SU ANN'S TRIP TO SHANGHAI (7 TO 12 FEB 2009)
7 FEBRUARY 2009 (SATURDAY)
0550 hrs: The Maxi-cab was here to take us to the airport. Ten minutes early, but no midnight surcharge. Awesome!
0555 hrs: Yet again, we had to forget something! This time, Daddy forgot his handphone. The driver was very understanding. He turned back at no extra charge.
0615 hrs: We were at Terminal 3 of the airport to check in for Singapore Airlines Flight 828. For once, we were not flying budget! Mommy had spotted the S$598 all-in promotional SQ tickets in the newspapers and snagged them before they were gone. They were the cheapest tickets to Shanghai one could get.
There were 7 of us on this trip - Grandpa Eddy, Grandma Nancy, Laoyi, Daddy, Mommy, Ning Che Che and me. Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy were already at the airport waiting for us.
0650 hrs: We got to the Departure Gate just before it closed.
0725 hrs: We were up in the air, 10 mins ahead of schedule. Just before take-off, a senior air steward, Mr Harry Lim, came forward and advised Mommy to sing to me as much as possible during take-off. He said that a baby would be greatly comforted by the sound of his mother's voice and would not cry as much during take-off. He fashioned a toy bunny out of a wet towel and rubber band, and gave it to me.
Mr Lim's advice worked! I didn't cry at all. Mommy's out-of-tune singing stunned me to silence.
0800 hrs: After take-off, an air-stewardess came forward and fitted on a bassinet for me. I drank my milk, played a little with Laoyi, Mommy and Ning Che Che, then fell asleep in the bassinet. What a comfortable bed!
Daddy fell asleep too... not in the bassinet, but with a blanket draped over his head.
0930 hrs: Breakfast was served. There was a choice of cheese omelette or beef noodles. Grandma Nancy and Laoyi didn't take cheese or beef. Mr Lim kindly arranged for them to have food from Business Class instead. Grandma Nancy was all smiles as she ate her dim sum, and Laoyi said her vegetarian noodles were delicious. Well done Singapore Airlines!
1230 hrs: We had landed safely at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. Cabin pressure hurt my ears during the landing, but Mr Harry Lim was quick to hand Mommy a carton of strawberry yogurt to prompt me to swallow. That, coupled with Mommy's attempt at singing, were distractions enough.
7 FEBRUARY 2009 (SATURDAY)
0550 hrs: The Maxi-cab was here to take us to the airport. Ten minutes early, but no midnight surcharge. Awesome!
0555 hrs: Yet again, we had to forget something! This time, Daddy forgot his handphone. The driver was very understanding. He turned back at no extra charge.
0615 hrs: We were at Terminal 3 of the airport to check in for Singapore Airlines Flight 828. For once, we were not flying budget! Mommy had spotted the S$598 all-in promotional SQ tickets in the newspapers and snagged them before they were gone. They were the cheapest tickets to Shanghai one could get.
There were 7 of us on this trip - Grandpa Eddy, Grandma Nancy, Laoyi, Daddy, Mommy, Ning Che Che and me. Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy were already at the airport waiting for us.
0650 hrs: We got to the Departure Gate just before it closed.
0725 hrs: We were up in the air, 10 mins ahead of schedule. Just before take-off, a senior air steward, Mr Harry Lim, came forward and advised Mommy to sing to me as much as possible during take-off. He said that a baby would be greatly comforted by the sound of his mother's voice and would not cry as much during take-off. He fashioned a toy bunny out of a wet towel and rubber band, and gave it to me.
Mr Lim's advice worked! I didn't cry at all. Mommy's out-of-tune singing stunned me to silence.
0800 hrs: After take-off, an air-stewardess came forward and fitted on a bassinet for me. I drank my milk, played a little with Laoyi, Mommy and Ning Che Che, then fell asleep in the bassinet. What a comfortable bed!
Daddy fell asleep too... not in the bassinet, but with a blanket draped over his head.
0930 hrs: Breakfast was served. There was a choice of cheese omelette or beef noodles. Grandma Nancy and Laoyi didn't take cheese or beef. Mr Lim kindly arranged for them to have food from Business Class instead. Grandma Nancy was all smiles as she ate her dim sum, and Laoyi said her vegetarian noodles were delicious. Well done Singapore Airlines!
1230 hrs: We had landed safely at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. Cabin pressure hurt my ears during the landing, but Mr Harry Lim was quick to hand Mommy a carton of strawberry yogurt to prompt me to swallow. That, coupled with Mommy's attempt at singing, were distractions enough.
Pudong International Airport's eco-friendly design puts Singapore's Changi Airport to shame. The design of Pudong International Airport cleverly let in natural light and used only a small fraction of the light fixtures which Changi Airport did. We have much more sunshine than Shanghai, but the designers of Changi Airport have chosen not to let sunlight in.
We cleared customs very quickly, and our suitcases were out on the carousel in no time. Two thumbs up to Pudong International Airport for being eco-friendly and efficient.
1245 hrs: We were on our way to the Maglev train station at the airport. "Maglev" is short for magnetic levitation, a system of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles by magnetic forces. The Maglev train in Shanghai (http://www.smtdc.com/) is the first commercial, high speed Maglev line in the world, and can reach a top speed of 431 km/hr.
1310 hrs: It took the Maglev train only 7 mins and 20 seconds to complete the 30km journey from Pudong International Airport to Longyang Lu Metro Station. When we flashed our same-day boarding passes, the cost of each Maglev ticket was RMB40 (S$8). Free for me! The ride was quick and comfortable.
1320 hrs: We were at Longyang Lu Metro Station to transfer to the metro to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station. The touch-screen ticketing machines had Chinese and English instructions, and were easy to use. More advanced than the ones in Singapore, which are not even bilingual. The 8-stop journey to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station cost RMB4 each (S$0.80); cheaper than the cost of transport in Singapore.
1330 hrs: We were on the metro to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station. There were "priority seats" for the disabled, elderly, young, infirmed, etc. in each compartment, and there would always be an announcement to remind passengers to give up their seats to those who need them more. Exactly the way things should be! I was strapped onto Ning Che Che, and passengers immediately stood up to let her have their seats.
We took the metro many times during our 6-day vacation in Shanghai. No matter how crowded the metro was (you can imagine how crowded it can get in a city with a population of more than 20 million), there would always be passengers giving their seats to Ning Che Che and me.
The metro system in Shanghai is indeed commendable. Modern, cheap, swift and clean. The only drawback was the lack of ramps, elevators and escalators going down, which made it inconvenient for passengers with heavy suitcases and bulky belongings, and impossible to use for wheelchair-bound people.
1400 hrs: We were at Nanjing Xi Lu Station. Two hawkers were having a shouting match in the station. Just for laughs, Daddy started yelling Mommy in the station. No one turned to look; no one batted an eyelid. We learnt in the days to come that arguing was a favourite pass-time of the Shanghainese.
We walked from Nanjing Xi Lu Station to our hotel at Shanxi Bei Lu. Nanjing Xi Lu is the upmarket shopping area of Shanghai, and it was a lovely, quiet neighbourhood with pretty boutiques and large, modern malls. The cool, winter weather (about 12 degrees celcius) made walking very enjoyable.
1410 hrs: We had booked to stay 3 nights at Central View Suites (http://www.cvsh.com.cn/) through http://www.ctrip.com/. A deluxe room cost RMB550 all-in per night (S$110) and it came along with VIP check-in at the Executive Reception on the 9th floor, buffet breakfast, "Happy Hour" buffet from 1800 to 2000 hrs daily, and in-room broadband internet access. The hotel was only a short walk from Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station, so was very well appointed. Mommy couldn't find better value than this in Shanghai!
1445 hrs: It took a while for the hotel to sort out our bookings. Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy were allocated Room 2506, Laoyi, Ning Che Che and I shared Room 2622, and Daddy and Mommy shared Room 2627.
Our rooms had views of the city and were spacious. There was a separate sitting area and kitchenette in each room. The shower cubicles were equipped with full-body showers i.e. rainwater, 4 nozzles for various parts of the body, and a separate showerhead.
