Day Twenty-Four: What's Up, Doc??

Day Twenty Four

The majority of today was spent...at the hospital! Since we were in China for this hospital visit, it was, as usual, an adventure.

During our time at the water park, Jason got water stuck in one of his ears, and it turned into an ear infection. It had really bothered him when we were in our hotel room that night, and by the way he explained it, I knew we had to go to the hospital once we got back. I'd had the exact same problem four years ago, because we'd gone to a water park, I'd gotten water stuck in my annoyingly small ear canals, and we'd spent a super long time at a packed hospital waiting to get it flushed out. It's a terrible feeling, because you can't hear very well in one ear and it constantly bugs you because your hearing is off and funny. Plus, your relatives tell you repeatedly to just "jump up and down, and it'll all come out" but that is not at all the case. The ear canals can be so small that once water goes in, it's very hard for any to come back out. So, it's just stuck there, and you can't hear, and you're a miserable little ball of sadness. Yep. That was me for a while, too, so I totally understood how frustrated Jason felt.

My aunt woke us both up earlier than I wanted that morning (hellooo?? I got up for more than 3 hours to watch the World Cup!!), because we were going to the hospital that morning! Awesome! Now can I go back to bed?

Nope...my aunt said that since Chinese hospitals were absolutely insane and crowded to the max (this I could believe from experience), we needed to leave as early as possible so that we could get a number, and then she could take us out to walk around and sightsee and play while we waited, since it would most likely be a few hours until our number was actually called. Ugh. Good-bye, my rock hard bed. May we soon meet again.

We took a bus and then the subway to get to the hospital, which was the same hospital I'd gone to for my ear infection. Whoa! We bumped into my mom's old math teacher (Mr. Wang) on the walk there, which was a major coincidence....how in the world did that happen? My aunt still recognized him and we talked for a while before he continued biking to bring his grandson to piano lessons.

After my aunt asked multiple people for directions to the hospital (she also isn't familiar with this area), we finally made it. The next problem was making our way through the enormous crowds of people. This hospital was absolutely overloaded with people. There were folks standing and sitting everywhere in the multiple waiting rooms, and when we finally got our number of 991, we went up to our respective waiting area and found out that they were currently on the 200s. Which meant that we wouldn't be seeing anyone until at least 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Which meant that we had a lot of time to kill since it was only 9 am. Geez...I'm not awake enough for these kinds of troubles.

We milled around outside for a while trying to figure out what we'd do with our time, and then my aunt decided to bring us to the nearby People's Square to shop around at the huge malls that we hadn't already been to. We casually looked through a bunch of stores on the many, many floors of the malls, and then ate a quick lunch in the underground level of one mall that had been turned into a food court. Jason and I both had some noodles for our meal, and then we headed back up to walk around.

Can I just say that I really hate the nosy, no-privacy, rushed manner in which all store attendants/managers act in China? You'll walk into a store and immediately, everyone working will say "Huan Ying Guan Ling", which basically means "Welcome". Then, let's say you find something that seems pretty nice, or you just browse the racks casually. No matter what you do or touch, an attendant will come up to you and linger, asking you what you're looking for, if you like what you just laid your eyes on, if you want to try something, if you want something in a larger size, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Please just leave me alone. 

That's what I keep wanting to scream at these people. You literally have no space to yourself, and I didn't really appreciate that while shopping until now. I don't even feel comfortable in Chinese stores anymore, because I hate having to counter all of the questions I get asked simply when I'm very casually browsing a store (or even just doing it to take a walk). These people just start asking about a certain shirt that I looked at for over 3 seconds, or if I'm looking for skin whitening products because my skin is really a bit dark, or if I need anti-acne masks because I have some acne on my forehead. So exhausting to hear and respond to.

Woman pestering me right now? If I need something in particular, I'll ask. If I like a shirt and want to try it on, I will tell you. I'm sorry I'm not a vampire and want to make myself as pale as possible. I really don't care about making my skin whiter. I am painfully aware that I have much more acne than many Chinese girls, thank you very much for telling me the obvious. I really don't need you to tell me about what's on my face. I already know. I use a mirror. Just like every other human being.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Back to the recap. My aunt refused to leave the mall without buying us each something, so I ended up choosing this royal blue tank top with white paper planes on it. I was really happy with it, because it's really cute and was on sale, but it also ended the suffering I felt when my aunt pulled me into clothing store after clothing store. Like I need to hear any more attendants tell me that I'm enormous for Chinese standards and need the largest sizes. Huge boost to my confidence. Jason chose a Kevin Durant t-shirt from Nike, and then it was about time for us to get on another bus to go back to the hospital. We first stopped at Coco, a chain that made amazing and cheap drinks (their bubble tea game was on point.), and got something for each of us. I got this heavenly chocolate-flavored bubble tea with pudding as well as bubbles, for a little more than 2 bucks. We seriously need some Coco stores in America. They're so good, I want to cry.

