My shadow: traveling (okay, walking) on a hot afternoon - Shanghai (20th - 23rd July 2016)

I had only 1 full day in Shanghai, it was the hottest day recorded, some places hit 50Celcius. While there were many means of traveling, I did most of my walking in Shanghai~ and enjoying every bit of it (despite the sore feet).

There were no direct flights from Malaysia - Okinawa, so traveling there, I had to transit in Pudong International Airport (Shanghai). The sat in Pudong for about 6 hours before I fly to Okinawa, on the flight back, the transit was 21 hours, so I decided to stay for 3 days instead. So I booked a room via Air BnB, good choice, great host, the place was smacked in the middle of the old part of Shanghai, totally loved the local touch of it. I had to travel out of the way a little bit as you know, most tourists stayed in hotels which were in the 'city' part of it.

Now from Okinawa, my friend brought me to this adult shop where there were porn magazines, books, DVDs, kinky costumes, sex toys, used underwear... we went there after dinner, on a Saturday night. So there were men there looking around for the best magazine to do whatever they want with it, and there were couples picking out a DVD to watch over the weekend and there were us. We were just browsing, I wanted to get my favourite girl her wedding gift, so I was really browsing. My friend said dildos and other toys are too common, which is true, role play would be good! So I bought them a kinky policeman suit for the husband and a steel handcuff for her. My friend suggested a plastic cuff, with fur and stuff (more of a BDSM theme) but it didn't match the policeman suit, so I got the steel cuffs, not a good idea to carry them around, but indeed was a great gift idea.

So when I landed in Shanghai, I took the Shanghai Maglev Train to town, changed to their local metro to my air bnb lodging. I had to change 2 lines, and China's metro stations are equipped with scanners, all bags are to be scanned. I was carrying a backpack, one bag of souvenirs from Okinawa for the Air bnb host and one bag of the toys, yea, those adult toys. At the Maglev Train station, I had to remove the packaging, show to the officer that it was a toy. Then again on the metro station, the officer called in his superior, I was stuck at peak hour (after-office hour) in the metro station, people staring as I was sweating, annoyed and hungry. The superior came sauntering over with two other officers on his left and right, showing off his air of superiority. He looked at the package, asked if this is a toy for a child or an adult. I swore if he looked at me, he would have saw my eyeballs did a 360 degree- backwards-roll. I understood he didn't read Japanese, but he sure ain't blind, there were pictures! Anyway, he said something like, "What kind of a game these youngsters are playing these days?" And he let me pass. I gathered up my stuff, and took off.

The host at the air bnb apartment was nice. I arrived at the place 7'ish in the evening, she was worried I got lost, but the room was absolutely comfortable. I was too tired to eat, but I had enough of snacks to last me the night.

the stuff I bought in Okinawa and Shanghai, lots of tidbits (minus the plush toys please)

The only tourist-attraction that I went to in Shanghai on my short visit there were Tianzifang (a hipster district with lanes of little shops, stalls and cafes). I was busy looking around that I forgot to take photos haha... I would definitely go back to Shanghai one day for an elaborated tour, so, I didn't mind not taking much photos there. Then I went to the Oriental Pearl Tower, walked around. I did most of my walking around Shanghai, I only took the metro out in the morning, and the metro back in the evening. Most of the day I spent wandering around the old parts of Shanghai, to the hipster district to downtown at the tower and the Bund.

XiaoLongBao for lunch. I was hungry with all the walking and had a hearty dinner.

It's not Shanghai cuisine hahaha, I go with my appetite, not the norm of a tourist haha.

Then watched the sunset by the riverfront. I stayed on the opposite side of the Bund for the sunset AND the night view of the Bund. Sat on a bench enjoying the breeze, it was pretty hot. I read in the paper the next morning that that day was the hottest recorded in Shanghai, 50Celcius in certain parts, but I was enjoying my day. I stayed hydrated, no signs of discomfort (bad lesson learned from Bali) and was impressed with the tan I got.

Sunset at the riverfront, couldn't resist it.

One for the record.

Fuchiko-san however was more than happy to stay indoor the whole day.

Finally it was time to go, I was looking forward to going home already. Despite the fun, I wanted to give my friend her wedding gift. So, on the way to the airport, I had to go through the metro's scanner AND the maglev train station's scanner again. Note that the scanners were only for bags. Commuters were not required to be scanned, so I put the cuffs in the side pocket of my pants and hahaha, everything went smoothly until...

I checked in, dropped my luggage and the ground staff told me my bag had to be checked by security again. I had wait for my name to appear, then go in, show them my cuffs (sure enough, it was the cuffs causing problem) then they rechecked my bags and off I went!

Bye bye Shanghai, I will be back. Oh, one last note, be CAREFUL of scammers. They're not just men... I encountered one, an elderly woman who conned about RMB500 from me, I told myself it was a good lesson learned. Although she wanted more, I told her that's all I got, if she wanted more, I wouldn't have anything to eat. She was not guilty at all. So be careful. I'm gullible, I know, I knew it when she was talking, and I was actually ready to give her a little, I had my limits. She probably had her own reasons, I try to think positive on this one hahaha~ ok, double gullible But seriously, be careful if you're not willing to part with your hard-earned money.