Our only complaint was the firmness of the bed. The mattresses were like wooden planks wrapped with a thin layer of cotton. Mommy is accustomed to sleeping on very firm beds because of her slip-disc problem, but even she had trouble sleeping on this super hard bed.
1600 hrs: Everyone was hungry and raring to find a restaurant for our lunch cum dinner. We didn't quite know where to start looking for a restaurant, so we walked down Shanxi Nan Lu towards the French Concession, where we thought we would be able to find some restaurants.
We passed a snack shop with a very long line outside, but we needed something more filling than just a snack, so we continued walking. Shanghai is famed for its xiaolongbao (steamed meat dumplings filled with broth) and shengjian (pan-fried meat dumplings with its base browned to a crisp), both of which are snacks and not filling enough for lunch or dinner (by Singaporean standards at least...).
1700 hrs: We stopped at the first decent restaurant we saw and went inside. We were too hungry to walk any further. The restaurant turned out to be a branch of a popular chain called Bi Feng Tang (http://www.bifengtang.com.cn/), which simply means Storm Shelter in Mandarin.
We ordered flower crab congee, duck congee, steamed chicken, roast duck, grilled squid, wanton soup, and fried vegetables. The food was, at best, mediocre.
To be fair, even before the food was served, Mommy had already lost her appetite. Suffice to say the English translation for "Chee Cheong Fun" in the menu was "Bowel Powder". The Mainlanders should really stop using Google Translator for their signs and menus!
The bill came up to more than RMB200 (S$40). Everyone was just as hungry after eating, so Grandma Nancy suggested that we returned to the hotel for the free "Happy Hour" buffet from 1800 to 2000 hrs.
The temperature dropped to around 6 degrees celcius on our way back to the hotel, so we walked as fast as we could.
1845 hrs: We were back at the hotel for the free buffet. A selection of hors d'oeuvres, sandwiches, satay, chicken wings, dessert and fruit were laid out neatly on the buffet table. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer, wine and hard liquor were provided for free as well. We were happy campers.
Daddy and Mommy didn't join us though. They had to go to Shanghai South Railway Station to try to buy train tickets for our day-trip to Hangzhou.
2000 hrs: We were the last to leave the buffet. Everyone was exhausted from rising so early in the morning to catch the flight to Shanghai. We decided to retire early and meet again at 0800 hrs the next day.
Only Daddy and Mommy stayed up late. The ticket office at Shanghai South Railway Station was closed for the day by the time they got there, so they ended up walking around in search of food. They returned with 8 pieces of shengjian (pan-fried meat dumplings), a sandwich from Subway and a Fillet O Fish meal from MacDonald's. The shengjian was cheap. RMB4 (S$0.80) for 4 pieces. Super greasy, but not bad. The Fillet o Fish meal raised doubts about the authenticity of MacDonald's in China. Fillet o Fish was spelt wrongly on the packaging, the burger only had half a slice of cheese, and the fries tasted odd. Either the quality control by MacDonald's was really poor or they've fallen victim to fakers.
You never know what's real and what's not in China. We even saw some men peddling fake banknotes in the streets.
8 FEBRUARY 2009 (SUNDAY)
1245 hrs: We were on our way to the Maglev train station at the airport. "Maglev" is short for magnetic levitation, a system of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles by magnetic forces. The Maglev train in Shanghai (http://www.smtdc.com/) is the first commercial, high speed Maglev line in the world, and can reach a top speed of 431 km/hr.
1310 hrs: It took the Maglev train only 7 mins and 20 seconds to complete the 30km journey from Pudong International Airport to Longyang Lu Metro Station. When we flashed our same-day boarding passes, the cost of each Maglev ticket was RMB40 (S$8). Free for me! The ride was quick and comfortable.
1320 hrs: We were at Longyang Lu Metro Station to transfer to the metro to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station. The touch-screen ticketing machines had Chinese and English instructions, and were easy to use. More advanced than the ones in Singapore, which are not even bilingual. The 8-stop journey to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station cost RMB4 each (S$0.80); cheaper than the cost of transport in Singapore.
1330 hrs: We were on the metro to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station. There were "priority seats" for the disabled, elderly, young, infirmed, etc. in each compartment, and there would always be an announcement to remind passengers to give up their seats to those who need them more. Exactly the way things should be! I was strapped onto Ning Che Che, and passengers immediately stood up to let her have their seats.
We took the metro many times during our 6-day vacation in Shanghai. No matter how crowded the metro was (you can imagine how crowded it can get in a city with a population of more than 20 million), there would always be passengers giving their seats to Ning Che Che and me.
The metro system in Shanghai is indeed commendable. Modern, cheap, swift and clean. The only drawback was the lack of ramps, elevators and escalators going down, which made it inconvenient for passengers with heavy suitcases and bulky belongings, and impossible to use for wheelchair-bound people.
1400 hrs: We were at Nanjing Xi Lu Station. Two hawkers were having a shouting match in the station. Just for laughs, Daddy started yelling Mommy in the station. No one turned to look; no one batted an eyelid. We learnt in the days to come that arguing was a favourite pass-time of the Shanghainese.
We walked from Nanjing Xi Lu Station to our hotel at Shanxi Bei Lu. Nanjing Xi Lu is the upmarket shopping area of Shanghai, and it was a lovely, quiet neighbourhood with pretty boutiques and large, modern malls. The cool, winter weather (about 12 degrees celcius) made walking very enjoyable.
1410 hrs: We had booked to stay 3 nights at Central View Suites (http://www.cvsh.com.cn/) through http://www.ctrip.com/. A deluxe room cost RMB550 all-in per night (S$110) and it came along with VIP check-in at the Executive Reception on the 9th floor, buffet breakfast, "Happy Hour" buffet from 1800 to 2000 hrs daily, and in-room broadband internet access. The hotel was only a short walk from Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station, so was very well appointed. Mommy couldn't find better value than this in Shanghai!
1445 hrs: It took a while for the hotel to sort out our bookings. Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy were allocated Room 2506, Laoyi, Ning Che Che and I shared Room 2622, and Daddy and Mommy shared Room 2627.
Our rooms had views of the city and were spacious. There was a separate sitting area and kitchenette in each room. The shower cubicles were equipped with full-body showers i.e. rainwater, 4 nozzles for various parts of the body, and a separate showerhead.
Our only complaint was the firmness of the bed. The mattresses were like wooden planks wrapped with a thin layer of cotton. Mommy is accustomed to sleeping on very firm beds because of her slip-disc problem, but even she had trouble sleeping on this super hard bed.
1600 hrs: Everyone was hungry and raring to find a restaurant for our lunch cum dinner. We didn't quite know where to start looking for a restaurant, so we walked down Shanxi Nan Lu towards the French Concession, where we thought we would be able to find some restaurants.
We passed a snack shop with a very long line outside, but we needed something more filling than just a snack, so we continued walking. Shanghai is famed for its xiaolongbao (steamed meat dumplings filled with broth) and shengjian (pan-fried meat dumplings with its base browned to a crisp), both of which are snacks and not filling enough for lunch or dinner (by Singaporean standards at least...).
1700 hrs: We stopped at the first decent restaurant we saw and went inside. We were too hungry to walk any further. The restaurant turned out to be a branch of a popular chain called Bi Feng Tang (http://www.bifengtang.com.cn/), which simply means Storm Shelter in Mandarin.
We ordered flower crab congee, duck congee, steamed chicken, roast duck, grilled squid, wanton soup, and fried vegetables. The food was, at best, mediocre.
To be fair, even before the food was served, Mommy had already lost her appetite. Suffice to say the English translation for "Chee Cheong Fun" in the menu was "Bowel Powder". The Mainlanders should really stop using Google Translator for their signs and menus!
The bill came up to more than RMB200 (S$40). Everyone was just as hungry after eating, so Grandma Nancy suggested that we returned to the hotel for the free "Happy Hour" buffet from 1800 to 2000 hrs.
The temperature dropped to around 6 degrees celcius on our way back to the hotel, so we walked as fast as we could.
1845 hrs: We were back at the hotel for the free buffet. A selection of hors d'oeuvres, sandwiches, satay, chicken wings, dessert and fruit were laid out neatly on the buffet table. Coffee, tea, soft drinks, beer, wine and hard liquor were provided for free as well. We were happy campers.