Back at the hospital, they were on...(drumroll)...the 600s! Only over 300 more patients to go! Yeah! I stood against the wall to let other people sit on the chairs they had there, while my aunt glared at me and told me again and again to sit down every time someone got up. She was really worried that day that I was too tired, but it's always been my personality to like standing up whenever I can, on subways, buses, and more. It's more fun, and I just feel weird sitting, when so many other people are standing. I'm still in my youth, I don't need no chairs!

This little boy in the waiting room saw the hourglass on the back of my phone case and was super entertained by it. We burned a lot of time together just turning the thing over and over and watching the sand fall. He was also super entertained by this game that my cousin in Guangzhou had shown me, called Popflux. It's a really great app because you play the game by physically moving around to avoid bombs and popping bubbles with your actual hands. Even though it didn't work too well (too many people were walking around and sitting near us that all the bombs hit them), the kid loved it and played it many, many times, coming very close to smacking many people that got in the way of the bubbles. Must...pop...bubbles!!!

Finally, 991 was called and we walked into one of the rooms on the sides of the waiting area. Inside, a doctor with a mask over her mouth examined Jason's ear and told us we couldn't flush it out today, because we needed to give him this medicine for three days before anything could be flushed out. Are you kidding me?! We argued with her, telling her that the doctor my brother saw in the emergency room yesterday told us it'd be fine to flush out the next day, and I'd gotten the same procedure done a few years ago without any problems. She fired back that if we did it today, his ear would bleed and he would be in even more pain. Hmmm....

We decided that we couldn't have waited this entire time to go back empty-handed and come back later, especially since the doctor yesterday said it would be fine! My aunt decided to just go with it, after getting me and Jason's approval too, and went back downstairs to pay for the procedure. Then, we went into another waiting area, where a kind doctor flushed his ear out in less than a minute, and our problem was solved. No pain, no blood, no nothing! That other doctor either was seriously rude and trying to trick us, or had no idea what she was talking about. Both options are rather concerning.

Triumphantly, we left the hospital and headed back towards our stomping grounds near the apartment. Another bout with the Chinese health system, and I was seriously very worried about the situation. First of all, the amount of people needing doctors seriously overwhelmed the hospitals that the country had established. It's very common to have to wait entire days just to get seen for a few minutes. So many people left the hospital complaining and laughing bitterly about being treated for five minutes after waiting for over 7 hours. It's crazy.

On top of that, you have to pay so much extra money if you wanted to assure that you'd be treated in a relatively timely fashion and treated well. The country has so many corrupt surgeons and doctors, that people are terrified to be treated unless they give the doctor a very wholesome amount of cash through a middle man (who also got a small percent of the money). This process of using someone in between to deliver the money raised less suspicion, and was also used because hospitals usually used security cameras, so money had to be passed very covertly. It gave me so much anxiety just thinking about the ordeals families had to go through if they wanted to ensure their loved ones' health. Just imagine the nightmare of going through it in real life! When my grandmother had to get a big surgery this year, my relatives here in Shanghai went through the entire thing. Unimaginable. We need to think of solutions for these problems, but again, I digress.

Anyways, we went back to the familiar area we know, and had dinner at a Sichuan-style restaurant called Happy Chili. My aunt ordered us fish, veggies, these fried corn cakes that were really good, little taro balls topped with honey, etc. I got an amazing red bean smoothie, and Jason had some passionfruit tea...finally, a cold drink! We'd been drinking so much hot tea...I don't mind it, but us Americans need our ice in our drinks. The food itself was good, but the environment seriously lacked in quality. There were these little fruit flies everywhere, and we'd have to pause from eating or talking every few seconds to wave away a little fly dangerously close to one of our dishes. Also, I started laughing when I walked into the bathroom, because it was seriously revolting. There were soggy cardboard squares on the ground, filthy mops were hanging from some of the stall doors, there was no soap as usual on the counter, and the whole place was just disgusting. Walked right back out. Did not feel like dealing with another gross bathroom at the time.

We strolled around a mall after dinner, and Jason found this amazing hipster shirt with which I fell in love. I've always wanted a shirt with a tiger on it, and I turned one down in HK because it was too pricey. This one had a tiger with wings on it, in the center with other cool designs around it. We bargained hard for it, and I walked away feeling very satisfied with my purchase. My aunt also took us to a grocery store in the mall, where she bought us more snacks to eat here and also bring home. Once we were finished, we went back home, tired from our day but happy our main goal had been successfully achieved. Time to sleeeeeep!

