We were woken up by the office early this morning since they really want to know if we want to switch to the big room as they had someone else coming in today. So after some considerations, we had decided to pay the difference (420 RMB to 560 RMB) to increase our room size so that there is sort of a division or a "room". This meant that we had to run home during lunch time and quickly pack all our stuff and dump it into the leasing office. We finished packing in due time and grabbed a quick bite at KFC -> again it was the super yummy beijing style chicken wrap.
After class, we hopped on a taxi and got ourself over to the soft spinning market near the south side of the bund. We met up with the girls there while Ashley quickly found her usual stores. She got a few cotton tube dresses made for 100 RMB each and the rest of us then headed over to the suit store.
The suits were really cheap so I gave in to the trap and decided to make a grey set. It was a suit jacket, pants and skirt for 500 RMB (~70 CAD) and we also picked up a trench jacket (a nice dark blue) for 420 RMB ( ~60 CAD). Min picked up 3 suits and the jacket in dark green and Ashley also got a jacket. We also bought a little clutch in the bag store and I got one in gold and red flowers on it for 100 RMB. I wanted to see if there's another one that I can pick up for mel but they didnt' really have any decent ones left. I should try to pick one up for her the next time i go back there.
We're considering the River cruise on the Huangpu tonight, so we looked it up on the internet and it's about 100 RMB per person. So we'll see how that's going to turn out :) I need to figure out waht to wear ;)
Note: We ended up missing the cruise, so we took some pictures and headed over to ruijin bin guan to a bar called faces. Min had the most awesome drink ever there called japoneise : kiwi puree, sake and honey. It was awesome
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 8: Sunday Brunch @ Azul + Tourist wanders
The day started off rather late as we were all exhausted from our partying the night before. We went to a little boutique restaurants in the French Concession called Azul for Sunday brunch. Since we did not have a reservation, we had to wait for about 10-15 minutes in hopes that someone will get the bill and get out of there. We were very lucky to be sitting in 15 minutes time in a very nicely decorated but crowded restaurant.
The crowd was mainly French but with some local and tourists mixed in. A brunch combo can either include 2 courses for $120 RMB or 3 courses for $150 RMB. There is a starter, a main and a dessert, plus a drink which can be either alcoholic (like sangrias, champagne mixtures, etc), a smoothie (very exotic combos like lime-mango, pineapple-coconuts, passionfruit-mango, mixed berries), or a freshly squeezed juice (watermelon, grapefruit, pineapple, etc), plus a tea or a coffee.
Most of us went for the 3 course meal and the table was filled with pancake starters (min's pancakes were super thick and yummy), baby spinach salad with feta and pine nuts (yummy) and my smoked salmon on top of a crepe thing. Then we were served our drinks - Ashley got a sangria, min a white sangria, Andrea got a passionfruit-mango smoothie and my pineapple-coconut smoothie turned into a pineapple juice which was ok as I was getting full by that time. We were also served scones, and very cute muffins. Then the main was served and Ashley's egg's benedict and Min's grilled monkfish came out first. They were great but Ashley's benedict was a bit overcooked. Then my open-faced omlette came with a very yummy hashbrown underneath it. Andrea's monkfish took forever to come, but it was still very good in the end. Our final course was the dessert and unfortunately by that time the passionfruit and citrus salad option was sold out. So instead we got the kahlua chocolate creme brulee which ended up awesome. Andrea got a flan and it was also very very yummy.
By the time we finished brunch, we all felt like going back home to nap again. But because of our ambitions and desire to do at least something touristy, we dragged ourselves over to sun zhong shans or sun yatshen's old residence in the fuxing park area. We dropped Ashley off to shop and then headed to the residence. Entrance cost was 20 RMB, and to rent a audio guide was 30 RMB. You had to pay a deposit of $200 RMB + passport to rent or $400 without a passport. The museum was very big and very cold but it was very thorough with different collections and display of things that documented his life. It ended with closing words written about him by his wife song qing ling, it was very nice. The third floor was a changing exhibit and the one that we ended up walking through quickly (as the place was closing) were a bunch of pictures about his life and the museum itself.
The whole visit ended up with a tour of his actual old house where you enter into the kitchen and have to put on plastic shoe socks. We then toured his dining area, living area and upstairs into his study room, bedroom etc. The place was lined with very nice wood and decorated very comfortably. Also he has drawers and shelves of books divided into the different dynasty and different time periods of chinese history. It was all very impressive.
