Another Beautiful Shanghai Day

I love my kids.  They are sweet, funny, smart, and a pure joy to teach.  However, every now and then I wish I had a day off to refill my bucket by having a picture perfect day to explore Shanghai… especially when the day looks like this.

I was so happy to have perfect weather for my day off!

While watching the touring production of Ghost The Musical, I received a great birthday present from one of my local teachers.

Okay...if you insist. 

After sleeping off my sugary birthday cake filled weekend, I hopped out of bed and headed out to enjoy a beautiful, girly day in Shanghai!

Stop One: Starbucks

I was still feeling a little sluggish thanks to sugar withdrawal, so I stopped at Starbucks for a hair of the dog Frappuccino. 

The seasonal Tiramisu Frappuccino is exactly what I needed to put a little pep in my step.  

Stop Two: Sephora

Attention Sephora fans!  The American rewards cards and American gift cards don’t work in China, however Chinese folks have their own rewards card.  Sign up and get some freebies on your birthday.

No girly day off is complete without a Sephora fix.

Happy birthday to me! :)

Stop Three: Van Gogh Alive!

After I was caffeinated, I strolled over to Xintiandi to see the Van Gogh Alive exhibit at Taipinghu Park.  Van Gogh Alive is a “Sensory 4” exhibit integrates projections of the artist’s masterpieces, quotes, and classical music.  The combination of art forms was mesmerizing.

What was once the fashion week tent is now a Van Gogh exhibit. 

At times I was completely overwhelmed by the floor to ceiling images on the screens.

The combination of color and sound was intoxicating.

At times, Van Gogh knew what he was talking about.

After seeing Japan, I have a new appreciation for some of his paintings.

I think this blossom painting was my favorite.  I highly recommend visiting the exhibit during the week. It gets a bit crowded on the weekends.  

Beware, they do have a gift shop/ tourist trap at the end of the exhibit.  If you would like to send me the big, earless Van Gogh bear, please contact me via the Facebook page for more info. :)

Keep in mind, the exhibit doesn’t include original Van Goghs, but in my opinion it was worth the price of admission.

Stop Four: Xiaolongbao at Yu Gardens

One part of every perfect day is at least one xiaolongbao meal.  While I had visited Yu Gardens many times, I still had not tried xiaolongbao at the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant.  I figured the restaurant wouldn’t be too terribly crowded on a Monday, so I hopped on Line 10 and headed Yu Gardens to grab some lunch.

The xiaolongbao were filled with crab and pork. They were a little zesty, but incredibly delicious. 

These larger dumplings contain crab soup.  I don't know why I waited so long to try them!

Stop Five: Yu Gardens (The actual garden part of Yu Garden)

In the corner of the Yu Bazar, there is a garden that I had yet to visit.  So after lunch I strolled through mazes of trees, flowers, and koi ponds. 

I had no idea the garden at Yu Gardens had so many beautiful buildings.

The maze of buildings and gardens was surprisingly peaceful.  

Some kids spent their Children's Day playing with the Koi.

The only drama in the area was between the turtles and the fish who kept chasing each other.

The trip was worth the 40 RMB entrance fee.

Stop Six:  Time to Play with the Dogs

It was Children’s Day, so I figured I should spend some time with the four-legged kids.

My fur kids were very happy to take a stroll around the neighborhood.

Stop Seven: Subconscious Day Spa

After my stroll I needed a little rest time, so I headed to Subconscious Day Spa for a massage. 

My friend Jume introduced me to Subconscious, aka Spa Heaven.

In Shanghai there are many places to get massages.  I prefer Subconscious because it is clean, comfortable, and quiet. 

Stop Eight: Movie Time

It had been a while since I visited my local movie store so I strolled down the street to check out the latest and greatest flicks.

I was really excited to pick up Pitch Perfect 2!  

Stop Nine: Cheese N Fizz

As I was walking to the movie store, I noticed Cheese and Fizz was having a happy hour special on bubbly. 

I'm a huge fan of any place that has "cheese" in the name.

Pink roses and a little bubbly was a great ending to a wonderful day.  However, there was more fun to come!

Stop Ten: JW’s California Grill

All of my adventures had made me hungry, so I grabbed Chris and headed to JW’s California Grill in the Marriott Tomorrow Square.  It was gourmet week, so we got a good deal on a four course preset menu.

I had really high hopes for dinner.  The menu looked wonderful.

Any dinner with this guy is a good dinner.  I just wish he could have been there for the entire perfect day.

The second course, Lobster Bisque, was very tasty!

