Shanghai, China: A Travelogue And a Reckoning

In this episode, I’m unpacking an 8-day family trip to Shanghai, and the unease that follows me there as a Filipino, with the West Philippine Sea dispute always humming in the background between the Philippines and China. I talk about the city’s calm, clean sprawl; the quiet magic of The Bund with Oriental Pearl TV Tower across the river; and the strange ease of living through QR codes—Alipay, WeChat, DiDi—powered by an eSIM from Klook and navigation on Amap (plus Bing when I needed search). And yes: I tell the story of the Peking duck on Nanjing Road at Shanghai Guniang, then end on the harder question of what a city’s warmth can (and can’t) mean when governments still collide.