Then we went home and took naps until dinner time and had dinner at a restaurant named Simply Thai. I quite enjoyed my meal especially the sesame seed sauce on the leaf wrapped chicken. We then headed over to the pudong area and went to the JinMao tower where the Grand Hyatt is located starting on the 54th floor. The bar, Cloud 9, was actually on the 87th floor, and the highest bar in the world in the tallest building in Shanghai as part of the tallest hotels in the world. We took the express elevator from the bottom of the building to floor 54 which is where the hotel Grand Hyatt starts. Then, we took another elevator up to floor 85 which leads to people's rooms and the jin mao conference rooms and Cloud 9 restaurant. A third elevator was required to get to the 87 floor as there's probably a choice to head out to the observation deck instead. The deck closed at 9pm and originally would have costed 50 RMB just to get up there anyways ( a cover thing like the Panorama in Toronto). Instead, we had a 120 RMB + 15 % minimum charge per person to cover. So we ordered expensive drinks (my tea cost 60 so i ordered long ching) and some desserts ( a dessert platter that looked better than it taste), some champagne, coffee and wine to cover the cost. The desserts were a bit disappointing but my tea was good. Nonetheless, the view of the huangpugong (although a lot of the lights are off, we found out later that they turn off at 11pm) was still breathtaking to a point that we wished we were lower.
class again tomoro... i think we're also heading to the circus.... should be quite fun
we are also checking out the fabric market.. i might not end up buying or making clothes here as i want to keep a bit more cash handy.. we'll see what happens
The crowd was mainly French but with some local and tourists mixed in. A brunch combo can either include 2 courses for $120 RMB or 3 courses for $150 RMB. There is a starter, a main and a dessert, plus a drink which can be either alcoholic (like sangrias, champagne mixtures, etc), a smoothie (very exotic combos like lime-mango, pineapple-coconuts, passionfruit-mango, mixed berries), or a freshly squeezed juice (watermelon, grapefruit, pineapple, etc), plus a tea or a coffee.
Most of us went for the 3 course meal and the table was filled with pancake starters (min's pancakes were super thick and yummy), baby spinach salad with feta and pine nuts (yummy) and my smoked salmon on top of a crepe thing. Then we were served our drinks - Ashley got a sangria, min a white sangria, Andrea got a passionfruit-mango smoothie and my pineapple-coconut smoothie turned into a pineapple juice which was ok as I was getting full by that time. We were also served scones, and very cute muffins. Then the main was served and Ashley's egg's benedict and Min's grilled monkfish came out first. They were great but Ashley's benedict was a bit overcooked. Then my open-faced omlette came with a very yummy hashbrown underneath it. Andrea's monkfish took forever to come, but it was still very good in the end. Our final course was the dessert and unfortunately by that time the passionfruit and citrus salad option was sold out. So instead we got the kahlua chocolate creme brulee which ended up awesome. Andrea got a flan and it was also very very yummy.
By the time we finished brunch, we all felt like going back home to nap again. But because of our ambitions and desire to do at least something touristy, we dragged ourselves over to sun zhong shans or sun yatshen's old residence in the fuxing park area. We dropped Ashley off to shop and then headed to the residence. Entrance cost was 20 RMB, and to rent a audio guide was 30 RMB. You had to pay a deposit of $200 RMB + passport to rent or $400 without a passport. The museum was very big and very cold but it was very thorough with different collections and display of things that documented his life. It ended with closing words written about him by his wife song qing ling, it was very nice. The third floor was a changing exhibit and the one that we ended up walking through quickly (as the place was closing) were a bunch of pictures about his life and the museum itself.
The whole visit ended up with a tour of his actual old house where you enter into the kitchen and have to put on plastic shoe socks. We then toured his dining area, living area and upstairs into his study room, bedroom etc. The place was lined with very nice wood and decorated very comfortably. Also he has drawers and shelves of books divided into the different dynasty and different time periods of chinese history. It was all very impressive.
