TToT #6: Shanghai Solitude...

Hotel Alone 

All new things happen when you least expect it. 

Here I am in Shanghai. 

I don’t have a bucket list. Perhaps I should. I have not frequented many hotels. Perhaps I should.

I don’t sit and spend time alone. Perhaps I could.

What’s a Girl To Do?

So. I have ideas and whims and things to consider. I have googled and listed places to see. Slight snag. No, I can cope with a planned day -honestly! It is raining the cats and dogs that are left over from last night’s meal…

RAIN - 

I have always loved rain. It is something that I can recall from an early age. Watching the silent softness streaming down windows. Long car journeys brought lots of raindrop racing; each droplet looking to follow a predictable path but then an often unforeseen and exciting deviation. It is a game that I played by myself in the back of cars. I can still remember the coldness of the glass under my pudgy fingers. 

Then there is the smell of the world after a good downpour. Freshness. Fragrant. Occasional fragility.

Warm rain, loud rain, wet rain, damp rain, icy cold rain and then there is something more than rain. A DELUGE. A real dampener on a day. 

And with deluge comes dilemma. Sit tight for a while and live the Shanghai experience from within the four walls of the hotel? No choice.

Interesting. Cannot remember the last time that I was left with little choice but to sit with my own company. Indulgent. Time capturing and a little tiny bit scary. Who would want to be alone with my thoughts? Not I. For a start, I can never keep up!

Finding my inner…

And letting some of it outer…

Not sure how many of you will really get where this blog entry comes from. But, hey, I am okay with that. 

The Art of Arts…

Photography. Writing. Thinking. Feeling. Reflecting. Editing. Considering. Wondering. Writing. 

All for the Art of Arts.

And this is what I did for almost  5 hours.

Who would have thought it?

Playing creator for the day:

•    Endless stream of senseless selfies
•    Endless stream of subconsciousness - Virginia Woolfe style
•    Lost in thought, translation and pensive pre-occupation 
•    Indulgent id
•    Endless stream of water pouring from the smog smothering Shanghai sky

And so to the streets I step… 

With a day’s experience under my belt, I know how best to deal with these Shanghai streets.  But I was not expecting so much attention. Do I really look like Beyonce? Umbrella-ella-ella - was directed to me at least 50 times by the street vendors.

Then catch up with K. She had dumplings for lunch. I had a bucket filled with solitude and self reflection. Someone once said that “Holidays are often about recharging batteries and coming back with a nice clean bucket into which you can direct the steady torrent of dunderheadery from the chittering masses that surround you.” I wonder if I have taken a step in the right direction or just been dumped on…But a bucket indeed.

Taking a good look at me and my place in this world

HOTEL HOSTAGE 

A little light relief comes in the form of some forced public interaction. Nothing quite like a quick rough-up amongst the Shanghai masses. 

Seem to have made so many connections with the finer threads of thoughts today that I don't even notice when no-one notices me…

Shanghai - a place to be a nobody. Not even a presence.

Each for your own. Personal space = nil. Personal thought = negligible. Personal anything = too hard to say…

BUT Shanghai does mean high above the water - so maybe it is just too hard to reach… Certainly within two days… 

For the first time in decades, I have found myself alone; 

just me and my mind. 

My memories and my mastermind of thought. 

It has been quite the experience. 

Playing Writer - Just for a day …

TToT#5: Holy Moly...

SHANGHAI

De-sensitising My Senses…

MONDAY MORNING… Yes, I know that this is 5th edition of Timely Tales of Travel (TToT) already and it is only day 1, BUT it was a very long journey!

So, breakfast beckons and we quickly appreciate that when they say that the food will go at 10:30am, they really mean 10:20am.

We are sat at a square corner table overlooking the Huangpu River that flows 113 kilometres through Shanghai. Yahoo tells me that it was formerly Westernised as Whangpoo. I GET THAT. There is a certain whiff here that is familiar to Westerners but perhaps not when walking the streets. 

We have had to travel up two floors to the Dragon Phoenix where a collision of culinary choices are available. I am immediately struck by the chatter. The Chinese really do chatter and it seems harsh, unrelenting and a little bit angry at times. I look around and realise that facial expressions are less but voice volume is more. 

