Summer Festival 夏祭り

Today we attended the summer festival organised by Shun`s Japanese playgroup.

All kids were supposed to come in their summer cotton wear called jinbei. Some mums came in their yukatas too. I went in my casual wear because I feel immobile in yukata. Can`t run and can`t eat much..

It was so hot outside today but we had fun playing with the handmade games the teachers prepared for the kids.

Shun was perspiring badly after a while so I had to drag him under the shade with his cotton candy.

It was his first cotton candy. He looked at the pink furry ball suspiciously initally but gobbled all within minutes before I could stop him.

Lunch was indoors so we could all escape from the heat. Shun was well behaved throughout the 2 hour event and we even had a playdate arranged with the mum who sat next to us.

Glad that everything went well today except for the 40min traffic jam that we were caught in.

今日はリトミック教室の夏祭りイベントに行ってきた。

去年に着てた甚平がまた登場。

行きは渋滞して、タクシーで40分もかかった。

会場でたくさんの友達と会って、先生たちが作った手作りゲームを楽しめた。

今日はいつもと違いたくさんのお土産つき。

魚釣りゲームでの戦利品もあり。

俊はライオンの風船と綿あめをもっらてとっても嬉しそう。

暑い一日でしたが、雨降らなくてよかった。

また来週のリトミック教室を楽しみに。

About the Sky 空のこと

The sky in Shanghai always looks hazy or gray even on sunny days due to the pollution.　With the upcoming Expo next year, construction is happening everywhere making air quality worse.

Blue skies with cotton clouds like this is rare. Very rare. Even Shun noticed the clouds and kept pointing at them.

I think we need to get an air filter soon to enjoy some better air at home at least. 　

上海に移転して1ヶ月たつが、青い空が見える日は数えるぐらい少ない。晴れた日でも空は白い。

2010年に上海万博を迎えるため、施設やら地下鉄やらあちらこちら工事中で、空気が汚れているのかな。

先週、俊と外で遊んだ時、久しぶりに綺麗な空を見て感動した。俊も“くもくも”と喜んだ。

松本では当たり前なのにここではすごく珍しくなっている。

綺麗な空気を吸いたいな

Pudong 浦東

Pudong represents the financial district of Shanghai and is home to many upscale apartments and businesses. You will be interested to take a look here if you enjoy looking at modern development and very tall concrete buildings.

These are the two tallest buildings in Shanghai. Pay RMB 150 and you can get right up to the top observatory deck on the 100th floor of the World Financial Center. We didn`t go up because we were very hungry after the aquarium visit. Maybe next time.



World Financial Center & Jin Mao Building

上海環球金融中心 (101階）, 金茂大廈　(88階）　　

Pudong also has the Oriental Pearl Tower (on the very left) which has become the symbol of Shanghai. Found a good spot to capture Shun with the forest of city skyscrapers. Shun was totally not interested in the tall modern buildings. Obviously he enjoys himself more in a real forest in Matsumoto.

浦東は上海の金融中心。世界の大手事務所と高級マンションはここにある。

駅を降りたら、まずは浦東を象徴する“東方明珠電視塔”の前で記念写真。

水族館の帰りレストランに向っている途中、浦東の高層ビルをついでに見学。

世界一高い展望台のある上海環球金融中心は日本の森ビルが建てた。下から見上げるとかなりの迫力。

ＲＭＢ１５０で１００階にある展望台まで行けるけど（階も値段も高い）、おなかが空いたので地下のレストランへ。

今度展望台まで上がったらまたブログで報告します。

俊は高層”森”ビルより松本の自然の”森”の方が好きだろう。

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium 上海海洋水族館

After a month in Shanghai, we decided to venture to Pudong aquarium on Saturday. We took Metro line 2 which is about 8 stops away from our nearest station. Subway fee was cheap at RMB¥4

Aquarium entrance costed at a steep RMB¥120. Despite this, the place was crowded and I took 15 mins of queueing to get our tickets. Wrong decision to come on a weekend.

