…luck was on my side the first night at the Expo.

I arrived at the Expo around 7:30 and left at 10:30. In three hours, I managed to visit five pavilions. That’s four more than I expected.

Going to the Expo at night was the right decision. There was a nice, cool breeze instead of the sun, relieving me from ever taking out the fan in my bag. My cousin and I just happened to catch lines before the pavilions we wanted to see were closed, and the lines were short, taking just five to ten minutes to get inside. We couldn’t believe our luck and kept counting on our winning streak every time we decided to visit another pavilion.

There was just one casualty: my feet, or more specifically, the toes on my right foot. I’m pretty clumsy already, but with the ups and downs on the pavement and my tight-fitting flats, I easily tripped over rocks, ran into bricks sticking out of the ground, and worst of all, got an ice-cold bottle of Coca Cola dropped on my right foot. By the time we were heading to the third pavilion, a few toes on my right foot were bleeding from the encounter with the bottle. After a few minutes of swearing under my breath and cleaning myself up (including dabbing a bit of strawberry ice cream on the part of my right foot that had bruised from the bottle – what else could I use while sitting in the middle of Europe Square in 90 degree weather?), I kept going. The Expo couldn’t wait. The mission must go on. My right foot was a sacrifice the Expo demanded.

So despite this bump in the road, the rest of the night went smoothly. Each of the five pavilions I visited (Australia, Denmark, Spain, Slovakia, Portugal, in that order) were stylish and true to the Expo’s theme of “Better City, Better Life.”

Australia was one of my target pavilions to visit. After taking a tour of its short yet intriguing 222-year-old history, we were led to a round auditorium where screens rose out of the ground. The pavilion was full of colorful light displays and the show used a playful script and merry music.

Denmark was another target, mainly because I wanted to see the statue of the Little Mermaid, removed from its resting place and brought to Shanghai because, according to a description inside, Denmark wanted to share its “favorite things” with China. Plus, the pavilion is odd-looking, a giant white spiral surrounding the statue, which sits at the center of a shallow pool of water.

Spain. Three words: giant crying baby. After a short clip displaying Spanish artifacts and heroes, we moved on to more rooms showing Spanish culture before reaching a room with a moving statue of a crying baby that towered over visitors and spouted bubbles as tears. It’s apparently a symbol for improving the environment and encouraging healthy habits, but frankly, I was deathly afraid of it.

Slovakia just happened to be open with no line. It’s a small pavilion with one large room displaying models of rooms and life from various decades in its history. It wasn’t exciting, but lights circling around the room added a futuristic touch.

Portugal is noted for building its pavilion out of the most unlikely material: cork. I learned inside that Portugal manufactures the most cork and is known for its natural resources and access to the Atlantic Ocean. It was open late so we took a look inside.

After a successful first night, I can only hope for more like these. Australia’s my favorite so far, but I’ve still got plenty more to see, and who knows how the next few nights will turn out?