Episode #191 - Shanghai

Welcome to the Mastering Midlife Podcast, where we talk about all the crazy fun things that happen when you are a midlife mama. I'm your host, Heather London. Let's dig in.

Hola guapas! Okay, I am deep into my travels and it's been really hard to record after every country that I've been in because it is non-stop. packed action so I am go go going all the time so I apologize for that I'm gonna do the best that I can and today even though it was a little while ago I'm gonna talk about my next stop on my journey which was

Shanghai. So I was in Tokyo, and then I headed to Shanghai. And let me tell you, first of all, if you plan on going to Shanghai or China in any way, shape, or form, you have to have your shit together. I thought I knew what was going on because I watched all the videos, YouTube videos, and people warned you because we got the iron curtain going on and you can only use their app.

you really just need one app and it's called wechat and you can talk to people you can pay for stuff you can um order cars with it you can oh my gosh you just okay you just do everything with this app and it is super super simple but i thought i had downloaded everything because if you don't download it before you get into the country you're sol because you can't download anything from outside the country um so i used

there was the wechat and then apple maps actually worked and then there's um little red book that's kind of like the chinese version of tick tock so it tells you things that are going on within little blurbs so here's how I knew this was happening. Here's how I knew I was in trouble. I was at the airport. I was leaving Japan, headed to China. I got my everything in order because I know they're going to like look for something that, that.

is one, a reason why they're not going to let me in. So I was feeling pretty confident. And then when I got to the airport, I'm like, maybe I should test out this Alipay. You could do Alipay or WeChat. The thing about WeChat is everything's in one. Everything you could ever need is in that.

and i did and i downloaded both so i was at the airport trying to test out the alley bay and it just wasn't working and my flight is almost boarding and i went to the cafe to try to test it and they're like sorry it's not working and then I had to call in the A-team again. I had to call my boys and luckily it was a time when they were awake. I'm like, guys, I'm about to get on the flight. I'm trying to find my gate and stuff is happening and there's announcements and there's people everywhere.

I have no way of paying for anything. And so they're trying to troubleshoot. And they're like, Mom, I think it is working. But because you downloaded it in Japan, it won't work in Japan. It's going to work. China and so we tried to troubleshoot all the stuff and the good news is I got there and it worked so they were right it was just one of those things where it really

it tracks where you're downloading from it's crazy i don't know the details but the good news is is i was able to pay for stuff now i did not know what to expect from shanghai the reason i stopped there is it's on the way and my friend nate said And he lives in Australia and he's like, anytime I head to Australia, I do like a layover in Shanghai and I go out and spend a couple hours in the city and it's like the most futuristic city. It's amazing. And he, Shanghai did not disappoint.

I didn't know what to expect and I wasn't really expecting much. But where I was staying in my hotel, I could walk everywhere. And there was the Bund right along the river. And on the other side were these... massive gorgeous buildings all lit up and the one i'm trying to think of what it was called the pearl tower is like a bazillion stories high and you could just walk along the river

I felt super duper safe. It was pleasant there all the time. Never any concern. It's way more aggressive than being in Japan. In Japan, the people are... you're on the subway nobody's talking very polite and respectful and lots of bowing and just a really nice kind gentle culture and then when you get to china you're like it's go time because there's so many people if you like the cars will stop at red lights but the

motorcycles don't stop for anything and when the light turns red it means go faster like you have to have your head on a swivel because those motorcycles they drive up the wrong way and they drive on the sidewalk and they go through the red lights it doesn't even matter you got to have your a game because those scooters it feels like they're intentionally trying to take you out so that was a lot of fun and the first night i got there i just walked around all by myself

and they have like you garden which is just these beautiful ancient buildings it's like an outdoor mall but with traditional chinese architecture and it just felt so cool I just was in awe of the ambiance and I went to go and have something to eat and you sit down and they're just like, it sounds like they're yelling at you because the language is a lot stronger.

more harsh than Japanese and they're like go here do this do that and I'm like okay just tell me what to do and I'll do it I'm trying to order some some dumpling soup and they're grabbing my card and giving me a number and telling me, go do this, go do that. And then I just sat down with a couple of people and it's like, it was the best wonton dumpling soup I've ever had. Oh my gosh, it was so good.

