What day is it?

Monday morning... don't ask the date, I'm lucky I realized it was Monday!

After barely sleeping, I woke up and showered and killed some time, waiting to go to breakfast. Breakfast was delightfully delicious (it was Western) and I enjoyed seeing my classmates. We had a lecture to attend at 8:30 about "Doing Business in China." The lecture was very interesting. After that, we loaded onto a bus to head out and do some sight-seeing before our afternoon corporate visit.

(By the way, pictures are coming, the internet connection is too slow at the hotel!)

First, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple. When we got off the bus we were hassled by street vendors (Pen! Rolex! Purse!) which was very reminiscant of Mumbai (except they were hocking Rolexes instead of large latex balloons). The Temple was gorgeous, as only the pictures will prove. Unfortunately it was rainy and dreary, so the pictures are rather dreary.

Our next stop was the Yuyuan Gardens. The Gardens were once a private residence, but now all the Gardens are Government owned, as all the land is Government owned. The Gardens were gorgeous, I wouldn't mind having a house whose rooms were layed out in a intricate, maze-like garden. The landscapes were gorgeous, and once again... pictures will tell a better story.

We then went through the Yuyuan Market, where I will probably return on Friday to do some souvenir shopping, and arrived at a traditional Chinese restaurant where we would be served our lunch. Everything is served "family style" with all the dishes being placed on the Lazy-Susan in the middle of the table. Luckily I can use chopsticks, because there was no alternative! I was semi-adventurous and tried most of the meat and vegetables (after my trusty taste-tester, John tried it of course). I refused to eat anything that had bones (that you were supposed to eat) or shells (that you were supposed to eat). I also avoided anything with the head still on. Eating one small bite at a time as things are passed, makes you full surprisingly quickly though! So I was "stuffed" after my tiny plate of food was consumed.

We piled back on to the bus after lunch and headed to Scientific Atlantic (recently acquired by Cisco in 2006) for a corporate visit. It was interesting, but I was pretty tired at this point and feeling the jet lag. After the visit, we headed back to the hotel where I managed to stay awake until about 6:30, when I fell soundly asleep (oops!). (I have yet to have dinner in Shanghai)