There are a mix of nationalities here. Americans, Australians, Germans and Chinese so far and all very insular it seems. There is very little reciprocated verbalisation with the hotel staff. Okay, so I only really know ‘Ni hao’ and ‘Xie xie,’ as other enticing distractions got between me and my $24.99 multi-lingual APP download on the iPAD in the few weeks leading up to this trip of a lifetime BUT, I do try! However, despite my smiling eyes and open body language, there ain’t much coming back…  

Back to breakfast. 

Bear with me if you will. To arrive at the Dragon Phoenix, we walked through what can only be described as a Ballroom from the 1930s era. Lofty ceilings, dark wood, chandeliers and musty mirrors. Dark wood panelling that urges you forward until you fall through into what can only be described as an opulent explosion! Gold, red, turquoise and noise. A real assault on the senses and a big wake up call - even for the most discerning traveller. 

Breakfast choices are wildly varying - Buns, cakes, pastries, breads, prawn  crackers, pancakes, eggs (anyway you like them), oodles of noodles, curries, meats, cheeses, fruits, cold porridge, hot porridge, Shanghai breakfast, sushi, fish and did I say cereal? So, if like me, you are slightly over food after a long haul flight, cereal and fruit is the preferred first day choice. Check. And let’s be honest, oh my goodness, we only have 6 minutes in which to navigate our way to the various stations and choose something before it is is all whisked away.

Some 10 minutes later, we are sat here - slightly stunned and sedentary with the vaguely familiar but, oh so wrong, sounds of vacuum cleaners eating hungrily from under our feet.  First impressions..?

Shanghai = seriously something else…

MONDAY’S MOOCH

SO luckily K has a day-pass from her work commitments until 4:00pm today. That gives us a small window from which to check out our local surrounds. With a ridiculously large map that will never-ever go back to its rightful folds again and some grit and determination, we set off. 

Holy Moly.  Boy, did  we need that grit and determination. Plus, sharpened elbows, eyes that can swivel a whole 360 degrees and Anti-Locking Braking Systems to prevent us from trampling over those people that just stop in the middle of the pathway. Interesting to use the term pathway because here in Shanghai, you are probably safest to walk along the road - closest to  the pavements. As for crossing the road - oh my goodness - if you are in anyway religiously inclined, you are certainly advised to cross yourself several times first before genuflecting and taking your life into your own hands. 

Allow me. Nifty little traffic light designs. Very similar structure BUT there is a visual countdown system; on green light digits appear counting down from 10.

I would have liked to have assumed that this is to alert us passive pathway  people that it may soon be okay to cross the road. I AM SO WRONG. It is in fact, an opportunity to spike the adrenaline levels of any road user - bus, car, moped, electric bike, lady with trolley, moped, bike, minivan and, oh, did I say moped yet? With this adrenaline rush, comes a KEEN SENSE to DRIVE straight at anyone or anything that has been STUPID ENOUGH to try to cross when the Little Green Man says we can. This is not Europe, baby. It is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH worse. There are 25million people in this city and I think that we met at least one quarter of them in the 2 hours it took us  to traverse 7 streets of Shanghai. SERIOUSLY. I kid you not. 

Happy Highlights:

Shopping Mall - crazily curved escalators that climbed up and around 6-8 storeys of fashion

K’s euphoria after using the lavatorial facilities in said shopping mall 

“It does everything for you!’ She exclaimed with slightly concerning  enthusiasm  

Official visit to M & M world. They have cashew filled ones here you know. London - done. Shanghai - done. New York - to be done. The remaining other places are not worth the visit  as far as I (and my financial adviser) are concerned 

 Discussing the merits of MINDFULNESS and its contemporary status whilst in Starbucks. 

 Photographic evidence of K mastering mindfulness (totally not) whilst munching on an M & M

And I heard that it totally reduces stress, allows you to live in   

the moment and to change habitual behaviours and reactions. NO benefit then?

A speedy return to the hotel and an even speedier departure for K. Pffft, the life of a travel consultant!  SORRY - Director of your very own company. What an achievement. Proud of you, K. You live, breathe and champion the work that you do. So, kudos to you. I am here for you. 

We have known each other for around 11 years now. A pretty special but not well defined relationship. Let’s face it; neither of us are flower and chocolate kinda gals. Both strong, individual and independent with firm family values and an unspoken need to LAUGH and RELEASE. Although not always needing to share, chat or support, we’re here for each other. We know that our friendship, like the fine thread from a silk worm, may not always be visible but it is strong, consistent and dependable.                                   

And I respect and value that.