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Old 9 Jan 17, 12:59 PM  
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Hannikins
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Bucket List or Bust! - Tokyo & Shanghai - November 2016 - Day 2

I don’t think either of us realised how action packed yesterday had been until we tried to move at 7ish the following morning.

We both lead pretty lazy lifestyles and neither of us go to the gym so it was probably the most exercise we’d had in months, and boy were we feeling it! my feet felt like numb stumps.

I soaked my feet in the bath for 30 minutes whilst we enjoyed last nights cheesecake



It was a pretty awesome cheesecake, not as good at the coconut one we had in vegas but still a pretty decent brekkie!

Finally I felt able to move and we took the luggage to luggage services, checked out and then we set off to the bus stop. I won’t cover entry in detail again, we pretty much went through the exact same process this morning although we were a little later than yesterday and so were a little further back, only by a few people though.

It had rained all night so it was pretty damp and gloomy, it wasn’t actually raining so that was a plus, not so great though was the temperature, today was certainly colder, there was an icy wind and I was glad of my extra jumper!

The plan for today was to head right instead of left, towards soarin, and this was going to mean joining the hoards. We agreed that I would run and grab the Fast passes, whilst Adam took some photos at the entrance and then he’d come and meet me.

So, gates opened, I grab our tickets, and I ran!

Well maybe not ran, I fast walked, which considering I had longer legs than most that morning meant I was pretty speedy It would have been pretty awkward to run as you were led through a line of waving Cm’s up mickey avenue.

One thing I didn’t mention yesterday, was how to get FP’s. It’s the same process as WDW used to be, except stricter with the timeslot return times. The main difference is WHERE you get them from. Unlike WDW where each ride used to have it’s own, here each “land” has a guest services station, showing operating information and the fp machines are behind this, so you can get FP’s for multiple rides in one place, although obviously not at the same time.

Whilst I was legging it, Adam was taking photos







The FP location for Adventure Isle was thankfully not far from the hub, so I reached it pretty quickly. They obviously expect this each morning, as extra queuing barriers had been put up in front of the info boards and CM’s were directing people to the entrance (that didn’t stop many people trying to rush through the exit only to be sent packing though :P)



This was slightly less organised than what we’d experienced so far, and groups started to surround the booths. Then it became a case of who could be first to shove their tickets in first. If you did this in WDW it would be considered rude, here it’s pretty much the norm, you really have to push yourself forward, it’s survival of the fittest… or quickest in this case.

Apart from this rush of people the park was pretty quiet, about the same as yesterday.



Adam soon caught me up and we continued into Adventure Isle towards the ride itself.





The queue was already showing 15 minutes but we knew this would soon be double or even triple that.

This ride is very different from the one at epcot, the show is updated obviously, but the theme as well. Here it’s mythical rather than a straight forward flight.



It’s pretty strange queuing and seeing the familiar holding areas like this



This pre show lady is by far the most annoying you’ll come across, just be thankful when she turns you into an eagle and you can move on!



I enjoyed the ride, the updated “flight” was certainly worth a watch and I was glad we could do it later in the day again as well.

With that out of the way we decided to ride pirates… but it was down for technical difficulties… NOOOOOOO!

Instead we chose to explore the area a little more since it was so well done









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Nov 16-Shanghai & Japan - In Progress
Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 11:46 PM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 01:00 PM  
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Hannikins
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We really wanted to give the pirate show a go but there was a bit of a wait so instead we went to explore the pirates ship



Spot the crazy lady!





The detail inside was pretty impressive, with scenes and interactive games for small children



and slightly bigger ones…



This made me giggle



Thought it looked like Ariel after 30 years of marriage, hehe!

It was time for our soarin fastpass now so we headed back. The queue was already at 45 minutes! It was worth a second watch

On the way back to the pirate show I checked out a few menus, it was Adam’s choice today though



We were pretty much first to queue for the pirate show and there was a short 20 minute wait. Once in there’s a little pre show, which seemed to get the room going, I have no idea what it was all about though. I think it was an auction and at one point they waved a union jack and everyone booed, down with the British hehe!

This was the one and only time we experienced queue jumping. A teenager and a young child barged all the way from the entrance to the front of the queue. I could tell this wasn’t acceptable though judging by the looks she was getting from other guests.





After the preshow we were let into the theatre itself, it really did look like a theatre, pretty impressive.



Again we had no idea what was going on but we kinda got the gist.





Eventually the British attacked and things got even better







A very well done show, especially the “wind” effects which I won’t spoil





Obviously the pirates win! YAY for Jack Sparrow!



There was a Jack Sparrow meet and greet outside, but the queue was huge so we gave it a miss.