People's Square

My Coco drink...I miss you already.

Where we spent most of our day

The TV monitors that taunted us endlessly

This definitely doesn't capture the full gross-ness of the bathroom, but you get the idea.

Not pictured: 138027 fruit flies

Day Twenty-Three: the Amazing Race (Rafting Style)

Greetings, one and all! We woke up this morning pretty early to get all of our things packed and ready to go. Once that was done, it was time to head to the lobby for a buffet-style breakfast. Don't get me wrong. I love Chinese food. It's great. But I would choose a western style breakfast over a Chinese breakfast, anyday.

The buffet had no fruit, which I usually eat first thing in the morning. It featured fried rice, lo mein, green beans, congee, egg drop soup, some buns and rolls, hot fruit juice that tasted like water, hard boiled eggs, and sweet potatoes. Lovely. I wake up in the morning craving fried rice and beans, that's for sure. 

After our meal, we left for the rafting site. I didn't realize this, but each boat was only fit for two people. Thus, Jason and I would be getting our own raft to go in. Scooore! The bus rolled through the woods on the gravel path, and we bounced up and down while bamboo branches whipped past us.  The first place we went was this dinky little hut that served as the bathrooms/showers/changing rooms. It was extremely simple and was infested with a horde of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. Lovely. Here, we changed into our swimming suits and paper-thin rain ponchos that they'd generously given us yesterday. It did jack squat to protect us from rain. Oh well. 

Next, we left for the place where we'd actually be getting into the boats. Here, we saw quite a few steep dips in the river, and since the current was rather strong, they looked like mini waterfalls...that we would soon plunge down in little rubber boats! This was sounding safer and safer. The mini-falls each had rock barriers right before the drop, with gaps in the rock large enough for the boats to squeeze through. Thus, at each drop, a couple workers would guide the boats through the rocks, so that we could continue on our way. 

Jason and I rushed towards the front of the pack after we'd donned our life jackets and helmets. In the boat, we grabbed the two wooden jars there, and were pushed into the water by a surprisingly burly Chinese man. It took a while to get oriented in the boat with the paddling and whatnot, since the two of us were facing each other and therefore, one person would be paddling backwards at all times. Kind of awkward, but I guess there was nothing we could do about it.

One by one, the boats were pushed into the little pool that was the waiting area before we all went down the first (and largest) drop. They had currently barred the spaces between the rocks with wooden planks, and once every boat was in the water and we were playing a tough game of bumper boats, they lifted all the planks and pushed us through the cracks!

We tumbled down the drop and then lurched this way and that while our boat smacked the water down below and immediately began zooming down with the current. Water flowed into our boat from all sides, but we continued to grip the handles on our boat, since we were being tossed this way and that when our boat hit large rocks and boulders. We would spin one way and then another, and if you looked up or down the river, you'd see over two dozen little boats being turned and twisted over and over again, the air filled with screams and exclamations from panic, delight, or something in between.

Once we reached calmer waters, Jason and I whipped off our helmets to dump the freezing cold water out of our boat and back into the river. We were only wearing our ponchos, with tank tops, shorts, and flip flops, and the water that had reached our knees in the boat was frigid. It didn't matter though; we were having so much fun with this, and since both of us are naturally rather competitive, we decided to make it a race! How can you not think about racing when you're in a massive group of people, with pairs paddling in little boats, down a strong current? It's the Amazing Race 2.0, people! Typical Zhang sibling intensity.

By that time, we had already made our way towards the very front of the pack, with only a few boats in our area and us consistently falling in and out of first and second place. Over the next few drops, we paddled hard to be the first ones out of the gates, and succeeded in putting the rest of the boats far behind us. In the end, when we reached another drop and they pulled us out of the water because our rafting was had come to an end, Jason and I were undoubtedly the winners of the Amazing Race! None of our competitors cared that much about being first like we did, so it wasn't an impressive feat, but that's okay.

Sadly, the rafting was over way quicker than we had expected....it only felt like we'd been in the water for fifteen minutes when they pulled us out again. Whyyyy?? Apparently, since it'd been raining on and off those few days, there was more water in the river and the current was stronger than usual, so they didn't let us raft through the more dangerous parts of the river. Ugh...SUCH a bummer!! We were having so much fun, and could've gone for so much longer. Everyone was really upset that the weather hadn't held out for us. The main part of the trip was rafting, and it'd been why everyone had come!

