Shanghai New Years Eve

We thought we'd take a few days off and head to Shanghai for the weekend.  A friend from my high school days was actually in town for a few days so we caught up with him and his wife over a meal at Din Tai Fung (famous for their dumplings) and some fish (Shanghai Aquarium).  It's always great to see old friends, and meeting him on our current side of the world was especially memorable!

We took the high speed train out and back.  We ended up over 290 km/h, which is about 180 mph.

The McLains plus our friend Tuan from Virginia Beach.

The entrance to the longest underwater Aquarium tunnel in the world (echo:  world, world, world).  The Shanghai Aquarium was quite nice and the tunnel was actually amazing!

ReRiRo posing in front of a great model of Shanghai, which was in the entrance to the Shanghai World Financial Tower.

At the top of the tower, another tourist suggested the boys lay down on the glass floor and look out over the city.  Rebecca said something about that being as close as they will get to skydiving and then quickly covered her mouth for fear that she would give Riley ideas.

The next day we took the subway (note how empty it was; I've never been able to get a seat) to the Science and Technology Museum.  It was closed, unfortunately, but we were able to pick up a wallet for Reid at the copy mall in the basement, oh the irony!

It's not a vacation unless Rowan falls asleep in the stroller.  Can't wait to show his girlfriends how he spent most of his vacations abroad.

Sadly, I only had the camera phone so the photo is terrible.  The entire skyline was lit up with fireworks.

Above are some typical fireworks that are put to good use here.  The square one holds 49 bombs of the variety in the previous picture.  So, you can imagine the scene at midnight new years eve when (conservatively) 95% of every neighborhoods' security guards lit them off.  In a city of 30 million people, that is quite the scene!!!!!

The boys slept right through it all, unlike last year.

Taxi driver took us to the wrong station, which ended up being OK as we were able to exchange the ticket with surprisingly little hassle.  Interesting to note that most people spoke English there.  Above is a shot of about 2/3 of the station.  I'll bet about 5 days ago it was standing room only!

Reid and I were exploring when I noticed this scene at the ticket window.  The only thing I could figure was that the lifeguard chair was there to help them keep order as there were no lanes marked for lines.

Upon returning home, Rebecca wasn't feeling well so the boys and I hit the town for an impromptu "Man Time" at a teppanyaki restaurant.  This one is a buffet where you just keep picking food off the menu and they cook it in front of you.  I apologize in advance to their wives for the years of therapy as they attempt to unravel why they overeat when seeking authentic relationships.

Riley demonstrating the proper rice eating technique.  Note to Americans: just pick the bowl up!!!

Rowan struggled pulling his weight in the meat eating department, but of course he and Riley did not fail to entertain the giggling 20-something girls sitting next to us.