This aquarium is Shanghai's newest and Asia's largest, opened in 2002. The variety of exhibits was impressive and there was even an underwater viewing tunnel at 155m which allows us to get up close and personal with ocean life.

Shun enjoyed his first aquarium trip though its crowded and there were some exhibits we just passed by instead of squeezing in. There were seals and penguins in large exhibits but what Shun enjoyed most was the giant stingray. He gets all excited and laughs when he sees one.

I get excited when I see a stingray too but all in my mind was grilled stingray covered with sambal sauce..yummy...

先週土曜日、「上海海洋水族館」に行ってきた。

絵本でしか見たことがない海の生き物を俊に見せたかった。

地下鉄で20分。家から駅までは歩いていける。大人片道4元（60円）。

水族館は2000年に開館、アジアで一番規模が大きいらしい。

週末ですから、家族連れやカップルで賑わっている。

15分間並んで、高い入場料120元（1800円）を払ってやっと入れた。

こちらの水族館の最大の目玉は155mの海底トンネル。

まるで海底を散歩しながら泳ぐサメや魚類を眺めることができる。

俊はたくさんの魚に囲まれてすごく喜んだ。この子はなぜか特にエイが好き。

エイを見つけるたびに大笑いしてる。。

私もエイ好き。特製辛いspiceをのせてエイを焼くシンガポール料理がある。とてもおいしいですから、ぜひ一度試してください。と言っても日本ではエイを売っているのを見たことがないけど・・・。

新生活 New Life, New Start

Well, I'm glad to say that we arrived safely in Shanghai without any major complications despite the H1N1 scare. We went through routine temperature check when our plane landed and thank god none was detected with fever.

We stayed in a hotel for 2 days and moved in on the 3rd day to our apartment. Apparently, our landlord didn`t bother whether her apartment was in a livable condition even after paying premium rent. The whole house was covered in dust and we even found `abandoned` slippers under the master bed probably left by the previous tenant.

My agent can even tell me (after seeing all the crap under the bed) that the house has been prepared prior our arrival. *rolling eyes*

Anyway I was smart enough to forsee such troubles after reading blogs about Shanghai for months while in Japan. I even had a local helper`s tel number with me recommended by a reliable source. She, Takashi and I cleaned and disinfected the whole house for straight 3 hours while Shun was napping.

Finally, our apartment looks and feels like a home.

The reason why I chose this compound is because of the playground and running space they have for kids. Its the only compound in this district that provides such facilities for children. If Shun is happy, we will
be too.



日本で新型インフルエンザが広がっている最中無事に上海に着いた。着陸後検査があったけど、誰も熱が出ていないため、40分後飛行機から降りた．ほっとした。煮干しとかいろいろ食料品を持っていたけどとりあえず通関ok.

上海市内のホテル二泊して、三日目にマンションに移動。

部屋は驚くほど汚い。　引っ越しする前に掃除してくれたかと聞いたら、‘したよ‘の返事にまた驚き。家賃は安くもないし、がっかり。

完璧に掃除された部屋を期待していなっかたけど、せめて人が住めるような状態は常識じゃないかな。。。少し後に隣に引っ越してきたドイツ人と台湾人の夫婦に聞いたら、向こうも同じ状況だったらしい。

家は広いし、旦那と二人では掃除は終われないと思ったら、アイさんを頼んだ。

アイさんは中国の、お手伝いさん。

日本に居た時、毎日上海口コミを読んだから、アイさんの電話番号も一応手帳に書いてた。

アイさんと3人でまるまる3時間かけて、やっときれいな部屋に戻れた。　

俊がずっと昼寝だったから助かったよ。

このマンションを選んだ理由は大きな庭と子供の遊び場があるから。

毎日敷地内を散歩できるし楽です。俊も結構気に入ってよかった。