A note from Shanghai

Well my funny story for this week is that I got lost at the Crown Plaza Hotel. That is, my taxi dropped me off at a different Crown Plaza Hotel than the one I had checked into earlier that day... No wonder my key card did not work in the bedroom door... They all look the same honestly!! Am very pleased I worked it out before the staff had a too bigger laugh at my expense.

Anyway, all sorted now :-) I am happily sitting in the Shanghai Fudan hotel rather than the Shanghai Pudong hotel, and feeling none the worse for wear.

Shanghai is so different from Toyko. Development is going on all around, and everything is under construction. The roads a full of honking cars, and the pedestrians just walk out in front of the cars - adding to the reasons for honking. Toyko was so organised in comparison. Everyone (other than Andrew!) patiently waited at the crossing for the lights to change even if there were no cars coming. Here the more cars when you try to cross the better. If you flag down a taxi it stops in whatever lane it was in when it saw you - and you dodge the traffic (that is all honking!) to get into the cab. You feel like a real local.

Food here is so so cheap compared to Hong Kong - and plentiful. Out with work mates at lunch today in a nice Chinese restaurant cost RMB140 f0r 5 of us. That is less than six NZD each ...and we could not eat it all. When you realise that a Startbucks coffee (about the only type you can find in China sorry Paul) is about the same price it makes you realise why the locals think the western chains are so expensive. Frog was on the menu at the restaurant today (amongst the 10 or so other dishes they ordered). The little toads kept jumping off my chopsticks - man they are slippery! Not too bad tasting though :-).

Time for bed. Be good :-). Sonia