The sun came out!...then went away

It's still been cloudy/raining non-stop here in Shanghai, kind of dreary. The sun came out for a little while though yesterday...wouldn't you know it, AFTER I got back to my dorm room. But braving the heavy showers (where my waterproof boots and socks got soaked because the rain went in through the top), I went to visit the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. It was a a pretty good excursion, snapped a lot of pics, went through the "world's longest underwater aquarium tunnel" and got to see sharks and turtles and the like up close. I'll be sure to post some pics!

I just finished my first week of Mandarin classes. I've definitely learned a lot, but we still haven't practiced characters (which is hard to learn) so I still can't read Chinese. But I can say basic things now, like "Hello", "How are you?", "How much money?", "I want to drink water.", "Can you speak English?"...basically most of the things that will help me get around, but I have to practice a lot because my pronunciation is still pretty off.

I'm getting a little more used to life here in Shanghai, but there's definitely still some adjustments I have to make. I found out yesterday while it was pouring the hardest since I've gotten here that people in Shanghai don't wear rainjackets!?! Unless they're on their bikes/mopeds, everyone carries an umbrella in the rain. So much so that everyone kept staring strangely at me as I was walking along in my rainjacket!

I guess there's a first time for everything. A couple of days ago I tried frog for the first time! Apparently it's quite popular as a delicacy here in Shanghai...it looks and tastes just like fish, actually quite tasty. And a family friend took me to a foot massage parlour...that was quite an experience hahaha. Can you believe for 90 minutes of foot massage (they also massage other parts of your body, but the main focus is the feet), plus all you can eat/drink from their (Chinese version) "spa menu", is only about $22 CAD? It costs $65 CAD for 45 minutes of shoulder massage everytime I got to my massage therapist!...I guess you could say I'm still surprised to how cheap things are here. I plan to visiting the "cheap street" just to look around when the sun finally comes out (there's a street in Shanghai where all they sell are cheap fakes). And I'm planning on going to a nightclub in Shanghai for the first time tonight with some classmates, so I'll let you all know how that goes if I can still remember after hahaha.

UPDATE:
The first several photos are from when my family friend took me out to see some areas.

Can't waste land space in Shanghai. Even above modern shops are run-down homes.


Look at all those bikes and mopeds lined up. It was like that on many street corners in Shanghai.


My first visit (of several) to Xintiandi. There was a surprising amount of Starbucks in Shanghai (well much more than I expected since the mainland Chinese don't really drink coffee).


Some shots of Xintiandi from my first visit. The second picture showing the arch entrance to the alley was the typical design of alleys in Shanghai back then.


View from my second room (because the first room was too dirty). Again, still cloudy/raining during the day.


Some of my photos from my visit to the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. I took shots to practice my photography skills and also of what I found interesting (like that last picture of some strange turtle species)!


The catfish(?) was swimming on it's side! Weird...(sorry I ain't an animal biologist)


I was in the tank with the seals... Haha obviously not, but that would've been cool.


Some horseshoe crabs, famous because they are part of a group animals called 'living fossils".



Giant crabs, sharks, and sea turtles...that crab was BIG (for a crab)...and look at the teeth on that shark!


Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. I got soaked on my way there (notice the gray sky?). Walking around from several hours in wet socks and hiking boots ain't fun haha.


A rare (but very short) break from the cloudy skies. The view from my floor. I thought the sky would make for a nice picture.


The second time I had frog (I forgot to take a pic when I first had it)! Here, it's in a dish called "bo jai fan" (in Cantonese), where rice and usually some meat and veggies are cooked in a thick clay pot, and the rice lining the pot gets nice and crispy, very tasty! This was frog bo jai fan.