Shanghai Expo Day 1

Bought 3 tickets to the Expo. Since I am already in Shanghai, thought that I might as well go with all the rest of the world and check out all the frenzy surrounding the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

Since I arrived here in Shanghai last February, there is no denying that the Expo IS a big deal for them. It definitely is. Everywhere you go, you see countdowns, HaiBao - the Expo mascot, buses esp. for the Expo, Expo taxis, and even, a new Metro line specifically for the Expo season. Yes friends, it's that big!! And tickets were sold out fast! Good thing I was able to ask Prim to buy me 3 tickets at student price. Yesterday, I decided to use the first one.

Left the dorm super early. Left at 7:45. We headed to WuJiaoChang Siping Lu since there was a bus there that took passengers directly to the Expo site, Gate 4. Our classmates who's already been to the expo advised that this was probably better since their experience in taking the trains was kind of hell-ish! Apparently, beating the morning rush hour here in Shanghai is much, much, much worst than the Philippine scenario. So we tried this route.

True enough there were 4 buses in Siping Lu waiting for passengers going to the Expo site. There was a line but it wasn't that bad. Perhaps because it was a Monday. The bus ride took 40 minutes and we were there already! We decided though to stand up in the bus instead of wait to be seated. Sorry, impatient and excited!

The line at Gate 4 wasn't that bad either. It was LONG, but compared to our friends who lined up for hours, we were able to get in in just 15 to 20 minutes. After which we were already inside the Expo, Expo site! We decided to go in the pavillions where there was not much lines first as

1. we were still lazy to line up
2. we were waiting for Em who came at around 11 o'clock. (yes, we kind of talked her into skipping her kouyu class).

Later in the day when Em arrived, we continued going around the pavillions where there was not much people. Korea and Japan as well as India and the rich Middle Eastern countries had lines that were SUPER long. Like, 4 hour long. So we decided to skip this and just go some other time. So that in the end, we transferred from Zone A to Zone B and were able to enter 22 pavillions. Well, because Em was late, she was just able to go to 17!

Pavillions we've entered were:

Asia Joint Pavillion I
1. Bangladesh
2. Kyrgyztan
3. Maldives
4. Mongolia
5. Tajikistan
6. Timor-Leste

Asia Joint Pavillion II
7. Afghanistan
8. Bahrain
9. Jordan
10. Palestine
11. Syria
12. Yemen

Asia Joint Pavillion III
13. Laos
14. Myanmar

Zone A
15. Democratic People's Republic of Korea
16. Oman
17. Sri Lanka
18. Vietnam
19. Qatar
20. Iran
21. Morocco
22. Nepal
23. Uzbekistan

Zone B
24. Australia
25. Indonesia
26. Brunei-Darussalam
27. Cambodia
28. Malaysia
29. New Zealand
30. Philippines
31. Singapore
32. Thailand

32 countries, 22 pavillions. We actually made it a goal to finish the whole of Zone B and we almost did! Except for the UN pavillions and stuff. I personally feel that the Philippine pavillion could have been better inside though. Among these, my personal favorites are that of Oman, Thailand, Maldives, Morocco, Vietnam, and Qatar. The Middle Eastern countries looked the same except of course those which were really rich Middle Eastern countries. Australia could have been nice, had they controlled the amount of people coming in and also had it been better organized!

Next time I go, I really hope the weather is nice. And that there's not much line again! So that I won't feel lazy to line up. I am excited for Italy!! I've been hearing so much about it, I just can't wait!!