Safe in Shanghai

I safely arrived in Shanghai yesterday afternoon at about 2pm. The weather here is colder than Hong Kong - 40s to 60s rather than 60s to 70s. Very quick recap of yesterday: Traffic into the city from the Pudong airport was terrible, so I didn't get to the place I'm staying until nearly 6. At the apartment, the driver said that he was going to get the apartment manager to show me around the place, and to stay put until he came back. He flicked the TV onto an English channel and left, and I settled in to unpack. Channel surfing, I saw that an episode of Journey to the West (one of the most famous traditional Chinese stories) was on, and so I watched that. Then, some James-bond style action movie, then Harry Potter. At some point, I looked at my watch and it was 10pm. I gave up on the guy, and found a packet of ramen noodle in the apartment, ate that, and went to bed.

This morning I unpacked, discovered an unlocked wireless network that I can piggy back on to send emails (sometimes) and am now headed out to explore the city. First up on my list is figuring out the transportation system here. Shanghai has been massively expanding its subway system (it makes the big dig seem downright small by comparison) and one of the new stations looks to be about a half mile away. If the expansions aren't done, then the nearest station is about 2 miles in the opposite direction. Second on the list will be groceries and maybe buying a light wear jacket (I didn't pack a wintry jacket, wanting to save as much space for dress clothes as I could. Oops. After that I think that I am going to start going through the lonely planet that I bought at the airport, seeing what sights there are to see, etc.

My phone number here is 135-2427-7025.