It always seems like we always hit rainy days whenever we go out to travel. In 2010 (the last time we came back to China to visit family), we hiked the Yellow Mountains in Anhui, China, and the gorgeous views had been obstructed because of rain and fog. Please be kinder to us, Mother Nature!

Once we got out of the water, we were to walk back to the little hut/changing station to get ourselves cleaned up and dry (everyone was completely soaked...and therefore, cold!) before we were to head off for lunch. The workers strapped a bunch of rafts to motorcycles and towed them back to the beginning in this manner.

Ohhhhh, changing and getting dry was a challenge to say the least! We were once again forced to use the primitive shower/toilet areas to change with no privacy, but it was raining which meant that the power was out, so the shower and changing rooms were PITCH BLACK. The door was open, and the little light that got into the room revealed a mass of moving bodies, while all you could hear was a tangle of conversations and comments from no one in particular. I was terrified. I decided that it wasn't worth it to take a shower (using the measly hand towel that we'd bought there since our towels from yesterday were still wet), and instead quickly changed into dry clothes in the bathroom, where I tried my best not to scream or cry at the dozens of mosquitoes lurking on the walls (and the dozens more probably attached to my body already that I couldn't see but would feel later). *Shudder*

Back on the bus, I was in a daze from that traumatic experience and sat there with Jason as everyone gradually came back onto the bus so we could leave this place. The bus dropped us off at another building in the same rural environment, and we once again got off here to have lunch, which would be our last meal on the trip. Here, we ate with other people on the trip, including these twenty-something-year old girls that I hadn't noticed before, who'd gone rafting in HIGH HEELS AND ANKLE-LENGTH DRESSES. I'd noticed them at the rafting site wearing ponchos over their silky, pretty dresses and I started laughing. Who are you trying to impress when you're on a two-man raft in the middle of nowhere, rushing down a river with a bunch of elderly couples and young children?! What. Even. I will never understand.

Lunch was fine...the fish and meats were all very fresh (just killed outside in the backyard! Yaaaay!) and the rest of the food tasted good too. We were happy to peace out though, and get started on our way back home, because our bodies still felt disgusting and the germaphobe inside me was cringing everywhere we went, screaming to take a nice long shower with soap and a loofah.

Everyone spent the bus ride back mainly sleeping, which was good for me too. There was a quick stop we made at a rest area, where Zabrina bought us all Magnum chocolate ice cream bars while other people bought zongzi (steamed rice wrapped in bamboo leaves), tofu strips, and other lovely snacks. When we finally returned to People's Square, we hit the subway, got picked up by our uncle, and were soon home. Ahh. My aunt had painstakingly cooked us an amazing dinner, which was a great way to end the day.

The World Cup championship match was tonight in China, at 3 am! Having stayed up burning the midnight oil watching the past few games, I was really interested in watching this one, of course, but out in the city, at a sports bar, like the hundreds of thousands of other Chinese people do! It just seemed like such a cool thing to do, especially since the World Cup only comes around once every four years, and I was in Shanghai for the championship match! People here can't get enough of the World Cup, and I really wanted to experience the energy and excitement of watching it with so many other fans. My two cousins also really wanted to go out with me to watch it, so they'd started looking at the best bars to go to on the ride home. Sadly, this was not to be, because my aunt was completely unyielding in her refusal to let us go. My cousins had work the next day and she had a point in that they would be completely exhausted after coming off  a trip and then going out all night. I wasn't really part of that reason, since I'm not working or anything, but there was no way I would be going out tonight without the supervision of my cousins, so that was that. Darn....

I ended up being the only one to wake up that night to actually watch the match. It was both lonely and relaxing, though, to have the house to myself and watch as the sky outside slowly turned lighter and lighter. My uncle (a soccer fan as well) actually woke up for a bit for the first half, made some tell-tale sleepy comments (ex:  "when is Brazil playing next?" or "is this the last game? Ever?") and then was completely out for the rest of the game. I had no one to scream with as Germany's Mario Goetze made the only goal of the night, but went to bed around 6:15, very satisfied with the result. Germany, all the way!

An interesting breakfast to start off my day

A blurry shot of the rafts and life jackets that we would soon use (I couldn't get any photos once on the boat, it wasn't worth it to sacrifice my new phone!)

The rafts

Look at those ridiculously thin ponchos! Yay?

