If I ever wanna buy large scale construction toys, I now know where to go.

I had to see this octogonal shaped pagoda that was supposed to be a great example of Qing (don't trust me on that one until I double check my guide book) dynasty architecture at the Longhua temple.


There was a particularly peaceful and beautiful Buddha statue.



Plus, a bunch of temple guardians. I remembered seeing something similar in my parents' collection, so it was nice to see something familiar.





Here's what his sign says:









Two of my favorite things from the Chinese temples are:

a) Cloud carvings with floating buddhas.



b) Many armed buddha statues.





Oh, yeah. One more favorite thing. Non sequitur signage.

Here is the mascot for the 2010 Expo in Shanghai. I like to call him gumby with a tumor.

This woman is making what we colloquially call burritos. She has a cart that she sets out about halfway between Mikey and Alyssa's apartment and their subway stop, about five blocks away.

She starts by spreading crepe batter on a flat, hot, metal griddle. Than her husband reaches over her to crack two eggs on and let them start setting.

Next follows the application of hot sauce, green peppers and cilantro.

Finally a piece of fry bread is spread on top along with some hoisin sauce, then she cracks the whole thing in half and sets it in a bag for you.












I keep kicking myself, because she was usually very intent on her labors, but she looked up at me and flashed the most gorgeous smile. I was too busy smiling back and drooling over the thought of the yummy burrito straight off the grill to snap a pic.

Mikey had been telling me about the urban planning museum, which he had not visited yet, but which contained a scale model of the entire shanghai area.

The model took up an entire floor of the building, and was roughly 60 feet wide by 40 feet long. It was incredible. In the very background of this photo, you can see a railing which is about waist high when I am standing at it. I hope that gives you a sense of scale for it.

Basically, the model was bigger than my house. How's that?



One of the things I was very happy to see were some historic photographs illustrating different periods in Shanghai's history. Including the era when my mother was living in Shanghai.

That's the name of this type of bird. They were very cute.

Another day, another temple. That is the essence of traveling in Japan for me, and I was glad to keep up the tradition in China.

Mikey and I split up from the ladies and they went to Yuyuan park while he and I went to the Jing'an temple. At all the temples I saw in China, there were these pagoda shaped metal statues. Everyone would try to throw coins into it from ground level.

Mikey tried from the second story balcony that I took this shot from. He missed, and the coin winged some unsuspecting woman in the chest who was about to make her own wild throw.



Another shot of someone trying to 'swish' a coin in.










We also stepped over the Jade Buddha temple for a bit, too.

On the way home, Mikey and I stopped in to a video shop and a convenience store to get water. Right outside was this young gentleman, just another street food cart in the night.

But he was obviously selling kabobs and was from the Islamic south of china. I ordered a skewer and waited while he fanned his coals to heat up and cook the heavily spiced meat.

He was slightly dour looking, but at one point he caught me smiling at him and he flashed a brilliant smile.

We pushed and shoved our way up to the front so that we could get a shot or two of the city while it was all lit up for the national holiday.

The bright lights pointing everywhere, combined with the constant smog, makes everything light up like the blade runner movie.




I can practically hear the blaring announcements to begin a new life again out in the colonies. Or perhaps a geisha woman singing for beer.



We finally made it to The Bund, the historic banking center of Shanghai. Tall European buildings stared impassively down at us.

In some ways I never felt as at home in China as this moment, when we were walking through a massive crowd of folks all shuffling through the People's Square. It was non-stop being pushed from behind as people made their relentless way, and it reminded me of being in Japan at Obon holiday time.





Traffic was crushed to a complete stand still, and we just surged around the stuck taxis and buses.




The dog train kept rolling by, and I was finally able to snap a picture.