It's very chaotic, so you just got to go with the flow. The metro, spotless. The bundle along the river, spotless. Everything was so clean. Everything was automated. Everything. was automated you're walking in the down the hallway and there's like a little robot delivering food to people and the breakfast in the morning was a buffet like you've never seen before just like

Anything you could ever want. It was just amazing. So that's all I did the first day was walk around. And then the next day, it just so happens that a friend of mine lives six months of the year in Shanghai. One of the girls on my... tennis league team. And so I hit her up. She's like, when you are in, when you make it here, just let me know and we'll meet up. So she came to my hotel and she's like, let's go for dinner.

So I'm all in because I love to eat and the food in Shanghai again next level like not only does it taste amazing but it is so visually pleasing. You're like trying to wrap your brain around what's even going on because it looks so fabulous. And so my friend,

I said, oh, I'm going to take you to my favorite restaurant. Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go on the metro. I'm like, hey, no problem. I got my... wechat i can go anywhere on the metro and she's like come on it's really easy to use it it's like five levels and again spotless and there's hundreds of thousands of people pouring through these gates

and we're trying to find our way in, and I try to go through the first gate, and boom, it doesn't let me in, and she just keeps walking, and I'm like, Sherry, and she doesn't even turn around, because there you're just like on a mission, and she's just going, and then I'm like,

okay i know sooner or later she's gonna look back and see that i'm not there and she's like oh my gosh what happened and so she came out and bought a pass for me and meanwhile the lady in the security because you go through security and everything She's like, oh, you just have it set for Japan. You need it set for...

China. It was the same thing that happened before on the Alipay, the WeChat. And so we got that sorted out. But in the meantime, Sherry had come around and bought me a pass. And we're like, let's go. And we're finding our way through. And then she takes me to this restaurant, which was, okay.

forget about the food the restaurant itself was gorgeous it had white neon lights like classic clean lines with mirrors on the roof so it looked like the lights went forever and she's just like come and sit down and like she is working it this is you can see the difference in the culture she's just like you come and you just do these things and you talk to people and it's like these conversations are happening and i don't even know what's going on

And she's like, I'm going to order for us because I eat here all the time. And she just starts ordering food. And she's talking to this person and talking to that person. And next thing I know, food starts coming. And it doesn't stop. And it's so beautiful. Each dish. is a work of art unto itself. And we started with a flower tea and then there was a fish dish and a salad that looked like a gorgeous work of art.

And then we had some pigeon. I'm like, I'm eating it. I'm going to give it a try. And it was deep fried pigeon, which was one of the best things I've ever tasted. It was so, so good.

We had soup. There's this soup that the waitress made right in front of us. And then the dessert was like a whole... again a piece of art unto itself a box full of a couple of different things that made this wonderful piece of art and we sat there and ate and ate and ate it was so delicious and I'm like Sherry let me buy you dinner because you

came and met me and you're showing me around this is so fabulous and she goes heather don't even worry about it i paid for it on the app the wechat the menus there you order it and you pay for it all at the same time there's no like hey can I have the bill and then when we're ready we just get up and we leave and then she's like I wanted to get you a little something and I should have it with me for the YouTube video but

She just bought at the restaurant. You can have these little like souvenirs and she bought one for me to remember our night together. But the food was just and she was she just knows her stuff. It was.

The whole experience was crazy. And then after we were fed, we were like, we got to go walk around. And she's like, I'm going to show you the best place to see. When you see the downtown, everybody goes on the bunt. But she's like, I got an even better place. And so we walked to this place.

course she was right it was just like the best view ever and i'm like i want to go to the top of the pearl tower because my friend was just here and said you got to go to the top like you have to see it from the top and so we're trying to find the top and it closes at nine and we're we're like walking or like speed walking and going from here to here and getting into a grab like an uber and then

the uber trapped us in the wrong spot and sherry's like let's go here come on and we're trying to make it before it closes at nine and we're running and we're going to the wrong spot. And I'm like, let me buy the tickets because I want to thank you. And then my thing wouldn't work again. And we were in the wrong spot to buy the tickets. But when she was talking to somebody, she would just be like,

like just like this conversation of like they're not even looking at her and she just starts chatting with them and they answer and chatting with this partner and then they answer like you're just having these full-on conversations with everyone like that's just how it is and she was getting shit done it was so impressive i'm just like i'm with her and um finally we made it to the top before it closed and it was what was worth it it was a spectacular view

and we had the best time and it turns out we're both afraid of heights because on one of the levels you have like the glass floor and this is i think it was like 150 stores in there maybe it was 250 i don't know it was insanely high and then you got to like step out on this little glass ledge and it was so funny because neither of us could do it we were fine until we looked down and so we had so much fun with that and then at the end of the night

