My first step in Blogging

So I've been very keen to start a blog for quite some time. I finally got down to it with the help of some reference material by googling.

What held me back was what to blog about. Obviously I have lots of ideas and opinions about issues and current affairs and these could be easily put into writing as blog posts but I have concerns about how it will turn out and the reaction from readers.

Anyway I've decided that since I am taking a holiday to Shanghai end of May 2010 I might as well blog about my travel for a start.

At the end of last year my sister-in-law signed a 3 year contract to work in her company's Shanghai's office. She invited relatives and close friends to visit her. I was really excited about visiting. The reasons being, my wife and I haven't been to China. We love to travel whenever we can and it would be a good break for us. Most of all we would save on lodging expenses as sister-in-law have an apartment with spare rooms.

Once I made up my mind it a was about choosing suitable dates. We were reminded to book our air tickets early as the airline ticket prices are expected increase over time as the Shanghai Expo is to take place in May 2010. That was at the beginning of the year. By the time we decided, or should I say "I" decided (I do usually make the decisions and then consult) on the dates, the ticket price have gone up slightly. Even as I was going ahead to book the tickets there were a couple of little hurdles. We asked Mother-in-law and my wife's Auntie to join us for the trip but you know ladies aren't good at decision making. At first I was thinking of going around Easter but upon researching for the trip I found out that the weather will still be very cold. This can''t do as old lady won't be able to handle the cold. I finally settle for end of May, again working round a public holiday (Vesak Day Friday 28th May) so as not loose too many work days; this is very much a Singaporean trait. The weather forecast for end of May is a cool 18°C.

Now that the tickets are booked I am goggling daily for information on Shanghai. Besides researching places to visit I am also keen in making contacts with people in the Dog business - Pet Groomers, Dog Trainers, Kennels operators and Pet related suppliers. I've written to a dog Trainer and he has responded positively so that's going to be in the itinerary. My other interest is Ballroom Dancing. My wife and I danced Latin Ballroom for quite some time and only recently took up standard ballroom dance - Waltz and Foxtrot. I have very little success finding information about venues in Shanghai for Ballroom dancing. On the internet I came across a number of questions posted on forums by expats asking this same question. So far the only place that is associated with ballroom dancing is Paramount. Now this is a really interesting place with a rich long history. I found a number of very good videos on Youtube relating the history behind this place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WNwGYRrH2U
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Paramount+Night+Club+&search_type=&aq=f