Then we went home and took naps until dinner time and had dinner at a restaurant named Simply Thai. I quite enjoyed my meal especially the sesame seed sauce on the leaf wrapped chicken. We then headed over to the pudong area and went to the JinMao tower where the Grand Hyatt is located starting on the 54th floor. The bar, Cloud 9, was actually on the 87th floor, and the highest bar in the world in the tallest building in Shanghai as part of the tallest hotels in the world. We took the express elevator from the bottom of the building to floor 54 which is where the hotel Grand Hyatt starts. Then, we took another elevator up to floor 85 which leads to people's rooms and the jin mao conference rooms and Cloud 9 restaurant. A third elevator was required to get to the 87 floor as there's probably a choice to head out to the observation deck instead. The deck closed at 9pm and originally would have costed 50 RMB just to get up there anyways ( a cover thing like the Panorama in Toronto). Instead, we had a 120 RMB + 15 % minimum charge per person to cover. So we ordered expensive drinks (my tea cost 60 so i ordered long ching) and some desserts ( a dessert platter that looked better than it taste), some champagne, coffee and wine to cover the cost. The desserts were a bit disappointing but my tea was good. Nonetheless, the view of the huangpugong (although a lot of the lights are off, we found out later that they turn off at 11pm) was still breathtaking to a point that we wished we were lower.
class again tomoro... i think we're also heading to the circus.... should be quite fun
we are also checking out the fabric market.. i might not end up buying or making clothes here as i want to keep a bit more cash handy.. we'll see what happens
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Day 7.5 : 1st Taste of Shanghai Night Life: Barbarossa + Guan Dii
After dinner at di shui dong (a famous hunnan style restaurant) and having the most amazing malted fried bananas ever.. we went home to take a look at our shoppings.
Then we headed out to Barbarossa which Min`s friend Ashley really liked when she was on exchange here in Shanghai last year. It was supposed to be a lounge but it`s situated in the People`s park. We got dropped off outside people`s park and had to walk through a path of uneven cobblestones on heels to the center where Barbarossa was surrounded by a pond. Barbarossa was 3 levels with different music playing in all 3. We bought a drink and went up to the rooftop patio to enjoy the evening view of shanghai`s main buildings.
After that drink, we decided to hit up a club and picked Guan Dii. Again Guan Dii was located in some random park (why Shanghai people like to build lounges and clubs in the middle of parks I do not know). It was pretty packed when we got there just after midnight. The crowd was mainly Shanghaiese, with some International students and perhaps some expats. There were dancers who put on a show for certain songs, 3 girls and 1 guy in costumes. Waiters walking through crowds and pushing their way through it to serve people drinks. Seats and couches for people who are there to lounge and play dice. We mainly danced and it was quite fun as the DJ was quite good with his song selection. The only thing that was a bit strange was that the DJ sang to parts of the song...
Also, there were some creepy people that were attracted by the cute singaporean girls in my group. I was the alert one to look out for creepiness... There were a few instances of really old guys patting hands, old guys telling them they were pretty.. random guys trying to dance with them.. andrea`s shirt getting stuck on some guy`s zipper who we were trying to say no to... random guy trying to talk to me.. whom i gave a blank look to and kept shaking my hand at him.... Overall it was quite an interesting experience and quite fun :)
I`m really awake right now and reak of smoke (since you can still smoke in most places indoors in shanghai).. but i know that if i don`t sleep soon we wouldn`t be able to accomplish much tomorrow.
Monday should be buying fabric and tailoring day. New updates tomorrow ;)
Then we headed out to Barbarossa which Min`s friend Ashley really liked when she was on exchange here in Shanghai last year. It was supposed to be a lounge but it`s situated in the People`s park. We got dropped off outside people`s park and had to walk through a path of uneven cobblestones on heels to the center where Barbarossa was surrounded by a pond. Barbarossa was 3 levels with different music playing in all 3. We bought a drink and went up to the rooftop patio to enjoy the evening view of shanghai`s main buildings.
After that drink, we decided to hit up a club and picked Guan Dii. Again Guan Dii was located in some random park (why Shanghai people like to build lounges and clubs in the middle of parks I do not know). It was pretty packed when we got there just after midnight. The crowd was mainly Shanghaiese, with some International students and perhaps some expats. There were dancers who put on a show for certain songs, 3 girls and 1 guy in costumes. Waiters walking through crowds and pushing their way through it to serve people drinks. Seats and couches for people who are there to lounge and play dice. We mainly danced and it was quite fun as the DJ was quite good with his song selection. The only thing that was a bit strange was that the DJ sang to parts of the song...
