I just arrived in a new city (Nanjing, and the computer room is right next to my room, good thing I'm moving somewhere else tomorrow!) and I guess being out in the wild West has made me a bit spoiled.
At the airport today they asked 25Y (a very normal E2,50) for a coffee. Yikes! That's more than what I have spent on a night's accomodation the last few nights. And now I'm paying a full 140Y for the night. Pff, guess the east coast really is a lot more expensive.
Maybe I'm also spoiled this year in another way: am already thinking about future destinations. Of course, the next three are already pretty much set (Krakow, St. Petersburg & *somewhere* in Africa) so this is semi-long-term planning.
I just got back from a Korean restaurant around the corner and it'd been very long since I had good Korean food. Yummm! And now I really really want to go back to see more of Korea once. The couple of days that I spent in Seoul still rank in the top-3 of best solo trips ever.
And the Silk Road... I've now travelled the (beginning of the) Eastern end of it, and have met a lot of people who are travelling it via various routes. It's definitely replaced the Trans Siberiand as the first leg of my dream trip.
Also just got a text message from Minsk, which is also supposed to be cool. And then there's the rest of the world.
But wait, let's focus on Nanjing and Shanghai first...
At the airport today they asked 25Y (a very normal E2,50) for a coffee. Yikes! That's more than what I have spent on a night's accomodation the last few nights. And now I'm paying a full 140Y for the night. Pff, guess the east coast really is a lot more expensive.
Maybe I'm also spoiled this year in another way: am already thinking about future destinations. Of course, the next three are already pretty much set (Krakow, St. Petersburg & *somewhere* in Africa) so this is semi-long-term planning.
I just got back from a Korean restaurant around the corner and it'd been very long since I had good Korean food. Yummm! And now I really really want to go back to see more of Korea once. The couple of days that I spent in Seoul still rank in the top-3 of best solo trips ever.
And the Silk Road... I've now travelled the (beginning of the) Eastern end of it, and have met a lot of people who are travelling it via various routes. It's definitely replaced the Trans Siberiand as the first leg of my dream trip.
Also just got a text message from Minsk, which is also supposed to be cool. And then there's the rest of the world.
But wait, let's focus on Nanjing and Shanghai first...
6 comments:
why not reincarnate so we can travel some more when we come back and go to all the places we couldn't get to this life time... *sigh* Looks like you're having fun though Machi, but be sure to come back, we've got a Leiden blog to start ;-)
I can't wait to read your thoughts on Shanghai. Its one of my fave cities, although other people I know have not liked it as much.
My heart is beating so fast when I heard you speaking of MY CITY^^
Such a shame that I can't show you around there. Please DO visit the Purple Mountain and the historical sites in it.
@cookie, reincarnation... now that's a good thought ;)
@jules, actually really looking forward to it now! was reading That's Shanghai yesterday in Starbucks (I was craving coffee after 2,5 weeks) and it sounds like a really really cool place. though more of a 'living' place, than a 'visiting' place?
@bonny, yeah, my timing isn't the best huh... ;)
@cookie (again), oh yeah, i'll send you the stuff next week! you need to kick me to become a bit more active on that one as well...
I was always in Shanghai for work (except when my parents came to visit and we spent 3 or 4 days there, just doing the tourist thing). I would usually time my work trips so that I could spend the weekend in Shanghai.
Love, love, love the French Concession area - just walking around looking at the architecture (the LP Shanghai City Guide has some fantastic walking tours in it). And the Jewish Quarter is also really interesting - there is a museum/art gallery type place in the old Synagogue which has the history of Shanghai's Jewish population.
And Xin Tian Di, even though it is a tourist trap (ie, they aren't real old buildings, but recreations of old traditional style buildings), is really fascinating to have a look at (and there is a Starbucks there too, where you can get your coffee fix - the other thing I loved about Shanghai!). There's a Thai restaurant at Xin Tian Di which is really good too, in case you want something other than Chinese food. And they make really good Cosmopolitan cocktails too!
And there is all the usual tourist stuff: walking along the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower, Nanjing Road, Shanghai Museum. Have a drink at the Peace Hotel too!
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