Daddy and Mommy didn't join us though. They had to go to Shanghai South Railway Station to try to buy train tickets for our day-trip to Hangzhou.
2000 hrs: We were the last to leave the buffet. Everyone was exhausted from rising so early in the morning to catch the flight to Shanghai. We decided to retire early and meet again at 0800 hrs the next day.
Only Daddy and Mommy stayed up late. The ticket office at Shanghai South Railway Station was closed for the day by the time they got there, so they ended up walking around in search of food. They returned with 8 pieces of shengjian (pan-fried meat dumplings), a sandwich from Subway and a Fillet O Fish meal from MacDonald's. The shengjian was cheap. RMB4 (S$0.80) for 4 pieces. Super greasy, but not bad. The Fillet o Fish meal raised doubts about the authenticity of MacDonald's in China. Fillet o Fish was spelt wrongly on the packaging, the burger only had half a slice of cheese, and the fries tasted odd. Either the quality control by MacDonald's was really poor or they've fallen victim to fakers.
You never know what's real and what's not in China. We even saw some men peddling fake banknotes in the streets.
8 FEBRUARY 2009 (SUNDAY)
0800 hrs: We met for breakfast at the hotel's cafe. The usual Western and Asian fare were available buffet style. The selection was adequate.
0930 hrs: After breakfast, we signed up for a local, conducted tour to Hangzhou for the following day. The concierge recommended a tour package which cost RMB268 per person (about S$55), inclusive of return transport, transport within Hangzhou, Mandarin-speaking tour guide, boat tour on West Lake, and the RMB35 admission to the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave.
Mommy's original plan was for us to take the train to Hangzhou and spend the day there ourselves, but all things considered, it was just less hassle to join the tour.
0945 hrs: We began our self-guided walking tour of Shanghai by walking down Shanxi Nan Lu towards Huaihai Zhong Lu (once known as Avenue Joffre), the heart of the French Concession.
The French Concession was founded in 1862 as a result of the Treaty of Nanking. The buildings in this area had a distinct European style, but what was more striking was the way clothes were being hung out to dry in this area. Undergarments, shirts, sweaters, linen, blankets, etc. were hung from trees, street lamps, poles, etc. to dry. We'd be walking past some trendy store, and right above us would be someone's underwear drip-drying.
In between blocks of buildings were narrow alleyways called "Long". Some of the "Longs" were gated and guarded. They appeared to be entrances to people's homes.
Huaihai Zhong Lu itself was a major shopping belt, with large shopping centres, restaurants and cafes. We looked hard at the food options available but didn't see anything appealing.
1145 hrs: Lunchtime was drawing near, so Mommy suggested walking to Xintiandi (http://www.xintiandi.com/) to have buffet dim sum at Ye Shanghai, rated as one of Shanghai's finest restaurants.
We walked along Huaihai Zhong Lu till we reached the Xintiandi area. Xintiandi is bounded by Huangpi Nan Lu, Ma Dang Nan Lu, Tai Cang Lu and Zi Zhong Lu. It is an area famed for its restored Shikumen (stone-framed door) buildings which now house cafes and pubs which are popular with well-heeled yuppies.
1230 hrs: We got ourselves a table at Ye Shanghai. The buffet dim sum cost RMB98 all-in (almost S$20) per person. The a-la-carte buffet menu was somewhat limited, but there were a few dishes which we enjoyed, like the spicy chicken in peanut sauce and the xiaolongbao, which had really thin skin and a tasty broth within. Overall, not much to rave about, as any dim sum restaurant in Singapore would have beaten it hands down.
1430 hrs: The service was so slow that Daddy fell asleep at one point. The rest of us took our time to savour the food.
Across the road from Xintiandi was a Bentley car showroom. Shanghai exuded affluence. We spotted quite a few flashy cars on the road during our stay, and the Porsche Cayenne appeared to be the SUV of choice.
1500 hrs: We walked along Hubin Lu towards Fangbang Zhong Lu, the heart of Old Shanghai. Enroute, we stumbled upon two markets - Dongtai Lu Antique Market and the Flower, Bird, Fish & Insect Market.
As its name suggests, the Dongtai Lu Antique Market was a street lined with stalls selling all sorts of old collectibles, or rather what appeared to be old collectibles. Most of what the vendors were peddling were probably imitation antiques i.e. things recently made to look old. It's just too coincidental for every stall to have several antique Omega watches for sale.
The Flower, Bird, Fish & Insect Market was just a short distance away from the Dongtai Lu Antique Market. It was hard work pushing my pram through that market. The maze of passageways was extremely narrow and the market was packed on a Sunday afternoon. We gave up after a few minutes.
Daddy used the ancient public toilet in the market, and he was traumatised by the experience. He described the latrine as just a wall where all men peed against. The pee flowed into a single hole at the end of the wall. There was no flush system whatsoever and the stink was overwhelming. When Daddy was at the latrine, a man came in, unbuckled his pants and squatted over a hole in plain view of everyone and defacated.
Mommy wasn't surprised by Daddy's description of the public toilet. She first visited China in the 1980s and public toilets were all like that. Some places didn't even have public toilets. You'd be lucky to find a shrub.
1530 hrs: We walked along Fangbang Zhong Lu and gawked at the old-style shops, ducks (yes, ducks) and clothes being hung out to dry, and street food being prepared.
There was plenty of activity in the street, especially around the makeshift stalls selling pornographic DVDs. Trash was casually being tossed on the floor, and there seemed to be more spit on the road than anywhere else in Shanghai we'd seen.
Fangbang Zhong Lu was a "breath of fresh air" from modernised Shanghai. This was a slice of old China in the bustling metropolis, the closest to what one would call a Chinatown in Shanghai.
Further down the road was the entrance to Yuyuan Bazaar, a pedestrianised marketplace. Heaven for the souvenir-hunter. This is the place to come if you're looking for a Mao t-shirt, poster, etc. The marketplace was very crowded. Thousands were just milling about.
Just for the experience, Daddy paid RMB1 to pop into a public toilet here. Yuyuan Bazaar has been sanitised. The public toilets not only had doors, they had LED panels on each toilet door to tell you how long the occupant has been in there. Wow.
1600 hrs: It was the second last day of Chinese New Year, and Yuyuan Garden was hosting a big lantern exhibition. Public response for the lantern exhibition was so overwhelming that crowd control marshalls were stationed at the entrance to stop more people from entering the Garden after 1600 hrs. We arrived at Yuyuan Garden at exactly 1600 hrs, and saw people being turned away.
We continued our walk in the direction of The Bund. We walked along Zhongshan Dong Lu, but found the footpath to The Bund blocked off by construction works. We didn't want to brave walking amongst motor vehicles. Even when the traffic light was in the pedestrian's favour, we found crossing roads in Shanghai very tricky. Motorists generally did not slow down for pedestrians, and they'd drive on with the green man on.
We followed Zhongshan Dong Lu to Renmin Lu, then turned in the direction of Nanjing Dong Lu.
1730 hrs: We finally made it to Nanjing Dong Lu, Shanghai's main shopping belt, and possibly the world's busiest shopping street. Much of the street has been pedestrianised and a sightseeing train will take you from one end to the other for RMB2 per person. When it gets dark, neon billboards light up the street, bringing with it festive cheer.
We walked along Nanjing Dong Lu aimlessly until we were flagged down by a restaurant tout. The menu she shoved into our hands claimed they had Shanghai food from RMB3 per dish and it seemed quite crowded in the restaurant, so we went inside.
Alas, another culinary failure... Daddy ordered quite a few dishes (all of which cost much more than RMB3), but none of it tasted any good. The bill came up to about RMB250 (about S$50), but the food was so bad we left much of it untouched.
1900 hrs: There was still time for us to make it to the free "Happy Hour" buffet at the hotel. We made a mad dash for the metro and sprinted back to the hotel, with half an hour to spare for wiping out the buffet. Honestly, the food at the free buffet was better than any other food we'd tasted in Shanghai thus far.
2015 hrs: Our feet were sore from walking all day. The tour bus was picking us up at 0635 hrs the next morning to take us to Hangzhou, so we decided to have an early night.
