July 30th-Turnaround is fairplay

Well, the highlight of the day had to be getting hit by a bus. Well, ok. It was more like clipped by a bus but still! I was standing on the corner of Hanou and Hong Kong, like everyone does. Waiting for the little green man so I can cross the street. When all of a sudden I get hip checked by a little green bus. His bumber, my hip, they became friends. Fortuntely he hit my bag first, which probably helped to soften the blow. The two german tourists on the other side of the street found it very funny.
Lots of fellow westerners today. Mostly eastern European and a few brits. I saw most of them in the Shanghai Planning Expo which is just incredible. They have a to scale model of the city that takes up an entire floor and is awesome. The best part is the video the show about the dvelopment along the river. The plan is to build these beautiful halls for the World Expo in 2010. All of a sudden the music gets very sad. It shows the poor and hard working folks of Shanghai doing their jobs, and coming home to their very small and dirty apartments. QUick flash, the music changes, and all the hard workers are shown entering into their brand new and clean apartments! I guess you had to be there, or maybe once you see the conditions some of the people here live in, and understand how the government handles moving people for construction (see Beijing for the Olympic venues) you will find the dark humor in it. On a bright note, the buildings they are going to construct for the world expo will put the Bird Nest's in Beijing to shame!
Had my first Chinese restuarant experience today. (the one from yesterday doesnt count...dont ask me why, it just doesnt feel right to count it) But of course, after finishing my meal i find out that its a Japanese fast food restaurant i just ate in. Good, but not quite the same. And on the way back to the hotel, the woman who has been selling bowls of noodles with some green stuff in it, wasnt there! I think tomorrow I am going to dedicate to food! For now, I am going to the restaurant across the corner from my hotel for a dumpling or two, with some supermarket bought chinese junk food for desert. I have no clue what I will be eating, but the cookies had what looks to be a boy band on the front of it so really, how can I go wrong?
I tried to go to the Shanghai museum but since they apparently give out free tickets, the line was massive. So that will have to wait until another day. Instead I wander Nanjing Road, the commercial center of Shanghai, and strolled through a few of the many parks here. Once again, someone stopped and asked if they could take my picture. It was very funny, as while he was aiming, he kept saying "very handsome, very handsome" So if a billion chinese think i am handsome, then it most be true! I am just going to go ahead and extend his statement to all chinese and leave it at that! I did turn the tables a bit, hence the title of this post, and took a few pics of the chinese. Under my breath I muttered "very handsome" so its totally cool. No seriously, I was a little afraid someone was going to come and arrest me. But I was very discreet about it, and only got a dirty look once from a guy passing by who saw what I was doing. But really, I have gotten a lot of different kinds of looks, so who knows, maybe he didnt see me. Anyway, I think they might be amongest the best pics I have taken here so far!
Tomorrow I am going to explore the French Concession a bit, and maybe take a river cruise at dusk to see the sights. Then Friday, off to Chongqing where the hot pot is calling my name!
Namaste

Kevin