Lunch

An edited photo I took during the World Cup match

Day Twenty-Two: the Water Park Life

Day Twenty-two

I was unhappily woken up at 5:15 the next morning, for an exciting weekend trip with my brother and my two older cousins (essentially a kid's weekend out!). Our aunt had bought us tickets to go to rafting in a place called Ningguo, around five hours away from Shanghai. My aunt and uncle had gone on a few trips with the tour guide for the trip named Mr. Wu, so they were all pretty tight now. As a result, we'd be picking Mr. Wu up on our way to the subway station. 

I was still exhausted as we made our way from the car to the subway to People's Square where the bus that we would take to get to Ningguo was waiting, but it helped a lot to doze on the bus. When we first stepped onto the bus, I was rather surprised; almost everyone on board was at least middle aged. There were a handful of little children, but the four of us were the only ones in between the years ten and like, forty-five...awk. I was confused because our itinerary had said that we'd be going to a water park this afternoon, and then would be rafting the next day. Seemed a bit too intense for such elderly folk, no? I guess they're all adventurous...good for them.

Mr. Wu and another tour guide took charge once we got rolling on the highway, encouraging us to nap and informing us of the schedule. Halfway through the ride, they also did some riddles and invited a few passengers to sing some songs for us. Real-life entertainment for the win! 

We pulled over on a deserted street for lunch at a local restaurant. My tummy was rumbling...we had only a few minutes at the apartment to eat breakfast, so I'd inhaled a banana and some crackers and bolted out the door. Thankfully, my older cousin had bought a pastry for each of us to savor on the bus ride. The tour group had to split up into groups of eleven in order to fit at the round tables, where waiters and waitresses had already put down the same set of hot dishes on each table. After quite a bit of loud fussing and arguing by all of the adults, the four of us were split and each dazed and confused pair ate at a different table. 

The food was measly compared to the usual Chinese meals here...it was just soup and rice with a bunch of simple Chinese dishes, mainly designed to fill you up without too much quality. Whatever. The adults, however, argued tirelessly with the attendants, asking for other dishes and complaining about the taste. Two of the men at my table went out to buy two huge boxes of beer at a store pretty far away....die-hard alcohol lovers. When they learned that I was American, they encouraged me to eat the food here and yelled "Cheers!" when we clinked our glasses...lol! 

After our meal, we headed back on the bus and shortly made it to the water park. I guess I can kind of see why no young twenty-something's were in the group; they hate being the sun just about as much as I hate mosquitoes (that's saying a lot, since I counted all the bug bites I've gotten since I've been here, and it's in the mid-twenties. Yeah). They're pretty much vampires here; the whiter skin is, the better, so they put on whitening products, carry umbrellas around, and slather on sunscreen 24/7. Imagine how great pale white girls would feel over here! 

I am very sad to report that the water park was disappointing. It was out in the middle of nowhere, which explained why there was almost no one there, which wasn't really the problem since there were no lines.

However, we walked into the place and you could see the entire park from there; there were a few water slides, one of those big toilet bowl slides, a tide pool area, and a water playground. That was about it. We were all very dismayed, like children without presents on Christmas. Was this a joke? There was a water park way larger and more complex, only ten minutes from the Shanghai apartment. And we had gotten up early and sat through five hours on a bus, to come here?? Not cool...

Well, we still intended to make the most out of the few hours we had here. After changing in the shower rooms that lacked any privacy whatsoever (China doesn't believe in individual changing stalls...or doors), we started off with the toilet bowl slide, which ended up being the best one in the park. We went through every ride in the park at least three or four times, since there were no lines. Halfway through, everyone had to evacuate the slides and pools because of an impending thunderstorm. It also started raining at some point, but we were soon able to continue playing. 

When we were finally finished, we showered, changed, and got back on the bus to go to our hotel. It was actually a really nice hotel, and I got my own room with Jason. PARRTY!! It was really nice, and we finally got our wifi. Once we rested for a bit, it was time to get back on the bus for dinner at a restaurant close by. It was pouring rain, and by the time we were seated and eating (this time the four of us were together at a table with only one couple), the rain was coming down hard. All of a sudden, a gust of wind blew through an open slit in the roof, and a bunch of dust, trash, and other debris came tumbling down...right into our food. Perfect. 

The adults at the two affected tables would certainly not stand for such a travesty, and they quickly got us new tables on the second floor while the cooks started making us two new sets of meals. I feel really bad that we had to waste our halfway eaten meal, but there was no way I was putting anything from those dishes in my mouth after watching a few dead bugs/crickets plop into the rice.

While we waited for the second round of dinner, we chatted with the couple at our table. Much to my surprise, the husband had gone to language school, worked in Nicaragua quite a bit, and spoke fluent Spanish as a result! He'd also been to Los Angeles and therefore was excited to hear that I'd be going to school there! It was so cool to speak Spanish with a Chinese man...I've never met anyone in this country who can speak Spanish, so it was really impressive. 