9 FEBRUARY 2009 (MONDAY)
0630 hrs: We had booked our tour through the hotel's concierge, and they kindly arranged for us to take away our breakfast.
0635 hrs: A mini-van pulled up at the hotel to drive us to Renmin Guangchang (People's Square), where the rest of the tour group was waiting.
0700 hrs: We met our tour guide, a frizzy-haired lady from Hangzhou. She ushered us up a 50-seater tour bus. Altogether, there were more than 30 people on this tour, and we were the only foreigners.
0930 hrs: After breakfast, we signed up for a local, conducted tour to Hangzhou for the following day. The concierge recommended a tour package which cost RMB268 per person (about S$55), inclusive of return transport, transport within Hangzhou, Mandarin-speaking tour guide, boat tour on West Lake, and the RMB35 admission to the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave.
Mommy's original plan was for us to take the train to Hangzhou and spend the day there ourselves, but all things considered, it was just less hassle to join the tour.
0945 hrs: We began our self-guided walking tour of Shanghai by walking down Shanxi Nan Lu towards Huaihai Zhong Lu (once known as Avenue Joffre), the heart of the French Concession.
The French Concession was founded in 1862 as a result of the Treaty of Nanking. The buildings in this area had a distinct European style, but what was more striking was the way clothes were being hung out to dry in this area. Undergarments, shirts, sweaters, linen, blankets, etc. were hung from trees, street lamps, poles, etc. to dry. We'd be walking past some trendy store, and right above us would be someone's underwear drip-drying.
In between blocks of buildings were narrow alleyways called "Long". Some of the "Longs" were gated and guarded. They appeared to be entrances to people's homes.
Huaihai Zhong Lu itself was a major shopping belt, with large shopping centres, restaurants and cafes. We looked hard at the food options available but didn't see anything appealing.
1145 hrs: Lunchtime was drawing near, so Mommy suggested walking to Xintiandi (http://www.xintiandi.com/) to have buffet dim sum at Ye Shanghai, rated as one of Shanghai's finest restaurants.
We walked along Huaihai Zhong Lu till we reached the Xintiandi area. Xintiandi is bounded by Huangpi Nan Lu, Ma Dang Nan Lu, Tai Cang Lu and Zi Zhong Lu. It is an area famed for its restored Shikumen (stone-framed door) buildings which now house cafes and pubs which are popular with well-heeled yuppies.
1230 hrs: We got ourselves a table at Ye Shanghai. The buffet dim sum cost RMB98 all-in (almost S$20) per person. The a-la-carte buffet menu was somewhat limited, but there were a few dishes which we enjoyed, like the spicy chicken in peanut sauce and the xiaolongbao, which had really thin skin and a tasty broth within. Overall, not much to rave about, as any dim sum restaurant in Singapore would have beaten it hands down.
1430 hrs: The service was so slow that Daddy fell asleep at one point. The rest of us took our time to savour the food.
Across the road from Xintiandi was a Bentley car showroom. Shanghai exuded affluence. We spotted quite a few flashy cars on the road during our stay, and the Porsche Cayenne appeared to be the SUV of choice.
1500 hrs: We walked along Hubin Lu towards Fangbang Zhong Lu, the heart of Old Shanghai. Enroute, we stumbled upon two markets - Dongtai Lu Antique Market and the Flower, Bird, Fish & Insect Market.
As its name suggests, the Dongtai Lu Antique Market was a street lined with stalls selling all sorts of old collectibles, or rather what appeared to be old collectibles. Most of what the vendors were peddling were probably imitation antiques i.e. things recently made to look old. It's just too coincidental for every stall to have several antique Omega watches for sale.
The Flower, Bird, Fish & Insect Market was just a short distance away from the Dongtai Lu Antique Market. It was hard work pushing my pram through that market. The maze of passageways was extremely narrow and the market was packed on a Sunday afternoon. We gave up after a few minutes.
Daddy used the ancient public toilet in the market, and he was traumatised by the experience. He described the latrine as just a wall where all men peed against. The pee flowed into a single hole at the end of the wall. There was no flush system whatsoever and the stink was overwhelming. When Daddy was at the latrine, a man came in, unbuckled his pants and squatted over a hole in plain view of everyone and defacated.
Mommy wasn't surprised by Daddy's description of the public toilet. She first visited China in the 1980s and public toilets were all like that. Some places didn't even have public toilets. You'd be lucky to find a shrub.
1530 hrs: We walked along Fangbang Zhong Lu and gawked at the old-style shops, ducks (yes, ducks) and clothes being hung out to dry, and street food being prepared.
There was plenty of activity in the street, especially around the makeshift stalls selling pornographic DVDs. Trash was casually being tossed on the floor, and there seemed to be more spit on the road than anywhere else in Shanghai we'd seen.
Fangbang Zhong Lu was a "breath of fresh air" from modernised Shanghai. This was a slice of old China in the bustling metropolis, the closest to what one would call a Chinatown in Shanghai.
Further down the road was the entrance to Yuyuan Bazaar, a pedestrianised marketplace. Heaven for the souvenir-hunter. This is the place to come if you're looking for a Mao t-shirt, poster, etc. The marketplace was very crowded. Thousands were just milling about.
Just for the experience, Daddy paid RMB1 to pop into a public toilet here. Yuyuan Bazaar has been sanitised. The public toilets not only had doors, they had LED panels on each toilet door to tell you how long the occupant has been in there. Wow.
1600 hrs: It was the second last day of Chinese New Year, and Yuyuan Garden was hosting a big lantern exhibition. Public response for the lantern exhibition was so overwhelming that crowd control marshalls were stationed at the entrance to stop more people from entering the Garden after 1600 hrs. We arrived at Yuyuan Garden at exactly 1600 hrs, and saw people being turned away.
We continued our walk in the direction of The Bund. We walked along Zhongshan Dong Lu, but found the footpath to The Bund blocked off by construction works. We didn't want to brave walking amongst motor vehicles. Even when the traffic light was in the pedestrian's favour, we found crossing roads in Shanghai very tricky. Motorists generally did not slow down for pedestrians, and they'd drive on with the green man on.
We followed Zhongshan Dong Lu to Renmin Lu, then turned in the direction of Nanjing Dong Lu.
1730 hrs: We finally made it to Nanjing Dong Lu, Shanghai's main shopping belt, and possibly the world's busiest shopping street. Much of the street has been pedestrianised and a sightseeing train will take you from one end to the other for RMB2 per person. When it gets dark, neon billboards light up the street, bringing with it festive cheer.
We walked along Nanjing Dong Lu aimlessly until we were flagged down by a restaurant tout. The menu she shoved into our hands claimed they had Shanghai food from RMB3 per dish and it seemed quite crowded in the restaurant, so we went inside.
Alas, another culinary failure... Daddy ordered quite a few dishes (all of which cost much more than RMB3), but none of it tasted any good. The bill came up to about RMB250 (about S$50), but the food was so bad we left much of it untouched.
1900 hrs: There was still time for us to make it to the free "Happy Hour" buffet at the hotel. We made a mad dash for the metro and sprinted back to the hotel, with half an hour to spare for wiping out the buffet. Honestly, the food at the free buffet was better than any other food we'd tasted in Shanghai thus far.
2015 hrs: Our feet were sore from walking all day. The tour bus was picking us up at 0635 hrs the next morning to take us to Hangzhou, so we decided to have an early night.
9 FEBRUARY 2009 (MONDAY)
0630 hrs: We had booked our tour through the hotel's concierge, and they kindly arranged for us to take away our breakfast.
0635 hrs: A mini-van pulled up at the hotel to drive us to Renmin Guangchang (People's Square), where the rest of the tour group was waiting.
0700 hrs: We met our tour guide, a frizzy-haired lady from Hangzhou. She ushered us up a 50-seater tour bus. Altogether, there were more than 30 people on this tour, and we were the only foreigners.
1100 hrs: The drive to Hangzhou took almost 4 hrs. Traffic out of Shanghai was slow and we had made a toilet stop, then a detour to travel on the Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest trans-oceanic bridge. It was a foggy day, and we couldn't see much on the bridge, other than its colourful railing.