Also, there were some creepy people that were attracted by the cute singaporean girls in my group. I was the alert one to look out for creepiness... There were a few instances of really old guys patting hands, old guys telling them they were pretty.. random guys trying to dance with them.. andrea`s shirt getting stuck on some guy`s zipper who we were trying to say no to... random guy trying to talk to me.. whom i gave a blank look to and kept shaking my hand at him.... Overall it was quite an interesting experience and quite fun :)
I`m really awake right now and reak of smoke (since you can still smoke in most places indoors in shanghai).. but i know that if i don`t sleep soon we wouldn`t be able to accomplish much tomorrow.
Monday should be buying fabric and tailoring day. New updates tomorrow ;)
Day 7: Qi Pu Lu shopping CRAZE!
so we went to the long waited for Qi pu lu to shop. Min had really wanted to go market shopping since forever and we finally made it there today. The shops opens from 5am to 5:30pm since they do wholesale activity in the mornings and then individual retails (or to rip off tourists after about 9am).
We got dropped off at this weird looking place which was kinda sketchy looking. Apparently, we started off at the newer place, where there were less store but still the same amount of sketchy people asking if you want fake bags.
The `personal shoppers`or whatever were saying they recently got searched so they are being a bit more careful right now. We were able to hit up some places and bought some fun stuff and our first try at bargaining also succeeded quite well. The skillful haggler is to be prepared to walk away from anything that you`re not willing to pay for and start much lower than where you want to end up.
We got dropped off at this weird looking place which was kinda sketchy looking. Apparently, we started off at the newer place, where there were less store but still the same amount of sketchy people asking if you want fake bags.
The `personal shoppers`or whatever were saying they recently got searched so they are being a bit more careful right now. We were able to hit up some places and bought some fun stuff and our first try at bargaining also succeeded quite well. The skillful haggler is to be prepared to walk away from anything that you`re not willing to pay for and start much lower than where you want to end up.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 6: pouring rain and rainboots
We had another taste of how bad asian rain can get today. It was quite scary as the sky turned all white (it was still rather bright) but you can no longer see the buildings in the distance.
So instead of being very ambitious and going out to do all the things we want to do, i decided that i needed a nap. So i napped for about 3 hours while the others went out to do stuff (which is still not much since the rain and the flood makes it very difficult to go anywhere)
We were then deciding between an upscale japanese all you can eat versus having hot pot. We ended up going to a place called hot pot king (lai fu liu), it's at huai hai zhong lu... it wasn't all you can eat but still pretty good. The service was excellent as they are very friendly and helpful. We ate a lot and was so full.
We really didn't want to go anywhere so we ended up just coming home, wanting to watch a movie. Another one of min's friend is going to come for a visit tomorrow and we're thinking of heading out to qipu lu and the market tomorrow.
I wore my rainboots out so it was quite fun to run around in the puddle, not having to worry that anything's going to happen to my feet and keeping them super dry. The only bad thing is that the plastic is rather cheap (as I bought it for only 128 HKD) and so it smells a bit :P I think i'll use it during my stay in shanghai and in HK, then buy a better pair with mariann to bring back to canada.
I finally found ah to at a good time, so we skyped so that I can talk to mommy and daddy :) So it seems people are having a long weekend this weekend. quite exciting.
I hope I'll find something really cool tomorrow and some good buys ;)
So instead of being very ambitious and going out to do all the things we want to do, i decided that i needed a nap. So i napped for about 3 hours while the others went out to do stuff (which is still not much since the rain and the flood makes it very difficult to go anywhere)
We were then deciding between an upscale japanese all you can eat versus having hot pot. We ended up going to a place called hot pot king (lai fu liu), it's at huai hai zhong lu... it wasn't all you can eat but still pretty good. The service was excellent as they are very friendly and helpful. We ate a lot and was so full.
We really didn't want to go anywhere so we ended up just coming home, wanting to watch a movie. Another one of min's friend is going to come for a visit tomorrow and we're thinking of heading out to qipu lu and the market tomorrow.
I wore my rainboots out so it was quite fun to run around in the puddle, not having to worry that anything's going to happen to my feet and keeping them super dry. The only bad thing is that the plastic is rather cheap (as I bought it for only 128 HKD) and so it smells a bit :P I think i'll use it during my stay in shanghai and in HK, then buy a better pair with mariann to bring back to canada.
I finally found ah to at a good time, so we skyped so that I can talk to mommy and daddy :) So it seems people are having a long weekend this weekend. quite exciting.
