I don’t have anything against my brother-in-law coming to stay with us for a week but I don’t understand these travel agencies in Europe that offer the same destinations for spring break vacations. I am sure that there are interesting places other than Tunisia and Turkey for students to spend their spring break in. Why can’t these agencies just go online and look for some other places because there are a lot of websites that offer resources for spring break ideas.

Xtremetrips.com is a very good example of an online resource about the best places where students can spend their spring break in. This website also offers some great deals that are surely affordable for students.

You see, I do hate moving and that means packing, transporting and unpacking things. I think I moved from one place to another like more than 10 times in my life. Now that I am married, people I know (like my mom) kind of expect that I am more settled and that I should be raising a family together with my husband already. That means we’re expected to have a kid and to live in a place where we can stay for the rest of our lives.

We are on our way to that place but right now, we are still preparing for it. I do hate moving but I’d do it again  because I  can’t imagine being away from my husband. If the situation asks for it, then we’ll move again together and we’ll build a home to whatever that is.

So anyway, after having a dinner at the nearby Jin Mao Tower last Monday evening, we impulsively decided to go and see the new skyscraper. It’s just too bad that none of us brought a camera. I suggested that we do it on another time but Marcus and two of his colleagues insisted to see it because the weather was clear and there was no queue anymore (at 9:00pm). The view from the building’s view decks is really spectacular. If you look up at the SFTC building and the nearby Jin Mao Tower  from the street, they look like they have the same height but when you’re on top, you’ll see that there is a huge difference between the two buildings’ heights. It’s really too bad that we didn’t have real cameras so I didn’t have a choice but to use my phone’s not so good camera.

Last Sunday, Marcus and I went back to that electronic market to buy me an iPhone and we tag along Kristoff because we know that Kristoff is also crazy about the place and he knows the market better than us. We went there early and it took me five hours to find the perfect iPhone from the kindest salesperson. I knew already that I’d get an iPhone but that didn’t stop me from trying other mobile phones. I don’t think Sonny Ericson Xperia, the phone I wanted, is already available in China so unfortunately I was not able to try it and even if it were there already, I wouldn’t think that Marcus and I will buy it. It is just too expensive.

Anyway, after the shopping in the Puxi area we went back to Pudong to eat and before that, we decided to walk around a little bit because the weather was great (after like 3 weeks of constant smog) and so I was able to take some photos. It felt a little bit funny because I was acting like a real tourist. We live here since June of this year but until now, we haven’t really explored Shanghai yet. We have this mentally that we have plenty of time so we don’t have to see every place and try out everything here immediately but maybe before we know it, the time’s gone.

So what I did was search for an unsecured wireless connection and I was lucky because when I placed my computer right beside the window, there were about 11 wireless connection and 3 or 4 of them were unsecured. We were in the 30th floor—good place for my WLAN to get some signals from nearby wireless connections. So I had 22 days of free internet.

Shanghai is a very modern city and wireless internet connections are rampant. You can get an unsecured wireless connection just about anywhere for free. But you should know that connecting to an “unsecured” wireless network has some risks. For example, other computers connected to the unsecured network can attack your computer and steal private data. In my case, my laptop is pretty empty so it was not a very big risk for me.

My “coming back” doesn’t mean Ruthi is going away so there’s no need for Ruthi’s fans to worry because you’ll get more of her here.

So anyway, I am now in Shanghai! My husband and I got here at around 5pm on July 1st and I cannot believe how hot it is in this city. Shanghai’s temperature is very different from that of Changchun even if these two cities are only 2 hours by plane away from each other. Also, I am amazed by the fact that a lot of people living in Shanghai can speak English. That makes it way cooler to live here than in Changchun. Somebody once mentioned that living in Shanghai is just a small upgrade from living in Changchun but I think that is underestimating Shanghai. Shanghai is more international and there are a lot of things to do here. Here in Shanghai you can find almost everything except maybe a gulp of clean air. Haha. Anyway, I am excited about living in and experiencing Shanghai. Actually, I’ve been here last year but only for a short time. And because Shanghai is just a few hours away from Manila, I am cool with the fact that my husband got a contract to work here for two years.

Okay, sorry to cut this short but it’s time for me to exit Starbucks and turn off my computer but don’t worry because I have two whole years to live here so you can be sure to read more about this city and about me in it.

Ciao for now!

Yep, that’s the Nest. This is where the (Beijing) Olympics 2008 is supposed to be held  but until now it’s still under construction. I wonder if they could finish it before then. Unfortunately, no tourists are allowed to enter the vicinity yet so we can’t take a peep inside the building but from the outside, it looks like the building is completely done; I guess it’s just the surrounding area they have to beautify—put some green grass and some trees perhaps.

As promised, some pictures from our trip in Beijing last weekend are finally posted but unfortunately, I didn’t post them here. They’re in my other blog. If you want to see the pictures, you may click here.

The Forbidden City

The White Pagoda

The Nest

The Bell Tower

A Park

A View from The Bell Tower

I cannot remember how many times I’ve been in Beijing but this is by far the worst weather condition I’ve seen there. The sun was shining brightly and the temperature was relatively warm for Spring but boy, it was so smoggy! As you can see in the pictures, the air is much polluted. Everything which is 10 meters away is hazy.

This picture is taken from a short distance.

Becuase we are unlucky to get hard sleeper tickets instead of soft sleeper tickets, I’ll bring my own sheets so we have something to use in the train. That’s additional weight in my baggage but I would like it more to use our own sheets than what is available in the train. Don’t ask me why.

If Marcus won’t bring his laptop then I will bring mine even if it is 10 times heavier than his laptop. I won’t mind the weight. Better to carry a heavy load to go to Beijing and back than not being able to visit my blogs for days.

By tomorrow, we will be there.

It should be nice.