We had the grand breakfast buffet again. The offerings remained mostly the same with the exception of some dim sum, desserts, and fruit varieties, but I didn't mind as the food was delicious. The only thing I could fault the restaurant with is that beverage service was lacking. The server would come by to see if you wanted coffee or tea when you get seated, but never came back to refill. They picked up empty plates quickly but would disappear before you could ask them for anything. The chefs behind the counter were excellent. My dad forgot he had ordered a few pan-fried items, and when he went to inquire about it, they still had the plate of goodies waiting for him. Also, it seemed that they made sure each entree/offering was never looking like it had been picked through. Everything looked like you were one of the first to take from the tray.
Since we usually ate early breakfast, the restaurant would be mostly empty. We saw more tour mates this morning...maybe they also thought this was the best meal on the tour and wanted to enjoy all the offerings. Mr. Rich Man was one of them, unfortunately. His cell phone voice carried across the restaurant. Yes, I can hear that you are telling your subordinate to move hundreds of thousands of dollars of merchandise while you are supposed to be on vacation.
Our shuttle left at 9:30am, the start to another day at Expo. The weather was warmer and more humid today. Despite that, we decided that we were going to wait in line for at least one of the popular pavilions.
- England - The spiky England pavilion didn't seem to have as long a line as yesterday, so we got in. There were several incidences of line cutting...people would slip in when the line turned a corner as there was a few inches of space between the railings, enough for a skinny Chinese person to get through. Others would execute a "jump over" by hopping onto the waist-high railing, seemingly to sit there to relieve their aching feet. You see one leg flip over to the other side. Then when the line moved, both legs would find themselves on the other side of the railing and suddenly they have jumped an entire switchback! Very sneaky. Later, there was a well-dressed tall woman who kept saying "excuse me, excuse me" as she made her way further up the line. We didn't think she really was "looking for her friend", but I think we eventually saw her stop moving, so maybe she was telling the truth. There was also a shouting match between a woman and Expo security; she wanted to rejoin her family in the line after leaving it for some reason. I think they eventually let her back in. It was a hot day, so lots of people were carrying umbrellas to block the sun. That made moving in line a bit more inconvenient as umbrellas would bump each other while everyone was switching back and forth. It also made the line seem longer than it was, as umbrellas increased the personal space around people, where normally, people would be pressed against each other. We make it to the entrance of the spiky building and find out what those things are. I thought it was metal quills, like a pin cushion or a porcupine, but they're made out of some plexiglass, and encased in their tips are seeds. Seeds! I guess this was to represent growth, life, who knows. And that was all that was inside that spiky building. It was kind of a let down. I thought there'd be more exhibits. We followed a path leading outside the building and there was a demonstration on how you could grow plants in a concrete structure, maybe to showcase that big cities can make their surroundings more natural. There was a weird plant that grew "gold" around its leaves. Then there was a courtyard covered in Astroturf, with people lying around like it was grass. No other exhibits! Thank goodness we didn't wait for hours.
- Italy - We didn't wait too long as the line was moving fairly rapidly. The size of the building was huge, so I expected a lot of things to see. I wasn't disappointed! The line moved fairly quickly too. We entered the lobby of the building, which was decorated with different types of stone columns and statues. People were lingering around here, taking tons of pictures. It wasn't as exciting to us, as we have been to the real Italy, but I can imagine the people's excitement if this was the only chance they had to see bits of Italy. In contrast to the columns, high up on a wall was the Chinese word for "fortune", with the theme of the pavilion in different languages: "City of man, living the Italian life". Much of the building was dedicated to modern art, with a huge atrium showcasing Italian fashion and smaller wings showcasing other types of art. There were some cool displays, like this huge high-heeled shoe. A lot of the people were just taking pictures of the heel itself, with a bunch of shoes pasted on it. I found a better vantage point for picture-taking; once people saw what we were doing, they were pushing their way through to get the same shot. Okay already. Then there was a most peculiar exhibit...someone managed to glue an entire orchestra on the side of a wall. Quite precarious. There was another room that represented Italy's love of olives and wine; it was pretty cool. There was also a short 3-D cartoon, but I couldn't make out what it was trying to convey. All I got out of it was that were fairies flying around, not sure how that ties into Italy, but maybe it was considered modern art. The 3-D glasses were made out of cardboard and they were thrown away afterwards. Hopefully there is recycling involved.
