First Day Shanghai Vibes

We made it! After a long day and night of traveling Robert and I finally arrived in Shanghai, our new home. The trip went really well and all of our 8 suitcases made it all the way, yay! Our flight was from Copenhagen via Helsinki with Finnair, which is the fastest and best way to get from Europe to Asia, no doubt (no, I’m not bias at all).

We were lucky enough to arrive in style and travel in business class, which was absolutely brilliant on board Finnair’s brand new Airbus A350 XWB. Delicious food, comfy full-flat seats, wifi connection  and excellent cabin crew who kept the champagne flowing made the 8,5 hour flight pass by very fast. What a great way to set the mood for our new life! Wish I could fly like that every time.

Our flight arrived early Saturday morning at Shanghai Pudong airport, where we had a car waiting to drive us to the city. After a 45 minute ride we got to our temporary home for the next 2-3 months. Earlier this week we sent off a container of furniture and home goods from Copenhagen, so once it arrives a couple of months from now we will be able to move in to a “proper” apartment. In the meantime we’re staying at Fraser Residence Shanghai, a serviced apartment complex with a great location right on the east side of the Xintiandi area in downtown Puxi.

The first day in my new city went by nicely. Robert and I walked around the new neighborhood, shopped for groceries, unpacked, napped, and had pictures taken for residence permit applications (btw not a great idea when you’re in total zombie-jet-lag-mode, most unflattering pics ever).

In the evening we kept it simple and had dinner at Mayita, a Mexican restaurant in the Fraser Residence building. The restaurant has a beautiful outdoor terrace with a great view of the Pudong skyline to the east. I’ve had dinner there once before and wasn’t actually that impressed, but since we were feeling lazy and tired we decided to give it another try. And so happy we did – this time I ordered a bunch of soft shell tacos and they were delicious! My favorite was the fish taco, yum. Pair that with the gorgeous view and we were once again full of energy.

We (and about a million others) decided to end the evening with a walk on Shanghai’s most well-known landmark, The Bund. It’s definitely a must-visit place if you are in Shanghai, but try to make it on a clear night (or day), as the view of Pudong is just stunning. It’s certainly not bad in the daytime, but as any skyline, the night makes it something very special.

That about sums up our first day as residents of Shanghai. I gotta say I’m feeling pretty awesome about the whole thing. Just can’t wait for this hangoverish jet-lag feeling to pass and really start exploring. Stay tuned!