In Need of a Holiday

The summer heat has truly descended in Shanghai. The sweltering summer heat is felt everywhere and kids don't want to venture out. Yesterday afternoon we took them downstairs (in our apartment compound) to play with street chalks and ride their bicycle. Kids already complained of the heat and we were back up in our air conditioned apartment to cool off after less than 30 minutes of being out. And it was 'only' 37 degree celsius! We still have to survive the heat in August which can climb up to 40 degrees celsius. Fortunately, we have a small wind blowing in but the heat still can drain all your energy.

What I am dreaming of right now is being able to go to a nice beach! (Sigh!) I dug up some old photos which I'd scanned of days spent at a resort ages ago. Memorable experience I would love to take my family to some day... (another big sigh!)... to Miniloc Island.

Sheshan

Sheshan
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

Right before the Chinese New Year, we took the kids out to The Le Meridien in Sheshan, about 30 minutes from downtown Shanghai. It was to get away (even for a couple days) and also do a trial run on how it would be to travel with the kids.

The hotel is surrounded by a lot of greenery and even has a man-made lake and a beach! It just felt like a totally different world in spite of it only less than an hour away from our home.

The kids experienced playing in the sand for the first time ever. If only it weren't nippy and we were wearing coats, then it would have felt like we were in a beach resort.

The kids' swimming pool was also great! We were there each day we were at the hotel. The look on the kids' face when they were splashing about and enjoying themselves was just a great feeling, so you can say we enjoyed the pool time as much as they did.

And on top of all these amenities, the hotel also had a playground complete with swings and slides on the other side of the man-made lake which one had to cross via the stepping stones.

The other interesting thing is the kids enjoyed playing in front of the full-sized mirror in our room. They were simply fascinated at seeing their reflections and would sit in front of it, keep walking back and forth, dance, and more. It was just so funny seeing them making faces to see how their reflections looked!

Certainly a place we would go back again.

I've posted some more photos on my Flickr. Check them out now.