It was getting close to lunch time. There were two Italian restaurants on-site, one sort of expensive (pasta), and the other really expensive (meats/seafood). I don't know if you can eat at these restaurants without waiting in line outside as they were inside the pavilion. I was actually tempted to try the really expensive restaurant (where a meal would be ~300 yuan per person) but there was a wait. We decided to try something different, since we have access to Italian food in the US. After exiting the Italy pavilion, we found a German sit-down restaurant and had some German food and beer. There was a film crew moving about the tables outside, probably for public relations, promoting how awesome their Expo pavilion was and people enjoying the beer. The food was so-so. Beer was good.
- Netherlands - I think this pavilion is what happens when a group of people cannot decide what to put in it, so they put everything in it. People were made to walk up a wide spiral walkway that angled upward. At the top, you have a nice view of Expo, then you made your way back down another spiral walkway. The walls along the walkway contained some displays. There were tulips of course. But they were mostly of random things (at least to me), including a tiara worn by one of the princesses. What added to the hodge-podge was a courtyard underneath the spiral walkways, made to look like it was a city park, with a sea of people resting/napping on the Astroturf. Some people took off their shoes and laid there with bare feet, which to me, looked unsanitary.
- Luxembourg - A beautiful gold statue flanked the entrance and there were flowers everywhere.
- Expo main walkway - There was a covered walkway that split the Expo grounds in half. It was pretty expansive! You had a great view from above. The spaceship-shaped building was the Expo's main pavilion but we could not go in as it was closed that day. We also had a good view of the China Pavilion. Something like the "changing of the guard" was happening; a bunch of Expo security guards were marching away, maybe they were off shift.
We ended up getting dinner at the same Chinese restaurant as last night, another bowl of noodles. Not very exciting. Afterwards, we went to see more pavilions.
- Sri Lanka - We tried to go here last night but it had just closed. This time we made it. There was a long line to get in, but it turned out everyone was just getting their Expo passports stamped. I don't even think some of them even entered the building! The interior was very eye-catching, even the ceiling! There were miniature models of Sri Lankan cities that were World Heritage Sites. The country is known for gems; there was a man demonstrating how stones are cut by hand. There was also another demo on woodcarving. An example of an elaborately decorated wooden temple or shrine (I forgot the name) took up a lot of the exhibition space. You had to take off your shoes to enter, and the statue of the deity would be in the back of the structure. There was a counter where you could order snacks like samosas and Ceylon tea.
- India - It was located right next to the Saudi Arabia pavilion, but we skipped it since we decided to wait in line for Saudi. I thought it was a pretty building.