We had a quick check to see if pirates was still down, it was, before deciding to grab a tron fastpass and then think about some lunch. We took the opportunity to cross the park via the castle, as we’d learnt this was quicker than going through all the “undeveloped” areas around the edge.



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Nov 16-Shanghai & Japan - In Progress
Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 11:49 PM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 01:00 PM  
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Hannikins
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Fastpass acquired I asked Adam what he fancied for lunch… Pizza. So we headed to Pinocchio Village Kitchen.



The Pizza is ready made, you just pickup the one you want from the counter and then order drinks separately, we did this by pointing at the drinks on the menu.

I gave Adam the tray whilst I sorted the payment on my card. At this point I heard a bit of a commotion and giggling behind me. Adam had been grabbed, whilst carrying the pizza tray, by two Chinese teenage girls for a picture. They each took one and then swapped over, all the while Adam’s stood there, holding the tray, trying not to look like a rabbit in headlights. Afterwards I kicked myself, I should have asked them to let me take a picture of them with him but I was too busy laughing my head off at the time,

I’m afraid I don’t know how much these were, I’ve lost the receipt in all the fuss, it was similar to yesterdays though.

A meat pizza and a duck pizza



Inside the seating area it was rather busy and the wind today was ice cold so there was no way I was sitting outside. Instead we waited and then quickly grabbed a two seater hidden in the corner.

They were pretty good, I loved the shape!



Next we went to use our tron fastpass and as it was quiet we managed a few rides in the normal queue as well, and a quick go on Buzz



As I mentioned today was bitterly cold so we headed into the Marvel area to warm up a bit



Like with the Starwars area it was very quiet and the meet and greets were empty

The only busy area was the iron man game







Adam was in his element and met Spiderman





And Captain America





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Nov 16-Shanghai & Japan - In Progress
Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 10:30 AM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 01:00 PM  
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Hannikins
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Then we were at a bit of a loss, now we’d done everything multiple times and didn’t have much else to do. We checked again to see if pirates was open, nope still closed (gutted!). So instead we decided to do some shopping and explore the gardens and mickey avenue.

A Christmas tree had appeared overnight, or at least we thought it had, we had to check yesterday’s pictures to confirm!



It’s not like you could miss it, it was huge







We were hungry again now so we decided to grab a waffle to share (approx £5.30)



It was a kind of make your own affair, so we just piled everything on! The only seating available was outside so we eat pretty quickly!



As we were finishing we heard a parade announcement so we headed outside, people were stopping to watch and they started to play some music. Then a classic car drove past with a visiting family on board waving…. and that was it. People were looking at each other puzzled, but no, that was it, the CM’s started collecting the barriers, very bizarre. I can only assume it was the parade but it had been cancelled, not sure why, it wasn’t raining. I wasn’t too bothered, we’d spotted mulan on her horse the day before which was the only bit I thought looked different from other parks, besides it was too blooming cold to sit about!

The plan wasn’t to leave the park until 4ish, it was now around 1.30. We considered going to see the tarzan show, or perhaps going to visit the other hotel and wishing star park. But we were both pretty shattered so we decided instead to head into the shops and then call it a day. I picked up the grand opening minnie I had seen. I also picked up a grand opening pin as you needed to buy two items to get the discount, in hindsight I should have bought some gloves or a hat!



in total it came to £14 for the two.

Sorted, we said a final goodbye to the castle.





We’d had a fab time but it was sensible to make a move, I didn’t want to be hitting rush hour in shanghai. The original plan had been to take the metro, but with 3 changes and luggage I had a “sod it” moment and agreed to get a cab.



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Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 10:33 AM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 01:01 PM  
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Hannikins
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We made our way back to the hotel, Adam went to take some photos whilst I picked up the luggage and ordered the cab. I showed the concierge my hotel booking print out as it had the address and hotel name printed in Chinese. She pulled a face a few times whilst on the phone. I thought perhaps they didn’t know the name but eventually she said it was fine. I went to grab a chair and booted up my map app to make sure we didn’t get lost.





I love the signage!



Whilst Adam was outside the characters were “playing” in reception as it was raining slightly outside. Adam was scared to death when Jessie opened the door for him and put her hands on her hips as if he was in trouble. I just missed a pic




Finally our taxi arrived and we were on our way!



I was sad to be leaving, we’d had a great day and a half at disney but I felt we’d done everything we could do, more than once in most cases and I was looking forward to exploring further in shanghai.

Now at this point things went a little bit wrong, and I have to accept part of the blame (but shhhhhh, don’t tell Adam). I was watching our progress on my app, not my usual, since that didn’t seem to be working properly behind china’s firewall so a new one I had found and setup the week before.