Once we had gone through a cheerful second dinner and lots of great conversation with our two new pals, we went back to the hotel for a bit, and then took a walk to explore this unfamiliar city. There were KTV places, shops, restaurants, etc. everywhere and we wandered into a cute little shop with tons of cosmetics, skin care products, accessories, and more. You could get four face/feet/hand masks for only a little more than a dollar, so you bet I loaded my basket up with those! I seriously  could not resist. 

We also popped into a supermarket to get some water and drinks for the night before heading back. That night, we enjoyed the free movies, shows, and games the TVs in each room offered, and watched Identity Thief in my cousins' room next door. My cousins and I had got these cute little alcoholic drinks infused with fruit that we also tried (mine was grapefruit mixed with vodka). It was a rather late night, but we all slept really well after we said goodnight. Sleepy time! 

The cream puff my cousin got us from a place called Beard Papa...see the faint yellow bearded man on the wrapper? 

Classic Chinese entertainment is everywhere, including bus rides. 

Lunch with some new friends

The water park...

...was a bit of a letdown. Seriously, this was about it. 

At least we did this ride about nine times..

Our hotel room (with the cool glass shower that really shouldn't be see-through)

View from the room. Observe the hundreds of solar panels on the roofs

Pre-dust-and-trash-disaster shot of dinner

Lanterns along the rainy streets here

The mask haul: all this for literally a few bucks! 

Winding down with a movie and some Rio 

 

Day Twenty-One: Some Shanghai Nightlife

Day Twenty-One

So many activities were packed into today! Our aunt wanted to take us out for a bit on the morning since we had no plans. After our breakfast, she took us out to a nearby park called Exercise Park（体育公园). Fitting name. We walked around there looking at the hundreds of lotus flowers in the water, and then got in our daily exercise on water and on land. We started with an hour of boating, in our own dinky little boat on the water. It was nice because we got a bit of wind blowing in our sweaty faces for once, and I played some music on my phone for an even happier mood. 

Once our hour on the water was up, we then switched to a four-person, square-shaped bike with a ceiling and multiple pedals for each person. Jason got the sterering wheel, and we rolled all over the park on our new ride. It required a ton of effort to move the monstrosity, but it was really fun to bike and watch people stare at us struggling bikers rolling slowly and painfully past. 

We took a taxi back to our neck of the woods, since there were many restaurants in the streets near the apartment. It started pouring rain though, so in desperation, we ran to Papa Johns, the closest thing near the taxi, for...some more pizza! Joy! 

After a very similar meal of salad, appetizers, and pizza, we walked outside where it, naturally, had stopped raining. I really needed to wash my hair for tonight, and my aunt suggested I get it washed at the salon a few steps away. They waited for me inside while a hairdresser washed and massaged my head, and chatted with me about America. Ahhh, that is one thing I love about this country. You can get an amazing hair treatment and massage for literally a few bucks. Plus, the conversations I have with the hairdressers are always so enjoyable. Always a luxurious experience! 

We headed back to the apartment, with my hair now billowing radiantly with the wind (just kidding). Right outside the complex in the sweltering heat, we found a blue cage with the world's cutest puppy inside of it, with no food or water or anything. We had seen this black little puppy on our way out to the park this morning, and had poked our heads into the nearby stores to ask whose dog it was, but nobody claimed it. To see it still stuck out here, without any food or water, made me livid. Melissa was not a happy camper. 

I took my water bottle and poured water into the cap for the little guy. After refilling the cap over and over again, the puppy started playing with my fingers and pawing at the cage. Poor thing was sick of being stuck in there all day. I don't blame him. The gate guards came over and started talking to my aunt, since we had now been standing there for over ten minutes now. She explained that we were from America, where this sort of thing would never be tolerated, which was why I was so worked up. We eventually figurd out that the dog was the massage parlor owner's pet...so it had a home, but not a good one by any stretch. It's so terrible that a tiny little pup would be given absolutely zero attention or care. I wanted to cry when we finally left...my heart was broken.

I spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for my date tonight with a super attractive guy. Haha. Just kidding, Mom, put down the phone. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally got my relatives' permission to go out alone tonight, and I was meeting a friend for a night on the town! Her name is Julia, she just finished her freshman year of college, and she's interning here for the summer and living on her own in a flat in the city. SO jealous. We went to an Asian debate camp together back in the day, the summer before my first year of high school, and haven't seen each other since. It just happened to work out that we'd both be in Shanghai at the same time, so we wanted to meet up and hang out. 