I hope I'll find something really cool tomorrow and some good buys ;)
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Day 5: Raffle City, Shanghai Uncle and 3 on the Bund
We had KFC congee for breakfast, it was arlight but just a bit salty
after class we checked out wagas and then went to huai hai lu, but can't find anything good there so just walked over to raffle city again and shopped. Didn't end up getting anything but it was a very trendy mall and our kind of places to shop. Still a bit skeptical in getting things since i can get the same stuff for possibly cheaper in HK.
Then we cabbed over to the wai tang chong xin, bund center to have dinner at uncle shanghai and meet up with Rob from Bain.
The food was so good and it was very very cheap. We had our first real shanghai xiao lung bao experience and it was quite yummy.
Rob ended up taking the bill and the rest of us headed down guang dong lu to 3 on a bund
apparenlty 3 on the bund and 5 on the bund are very popular places for expats (ex patriots) and so it was filled with those people and since it was thursday, martinis were 2 for 1. Min got me a lychee martini and because they were being cheap, it was watered down to the right level for me. Even their apple ones tasted pretty good. She tipped the guy 10 bucks so the next time she went back, she actually ended up getting something stronger
We headed back home at about midnight and now i'm all ready for bed..
tomorrow is going to rain, so i need to dig out my rainboots! woot excited to use them!
I think the plan for the weekend is shop, club, then sunday brunch.. exciting!
after class we checked out wagas and then went to huai hai lu, but can't find anything good there so just walked over to raffle city again and shopped. Didn't end up getting anything but it was a very trendy mall and our kind of places to shop. Still a bit skeptical in getting things since i can get the same stuff for possibly cheaper in HK.
Then we cabbed over to the wai tang chong xin, bund center to have dinner at uncle shanghai and meet up with Rob from Bain.
The food was so good and it was very very cheap. We had our first real shanghai xiao lung bao experience and it was quite yummy.
Rob ended up taking the bill and the rest of us headed down guang dong lu to 3 on a bund
apparenlty 3 on the bund and 5 on the bund are very popular places for expats (ex patriots) and so it was filled with those people and since it was thursday, martinis were 2 for 1. Min got me a lychee martini and because they were being cheap, it was watered down to the right level for me. Even their apple ones tasted pretty good. She tipped the guy 10 bucks so the next time she went back, she actually ended up getting something stronger
We headed back home at about midnight and now i'm all ready for bed..
tomorrow is going to rain, so i need to dig out my rainboots! woot excited to use them!
I think the plan for the weekend is shop, club, then sunday brunch.. exciting!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Day 4 - Nanjing Xi Lu and the Bund
The bund, it was absolutely beautiful!!
although the day started out rather crappy with my alarm clock not working at and stopped at 6am. So min and I kept thinking it was 6 am and refused to wake up. The lady at the place we stayed at had to knock on our door to let us know and we thought they were knocking at the wrong door at such an early time.
When she finally used the key to open the door, she told us it was because the school called to figure out what has happened to us. We then asked them what time it was and they told us it was 10am. We were like oh shit and got out of the door at lightning speed.
We felt so bad because the teacher, helen, had been waiting for us all morning since 9am. So we want to take her out to lunch one day.
We went to yoshinoya for lunch and it was also quite cheap compared to HK. The one here is more of a fast food type store. A meal was about 30 RMB with a rice dish and as fruit cup.
Anywho, i'm looking forward to tomorrow and a quiet night tonight so just going to watch some of the shows that i've been d/ling and catch up! :D
;) also got someone to talk to now...:D hehe
although the day started out rather crappy with my alarm clock not working at and stopped at 6am. So min and I kept thinking it was 6 am and refused to wake up. The lady at the place we stayed at had to knock on our door to let us know and we thought they were knocking at the wrong door at such an early time.
When she finally used the key to open the door, she told us it was because the school called to figure out what has happened to us. We then asked them what time it was and they told us it was 10am. We were like oh shit and got out of the door at lightning speed.
We felt so bad because the teacher, helen, had been waiting for us all morning since 9am. So we want to take her out to lunch one day.
We went to yoshinoya for lunch and it was also quite cheap compared to HK. The one here is more of a fast food type store. A meal was about 30 RMB with a rice dish and as fruit cup.