1115 hrs: The tour guide led us across Su Di (Su Causeway) to a garden with a koi pond where Emperor Kangxi once visited. It was a chilly morning, and all the kois were lying at the bottom of the pond, where the water was warmest.
1140 hrs: We boarded a wooden boat for a cruise on West Lake, world renowned for its picturesque landscape. The tour guide said the government did not permit buildings beyond a certain height being constructed near the lake, to preserve the beauty of the lake. However, their efforts in preservation did not totally pay off. We could still see the skyscrapers from our boat.
Mommy visited Hangzhou as a child, but the city is now very different from what she remembers. It is now a concrete jungle with an overrated lake.
1230 hrs: Our pleasure ride on the boat was over. The guide said we had a very tight schedule in the afternoon, so she was only giving us 30 mins for lunch. She encouraged us to group ourselves in 10s, and go for the RMB150 set menu for 10 persons.
1245 hrs: We were dropped off at a nearby restaurant, and everyone grabbed their seats. We were the last to get to a table. The guide grouped us with a solo female traveller from Guangdong province, and we agreed to go ahead with the RMB150 (S$30) set menu for 10 persons, even though there were only 7 of us eating.
1300 hrs: The food was served, and we had 15 mins left to polish off everything. It was an impossible feat.
1315 hrs: The guide hurried us up the bus, and we had to leave most of the food untouched.
1335 hrs: We were taken to a "Silk Museum" and the large, wooden doors were pulled shut behind us. A lady began her sales pitch on how smooth and fire-proof her silk was. We were led to a room where silk bedlinen and blankets were displayed, and a dozen pushy sales personnel came forward. It was like being thrown into a gladiator's pit. Daddy and Mommy were furious that we had to skip a proper lunch because of this.
1400 hrs: When it was apparent that no one in our group was keen to buy a silk blanket, we were then ushered to a small room with a short catwalk, where we were told a fashion show would be staged for us. The "Silk Museum" had 6 ladies model their products. Thereafter, a dozen pushy sales personnel came forward again to try to talk us into buying silk garments.
Our tour guide stood quietly in a corner, waiting for a sucker to buy something so she could collect her commission. Suddenly, she was no longer in any hurry and we could spend as much time as we liked in the silk store. To our astonishment, one guy actually bought something!
1425 hrs: We got back up the bus, and the tour guide announced that we would be visiting Mejiawu Longjing Tea Plantation next. More time wasted at another tourist scam.
1435 hrs: Daddy and Mommy refused to visit the plantation, more like a room where tourists were asked to sample tea then pressured to buy tins of tea at high prices. They remained outside with Ning Che Che to feed me my mashed pumpkin.
1500 hrs: The guy who bought the silk garment bought 6 tins of tea! Everyone else went up the bus, annoyed that we'd wasted so much time.
1525 hrs: We alighted at Lingyin Temple (Temple of the Soul's Retreat). This 1700 yr old temple dates back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 to 420 AD) and is one of the 10 most famous temples in China. The tour package didn't include the admission to the temple, so we each paid another RMB30 (S$6) to enter.
Grandma Nancy is a Buddhist and she wanted to say her prayers at the temple. The tour guide gave us some cock and bull story about how incense should only be bought at a specific shop, otherwise the prayers would not be answered. Predictably, she led everyone to a particular incense shop and made sure she received her commission. We were not given the opportunity to buy the joss-sticks from elsewhere, and Grandma Nancy had to shell out RMB99 (S$20) for a bunch of incense.
1600 hrs: The tour guide said we were free to explore the temple and the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave, but had to be back at the meeting point by 1645 hrs. No more commissions to receive, so suddenly we were in a hurry again.
1635 hrs: By the time we were done exploring the temple, we only had 10 mins left before we were expected back. There was insufficient time for us to explore the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave, which was just across from the temple. On its slope and inside the cave are more than 300 stone Budhhas, carved during the period of the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty (907 to 1368 AD). Mommy had really wanted to see the carvings, so she regretted joining the tour package instead of coming to Hangzhou on our own.
1645 hrs: We were back at the meeting point, but 4 persons were late. The tour guide waited 5 mins then rang them and yelled at them. Unlike guides serving foreign tourists, guides serving domestic travellers didn't expect tips. She really gave her comrades a shelling.
2015 hrs: The drive back to Shanghai was shorter, as we didn't make a detour to go on the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. Nevertheless, we still couldn't get to back to Shanghai in time for our favourite free "Happy Hour" buffet.
It was the last day of Chinese New Year. Individual buildings in Hangzhou were setting off fireworks and fire crackers. We went right past some fireworks whilst travelling on the highway. We passed many villages on the way back to Shanghai, and lost count of the number of times we saw fireworks during the drive.
The bus driver dropped us off at Raffles City Shopping Mall at Renmin Guangchang. The shopping mall is owned by Capitaland of Singapore, and the food court called Megabite in there is run by Food Junction of Singapore. Mommy had read good reviews about Megabite before our trip and we decided to have dinner there.
2045 hrs: The food was not bad, but the selection was poor. Beef and rice, or beef and noodles appeared at almost every stall.
2200 hrs: We stayed till the foodcourt closed. Renmin Guangchang was just one metro stop away from Nanjing Xi Lu, where our hotel was. We decided to take a stroll back to the hotel. Enroute, we saw the pedestrianised section of Nanjing Dong Lu flooded with merrymakers. It was the last day of Chinese New Year, and people were out and about.
2300 hrs: It took us an hour to walk back. Everyone was tired, and I really wanted my milk bottle so I could go to bed.
10 FEBRUARY 2009 (TUESDAY)
0900 hrs: It was the last time we were having breakfast at this hotel, as we were shifting to another in a different part of the city later that day.
During the night, Ah Gong had sms-ed Mommy to let her know that their flight from Vancouver to Shanghai had been delayed by 7 hours. Everyone was really looking forward to spending the day with Ah Gong, Ah Ma and Che Che, so the news came as a huge disappointment.
We took our time with breakfast, then got ready to check out of the hotel.
1145 hrs: We checked out of the hotel, and left our suitcases with the concierge. Mommy had read about the warren of art shops at 50 Moganshan Lu, and thought it would be an interesting place to visit.
We caught the metro from Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station to Shanghai Railway Station Metro Station, the nearest station to Moganshan Lu.
1230 hrs: Near the Railway Station were many travellers balancing heavy bags on their shoulders. We even saw a man travelling with his kettle. Chinese New Year had just ended, so lots of people were coming to the city to look for work.
We followed our map to Moganshan Lu. It wasn't the easiest to find. We took a wrong turn and walked through one of the filthiest areas in Shanghai. The stench of urine on the streets was so bad we had to hold our breath to walk. Thousands of travellers disembarking at the railway station must have been relieving themselves on the streets, instead of paying RMB1 ($0.20) to use the public latrines at the station. We even came across the largest pile of human crap by the side of the road. That guy must have held in it for many days before unzipping his pants by the road! Gross!
1320 hrs: We found Moganshan Lu. It was in a disused industrial zone by the river. A particular art shop stood out from the rest - Outstanding Art (http://www.outstandingartshanghai.com/), but their prices were way above our budget!
1420 hrs: We spent an hour browsing, but left 50 Moganshan Lu empty handed. Nevertheless, it was interesting to go off-the-beaten-track. Here's a picture of something which looked like an art installation, but it was not. Just a whole lot of styrofoam boxes on a bike.
1455 hrs: The walk back to Shanghai Railway Station Metro Station was quicker, and we didn't have to pass the stinky zone. We caught the metro back to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station, and had lunch in the Megabite foodcourt at Westgate Mall.
Our encounters with the service staff in Shanghai had not always been pleasant. On the courtesy front, the service staff in Shanghai generally have very much catching up to do. We stayed at 2 different hotels (both supposedly 5-stars) during our 6-day vacation and the receptionists at both hotels were equally impatient. At the hotels' cafes, clearing used plates wasn't the norm, and when Daddy asked for sugar for his coffee, the waitress tossed 2 packets of sugar on the table and walked off. That same waitress was seen squeezing her pimples at the service station when Daddy went up to her to ask for a cup of coffee. You could be eating at a foodcourt and a cleaner would come right up to you and mop at your feet.
