Seems that dogster's very crabby this morning. What are you doing up or are you on your way to bed? Don't blame Mr. Hanuman, you yourself revealed your next step:

<i>Alas, confusion surrounds our wherabouts after the 11th July but a long word with Jaya at the beginning may lead Detective Marija to our honeymoon destination.</i>

and you yourself felt the time had come to cast pearls our way:

<i>As the only person in here who actually knows river cruises in S.E. Asia, I feel it may be time to cast my pearls of wisdom before the swine. Stay tuned for a separate post on this forgotten topic. </i>

Don't get huffy. We will remain ignorant and patient.
Have a good trip!

I will provide clues for those wise in the ways of Google search, Marija. There the dance is. But you have to work for it. Much more fun that way.

Nooo, not crabby, just busy. I have one day left in BKK. The jetlag has created a howling monster, alive and alert at 6.00 a.m. Tomorrow - Saigon.

Poor Thomas:
www.heritage-line.com/contactus.php?lan=en

Don't forget to pack the prune juice.

My Dogster's bowel movements are not for discussion. Go to the new thread and play.

whatever happened to the trip report? I've been checking in frequently, but everything seems to be about this potential cruise...

I am working on the trip report. Please stay tuned. We have only one more day in Shanghai before taking the train to Hong Kong.

Artsy--this is but an intermission while the OP gets new plumbing for her apartment, maps out her meals for the next year, travels to the Cape for R&R, bonds with a more reliable internet provider, and makes excrutiatingly detailed arrangements, including learning Italian, for her next adventure. Surely you don't expect us to sit in silence while we await her return!

Oh - of course...

With the beginning of the Love Boat thread, I figured this one would go inyo iys usual dormant state. Is it possible to have a 17 year trip report similar to locusts? We may see.

Need to get this finished before we pull up the anchor on the cruise ship:



Upon checking into the Royal Meridien, I had negotiated a late check out on the Monday that was our last day in the city, so we had most of the day to explore before setting off for the railway station and our overnight
Train to Hong Kong. (My friends were hesitant to request the late-checkout and so were forced to vacate at the usual time and leave their luggage in my room). I therefore, got a late start, as I waited for them to finish packing and deposit their bags. Having swum in the hotel pool very early, I was finally able to depart the hotel about 10am, bound by taxi for the Pudong side of the river and the Oriental Pearl Tower, home to an observation deck (with a long queue; the fog would no doubt obscure the view, so I skipped this) and the Shanghai History Museum (no queue), which was my intended destination that morning.


But first, I had to ensure that I could enter because there was a rather stringent list of “don’ts” posted prominently outside.

These included:

“1. No admittance for anyone who is drunk, insane AND not properly dressed.” I may have qualified on all counts at one time or another but happily, not all at the same time. And I was pretty sure that, at least on this day, I could refrain from “6. Prohibit hanging streamer, slogan and other prints in the tower about commerce, politics, religion and so on.”
And since I fulfilled 5. “Prohibit carrying animals and the articles which disturb common sanitation including unusual smell,” I was good to go.

I will not delve into the list of the exhibits and realistic dioramas—ranging from opium dens to tofu sellers premises—which do a fine job of telling the story of the city in an entertaining and informative manner. I highly recommend a visit; I spent about two hours here and found myself thoroughly engrossed throughout my stay. You can purchase various combinations of entry tickets, either museum entry alone, which I did, or in combination with ascents to various levels of the observations decks of the tower, one of the city’s most iconic structures.


http://www.historymuseum.sh.cn/en.php


From the museum, I walked diagonally across the street to the Super Brand Mall (home to outlets ranging from Starbucks to Muji and Hooter’s to H&M) where I did some last minute food shopping for the train in the vast, gleaming basement-level supermarket. From there I navigated my way through twists and turns which forced me to walk through floor after floor searching for the escalators and elevators that would allow me to reach my lunchtime destination: South Beauty.

SouthBeauty is a Beijing-based chain of high-design restaurants featuring the cuisine of Sichuan province.

http://www.southbeautygroup.com/


Because I was on my own for this last Shanghai lunch, I wanted to seek out the spicy fare that my companions could not tolerate. The South Beauty on the 9th Floor of the SuperBrand mall is a sprawling, glitzy restaurant with a terrace whose view, on a clear day, would no doubt rival that of the Oriental Pearl Tower, although from less lofty heights. Service was eager and a bit stumbling but the food was good and the menus have competent English translation with dishes marked with one, two, or three chili peppers signifying degree of spiciness.

I am afraid I was rather timid in my selections, as I did not want to have a big meal:

Watermelon juice—fresh and delicious

Sichuan wonton soup—small cup—good enough but not worth seeking out

Stir Fried Pork—1 chili pepper—excellent; good amount of heat

Sesame noodles with chicken—take out for the train ride—very good

After straightening out a few errors on the bill that I suspect were the result more of inexperience than of any intent to deceive, I was on my way in a taxi back to the hotel.

The drive through Pudong and its forest of skyscrapers in weird and unusual designs was an eye-opener and one that I would highly recommend. I especially enjoyed seeing the tower that attempted to inject a bit of ancient Greece on the HuangPu by framing each and every window of its at least 80-story height with an Ionic column rendered in dun-colored cement.

After lunch I took another swim and about 4pm we set off, laden with luggage, food and drink, for the railway station where we had booked seats on the T99 train to Hong Kong, due to depart at 6:24 that evening.


(After much e-mail back and forth with the hotel concierge, who insisted that the train did not run on our desired dates (the luxury direct train runs only every other day and schedules were available a few months prior to departure) and phone calls to the railway offices in Shanghai and in Hong Kong to confirm dates, we were finally able to request that the Meridien purchase the tickets for us, with the understanding that we would reimburse them, in cash, for the tickets plus a service charge, at check-in.) I chose to purchase both berths of the luxury soft sleeper, so that I would have the entire en-suite compartment to myself; each berth cost 824 RMB, or about $121 at today's rate of exchange.



http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ions-again.cfm

Wow! Another installment! It may be too early to say, but perhaps we will get to the end of this trip report before the Love Boat sails.

Gilligan checks in.

Yeah, finally we're off to the station! I've been waaaaaiting for a train.

Impressed that you remember what an Ionic column is--as opposed to Doric and Corinthian (the fancy one, right?). I'm always getting them mixed up.
Now I know why you suggested trains on the Love Boat thread.

An ionic column uses wit and juxtaposition, Doric columns were named after Dorc Day and Corintian colunms have that deep smell of rich leather. I go with the three syllable colomne every time.

Ok, I get it, IRONIC column. But if that's a Doris Day joke, they need to scan for typing abnormalities.

It would be too easy if I could type appropriately. Even Bob would get the jokes.

Leslie: It IS funny how I/we remember some of the things that were drummed into us very early on! The Ionic was always my favorite. The Corinthian is too fancy! The Doric is too plain!!!!

Honestly, you should have seen that skyscraper with EVERY window framed in columns. I wish I knew more about the building.

Pudong is a total trip. The area looks sterline at street level, with absolutely no life, but tilt your head and WOW! The panoply of architecture is incredible. From the Temple of Hatshepsut to the Jetsons--all in a matter of blocks!

Assuming it is an office tower, is it closer to the mall or the river?

The South Beauty you went to in the mall is just so so, the best branch is in the french concession on Hungshan Road.

Where does the Xintiandi South Beauty fit in the ranking order, Shanghainese -- in the middle?