Jan 20

Today we went to a part of Shanghai that had a river running through it and lots of small souvenir shops and food. It was delicious to try things like tofu soaked in tea leaves and big soup dumplings that looked like buns the size of your hand, with straws stuck in them so you could suck the juice out. They tasted like chicken noodle soup. Mmmm.
There was also an outdoor garden styled in classic Chinese garden style. It was really beautiful, filled with rocks and pagodas and water with coy fish and bamboo. It was really relaxing.
Oh, btw, on another note, there are lots of "massage" parlors on a street that's about a 2 minute walk from our hotel. The women sit by the windows in their fishnet stockings and low cut shirts, waiting for people to stop in. It's really crazy to see.

Anyways, at around 4pm Adiel and I were really hungry so we roamed the streets by the hotel and went to a Chinese food place that seemed kind of like fastfood, and we shared a bowl of spicy beef noodles. It was delicious. Afterwards, Jon, Fii, Christina, Adriel and I went on an epic walk to the shopping district. It was nice, but I was sooo tired. I took a nap and then a bunch of us went to the fancy restaurant on the top floor to watch the inauguration.
Since the inauguration was at about 1am China time, we had to leave the restaurant and huddle on two twin sized beds in Paul and Tingo's room to watch the event. It was amazing and really touching. Like, Obama's effect really did reach all parts of the world. Here we all were, on some beds in a hotel in Shanghai, watching the inauguration. It was so cool.