The service staff at the Megabite foodcourt in Westgate Mall takes the crown for rudeness though. When Laoyi asked for a pair of chopsticks at the Shanghai food stall because they'd served her a bowl of noodles without chopsticks, the service staff threw a pair of chopsticks at her! Unbelievable but true! Daddy bought a bowl of dessert and when he asked for an empty bowl so he could split the dessert with Grandma Nancy, the service staff said "No."
1630 hrs: We were out of Central View Suites with all our bags. We made our way to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station and took the metro to Pudong Avenue Metro Station.
1730 hrs: We booked to stay our final 2 nights at The Eton Hotel along Pudong Avenue. Our first 3 nights was spent on the Puxi side of Shanghai, so we thought moving to the opposite side of the Huangpu River would be interesting for a change.
Pudong was first developed in 1990, and it has already emerged as China's financial and commercial hub. It has a very impressive skyline which comprises of some of the world's tallest skyscrapers - Shanghai World Financial Centre (currently 2nd tallest in the world) and Jin Mao Tower (currently 8th tallest in the world). It is also home to the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower.
1745 hrs: Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy shared Room 2918, Laoyi, Ning Che Che and I shared Room 3518, and Daddy and Mommy shared Room 3527.
Daddy and Mommy picked the shortest straw and got the smallest room. The rest of us had spacious, corner units with king-sized bed and a bathroom with a tub big enough for a family of 4. Daddy and Mommy's room had twin-beds and a tub fit for one. Just their luck!
There were 2 LCD tvs in each room, one in front of the bed and another in the bathroom. From our window, we could see the Huangpu River and the Pudong skyline. The Eton Hotel was probably the most luxurious hotel we've stayed at on our travels so far.
Mommy had booked the deluxe rooms through http://www.ctrip.com/ and they cost RMB788 all-in (S$158) per night. Buffet breakfast was provided. Broadband internet access was payable at RMB120 (S$24) per block of 24 hrs.
1945 hrs: It took a while for us to get ready to head out because Mommy needed to check-in online for our flight back to Singapore. By the time she was done, it was almost 2000 hrs.
2000 hrs: We took a taxi to Super Brand Mall (http://www.superbrandmall.com/) in Lujiazui, and it cost only RMB11 (about S$2). We spent an hour walking round the mall, checking out the various food options, including the buffet restaurant called Xi Duo Wu. Xi Duo Wu had a very large selection, but it paled in comparison to the mega buffet restaurant we dined at in Shenzhen. The food at Xi Duo Wu didn't look very good either.
2100 hrs: We settled for Cafe de Coral in the end. Turned out to be a really good choice. The food was tasty and affordable. The set meals cost around RMB25 (S$5) with a drink. Daddy ordered 2 set meals for himself - the garlic pork and ginger chicken, and he was convinced this was the best meal he's had in Shanghai thus far.
2200 hrs: Outside the Super Brand Mall was a phenomenally long taxi queue. We followed some locals to Lujiazui Metro Station instead.
Lying outside the station were several carts from which hawkers were selling street food. We watched a lady prepare vegetarian pancakes on her cart. The pancakes looked so good we had to try some. They cost only RMB2.50 (S$0.50) each and they were a wonderful snack. Crispy, fragrant and lightly salted.
2240 hrs: We were back at the hotel after hopping into 2 taxis near Lujiazui Metro Station. Daddy was looking forward to watching tv from the bathtub!
0115 hrs: Daddy and Mommy stayed up that night for the arrival of Ah Gong, Ah Ma and Che Che. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and would only see them in the morning.
11 FEBRUARY 2009 (WEDNESDAY)
0845 hrs: Che Che!!! Che Che!!! Che Che!!! Thanks for returning my Ah Gong to me... :)
The family had a joyous reunion over breakfast.
1100 hrs: Buffet breakfast at the Eton Hotel was great. Western, Chinese and Japanese... there was something for everyone.
After breakfast, we took a ride on the metro to Nanjing Dong Lu Station. The Eton Hotel is directly opposite Pudong Avenue Metro Station, which made is convenient for us to get around. However, the immediate vicinity around the Eton Hotel had no shops or restaurants whatsoever, just plenty of construction work.
1135 hrs: We left Grandma Nancy, Ah Ma and Laoyi to do their shopping along Nanjing Dong Lu. The rest of us watched the world go by on the pedestrian mall.
1240 hrs: Daddy discovered a food complex and waved us in. i think it was called Shanghai's No. 1 Food Store or something like that. The store was very crowded. It sold everything which a Chinese housewife would need for her kitchen, as well as ready-to-eat food. One stall had a particularly long queue - Yang's Fry-Dumpling. Daddy and Mommy had already tasted shengjian and they didn't think it was good enough to stand in line for.
Che Che and I wanted something to eat, so Daddy bought us a corn cup from MacDonald's.
1400 hrs: We met up with Grandma Nancy, Ah Ma and Laoyi, who happily showed off their purchases.
We tried searching for a food court in a shopping mall along Nanjing Dong Lu, but it wasn't as easy as we'd thought. We gave up after a while, and took the metro to Lujiazui to have lunch at Cafe de Coral in Super Brand Mall instead. At least we knew the food would be alright.
1530 hrs: We were back at Cafe de Coral, tucking into lunch. The service staff were very happy to see me again. We had a good babble.
1630 hrs: After lunch, Mommy suggested walking along the Riverside Promenade to have a look at The Bund from across the river.
1645 hrs: Ah Gong bought me an ice-cream cone from MacDonald's, and we watched the sun set over The Bund at the River Promenade.
As it got darker, a boat carrying the largest LCD panel I'd ever seen sailed by. The LCD panel was about 4 storeys high. Daddy's dream tv set.
1740 hrs: We hopped into 3 taxis and returned to the hotel.
1930 hrs: The hotel was promoting its Hokkaido Buffet Dinner, so we went ahead to make reservations at its cafe. RMB148 plus tax (S$35) per person. Mommy enjoyed the sashimi, beef steak, pasta, cakes and Movenpick ice-cream.
2200 hrs: We toured the hotel's gym and pool facilities. We were too full to exercise... so we went to bed instead!
12 FEBRUARY 2009 (THURSDAY)
0845 hrs: We made plans over breakfast on what to do for the day. We were due to fly out later that afternoon which didn't leave us with much time for sightseeing or shopping. Ah Gong has an apartment in Shanghai and it was only 4 metro stops away from our hotel. All of us were interested in having a look at the place, so we quickly finished breakfast and proceeded to the metro station.
1000 hrs: We took the metro from Pudong Avenue to Hailun Lu. Ah Gong's apartment was occupied by a tenant, so we could only look at the exterior of the block of apartments. Ah Gong spoke to a real estate agent, and was happy to learn that the value of his investment had appreciated.
1115 hrs: Close to Ah Gong's apartment was the Sichuan Bei Lu shopping belt. We took a walk down Sichuan Bei Lu for some last minute shopping, then made a loop back to Hailun Lu Metro Station.
The temperature had been hovering around 10 degrees celcius the last few days, but it suddenly shot up to 23 degrees celcius this morning. The weather here is so unpredictable!
1240 hrs: We were back at our hotel to do our final packing.
1300 hrs: The hotel had graciously extended their usual check-out time (1200 hrs) by an hour. We checked out of our hotel, and jumped into 3 taxis to Pudong International Airport.
1350 hrs: The taxi ride cost about RMB130 (S$26). We checked our bags in, collected our boarding passes and snooped around for something to eat.
1500 hrs: There were very few food options available. We settled for Burger King in the transit area in the end.
1555 hrs: We boarded Singapore Airlines Flight SQ833 for Singapore. The air stewardess handed me a stuffed toy and a jigsaw puzzle. I also had a very comfortable bassinet all to myself.
1620 hrs: I didn't cry during take-off.
2140 hrs: But... it was a different story during the landing. I bawled my eyes out, so much so that Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy, who were sitting in a totally different section of the plane, could hear me.
Mommy's singing frightened me more than comforted me. :( I hate flying. Why can't we just go on a cruise instead?
1115 hrs: The tour guide led us across Su Di (Su Causeway) to a garden with a koi pond where Emperor Kangxi once visited. It was a chilly morning, and all the kois were lying at the bottom of the pond, where the water was warmest.