I watched as we drove passed the road our hotel was on, I didn’t panic though, some areas appeared to be one way. Finally he pulled up and started to get out, nope, not our hotel, a different one in the same chain. I’d heard of this happening before as this was well established, our’s was new and only recently taken over by the chain. He doubled checked my paperwork and insisted this was it but agreed to follow my iPhone map to the pin I pointed out. The language barrier didn’t help here but off we went, we travelled the whole length of the road I had on my app, never once seeing the hotel or anything I recognised from the hotel photos. As street view doesn’t work in china I hadn’t been able to map it out like usual either. When we reached the end of the street he gestured that he’d given up. I think he would have continued to drive us about, the fare was racking up and up (about £27 now), but we decided to jump out, it couldn’t be far.

I was a little bit panicked round about now. We got out and I suggested I leave Adam with our two cases whilst I went scouting. Adam didn’t want me going off on my own but equally I didn’t want to be lugging the bags around either. Luckily weatherise it was brightening up so after a bit of panicked snapping and shouting from me (Adam usually gets the brunt of any panicking or anxiety I have, bless him) I set off. I didn’t tell Adam this but I nearly got run over…. twice, like hands out on the bonnet run over. Seriously crossings here mean nothing and scooters are a menace!

I started by doing a circular route but ended up in some back streets and after a car had pulled up alongside me and tried to gesture me over I started to feel a little uneasy and headed back. Adam was feeling the same and didn’t feel comfortable standing around with the cases. Don’t misunderstand me, shanghai is one of the safest cities I’ve ever visited, but at that moment in time we felt very vulnerable.

We stopped and looked at my other app and regroup. It was at this point that I realised I’d been directing us at the wrong pin…. oops As it wasn’t my usual app I’d been confused. The actual hotel was another block north. I felt sure we were going the right way this time but it was quite a way, and traffic was busy.

Off we went, power walking with our cases, difficult on the narrow paths, especially when you’re sharing it with scooters who appear able to use both the road and pavement! At some lights a lady stopped to tell me my bag was open, my stomach dropped, but I realised it was just the front pocket with my booking paper that I’d left open, nothing else. Used to travelling in European cities I had feared the worst. We walked for a good 20 minutes although it felt like longer. It also started to rain halfway there. Finally I noticed a familiar building, we’d made it!

We arrived in the very posh lobby, hot, sweaty and looking like damp rats, Lovely!



It was rather swish! It had awful reviews on trip advisor bur had been closed for 18 months for a refurb and there had been no recent reviews since, I’d taken a risk on a cheap price and it appeared to have paid off.



Here’s a map of what happened so you can see how blooming close we were at times



Blue - the route the taxi took from the first hotel we stopped at (the pin) to where he dropped us

Orange - my circular check of the area before I chicken out on going further

Yellow - where I thought the hotel was

Pink - where it actually was

Green - our final walking route to the hotel

Look how close the first hotel and our actual hotel was, grrrrrrr!

Anyway, we made it. I was pooped

The room was nice



and Adam wasted no time taking a photo of the posh toilet



Yes dear, it has buttons, fascinating



It’s safe to say the walk had finished us off, we both decided that a shower and a nap would do us the world of good and since we didn’t have a dinner reservation until 9.30 I thought it sounded like a pretty good idea!

zzzzzzzzzz…….
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Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 01:11 PM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 01:01 PM  
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Hannikins
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4 hours later and we were ready for action! I was feeling more human again and I had sorted out my new app so the pins were now all in the right place. Adam was also suited, booted and ready for action!



Thankfully I knew where the restaurant was, it was on the main street opposite the bund and we were there in no time. The building had multiple restaurants in it as well as offices. The lobby was pretty quirky.



The entrance to the restaurant, Mr & Mrs Bund was equally fun. it’s supposed to be like Alice in wonderland, you ring a bell and they let you in :P



We were led to a table next to the window with an amazing view! Adam thought I had requested it on purpose but it was pure chance and I couldn’t take the credit.







This was one of the restaurants I was most looking forward to on our trip after reading about it in “The world's top 100 restaurants” I was just hoping it was as good as my expectation!

We both ordered cocktails, a mojito for Adam (£10.60)




And a gin-based cocktail for me (£9.40)



We also order a bottle of water (£9.40)

The place was full of businessmen and large groups, tres posh



We guessed a lot of deals had gone down that night, including a rather rowdy group behind us who appeared to just be getting started.

While we were looking over the menu they brought over some tuna pate and a bread basket





They were both very tasty and almost like a starter itself

The menu was pretty exhaustive but in the end we finally decided and settled in to enjoy the view



It’s a good job we did as the lights are turned off at 10pm on a weekday so things got dark not long afterwards! It’s a shame we didn’t know, otherwise we may have gone out onto the balcony to check it out sooner.