And she's like, I'm going to go home from here. And I'm like, that's okay. I got my hop-on hop-off ticket and got the last bus. And it just started taking me in and out and dropped me somewhere. And I walked home. And I'm telling you, Shanghai was... was beyond my expectations I didn't know what to expect and I loved every second of it and it helped it totally helped to have my friend there because she really made that night and we had we and we laughed and laughed and had the best

time ever so I'm gonna highly recommend Shanghai for anybody if you want to have a taste of you know what China's about it's like so futuristic clean safe and I might do there's cameras everywhere like

People know where you are at all times and that's why it's so safe. But I really, really enjoyed my time in Shanghai. I really did. So I would highly recommend that you go and check it out for yourself. I'm trying to think if I got into any... shenanigans but nothing really went wrong or crazy and then it's like boom on to the next one so as I travel down to

you know like an end destination i'm just in these cities for a couple of days because i want it's like a little sample or a little taste test because i don't know if i'm gonna ever come back to southeast asia so i really want to try to get as much in as possible because every country every culture is so different the difference between japan and china night and day like just so amazing like they each each culture

has its fabulousness and the one thing that i noticed as i travel is all these cultures they have such community and they spend time eating together and drinking together and really connecting the families are like stuck The families spend time together with all the generations. And sometimes it can be because you can't afford not to, like you can't afford to get away from your family. But I mean, I really think that the world needs more community.

It feels like every culture except for North America has this community culture. And ours is very individualistic. So my mission is to... I try to build more community in my life with my family and my community. It starts with me and then my immediate family and then my extended family and my community. And that's how it goes. But I'm trying my best. I'm trying my best.

To build community. And it's interesting because there's so much resistance sometimes because everybody is stuck in individualism. And I'm not even going to talk about what level I'm talking about because it's not my immediate family or my... it's like when you start to get into community that's when you see like the set it makes me sad to see that everybody's just out for themselves and life would be better and we would be way more powerful if

we work together and we thought of ourselves as one. And that's what you notice. That's what you notice when you're traveling is that your like finds like. So I don't know Japanese. I don't know. Mandarin, Cantonese, I don't know any other language besides English and some Spanish. But when you are traveling, you connect with people that are similar to you. first of all if you are not asian it's like ah i i can relate to that person

Oh, you're speaking English. I can relate to you. It doesn't matter where you're from. You're speaking English. Ah, okay. That makes things even easier, right? And you can see that as you go. For example, on this last... Thing that I did I'll tell you in in the next episode because it was in the next country. There was a girl who Was from Germany and she was younger. I'm gonna say late mid 20s, maybe late 20s

And she said, oh, my English isn't very good. But she was a solo traveler along with me. And so I instantly started chatting her up. Because that's just what you do when you're a solo traveler. And I noticed that later in the day, she had heard... somebody else speaking German and so she's like I'm gonna go sit with these people over here and it happened to be like a daughter a father-daughter but they spoke German and it was just so much easier for her because

her english was good like we could understand each other but it was a lot of work for her and i'm like girl i get it like go be with your people so that you can feel seen and heard and understand and not have to like think like you use your brain to think about how to ask for anything or how to make a sentence. Like it's a lot of work. It really is. And so that's where you can be like, like attracts like when you're traveling and it starts with like the visual and then, Oh,

you're speaking english okay perfect we're gonna get along just fine so that's how you know we kind of stick together and that's how we find our own kind and it starts on a small like a close level and then it it goes out every level after that but I just wanted to share my travels for China before I forgot, before they escaped my brain because they were so fabulous. And highly recommend Shanghai. Having a great old time.

it's a it's a lot of effort because i'm only in a city for a short period of time and then i'm traveling again but that's what i signed up for because i just want to

I'm just a curious person and I want to see what everybody's up to and what your culture, you know, what this culture is all about. And just kind of like, you know, be a little visitor and learn and grow and be... a global citizen if i can all right okay so i am already in my next destination like i said i haven't had an opportunity to record in a while because it's been a whirlwind

So I'm already in my next destination, just about to leave. So I think I'll record that right now while all of the shenanigans are still fresh in my brain. So thank you for listening. Always, always, always. Love yourself first and have an amazing day.