May 2017

“Old Bazaar” (Qibao)

By Grayson O'Brien on Wednesday, May 31, 2017

IT WAS A VERY hot and humid day in China, and I was walking around in a ancient “Old Bazaar” that had been flowing for hundreds of years. An hour or two earlier I had been in a subway wondering about the coming hours… It was a long ride but I endured. This was another day to remind ourselves of the past and the beauty of the past. The whole area was crowded, from the alleys to the entrance people were bustling to buy or take pictures.

I saw some pretty weird things there. There were different meats and toys we have never dreamed up. There were all sorts things for sale to eat like pig snouts, fried frogs, dried sea horses, and boiled pig tails.

The lifestyle between today and hundreds of years ago is so different. And think about the how much has changed in the past 50-100 years; cell phones, portable computers, cable T.V., space missions, etc. Think about how far we’ve came on baby steps.

Justice TRAVEL

My room

By Justice O'Brien on Wednesday, May 31, 2017

This room is not only for me I have to share with Archer. Do you see we have a bidet? I love it.

Justice TRAVEL

SIMPLY THAI

By Justice O'Brien on Wednesday, May 31, 2017

This is my parents favorite restaurant, and that is pork, the thing to the left is really hot, hot like jalapeños and Archer diped his whole pork into the hot sauce

Lincoln TRAVEL

In the Shanghai Tower!

By Lincoln O'Brien on Wednesday, May 31, 2017

We went to the Shanghai Tower it was so cool. First was the elevator, it was the fastest elevator in the world. It went 18 kilometers. So cool, I was really exited when we got to the top it was so cool. My mom is afraid of heights it was kind of funny. Also my ears popped four times on the elevator. It was kind of sad because it takes longer to get to our apartment on the 22 floors than it took to get to the 118th floor of the Shanghai Tower. The view was amazing although the camera I was using died really quickly.

Justice TRAVEL

At the Buddhist temple…..

By Justice O'Brien on Wednesday, May 31, 2017

I have no idea what this is but we found money and bracelets. And had no bell, to the right was a store, same with the left. In the back behind the “bell” there was a temple with a god in a glass case. In front there was a leaning pads so that people can pray to the gods, some small ones where pure gold. In front of the pads there was a box you put coins in but the praying people COBE briant the coin into the box.

Archer TRAVEL

Coconut water and the Shanghai Tower

By Archer O'Brien on Sunday, May 28, 2017

We went to Simply Thai for lunch and we got fresh coconut water. It tasted weird, my brothers and I did not like it. My dad liked it. After lunch we walked to Shanghai Tower. It’s the second tallest building in the world. We went up to the 118th floor in super fast elevator. It goes 18 km per hour. I took a lot of pictures from the top.

This is the view from the Shanghai Tower.

Thank you for reading this.🙂😊

Grayson TRAVEL

First Rain in Shanghai and the Jade Bhuddha Temple

By Grayson O'Brien on Friday, May 26, 2017

Our first rain in Shanghai made our day really quiet, even though we went to two malls. The rain made it so we could not go outside and play soccer, or walk around and actually burn calories. What made it even worse was that it rained all day. Overall the day was pretty cool. We used the subway to get there and I saw so many funny ads*, and fake iPhone ads. I loved walking through the malls. All the stores were awesome, because of the variety of the different stores on the different levels. It is just like L.A. mixed with San Diego downtown. the hotel bases were malls most of them were white and black themed (with some exeptions) there was so much of the same style though.

It was still stunning. And the TV tower was right outside the exit. Which makes me want to go in there and look out more than ever.

The next day I visited the JADE BHUDDHA TEMPLE. (Cue echo and deep epic voice)

It was awesome, and yet again I am stunned by the the beauty of the different sculptures and the architecture. People still do all the different prayers and ceremonies, and to think it all began thousands of years ago is amazing. What really is cool is the way they pictured their dieties. Also each culture had a different view of ther dieties. Wheather it was monothiestic or polytheistic, it was amazing the different images of the great people. All people who were Asian were there to pray it was normal to them, but I bet that place is always full of suprises and they see some thing new every time. I kinda felt bad for them because the sanctuary is so expanded and the walk between each hall is large. But to them it would be worth it. I love the amount of effort that is put into these I’ll bet whomever built thetemple became pretty popular among the Buddhists. Overall I had two great days and I cannot wait until I visit the Shanghai tower or the T.V. Tower

to conclude this post i will say one thing the long trip is worth it and

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Archer TRAVEL

Buddha & Caterpiller

By Archer O'Brien on Friday, May 26, 2017

I saw this Reclining Buddha yesterday. I prayed to it. I saw people lighting incense, then they put it above their head and bowed to practice their religion. I liked it.

This is a baby worm Grayson found on his mint leaf. We were at a Thai restaurant. After I held it for a while, I brought it outside and put it on a leaf. The Thai food was so good. 😊

Lincoln TRAVEL

Jade Buddha Temple

By Lincoln O'Brien on Thursday, May 25, 2017

We went to a really cool place. It was where the people oh Shanghai went to pray. Some of the gods were made of pure gold, also they had jewels in them, it was so pretty.

SHANGHAI

Rainy Shanghai

By Julie O'Brien on Tuesday, May 23, 2017

It started raining mid-day. It’s a hot muggy rain like the east coast. None of the boys were sad to bust out their umbrellas…

Now that we have conquered the subway- all of Shanghai is available to us! Which means FINALLY we were able to find a store that sold chess boards!! Perfect timing with the rainy day. The Superbrand Mall in Pudong has a massive Toys R Us. We snagged a monopoly game, UNO, Quirkle and a rubick’s cube while we were at it.

Shopping malls here are insane. They all seem to be at least 7 stories and labrynths of shops you could be lost in for weeks. Here is a shot Mike took of the inside of the ‘iapm’ (a huge mall) in the French Concession.

Today, the metro stop was below the ‘ifc’ (another monstrous luxury mall in Pudong) so we had to go through some of that massive mall in order to get over to another massive mall that housed Toys R Us. I think shopping is a sport in Shanghai. I’d be a winner if I did not have 5 boys slowing me down… 😉

Zaijian!

Monthly Archives: May 2017