Day 79 - Chilling in Shanghai

Waking to the incessant and loud chatter of our co-riders, we attempted to return to sleep to help the last 4 hours of the trip pass by, but eventually gave in and Liv settled into her ritual of sandwich making! Arriving in Shanghai we followed the signs that led us the way into the Country, even though Hong Kong is part of China's "One Country, two systems" - meaning we never really left the country in the first place!

Zooming through customs we made our way to the bus, with the hope of finding a bed at the first hostel we turned up to. We were lucky and got 2 beds in a dorm, just as more people swelled through the door - the receptionists stressed at arrival with no reservation (it is the adlibing way, after all)!

Despite doing relatively little for the last 24 hours, we were still pretty exhausted - as well as being one of the most enjoyable stops on our travels, Hong Kong sapped a lot of energy out of us, especially since much of the fun comes out at night. Thus we rested at the hostel cafe enjoying a normal priced sprite and beer - back in China at last!!

With a lot of blogging to catch up on, we went to the nearest internet cafe and blogged until Liv nearly fainted due to lack of food. Adam very cleverly found a restaurnant with a picture menu on the wall, which made ordering our first meal in Shanghai a breeze, and we ended up with (you guessed it) noodles and rice - BUT for the Chinese, and not Hong Kong, price of a few bucks.

We enjoyed the afternoon at the hostel, in a real state of relaxation (no walking, getting lost, or battling with language issues like usual) until dinner time when we headed straight back to the picture board restaurant - unfortunately though, this time even the pictures failed us and we ended up with 2 meat dishes! This had nothing to do with our Chinese or pointing abilities, but more to do with the waiter's error, which he sheepishly fixed before hiding in the corner.

Stopping for groceries and a cold beer, we headed for our home for the next 4 nights, and settled in to regenerate for the adlibing adventures tomorrow.

Adlibing picture food in Shanghai.