Good Friday is Good

We had no idea it was Easter. There is absolutely no sign of it happening here. Although there is a little bunny rabbit hopping around the hostel this morning... So Happy Easter everyone, and Happy Birthday Jazz!!

On Friday we went to check out the Xi'an city walls. They are massive and do a 14km loop of the city to keep out, we assume, the shitty Mongolians. Upon entering the South gate we were confronted by dragons doing their dragony dance. One came right up to Jazz and battered his massive eye lashes in front of his face. Jazz was taller then the two Chinese lads in the costume standing on top of one another. Well cute. We then hired a bike to ride around the wall. Notice I said 'a' bike. Yep we went tandem. After 15 minutes of giggling incesently we finally got the hang of it and ended up cycling the entirety of the wall. You get some pretty grand views from up there. After the bikes we decided to try our hand at kite flying. It's a big thing over here and currently there is a kite festival going on on the wall. So we ran around like fools for half an hour trying to get the kite off the ground. Finally when I had it up and going it up and went! The string wasn't attached to the handle so it just flew away. I was having so much fun I nearly cried like a child. So off we went to get another one. The guy selling them yelled at me in Chinese and then tried to give my money back - he was a little startled when we asked for another but took our money happily. We finally got the hang of it - after some help from the locals -  and flew it for quite a while - until I crashed it into one of the buildings (relics) and it got caught there. Yes we defiled a relic. And then ran.

In the afternoon we went for a spa. As in 100 minutes of massage and pampering Chinese style. Which means it cost $14AUD and hurt as much as it was awesome. To continue the theme we went and got a hair wash. Jazz has been filling my head with the wonders that is a Chinese hair wash but till yet we hadn't found anywhere that did them and I was starting to get dubious - It wasn't as much a hair wash as a head neck and shoulders massage. 40 minutes worth of heady bliss. After that it was on to the train for the overnight trip to Shanghai. Which was an hour late. Panic was a foot. But we ended up in Shanghai in one piece.

Shanghai is like the sanitised, westernised, Disney version of China. It's bloody beautiful, yet still confusing. We spent all day and night walking around the bund being amazed by the views and odd things. The Bund Tourist Tunnel lived up to its reputation of unsurpassed mediocrity. For dinner we went to a restaurant over looking the bund and the river. The setting was glorious and the food (4 courses) was pretty amazing. I still can't get my head around how cheap things are here.

Today we're off to do a tad more sightseeing and then on the Train to Macao for the Royale Suite at the Venetian. 5 star luxuary, can't wait!!!!