1140 hrs: We boarded a wooden boat for a cruise on West Lake, world renowned for its picturesque landscape. The tour guide said the government did not permit buildings beyond a certain height being constructed near the lake, to preserve the beauty of the lake. However, their efforts in preservation did not totally pay off. We could still see the skyscrapers from our boat.
Mommy visited Hangzhou as a child, but the city is now very different from what she remembers. It is now a concrete jungle with an overrated lake.
1230 hrs: Our pleasure ride on the boat was over. The guide said we had a very tight schedule in the afternoon, so she was only giving us 30 mins for lunch. She encouraged us to group ourselves in 10s, and go for the RMB150 set menu for 10 persons.
1245 hrs: We were dropped off at a nearby restaurant, and everyone grabbed their seats. We were the last to get to a table. The guide grouped us with a solo female traveller from Guangdong province, and we agreed to go ahead with the RMB150 (S$30) set menu for 10 persons, even though there were only 7 of us eating.
1300 hrs: The food was served, and we had 15 mins left to polish off everything. It was an impossible feat.
1315 hrs: The guide hurried us up the bus, and we had to leave most of the food untouched.
1335 hrs: We were taken to a "Silk Museum" and the large, wooden doors were pulled shut behind us. A lady began her sales pitch on how smooth and fire-proof her silk was. We were led to a room where silk bedlinen and blankets were displayed, and a dozen pushy sales personnel came forward. It was like being thrown into a gladiator's pit. Daddy and Mommy were furious that we had to skip a proper lunch because of this.
1400 hrs: When it was apparent that no one in our group was keen to buy a silk blanket, we were then ushered to a small room with a short catwalk, where we were told a fashion show would be staged for us. The "Silk Museum" had 6 ladies model their products. Thereafter, a dozen pushy sales personnel came forward again to try to talk us into buying silk garments.
Our tour guide stood quietly in a corner, waiting for a sucker to buy something so she could collect her commission. Suddenly, she was no longer in any hurry and we could spend as much time as we liked in the silk store. To our astonishment, one guy actually bought something!
1425 hrs: We got back up the bus, and the tour guide announced that we would be visiting Mejiawu Longjing Tea Plantation next. More time wasted at another tourist scam.
1435 hrs: Daddy and Mommy refused to visit the plantation, more like a room where tourists were asked to sample tea then pressured to buy tins of tea at high prices. They remained outside with Ning Che Che to feed me my mashed pumpkin.
1500 hrs: The guy who bought the silk garment bought 6 tins of tea! Everyone else went up the bus, annoyed that we'd wasted so much time.
1525 hrs: We alighted at Lingyin Temple (Temple of the Soul's Retreat). This 1700 yr old temple dates back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 to 420 AD) and is one of the 10 most famous temples in China. The tour package didn't include the admission to the temple, so we each paid another RMB30 (S$6) to enter.
Grandma Nancy is a Buddhist and she wanted to say her prayers at the temple. The tour guide gave us some cock and bull story about how incense should only be bought at a specific shop, otherwise the prayers would not be answered. Predictably, she led everyone to a particular incense shop and made sure she received her commission. We were not given the opportunity to buy the joss-sticks from elsewhere, and Grandma Nancy had to shell out RMB99 (S$20) for a bunch of incense.
1600 hrs: The tour guide said we were free to explore the temple and the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave, but had to be back at the meeting point by 1645 hrs. No more commissions to receive, so suddenly we were in a hurry again.
1635 hrs: By the time we were done exploring the temple, we only had 10 mins left before we were expected back. There was insufficient time for us to explore the Peak Which Flew From Afar Cave, which was just across from the temple. On its slope and inside the cave are more than 300 stone Budhhas, carved during the period of the Five Dynasties to the Yuan Dynasty (907 to 1368 AD). Mommy had really wanted to see the carvings, so she regretted joining the tour package instead of coming to Hangzhou on our own.
1645 hrs: We were back at the meeting point, but 4 persons were late. The tour guide waited 5 mins then rang them and yelled at them. Unlike guides serving foreign tourists, guides serving domestic travellers didn't expect tips. She really gave her comrades a shelling.
2015 hrs: The drive back to Shanghai was shorter, as we didn't make a detour to go on the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. Nevertheless, we still couldn't get to back to Shanghai in time for our favourite free "Happy Hour" buffet.
It was the last day of Chinese New Year. Individual buildings in Hangzhou were setting off fireworks and fire crackers. We went right past some fireworks whilst travelling on the highway. We passed many villages on the way back to Shanghai, and lost count of the number of times we saw fireworks during the drive.
The bus driver dropped us off at Raffles City Shopping Mall at Renmin Guangchang. The shopping mall is owned by Capitaland of Singapore, and the food court called Megabite in there is run by Food Junction of Singapore. Mommy had read good reviews about Megabite before our trip and we decided to have dinner there.
2045 hrs: The food was not bad, but the selection was poor. Beef and rice, or beef and noodles appeared at almost every stall.
2200 hrs: We stayed till the foodcourt closed. Renmin Guangchang was just one metro stop away from Nanjing Xi Lu, where our hotel was. We decided to take a stroll back to the hotel. Enroute, we saw the pedestrianised section of Nanjing Dong Lu flooded with merrymakers. It was the last day of Chinese New Year, and people were out and about.
2300 hrs: It took us an hour to walk back. Everyone was tired, and I really wanted my milk bottle so I could go to bed.
10 FEBRUARY 2009 (TUESDAY)
0900 hrs: It was the last time we were having breakfast at this hotel, as we were shifting to another in a different part of the city later that day.
During the night, Ah Gong had sms-ed Mommy to let her know that their flight from Vancouver to Shanghai had been delayed by 7 hours. Everyone was really looking forward to spending the day with Ah Gong, Ah Ma and Che Che, so the news came as a huge disappointment.
We took our time with breakfast, then got ready to check out of the hotel.
1145 hrs: We checked out of the hotel, and left our suitcases with the concierge. Mommy had read about the warren of art shops at 50 Moganshan Lu, and thought it would be an interesting place to visit.
We caught the metro from Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station to Shanghai Railway Station Metro Station, the nearest station to Moganshan Lu.
1230 hrs: Near the Railway Station were many travellers balancing heavy bags on their shoulders. We even saw a man travelling with his kettle. Chinese New Year had just ended, so lots of people were coming to the city to look for work.
We followed our map to Moganshan Lu. It wasn't the easiest to find. We took a wrong turn and walked through one of the filthiest areas in Shanghai. The stench of urine on the streets was so bad we had to hold our breath to walk. Thousands of travellers disembarking at the railway station must have been relieving themselves on the streets, instead of paying RMB1 ($0.20) to use the public latrines at the station. We even came across the largest pile of human crap by the side of the road. That guy must have held in it for many days before unzipping his pants by the road! Gross!
1320 hrs: We found Moganshan Lu. It was in a disused industrial zone by the river. A particular art shop stood out from the rest - Outstanding Art (http://www.outstandingartshanghai.com/), but their prices were way above our budget!
1420 hrs: We spent an hour browsing, but left 50 Moganshan Lu empty handed. Nevertheless, it was interesting to go off-the-beaten-track. Here's a picture of something which looked like an art installation, but it was not. Just a whole lot of styrofoam boxes on a bike.
1455 hrs: The walk back to Shanghai Railway Station Metro Station was quicker, and we didn't have to pass the stinky zone. We caught the metro back to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station, and had lunch in the Megabite foodcourt at Westgate Mall.
Our encounters with the service staff in Shanghai had not always been pleasant. On the courtesy front, the service staff in Shanghai generally have very much catching up to do. We stayed at 2 different hotels (both supposedly 5-stars) during our 6-day vacation and the receptionists at both hotels were equally impatient. At the hotels' cafes, clearing used plates wasn't the norm, and when Daddy asked for sugar for his coffee, the waitress tossed 2 packets of sugar on the table and walked off. That same waitress was seen squeezing her pimples at the service station when Daddy went up to her to ask for a cup of coffee. You could be eating at a foodcourt and a cleaner would come right up to you and mop at your feet.