Jason would be going out to dinner with my aunt and uncle tonight, so they were planning on leaving soon too. I got ready to go, and they dropped me off at the nearest subway station, and then I took the subway to People's Square. Once there, I waited right there to meet Julia. We found each other and went up to find a restaurant for dinner. It ended up being noodles and bubble tea for dinner, in a large food court style mall, since we were lazy and didn't want to try too hard to find a formal place. 

After we could eat no further, I took her to a mall that my cousin had taken me earlier, where you could spend hours bargaining for fake merch! We each picked up something (me a cross body purse, her a purse) and decided we had to come back later for more. Julia had made some friends here who were also college interns, and they'd invited her to go out to a bar, club, and rooftop party that night, so we met them at a bar called Window Garage (I don't get it. I really don't). It was really cool to meet other Americans in Shanghai and experience some of the nightlife in such an exciting city! We had some drinks and I wish I could've stayed longer with them, but I had an early morning tomorrow and had to get home. 

Once I finally found a taxi, I said goodbye to Julia and the rest of the gang and made it home, although there was quite a bit of traffic on the road. Such a fun reunion!

Lotus flowers galore

Our boating adventure 

Ready to bike?

Pizza, round 2

Noodles with my pal!

Fun night at Window Garage! 

Traffic on the ride home...boo.

 

Day Nineteen: So Long, Farewell...

Day Nineteen

Today was our last day in Yangzhou...it had flown by! We were going out today with our "little grandpa", but essentially uncle...he's my grandfather's youngest brother but he's much, much younger than the rest of the siblings. We ate a quick breakfast, and then went with him to another one of Yangzhou's famous places...it's called 何园 (He Yuan) and it's a place that is essentially a traditional Chinese garden/palace from thousands of years ago. The architecture there is very classic and the buildings there contain many pieces of Chinese history. 

We followed this huge tour group that was 90% composed of elderly folks who couldn't take a photo under four minutes with their basic little cameras/phones if their lives depended on it. However, the other 10% was even worse...it was a group of young twenty-somethings who thought they were the coolest people who ever lived. There was no sun whatsoever in the sky, but they were all sporting aviators....good for you!!!! They were also lagging behind to take these ridiculous photos with the most cliche poses...**vomits** I had fun sniping photos of them in the funniest poses. You'll meet every type of person in this country, I tell you. 

The tour was hard to understand, since there were probably 2729573 old people ahead of us chatting about their grandchildren's new hobbies or their terrible wrinkles that had completely taken over their face. You can see how I didn't catch much of the tour guide's schpeel. 

The tour went on like this for most of the time. We saw many cool things from the old days here in Yangzhou, then wandered around the park on our own. All in all, a beautiful and meaningful place to visit!

For lunch, our aunt brought us to a very local place that had been around since she was a child. It mainly offered noodles and dumplings, so I got dry noodles with veggies and tried some of the dumplings my aunt had bought for the group...they really were very good! All of us had massive food babies once we were done at the restaurant. It was time to go back home and pack up the rest of our stuff before we went back home. 

It was sad to say goodbye to our family members here in Yangzhou...we barely have seen them during the course of our lives, and even though they strongly encouraged us to come back whenever we got the chance (or the money for a ticket), I have no idea how long it might be until I see them again. They are all extremely averse to visiting America (which is very weird and uncommon here) because of old age, medical reasons, or simply because of a preference for home. Hopefully it's sooner rather than later that we meet again...

My aunt, brother, and I were dropped off at the railway station by my uncle that afternoon. I made a significant observation when we were in the car; we pulled up to a toll booth and the worker there was very strange. He smiled unnaturally the whole time and was abnormally polite and courteous for a toll booth worker. He cocked his head and wished us a safe trip and a happy day when we left, and it literally sounded robotic. I'm sure he and the other workers were being filmed to make sure they were providing the best care and service to drivers, but it creeped the absolute bajeesus out of me. I still can't stop thinking about it! It's such an unnatural way to act that the workers all looked like robots. Is this what society has come to? I don't know about you, but I for one, am NOT a fan. 

In the station, we had to wait a few hours for the next high speed train to Shanghai. It was a lot of standing around, glaring at screaming children, and staring listlessly at the same two commercials on the screens. Fun. 

Once we got on the train, we were picked up promptly by the ever-faithful and dependable uncle, and we were home in a few hours. Another of my aunts had prepared an incredibly large and delicious dinner for us, and we enjoyed the comfort of being back in a very familiar place. I had a long conversation with my cousin late into the night before drifting off to sleep. Ahh, back in Shanghai! 

