AIR NATION: April 2019

It has been a while...

It felt so weird to go back to China again after spending a lot of time in Morocco
and at home like a grizzly bear waiting for winter to disappear.

It's a cultural shock.

From desert dunes to High rise fog

Woa!

It has been 2 years already that we are flying to Shanghai and it still amazes me how we manage this 13 hours time difference.

Luckily for me the flight was not full so it gave me the chance to get back on my routine however this being said
when it was time for me to sleep my 4 hours
I was not able to do so
snif snif snif

my lay over was going to be ruined
but I was not going to let this happen.

I had bought a shirt the last time I was there 2 months ago and I had the intention to return it
So my plan was to get there and right away leave to exchange this shirt
it was not a bargain shirt so this is why I needed to get back there

I didn't take the taxi
big mistake
so many people

this is the hard part in going to China
this proximity with people
oh my god

what have I done
after a 13 hours and a half flight
what I was thinking!

my head was buzzing
my entire body was push into the crowd
oh my god

waited in line
got a ticket
and again push into the metro
line 2 all the way to 10
ouf

and now got off at station 10
to change metro
to go to Yuyuan garden station

CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY

When I got there, I realised I did not
have alzheimer yet
I had a good memory

So many Chinese tourist
this is what I found bizarre
they are actually groups of Chinese visiting China
from different part of the country or Taipei Taiwan
I could not tell but they spoke Chinese

So I made my way to the boutique but there were 2 different women
my limited chinese was obviously not enough to get my money back
it has been 2 months but to exchange the item:
a long linen shirt with black and white strips that didn't match from one side to the other.

Lesson 1

never buy a already pack item
remove it from the bag and look at it

so I exchange it for another shirt but
again another lesson to learn

never shop after a 14 hour flight
you make very bad decision
and this goes for business deal as well

but I guess I never learn ....after 2 years... I never learn my lesson

i tried the shirt but
only look at the arm and shoulders in the mirror
but it was a dress
that you put on top of jeans but for me it ain't my style too old for this

Actually it was not my week end of good treasure hunting

I went on walking around
people eating food everywhere
The Chinese wish list is to sit down and eat all night
I am not joking.

(The flight attendants who speaks chinese, that's all they do
they go across from the hotel to the mall, sit down and eat all night ,
they go back to their hotel room and order food on wechat or what ever they like on Taebo and eat again...)
They do the same here.
They wait and wait to eat a delicatessen from Shanghai

But that day, the smell of the food
was not calling me at all in the contrary
so I decided to walk somewhere else around Yuyuan garden
its so beautiful with the lights and all
afterwards I went to eat some
xiao long bao

at the famous restaurant

20.00 for 6 xiao long bao a perrier and a fancy tea

and went back to the hotel
metro exchange metro

There was a lot of tea merchant on the street selling the new tea

they were screaning the leafs in a huge silver bowl
it was amazing to watch
the new leafs smell like matcha

so went back to my very deluxe hotel room that has a butler bell and a tv in the bathroom
woa
the view was beautiful

Time to go to bed

20:30

dangerous time to go to bed but since I didn't sleep on the plane
I was afraid to wake up in the middle of the night
nup
I went around the clock almost and woke up like usual at 6 o'clock
perfect
lay there in bed and 7
yoga stretching in front of the window looking out
and got ready to move a long

had american breakfast at Mc Donald to practice
my chinese
wo xiang yigue kaffé....

and look at the pearl communication tower

bought a day pass ticket
got off at naxing road
looking for jian bing treat but decided to skip it for this time
took too much pounds during winter

walk walk walk

a lot of people everywhere today at that early time in the morning

went shopping browsing and bought some
Puer tea

than got on the metro to go to
science tech to get
a tennis racket some exercise T-shirt for my sister and for my godson
got myself some black tea and some godji seeds and chinese tea to make a gingseng korean tea
yes I know it's bizarre but when I went to each in Korea
this lady would always give me this tea that she would prepare just for me
gingseng
chinese date
pine nut
goji seeds
this will keep you going for hours ....

I bought some tea for gift presents and to drink with my precious guess of mines and one for me
The lady was so nice she gave me a lot of gift because I spoke mandarin
yes
it pays off
I will continue learning chinese

Could not find the tennis shop this maze is crazy it goes on forever.
I left the business card in the hotel room
I'm coming back this month so no big deal
I bought a small purple coat that fits in a small bag
these are perfect to travel
could not find the racket shop
snif snif
time was up
needed to go back to the hotel

and went back to the hotel

stop by at the grocery store to get some special chinese sauce and my lunch and diner but
the rice shop was close today bizarre
had lunch at the hotel went to rest a bit
and voila
it was time to go back home
snif snif

I was happy overall even tho my shopping experience was not great
the shirt I return was so so

mamahuhu

means so so in mandarin

The sport shirt was way too small it won't fit my sister
I almost had to ring the butler bell in order to get it off me
oh my god I was imagining the poor butler entering my room and looking at me in this position
yes just imagining his face seeing me with my 2 arms up 2 boos showing
asking for help to remove this tiny exercise shirt off me
so I started to laugh and it took me a long time to get it off
oh well !
will have to return again

It was not a good day for shopping.
It's really rare I fuck up when I shop but 2 in a row....
is probably a warning
What can I say
blame it on et lag iii

The flight back was real nice too the passengers were mostly business people who go down to China often. None of those drunk passengers who drinks their head off just because it's free
There were only 4 of them.

And to top it up to make my return flight a breeze, one of the flight attendant girl who was born in China thought it was the other Chinese girl talking to passengers when in fact it was me.

She said she was impress with my mandarin and my accent
Yeah!
Another boost to keep up with my mandarin lesson after all.

ZAI TIAN !