hard to describe - you don't feel like you're falling at all - it's more of a floating feeling as you fly through the sky reaching terminal velocity.

I had time to take everything in - I vividly remember every second of the free fall. The icy air rushing past me, my instructor, Brad, tapping me to move into positions and the smell of the air. It was AMAZING!

The parachute opens and your ears equalize - you see the world from a completely different point of view and a new appreciation begins to take shape.

I jumped with Skydive the Beach - Wollongong - You jump out over the water and land very close to the beach. check the website for prices.

It there is one thing on your bucket list to do... absolutely - skydiving has to be one of them. Just do it!