Our final sightseeing destination in Yangzhou 

Traditional style pagodas

I'm overwhelmed by the sheer awesome-ness of these four. 

How about living here for a change?

Slowly going crazy during our unfulfilling tour 

Flowers and rocks, yay!

Getting back on the bullet train...zoom zoom

Back home, and being welcomed by a feast! 

Day Twenty: Roller Coasters & Pizza? Is this still China?

Day Twenty

Today was a fun day (it would've been wayyy better if I hadn't been on my period, but I promise I won't get into that...TMI Melissa)! We spent the morning at home in the apartment wishing my dad a happy birthday through the wonderful technology that is Skype, WeChat, and FaceTime. I was unusually productive that morning and cranked out some blog posts before I decided to spend time with family. 

That afternoon, we met my cousin at an amusement park in the area called Jin Jiang Amusement Park. It's a place that I've been obsessed with ever since I was a little girl, and we've basically come every time we go to Shanghai. Yep, this girl has proudly been an adrenaline junkie since she was a wee little young'un. 

We had lots of fun on the different rides. My favorites are obviously the most intense ones, but there are also some smaller ones that are really cool. For example, there's a motorcycle-style coaster where each person's seat is an actual motorcycle and you lean over in the seat for the entire ride just like you'd be if you were riding an actual motorcycle! There are no flips or drops but you do go pretty fast and it's racing-themed, so I really enjoy it. Jason, on the other hand, hates intense rides, so he stuck to bumper cars and also persuaded us to go on the "It's a Small World" style ride here. Ugh...I hate that ride with a passion. The song is so repetitive and unnatural and supposed to be happy, but it's just weird.

Plus, those dolls and machines haven't been changed in years and they're all dusty and broken and plain creepy. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

It's kind of weird though, because they charge you for each ride you go on (each ride has a specific price and you need to choose which rides you go on first before you pay). Weird, no? I guess it's just China making sure they get the most profit out of their overly sized population. No all-day passes in this place!

After we were finished, we walked to a mall nearby for dinner. We were craving something sweet though, so we first made a pit stop at a place called Mango Mountain. Umm, this sounds like paradise, can I stay here forever??!! The three of us ordered mango or aloe drinks and enjoyed them in the air-conditioned comfort that was the restaurant. Once done, my cousin decided to take us to the nearby Pizza Hut, since Jason and I said that we'd never tasted pizza in China and wouldn't mind doing so. Thus, we ordered a pizza with drinks, appetizers, and salad to fully get the experience of eating pizza in China. 

It's very interesting, I'd say. They love cheesy crust over here, and have most of the pizza toppings/flavors that we do over in the States; however, their pizzas are much smaller, thicker, and have more cheese and less sauce on them. It's not bad, I guess, but I'm not a fan of having a teeny bit of sauce. And the cheese is a bit overwhelming. 

Other than that, I'm just amused at how high-end Pizza Hut seems here in comparison to the ones in America. I mean, they offer SO much on the menus here; smoothies with aloe, fancy desserts, pastas and rices, etc. It's so interesting how different a single chain can be in various countries! Fascinating. 

After finishing up our meal, we went to a nearby supermarket to buy some household items needed by the family, and some feminine hygiene products for yours truly. Another observation: literally no one uses tampons here. Why is that?? How come different countries of women have different things they use for their periods? Okay, I'll stop with my contemplative rants and arbitrary questions. When you look at the aisle for feminine hygiene, it's literally all pads. My cousin didn't even know the Chinese word for tampons. I had to scan every inch of that aisle, and ended up finding only ONE brand/type of tampon that wasn't even like the normal tampons you'd think of. They were really weird...but I had no choice but to use them. 

That's basically how our day went. We had lots of fun revisitng our fave amusement park here and it was nice to spend the afternoon with our cousin. It's been four years since we last saw her...God knows we need as much quality family time as we can get! 

The entrance to the amusement park!

Me and my cousin in the first row...best seats in the house.

Entering the dreaded "It's a Small World" ride. Gross.

They were selling pets outside the amusement park and it made me want to cry. Everytime we come back and see these minuscule little animals on the street with harsh sellers, I cry inside and want to take them all with me. I've tried tirelessly to persuade my parents to let me get a puppy here in the past, but as you might guess, that worked out just swimmingly. 

A refreshing stop at Mango Mountain! 

Our pizza (split with two flavors). What do you think?

My haul from the supermarket trip (from left to right): pads, roll-on cooling gel that my cousin showed us (it's actually. so refreshing), a facial cleanser for a few bucks, a green tea juice box for my inner child, mints, and the only box of things- remotely- resembling-tampons in China.