TOKYO AND YOKOHAMA, JAPAN - Ikimasu!

It looks like it's going to happen.

The ultimate fangirl's dream.

Two boybands, 3 (hopefully 4) concerts in 10 days. Two sets of concert goods to buy.

Meet ups with fellow fangirls from all over the world. Immersion with a japanese family.

I am off to the airport in a couple of hours.

Heaven.

Bye for now..SHANGHAI!

I had a great time getting acquainted with Shanghai, China. From the Pudong International airport, I felt a fangirl's welcome when I saw several huge lighted billboard of Takeshi Kaneshiro.

There were many impressions that the city gave me but none of what I expected. It is cosmopolitan, huge and throbbing even under the watchful eye of communist China. There's just a lot of people but many are fashionable and young.

The city is very commercial with all forms of enterntainment from an opera house, cinemas, and tons and tons of shopping.

Of course the most important thing of all is that I like the new kamp my sister and her family has made in this part of the world. It is warm, cozy and there's more to discover the second time around.

So i'll be back. And will definitely sample what this city has to offer. And with more Mandarin words in my vocabulary..definitely.

For the rest of the pics, head on out to http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/39/Ni_Hao_Shanghai_vol.1 and http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/40 and lastly http://gigidm.multiply.com/photos/album/41

Shanghai, more random discoveries

So on our 2nd day in Shanghai, there are more new discoveries...

• Chocolates are 3x more expensive than in Manila. Too bad Hershey's does not have a store in 'ye ol hometown.
• If it's a foreign brand, its bound to be more expensive than most probably anywhere in the world.
• The concept of "diet" soda in McDonald's or other fast food chain is not yet known. The city is simply not diabetic friendly.
• Amidst the dozens of modern shopping malls, stores around the Yu Yuan Garden in the Puxi area are to me still better.

Still no photos. Mopworld inconveniently forgot to pack her camera usb connector. Duibuqi. :-(

Enjoying Shanghai...

After Day 1 at Shanghai, here are random thoughts about this huge, huge city.

• Pudong International airport looks no different than NAIA Terminal 3 except there are huge, huge (that's my buzzword today..LOL) framed photos of Takeshi Kaneshiro modeling for Armani.
• That I love my sister's home in The Emerald and thinks that this is where Show Luo and Barbie Xu shot scenes from Corner with Love (my Chinese friends who visit this site, tell me if I am wrong please).
• I now have huge, huge respect for the concerted effort of not giving out shopping bags for anything you purchase. So prepare to carry all your stuff as is or be poorer by at least CNY 1.00..better yet just don't forget to bring your environment friendly shopping bags. =)
• That despite the huge, huge business of imitation (aka fake) products in this country, the Shanghainese people would rather be caught wearing no brand items than carry/wear imitation goods.

Posting pictures soon. More thoughts later...

Ni Hao, Shanghai!

While I twist and turn and get my requirements ready for Japan's nail-biting visa application process, I have an opportunity to de-stress in China's largest city in terms of population - Shanghai.

I will have the chance to bond with my sister Teng and her family. They recently moved to Shanghai from Copenhagen, Denmark and has settled in this posh expat neighborhood called The Emerald (http://shanghai-emerald.com/) in the growing metropolis called Pudong.

I am looking forward to seeing the world famous Pudong skyline and other attractions that Shanghai is famous for. I'll see if I can squeeze in a little "purple" shopping. =)

So I'll post again when I get back and will tell you all about this new adventure. Now if only I can remember where I kept my Mandarin dictionary...