The service staff at the Megabite foodcourt in Westgate Mall takes the crown for rudeness though. When Laoyi asked for a pair of chopsticks at the Shanghai food stall because they'd served her a bowl of noodles without chopsticks, the service staff threw a pair of chopsticks at her! Unbelievable but true! Daddy bought a bowl of dessert and when he asked for an empty bowl so he could split the dessert with Grandma Nancy, the service staff said "No."
1630 hrs: We were out of Central View Suites with all our bags. We made our way to Nanjing Xi Lu Metro Station and took the metro to Pudong Avenue Metro Station.
1730 hrs: We booked to stay our final 2 nights at The Eton Hotel along Pudong Avenue. Our first 3 nights was spent on the Puxi side of Shanghai, so we thought moving to the opposite side of the Huangpu River would be interesting for a change.
Pudong was first developed in 1990, and it has already emerged as China's financial and commercial hub. It has a very impressive skyline which comprises of some of the world's tallest skyscrapers - Shanghai World Financial Centre (currently 2nd tallest in the world) and Jin Mao Tower (currently 8th tallest in the world). It is also home to the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower.
1745 hrs: Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy shared Room 2918, Laoyi, Ning Che Che and I shared Room 3518, and Daddy and Mommy shared Room 3527.
Daddy and Mommy picked the shortest straw and got the smallest room. The rest of us had spacious, corner units with king-sized bed and a bathroom with a tub big enough for a family of 4. Daddy and Mommy's room had twin-beds and a tub fit for one. Just their luck!
There were 2 LCD tvs in each room, one in front of the bed and another in the bathroom. From our window, we could see the Huangpu River and the Pudong skyline. The Eton Hotel was probably the most luxurious hotel we've stayed at on our travels so far.
Mommy had booked the deluxe rooms through http://www.ctrip.com/ and they cost RMB788 all-in (S$158) per night. Buffet breakfast was provided. Broadband internet access was payable at RMB120 (S$24) per block of 24 hrs.
1945 hrs: It took a while for us to get ready to head out because Mommy needed to check-in online for our flight back to Singapore. By the time she was done, it was almost 2000 hrs.
2000 hrs: We took a taxi to Super Brand Mall (http://www.superbrandmall.com/) in Lujiazui, and it cost only RMB11 (about S$2). We spent an hour walking round the mall, checking out the various food options, including the buffet restaurant called Xi Duo Wu. Xi Duo Wu had a very large selection, but it paled in comparison to the mega buffet restaurant we dined at in Shenzhen. The food at Xi Duo Wu didn't look very good either.
2100 hrs: We settled for Cafe de Coral in the end. Turned out to be a really good choice. The food was tasty and affordable. The set meals cost around RMB25 (S$5) with a drink. Daddy ordered 2 set meals for himself - the garlic pork and ginger chicken, and he was convinced this was the best meal he's had in Shanghai thus far.
2200 hrs: Outside the Super Brand Mall was a phenomenally long taxi queue. We followed some locals to Lujiazui Metro Station instead.
Lying outside the station were several carts from which hawkers were selling street food. We watched a lady prepare vegetarian pancakes on her cart. The pancakes looked so good we had to try some. They cost only RMB2.50 (S$0.50) each and they were a wonderful snack. Crispy, fragrant and lightly salted.
2240 hrs: We were back at the hotel after hopping into 2 taxis near Lujiazui Metro Station. Daddy was looking forward to watching tv from the bathtub!
0115 hrs: Daddy and Mommy stayed up that night for the arrival of Ah Gong, Ah Ma and Che Che. I couldn't keep my eyes open, and would only see them in the morning.
11 FEBRUARY 2009 (WEDNESDAY)
0845 hrs: Che Che!!! Che Che!!! Che Che!!! Thanks for returning my Ah Gong to me... :)
The family had a joyous reunion over breakfast.
1100 hrs: Buffet breakfast at the Eton Hotel was great. Western, Chinese and Japanese... there was something for everyone.
After breakfast, we took a ride on the metro to Nanjing Dong Lu Station. The Eton Hotel is directly opposite Pudong Avenue Metro Station, which made is convenient for us to get around. However, the immediate vicinity around the Eton Hotel had no shops or restaurants whatsoever, just plenty of construction work.
1135 hrs: We left Grandma Nancy, Ah Ma and Laoyi to do their shopping along Nanjing Dong Lu. The rest of us watched the world go by on the pedestrian mall.
1240 hrs: Daddy discovered a food complex and waved us in. i think it was called Shanghai's No. 1 Food Store or something like that. The store was very crowded. It sold everything which a Chinese housewife would need for her kitchen, as well as ready-to-eat food. One stall had a particularly long queue - Yang's Fry-Dumpling. Daddy and Mommy had already tasted shengjian and they didn't think it was good enough to stand in line for.
Che Che and I wanted something to eat, so Daddy bought us a corn cup from MacDonald's.
1400 hrs: We met up with Grandma Nancy, Ah Ma and Laoyi, who happily showed off their purchases.
We tried searching for a food court in a shopping mall along Nanjing Dong Lu, but it wasn't as easy as we'd thought. We gave up after a while, and took the metro to Lujiazui to have lunch at Cafe de Coral in Super Brand Mall instead. At least we knew the food would be alright.
1530 hrs: We were back at Cafe de Coral, tucking into lunch. The service staff were very happy to see me again. We had a good babble.
1630 hrs: After lunch, Mommy suggested walking along the Riverside Promenade to have a look at The Bund from across the river.
1645 hrs: Ah Gong bought me an ice-cream cone from MacDonald's, and we watched the sun set over The Bund at the River Promenade.
As it got darker, a boat carrying the largest LCD panel I'd ever seen sailed by. The LCD panel was about 4 storeys high. Daddy's dream tv set.
1740 hrs: We hopped into 3 taxis and returned to the hotel.
1930 hrs: The hotel was promoting its Hokkaido Buffet Dinner, so we went ahead to make reservations at its cafe. RMB148 plus tax (S$35) per person. Mommy enjoyed the sashimi, beef steak, pasta, cakes and Movenpick ice-cream.
2200 hrs: We toured the hotel's gym and pool facilities. We were too full to exercise... so we went to bed instead!
12 FEBRUARY 2009 (THURSDAY)
0845 hrs: We made plans over breakfast on what to do for the day. We were due to fly out later that afternoon which didn't leave us with much time for sightseeing or shopping. Ah Gong has an apartment in Shanghai and it was only 4 metro stops away from our hotel. All of us were interested in having a look at the place, so we quickly finished breakfast and proceeded to the metro station.
1000 hrs: We took the metro from Pudong Avenue to Hailun Lu. Ah Gong's apartment was occupied by a tenant, so we could only look at the exterior of the block of apartments. Ah Gong spoke to a real estate agent, and was happy to learn that the value of his investment had appreciated.
1115 hrs: Close to Ah Gong's apartment was the Sichuan Bei Lu shopping belt. We took a walk down Sichuan Bei Lu for some last minute shopping, then made a loop back to Hailun Lu Metro Station.
The temperature had been hovering around 10 degrees celcius the last few days, but it suddenly shot up to 23 degrees celcius this morning. The weather here is so unpredictable!
1240 hrs: We were back at our hotel to do our final packing.
1300 hrs: The hotel had graciously extended their usual check-out time (1200 hrs) by an hour. We checked out of our hotel, and jumped into 3 taxis to Pudong International Airport.
1350 hrs: The taxi ride cost about RMB130 (S$26). We checked our bags in, collected our boarding passes and snooped around for something to eat.
1500 hrs: There were very few food options available. We settled for Burger King in the transit area in the end.
1555 hrs: We boarded Singapore Airlines Flight SQ833 for Singapore. The air stewardess handed me a stuffed toy and a jigsaw puzzle. I also had a very comfortable bassinet all to myself.
1620 hrs: I didn't cry during take-off.
2140 hrs: But... it was a different story during the landing. I bawled my eyes out, so much so that Grandpa Eddy and Grandma Nancy, who were sitting in a totally different section of the plane, could hear me.
Mommy's singing frightened me more than comforted me. :( I hate flying. Why can't we just go on a cruise instead?
posted by jinjin at 8:37 AM
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