Ni Hao~ part three

June 7th, 2010

So! One of the things that is going on in Shanghai is....

These World Expo-related topiaries are seriously.... EVERYWHERE in the city!

My friend Brian (fun, patient, trusted, assigned 'caretaker' of me, haha!) and I took the metro to the Expo, arriving on the North side at 9:30 am or so, since we had been hearing tips on getting to the Expo not only on a Monday (Mondays and Tuesdays are supposedly the least crowded days), but also on the side of the river that has less-popular pavilions so we could tackle them in the morning, then head over to the more popular-pavilions on the other side of the river in the afternoon (hoping that it'd be less crowded, then).
This turned out to be NOT true... since... Even though it was a Monday, it was STILL so crowded (yes, Thursdays-Saturdays have more recorded numbers of people, but... I can't even imagine more people being there! wah!), and the less-popular pavilions are less-popular for a reason, the reason being that they're government-sponsored pavilions, related to corporate stuff, i.e. BORING.

So, we ended up grabbing a ferry across the river, anyway, to the South/Pudong side basically right after entering the Expo~!

Here is a summary of the day...

Pavilions I went to:

• Tajikistan
• Serbia – watch/time theme
• EU/Belgium – really good food at the Belgium one!!
• Sweden
• Hungary
• Caribbean pavilion…
• Peru – bad pavilion, but…really good food!
• UK – truly amazing at night!
• Poland – very pretty

Things I noticed:

• CUCUMBER EATERS!
• Men with not only popped collars, but popped collars with various brand-name logos on the back of the them...
  
• Couples with not only matching, but identical shirts!
• People bringing their own stools to sit on, while in line, or eating wherever!
• PUSHY old women! – As Brian put it, “There are 4 types of beings in China: the man, the woman, the Chinese aunty, and the soldier.” – You gotta mentally and physically prepare yourself for those lines…
• Asian poses in photos!!!

Photo's:
1. Exhibit A: Distasteful Popped Collar Syndrome

2. Exhibit B: I should seriously consider going to Belgium. How PERFECT is this?? It's just calling me!

3. Exhibit C: The cool-as-a-cucumber ladies! I know that cucumbers are really good, but... EVERYONE was eating them, just straight up, since there's so... cooling! :)

Tips for Expo Travelers: Bring a reusable water bottle, and.. go at night-time!
Por que....?

1. Slightly cheaper tickets
2. Cooler temperatures
3. Less people - i.e. less aggressive Chinese aunties pushing! :)
4. Illuminations of the pavilions at night are just, gorgeous!