adamski752

Shanghai, China

So, entry 3 is from the city of Shanghai. After going to sleep on the saturday night in a tossing and turning boat that I was sure was going to end up with the Titanic and other famous sunken galleons from days gone by, it was sweet relief to open my eyes cautiously to find out that we had passed through the storm and into much much calmer waters. it felt like a bad hangover had passed. one of those beautiful feelings where you think everything might be OK after all. If we'd had another one of those torrid days on the water, I might have considered abandoning the trip there and then by hurling myself overboard. granted that would have been foolishly melodramatic and also a big fat waste of money. Luckily, though, things didn't come to that so I'm carrying on with the journey.

Coming into Shanghai on the river was an uneventful but kind of peaceful end to the ferry ride. Lots of rusty boats, chinese flags and even some warships. Small warships with, interestingly, multicoloured umbrellas covering the gun turrets from the sunshine. got to do what you've got to do, i guess.

So we arrive into the port on time and I assume most of the passengers must have appointments for surgery within the hour because they jostling to get out of the door as sson as the captain said the word "arrive". In no great rush to get off the boat among those surly disembarkers, tony and i sat and slagged them off for 30 minutes then got on the bus to take us to customs with a man who had (in tony's words) "more bags than God". After passing safely through Auschwitz, sorry I mean Chinese customs, we were allowed to roam freely in the erm, less than glamourous slums of Shanghai. We got a taxi with a nice young chap who we managed to get to take us to a hotel, bank AND train station without actually using any of the words cos we ddin't know them and he was, I'm guessing here, not very good at English. (and why should he be? he lives in China where Mandarin is usually sufficient).

Anyway, before this blog gets too mammoth I will go on to explain that during our day in Shanghai, we had fun climbing a tower. something like the 8th tallest in the world. it has a hollow centre so you can lean over the glass and look straight down for about 340 metres. pretty cool. I also began to notice up at the top of this tower that Chinese women absolutely love to pose for the camera. each flash of the camera is accompanied by someone mimicking marilyn monroe or sticking their hands out like game show hostesses. usually the guys just point or if they are over 40 just look respectful and solemn. As soon as they step away from the cameras, they are happy and impressed again but while their wife insists on snapping them in front of a window that is, allegedly, 4250 km away from Siberia, they are merely calm and thoughtful. (either they are thinking "the engineers sure put a lot of work into this structure. good for them" or "wish my frigging wife would stop taking my photo, oh she's taken it and i forgot to smile")

written by

adamski752 on August 24, 2008 from Shanghai, China

from the travel blog: Adam's Leisurely Return Home

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Osaka, Japan

I wake up at around 6am on the saturday morning. this is not because I'm fully rested, but because the boat is literally falling out of the ocean. it is being shaken like a naughty child and it, in a nutshell, does not feel good. Jeez, that is an understatement. It is effing awful. I, myself, do not have the most iron of constitutions but my traveling companion, Mr Tony Iuculano is reknowned across continents for his ability to sustain even the roughest of conditions...and even he is struggling to stay alive. To describe it would be quite difficult but i can compare it to spending 24 hours inside a washing machine. not a smooth, relaxing washing machine but a nasty, rough, angry machine that wants to not only wash the clothes but actually physically kill the germs and dirt on the clothes. In this metaphor, Tony and I are the clothes.

By looking out of the window, i could see the ocean at the top, then a lurch and i couldnt see the ocean at all, then i could see it at the top of the window and then it was gone again. this continued for 31 wretched hours. not minutes, please note, but hours. a total of 1860 minutes or for the maths fans, 111600 seconds. Each one as sickly as the last...

I think it goes without saying that I am typing this after the typhoon has passed and the waters are now calm and friendly again. I can sum up how i feel about the calm situation in 2 words. thank crap!

written by

adamski752 on August 23, 2008 from Osaka, Japan

from the travel blog: Adam's Leisurely Return Home

tagged TyphoonWashingMachine

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Osaka, Japan

The day...this is the day I leave Japan...granted, very slowly, but the day I leave Japan nevertheless. After a pleasant evening in Osaka the night before, it was time to get on board the Suzhoushou (or something like that) and whizz off to Shanghai to get the trip home started in earnest. By whizz, i actually mean drift at about 3 nautical Miles per hour which means i will arrive in Shanghai in about 34 years. 34 years on a boat is an awful long time and luckily that was an exaggeration. I don't know the official speed of my ferry but I get into the port of Shanghai after 2 full days on the briney ocean. Hopefully the thing doesnt sink, killing me and all the other passengers. but that is a very dark thought and i want to remain positive throughout the trip.

More details to come soon...I hear the horn of the boat and want to wave a white hankerchief to anyone who is bothered enough to cast me a glance.

written by

adamski752 on August 22, 2008 from Osaka, Japan

from the travel blog: Adam's Leisurely Return Home

tagged ShanghaiFerryHankerchief

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adamski752

Trips:

Shorthand link:

The Arrival

Shanghai, China

The Typhoon

Osaka, Japan

The First Part

Osaka, Japan

Heading South?