Finally our food arrived

Picnic Chicken aioli for me (£15.30)



I was a little hesitant ordering cold chicken again so soon after the last disaster. It came with garlic aioli which you poured over the top and a side salad.

Well, this was STUNNING. I’ve never eaten chicken like it. it just melt in your mouth. Adam thought I was mental but seriously, I couldn’t stop eating the thing, amazing!

Adam had the Chicken Caesar Salad (£11.80)



He said it was nice, but he wasn’t raving like I was.

We ordered more drinks as well, same again for Adam (£10.60) and a different gin cocktail for me (£10)

Next Adam had the Lamb with garlic aioli (the same I had on my starter) (£33) with Fries (£7)



He was a bit disappointed with this, said it was very fatty and dry

I had the Cod in a bag (£33) with Garlic Spinach (£7) Lots of garlic tonight!



It was rather impressive, it arrives at the table like this and then they serve it table side



Mine was again yummy but I didn’t finish it all, I was getting full and I wanted dessert

The decor in here is really cool. On one wall they have all their awards and little spy holes you can look through to see photos. I can’t find a photo of the wall, it’s very hard to explain, trust me, it was cool :P

At this point one of the swiss guys behind us got up with a Chinese guy who had just arrived and went to sat at a spare table to “talk business” while the rest continued the fun, it was all very informal but expertly done, I couldn’t help but watch.

I also noticed a waiter present a couple with a box of old fashioned reading glasses, apparently so she could see the menu better, I thought this was genius!

For dessert I order the house special, the lemon tart (£13)



I had heard that this dessert and several others in nearby restaurants were often competing for the best lemon dessert, and this one was the current champ. It’s a hollowed out lemon, that’s been candied to make it edible, filled with cheese cream, grapefruit for a kick and lemon cream, with a shortbread biscuit, take a mouthful of everything and you have lemon tart, yummy!

Adam ordered the Ile Flottante (£9.40)



A most odd looking dessert, it looked like an egg!



Now I wish I had taken a photo when you stick a spoon into it. Caramel comes running out of it as if from nowhere, the overall effect is an amazing creamy caramel mess, YUM, Adam was very happy with this.

The business deal behind us must have gone well because the waitress was pouring everyone a weird green liquid over sugar cubes… I’m guessing it was absinthe, they were going to be a mess in the morning!

Now overall this wasn’t a cheap meal, just shy of £200 but it was a highlight of our trip and I cannot recommend it enough, I would return in a heart beat!

It was around 11.30 when we left so we headed back to the room, ready for an early morning of exploring.
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Nov 16-Shanghai & Japan - In Progress
Nov 15-Hong Kong & Singapore - Coming Soon!
June 15-Rome & Florence
Dec 14-WDW | 13-WDW | 12-DLP | 12-NY&DC | 11-West Coast | 10-DLP | 09-WDW

Edited at 01:12 PM.
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Old 9 Jan 17, 10:29 PM  
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amymiller
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Ahhh cheesecake for breakfast...when on holiday!

Interesting theming for Soarin' weird to see something different.

Haha at Adam posing with the girls for a photo! I had that recently in Hong Kong... right after I had been in a rush and was a sweaty mess, luckily doubt i will ever come across said photos again.

Looks like you lucked out with the hotel, nice, posh room. View from dinner...wow!
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Old 10 Jan 17, 06:40 AM  
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Wow - another great trippie!

Why did they want to have pictures taken with him?
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Old 10 Jan 17, 09:21 AM  
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Hannikins
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Originally Posted by amymiller View Post
Ahhh cheesecake for breakfast...when on holiday!

Interesting theming for Soarin' weird to see something different.

Haha at Adam posing with the girls for a photo! I had that recently in Hong Kong... right after I had been in a rush and was a sweaty mess, luckily doubt i will ever come across said photos again.

Looks like you lucked out with the hotel, nice, posh room. View from dinner...wow!
you can eat anything you like for breakfast on holiday, those are the rules

Very much so, the room had a few problem but for the price I paid I think it was worth the risk.

Originally Posted by AntonyJ View Post
Wow - another great trippie!

Why did they want to have pictures taken with him?
It's a weird one really. Shanghai has a western population and in the city you see more of them, in Disney not so much. I get the impression that when it happens they aren't locals and so to those coming from further afield in China westerners are a bit of a novelty. It happened in Singapore to me on the beach, again they weren't locals. It's always a bit weird. The sceptic in me always thinks it's a scam to pick my pockets but really they just want a momento... strange but each to their own Adam usually a target as he's dark and tall. I've heard the same happens more frequently if you're blonde as again that's more of a novelty.
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Old 10 Jan 17, 03:02 PM  
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The view from that restaurant is just incredible! And I love the sound of both your chicken and that lemon tart!
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