Anywho, i'm looking forward to tomorrow and a quiet night tonight so just going to watch some of the shows that i've been d/ling and catch up! :D
;) also got someone to talk to now...:D hehe
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Day 3: Shanghai - WE Moved!!! June 24, 08
moved into skiiline hotel which is right beside the school, super convenient and free internet! woot~~
Lunch was KFC today which i haven't had for like forever... because they have a very chinese-sized menu here. I had a peking duck like chicken wrap and papaya egg tart. The wrap was great and the meal was only 20 bucks
(11:36pm)
After classes ended at 3 today, Min and I decided to go home and enjoy the internet for a bit and take a break. Then we headed out at about 5ish to hit up some of the shopping areas in the Jing An area. We visited the jiou gong bai ke (city mall), the 66 plaza, the shanghai center and also the west gate mall. not to mention shopping along nanjing xi lu. The shopping centers have upscale shops but things arent too too cheap. I managed to still spend about 1725 on 8 piece of clothing.... I decided to stupidly pay in cash because i didn't want to carry the money around... but what i really should've done is to put it on credit card.. oiy... i'm such an idiot... i really just have to watch what i spend from now on and not buy as much. I still have ye to find postcards... and a way to mail them... i guess that will come as we visit more places...
going to catch up on my shows through streaming now... i'll write more tomorrow~
Lunch was KFC today which i haven't had for like forever... because they have a very chinese-sized menu here. I had a peking duck like chicken wrap and papaya egg tart. The wrap was great and the meal was only 20 bucks
(11:36pm)
After classes ended at 3 today, Min and I decided to go home and enjoy the internet for a bit and take a break. Then we headed out at about 5ish to hit up some of the shopping areas in the Jing An area. We visited the jiou gong bai ke (city mall), the 66 plaza, the shanghai center and also the west gate mall. not to mention shopping along nanjing xi lu. The shopping centers have upscale shops but things arent too too cheap. I managed to still spend about 1725 on 8 piece of clothing.... I decided to stupidly pay in cash because i didn't want to carry the money around... but what i really should've done is to put it on credit card.. oiy... i'm such an idiot... i really just have to watch what i spend from now on and not buy as much. I still have ye to find postcards... and a way to mail them... i guess that will come as we visit more places...
going to catch up on my shows through streaming now... i'll write more tomorrow~
Day 2 in Shanghai: June 23, 2008
Monday June 23, 11:41pm
It’s been a long day today, definitely one of the longest I’ve had in a while.
I started the day at about 5am when my body decides to give in to jet lag and would not let me fall asleep again. Since Min and I slept on the couches in the living area, I didn’t want to disturb her too much with too much movements. So instead I went and read my shanghai guidebook and played a bit of Pheonix Wright. At about 8-9am took a shower, went down for breakfast and then headed over to school.
David from Red carpet mandarin sat down with us with a teacher and went through what we wanted to achieve in the course. At our meeting, we established how we wanted to take the course, chose course textbooks and determined course focus. We had to read a passage and it seemed that we’ll also need to work on our pinyin since we both have our own “accents”.
Our business teacher was a girl named Helen who studied international business in Scotland. She was pretty cool and very nice. We learned a bit about org structure in Chinese, the terms and such and then learned about office supplies. I think tomorrow we’ll go right into a Business in China case study book which looked extremely interesting. This will definitely be a great learning experience especially if it ever comes up for work in the future. They were also very eager in incorporating importing and exporting things into our course but we think that might be a bit too much. I wouldn’t mind learning about how to do business here though, but we’ll see what we can cover in such a short period of time.
We had lunch at the cheapest Italian restaurant in town. A set lunch, a pasta of some sort plus a salad and a soup cost only 15 RMB which is about 2-3 dollars Canadian. The food was alright but filling. Min then really needed her coffee so we stumbled upon a posh little joint that is apparently Taiwanese on the 4th floor of a building.
We also got a bit of opportunity to see the city better and took a better look at jing an temple. I still cant believe such a landmark have a shopping center on its ground floor. Our afternoon teacher’s last name is xu and she also thinks that I have extreme problems with sheng diao (tones). I will need to basically memorize in order to improve.. and she says practice is key. So hopefully I’ll practice enough in the next 3 weeks to be understandable… not even aiming for the standard :P
It then started pouring at about 4pm just when we were about to get off class. Min and I were both not very happy with it as we were wearing sandals. Note to self, just wear rain boots for no reason or have them with me. At least I had my umbrella.
WE also went to check out another place that we’re hoping to move to. IF all goes well we should be able to get our money back from here and move in tomorrow. I’m excited already.. because we’ll actually have internet included this time and the place is much closer to the school (2 minutes walk) vs. ??? walk.