- Saudi Arabia - This line was the longest we stood in, almost 4 hours, and our last pavilion of the night. At least it wasn't 7 hours! I don't think I could survive that, given I barely survived 4 hours. Granted it was at the end of the night, after we had already waited in line and were on our feet for half a day, so maybe I could last 7 hours if I started at the beginning of the day. But is anything worth waiting that long? The building was in the shape of a spaceship and was so brightly lit, it felt like daylight when we got closer to it. It changed colors and the bright LED strip around the saucer would show different images. There were three "pre-lines" to control the crowd, and then the main line. People would line up in the pre-lines, and one by one in order, the Expo officers would release the rope at the head of the pre-line and those people would join the main line. This process was scary, yet hilarious. You and I know that it doesn't matter where you are in line, eventually you'll get to where you're going. Kind of like how we laugh at cars who are darting in and out of traffic to get ahead half a car length, and really not going anywhere? So when the officers dropped the rope on a pre-line, people would make a mad dash into the main line, as if their lives depended on it. This made for a potential trampling scene, but also very funny to watch. It became a spectacle for the people in the main line. I wanted to capture this on video while I was in the main line, but every time our switchback got close enough to view the pre-lines, the officers didn't drop the rope. :( I found a video on YouTube showing the sheer number of people, but unfortunately I don't think he captured the running. When our pre-line was about to be released, I braced myself for the onslaught. I didn't have the best shoes for it either, as they were slides, so I could have gotten trampled if someone stepped on the heel and caused me to topple forward. I was careful to walk by sliding my feet very quickly once we were released, as to not expose the bottom part of my shoe. Definitely don't wear any flip-floppy-type shoes here, even if they're comfortable. Tennis shoes, Tevas, any shoes that'll stay on your feet are best. We snaked around the main line for several hours. At one point, the line made a turn, and instead of a railing on both sides, one side had concrete edging. Suddenly there became an "extra line" as people were balancing on top of the concrete, cutting their way up to the front of the switchback. Uh, folks, there's obviously a line here. At this point, since people had invested several hours waiting, some actually spoke up and complained, "Hey! That is not part of the line!" What's incredible was that the line-breakers yelled back at them, saying "Hey, I'm just in line as much as you are!" as they passed them by. They didn't believe they were doing anything wrong. Those people eventually merged back in with the true line at the next switchback turn. :( As we got closer to the entrance, people started moving slower and not as enthusiastic as the pre-line rush, the passing hours taking a toll on their bodies. Eventually we made it inside the pavilion as my body threatened to give up, and I got a second wind. The walkway spiraled up into the saucer section, decorated by a famous female artist using the Arabic language in parts of the design. The entire building was elegant from floor to ceiling, most impressive. At the top of the spiral, we stepped onto a slow moving walkway. I had hoped we would sit down at some point. :( We moved by screens showing short clips of Saudi Arabia and its people. I was thinking, we're just going to look at movies? Then the walkway entered the saucer's vast interior and it was awesome after that. I felt like I was really in a transparent flying saucer and we were moving. Kind of like how I'd think Wonder Woman would see the world in her invisible jet. :) I found a YouTube video that showed this IMAX-like projection. So cool. So this was why people waited so many hours for. I definitely could wait in line to see this, but maximum would be 2 hours. After waiting in line for 4 hours, any wait in Disneyland would be a piece of cake, no complaints. (especially if I had a folding chair)
It was the end of the night, so we headed back to the hotel. Again, we had a taxi driver who didn't know where the hotel was, but this time we were prepared with a business card from the hotel with directions, and we also took note of the main road's name during our shuttle ride. Unfortunately, the font on the business card was too small for anyone to read in the dark, but at least he knew the general vicinity once we told him of the road to take. The taxi cab approached the hotel, but he missed the left turn into it, so we informed him. He immediately stopped the vehicle in the middle of the road, threw it in reverse(!) and backed up until he saw an opening in the concrete divider to make the left turn, which was the pedestrian crosswalk! Fortunately, there were no cars on the road at this late hour but I have never ridden in a car that backed up the wrong way and drove through a opening in the center divide normally used for crosswalks.
My shower that night was sooooo refreshing, and the plush bed was heaven. Then I realized that the top of my right big toe was completely numb. I tapped and pushed on it, no feeling. Too much walking, standing, and bad footwear contributed to this condition as I think the top edge of my sandal was rubbing against the toe all day. I asked my brother about it a week later and he said I had a pinched nerve. At the time of this writing, only half of the nerves on my big toe have come back. I hope it makes a full recovery. The skin over the numb part looks a bit darker than the rest of the toe...uh oh.
It's the end of our Expo tour! Tomorrow, we're flying back to Hong Kong.
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