The skirt steak was less than impressive. It needed a sauce or some starch to pep it up. 

Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed by the meal, but I did have a great day.  I can’t wait to rediscover Shanghai this summer!

Recess at Daning

Every once in a while, an article will pop into my newsfeed that inspires me to shoot, write, and publish a post in one day.  Today I came across one of those articles!

Photographer James Mollison traveled the world and took pictures of kids during school recess. He used these photos to show how kids form relationships in their early years, and to show the disparity in wealth among schools around the world.  Fifty schools and seventeen countries later he has produced a book, Playground. 

After reading about the book on Buzzfeed and NPR, I became inspired to show you my kids at recess.

Recess usually starts when a march is played over the PA system.  The kiddos line up and march outside.

When they arrive on the playground, they line up in straight lines and check to make sure they won't hit anyone when completing nationally mandated exercises.

The kids then complete a nationally choreographed exercise routine. 

When the routine is over, the kids have about 15-20 minutes to play.  The kids love running around and playing with  funoodle missiles...

...and foam basketballs...

...and jumping rope.

Today, the kids were playing soccer, basketball, jumping rope, and launching Nerf like missiles in the same area.  I don't know how anyone didn't get hurt.  The kids made it work. 

Recess toys vary by season.  In December, the kids had a great time hitting these feathered shuttlecocks with their ping pong paddles.

If it's cold outside, the kids play on hippity hops inside.  

They can also learn the art of ping pong...

and darts!   

The main campus has all kinds of activities like rollerblading and pool.  (Yes, the school has a pool hall built over the gym.)

The kids even have jungle gyms and a rock climbing wall.

There is a reason why kids smile everyday at Daning.

Interested in seeing other schools around the world?  Check out the artist’s site by clicking here.

Adventures in Flying: Chinese Budget Airlines

While jetting around Southeast Asia is fun, flying every couple of months can get expensive.  In an effort to cut costs, we have started to fly the budget airlines. 

Flying regular-priced airlines in China is like flying in the US in the 80’s.  Most airlines serve a full sized meal or snacks on any flight over one hour in plastic trays, don’t charge for baggage, and have comfortable seats.  Airlines like Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air will make you feel downright spoiled.

Budget airlines like Air Asia, and Spring Air are a little different.  You pay for what you get, no more no less. By the way, you have to pay for every little thing.  The plus side is many of these airlines have evening flights so we can get a jump start on our holiday without taking time off work.

Budget airlines may not offer you in flight water on an international flight, but you may get a complimentary seat exercise class.

If I continue to fly budget airlines, I would more than likely fly Air Asia.  On Air Asia you pay for what you get, but the good news is you can buy some pretty nice perks like 24-hour buttermilk pancakes and seats in a childfree quiet zone.  You can pre-pay for your beverages, but if you don’t pre-pay there usually are some drinks to buy on board.  They have some duty free items you can purchase from the magazine in the plane seat in front of you.  You have to pay for checked baggage, however if you pre-book your luggage you get a discount.  The seats are comfy, the service is good, and the flights are cheap!

I'm not kidding when I say you have to pay for everything.  For $2.75 USD you can rent a blanket.  You can rent a power bank for twice that.

The pancakes were definitely the highlight of my overnight flight from Shanghai to Bali. I highly recommend them!

A Coke Zero was well worth the $2, but in the future I will carry on.

This is the first airline I have flown that offers selfie sticks.

Chris was less than impressed with the Taylor Swift gear.  

One airline I hesitate to fly again is Spring Air.  With Spring Air, what we saw definitely wasn’t what we got.  We decided to go to Japan at the last minute, and Spring Air gave us a semi decent price on the airline tickets. The flight to Kyoto was less than two hours so we figured we could tolerate it.  We were wrong. The drama started from the minute we checked in at the airline counter.

I was able to carry on my bag (pictured on the right).  Chris was forced to check his smaller bag (pictured on the left) because it had wheels.  All wheeled luggage is required to be checked in. 

I think the Spring Air seats were a little snug.  They were the first non reclining airplane seats I have ever flown in. 

I'm about 5'7" and my knees touched the seat in front of me.  

All I wanted to do was sleep on the flight home.  Unfortunately, every Spring Air flight comes with a 40 minute duty free infomercial.  No, I don't want to buy a plastic plane or cigarettes.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  The over head commercial killed that plan.

After the infomercial, it was time for our in seat aerobic class.  I was amazed that an airline that did not provide water provided in seat calisthenics.

After stretching, it was time for eye exercises.

My only advice is when flying budget airlines is buyer beware.  Sometimes you get what you pay for.