It is very cold in Shanghai, nearly 0 degrees with much brisk chilly wind. Right now it is raining, so we are staying in and I can make use of the RMB50/day internet access. I didn't think it would be that cold, had to ask husband to courier my coat over. The duffle coat did not quite work with the rest of my clothes so this morning I acquired a knee-length slimline coat in baby blue cashmere.

This trip started with work in the first few days. Mostly stuck inside the Sheraton Tai Ping Yang Grand which has every amenity a business user needs but is unfortunately located in a drab commercial area.  The most unlikely meeting place for us was the hairdressing saloon opposite the hotel. Conveniently, it stays open until 12.00. A typical 'wash and blow' in Shanghai is actually an hour-long pampering session augmented with plenty of head and shoulder massage (and some places will even dry your ears with cotton buds- ticklish but nice), nothing like the robotic service we get back home. I will definitely miss this service when we leave the city.

The work finished by Sunday, and I checked into the Somerset Grand Shangai. Later in the afternoon Mummy and Aunt L flew in from KL. I meant to take them around the city, and so far we have done the Bund (or half the Bund, the aunt and mother were too frozen to continue) and Xintiandi, and a coupla relaxing massages at Greenmassage...but really, we haven't done much else apart from shopping for pretty clothes along Maoming Lu and Dongjiadu Lu. Tomorrow we will head to Wuchen, a water village which is apparently less commercialised than other attractions, at least then we can tell people back home that we did some sightseeing.