DAY ONE: SHANGHAI IN A DAY

Una muna, ito ang sabi ni Pareng Wikipedia:

Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People's Republic of  China and the largest city proper by population in the world.

It is a global city with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology and trransport.

It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.

Sa akin naman, I liken it to the Big Apple as it is, like New York, the fashion capital of China.

People are so trendy and most brands hold their flagship store there.

I checked my mobile the moment the alarm sounded off and found out that the weather for that day would be mostly on the "negative" side.  I worry for my boy who is not so thrilled about layering at all.

We started the day filling our stomachs with the hotel's generous breakfast buffet.

Checked out soon after and left our bags in the concierge.

Off we went to see what was store for us in Shanghai!

At dahil "fresh" pa kami, we were brave enough to try their subway system.

Good thing the subway station is "super" lapit lang sa front door ng hotel.  As in 50 steps or so lang.

Kaya lang, we realized that it will definitely not going to be a "walk in the park" for us as we had a big stroller in tow at may "interchange" pa somewhere.

And di ba nga, most populous nga daw siya sa China kaya "kalurky"  lang ang daming ng  tao everywhere!

Pero "naitawid" naman namin with a little help from the Shanhai Railways System App we installed on our phones.

Isa lang naman ang destination namin:  THE BUND   

This is, afterall, the most photographed site in Shanghai.  

Ang "sarap" here to just people watch especially nung umaraw ng kaunti.

We then crossed the sea via the sightseeing tunnel (which was too overpriced IMO).

We ate a late lunch cum early dinner at a local fastfood which we did not really enjoyed pero di naman sobrang sama ng lasa. It was just enough to address our "nagsusumigaw" na stomachs.

After that we spent some time near the Oriental Pearl Tower (another icon in Shanghai) and bought souvenirs before going back to the Bund.

We took a taxi going back to the hotel and was happy that we did not have a hard time at all despite the thousand or so people in the area.

I was praying all along kasi we had to be at the railway station in an hour's time.

As expected, He did not disappoint.  Taxis were there the moment we needed it. Galing mo Lord!

After getting our bags from the Concierge, we begun walking towards the railway station which was, luckily, just nearby.  

It was literally a hop and a skip away.

Yun lang, pagdating namin doon, we were greeted by a multitude of thousands. As in.

Of all the days, do you really have to go to where we are going TODAY? Hehehe

We would know later via our Xian guide that it was "School Opening" the next day. Sheeesh.

We were boarding at exactly 6:30pm and wasted no time in making our cabin "homey" enough to catch some shut eye.

R did not have a hard time calling the train his "home" for the next 15 hours.  He would later sleep like a log for the whole duration of the trip. Pwede nang mag "backpack" trip ito soon. Yipee!

As for me,  I was so excited to spend the night inside an overnight train just like in India, Laos and in Bicol.

I could stare at the scenic view outside until it becomes pitch dark.  I do not know what is it about trains that I find too romantic.

Do stand by for Day Two will you?

It is the most exciting part of the trip as it is the day that I would get face to face with the TERRACOTA WARRIORS.