I Promised I'd Do This

I saw my parents off safely about two hours ago. They did and saw so many things here that they are afraid they won't be able to remember it all -- a fear that is extremely understandable.

In order to help, I'll post a day-by-day itinerary of their major adventures.*

Saturday:

• Arrival in Shanghai
• Hour-plus taxi ride to hotel
• Room service dinner (tuna fish sandwiches)
  
• Sleep

Sunday:

• Taking the subway one stop
• Walking down Nanjing Dong Lu
• Walking down the Promenade alongisde the Bund
• Xintiandi
• Jin Mao tower sightseeing deck
• Thumb Plaza
• My apartment

Monday:

• Guided tour of Shanghai, including Yuyuan
• Dinner at hotel restaurant Windows on the Park (2nd floor of hotel)

Tuesday:

• Shanghai Museum
• Dinner at Gongdelin

Wednesday:

• Shanghai No. 1 Department Store
• Dinner at Ajisen Ramen
• Chinese acrobat performance: ERA -- Intersection of Time

Thursday:

• Tour of the Ohel Moishe synagogue and the surrounding area in Hongkou
  
• Duolun Lu Cultural Street
• Garden Books and Changle Lu / Shaanxi Nan Lu area
  
• Dinner with me and my co-workers
  

Friday:

• Taking the subway 5 stops by themselves
• Shanghai Science & Technology Museum
• Taikang Lu
• Dinner at Epicure, the revolving restaurant on the 45th floor of the hotel (which also produced these insane pictures)
  

*Not listed: crossing blocked-off streets, almost getting hit by cars, negotiating with cab drivers, bargaining with shopkeepers, withstanding satellite malfunction, overcoming jet lag, getting swarmed by hundreds of touts trying to sell them knockoff knickknacks at every conceivable location, successfully communicating in Chinese, enduring tourist traps, attending conferences, journalling, etc.

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With all the insanity going on, the month of May has been bad for blogging / picture taking. I look forward to doing some more before my trip back to Austin in late June. I think a trip to Suzhou is in the cards, plus some more tourism stuff in & around the city. But for now -- relaxation!! :-)