Min and I still need to plan out what we want to do in shanghai and whether or not we want to take day trips to Suzhou and hang zhou. I think those are musts, it’s just a matter of when. I should probably end this post now and pack to be ready for moving tomorrow and some awesome shopping ;)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
HKG -> PVG June 22, 2008
Sunday June 22, 11:30 pm
Arrival in Shanghai
The trip to Shanghai was surprisingly eventful. We headed out from Kowloon city after I went to get some last minute essentials from the 10-dollar store (equivalent of a dollar store in the N.A. but a touch more expensive since exchange rate is about 1 HKD :7.66 CAD). There was this really cool game at Terminal Two with a ghost and some wand thing at the arcade. After some explorations of the Hong Kong International airport, I went to the departure area in Terminal 2 (where there was absolutely no line-up) and through to my gate.
Flying China Eastern Airline was a new experience for me (and apparently for many). This is one of the less common carriers in Hong kong and much more popular in the mainlands. (It was cheap! *shrug* I’m sure it was going to be better than ryan last year, at least I get an assigned seat. While checking in, the counter guy already informed me that the plane was going to be delayed for 10 minutes. The good news was he was very lenient with my overweight baggage.
I had a quick dinner inside and time to spare waiting at the gate (which changed last minute). Surprisingly, the plane was pretty big, with 6 across in a 2-4-2 configuration. I got seat number 3 so it was an aisle one. The only problem with that seat was the chair was broken so it doesn’t stay in the upright position if you lean on it. There were multiple times when people used the back of my seat as anchor point and it got really frustrating for me when I’m caught by surprise.
The flight was an hour and a half long and I totally didn’t expect them to serve us dinner. It was either noodles (looked like the shanghai fried ones) or a spicy meat rice dish (which I got stuck with and didn’t touch because of the spice and to avoid upsetting my stomach). It was served with fruits – a piece of dragon fruit, a piece of watermelon and 2 pieces of cantaloupe. Some salad that didn’t look TOO appetizing.. and a small water thing. They also served warm dinner roll and haagan-daaz ice cream afterwards.
The highlight of the flight came when the steward walked around with immigration cards to china. I wasn’t sure if I was considered foreign and my curiosity spoke out so I grabbed one. As seen in the picture, I lost control of myself and bursted out laughing when I folded across the guided line and read the disclaimer on the back. As you noticed, apparently foreigners are not called foreigners in china, they are worse, much worse and known as “Aliens”… Point number 3 deserves a notable mention as it states “Aliens shall not be employed in China without permission of the competent authorities of the Chinese Government”.. so yes I get that Aliens should not be employed.. but you mean there are incompetent authorities too? :p that’s just way too funny.
So luggage claim at Shanghai Pudong airport was also rather interesting. I was able to spot min and David from the mandarin school waiting outside for me, so I waved at them before heading over to the luggage belt. So after you pick up your luggage you’re then supposed to go through customs. Not only is there one custom scanning machine, a very wide line up way, and lots of people pushing and shoving… you have to stick your luggage onto the belt through the crowd and then pick it up on the other side.. Its not only inefficient but also very ineffective. I could’ve totally slipped through.
Because my flight was so late, we actually missed the opportunity to take the high lift onto the subway. Instead we had to take a taxi which ended up costing 219RMB and took about an hour. Where we’re living is kinda not close to a subway line and a bit far from our school. The good news is, we can sign up for how ever many days we want (right now we are signed up until Friday), so if things don’t work out we can move. It’s a loft style with a super tiny kitchen and super tiny bathroom (as seen in pictures) a 2 story high living area with a small tv, dining table with 4 chairs, a desk with internet that’s going to cost (20RMB a day on cable) and 2 bedrooms (one that looks awesome and 1 that looks sketched without ventilations.
So we’re considering to see if they have other rooms that we can look at and switch to… if not then we can move a bed down to the ground floor and sleep there. Otherwise we can also seriously consider moving out from here and to another place.
So far the trip is full of surprises and with the exception of some of the problems, I’m happy with the place we are living in since it could definitely be a lot worse. Morning class at nine tomorrow and apparently we’re expecting some visitors this week!! Woot! I’m excited already!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
pre-trip
Just finished packing for my Asia trip this year and thought i'd put in an entry before the trip...
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