Q's Mind: Shanghai: 21 November 2009

Shanghai: 21 November 2009

1:30pm... Arrival @ Shanghai Pudong International Airport~
The arrival hall is of superior standard~Its common courtesy to bring along a local gift when visiting... Singapore Sling and Bak Kwa is our favourite gifts... any other ideas?
Our China partner took us for a ride (literally) on the Maglev Train. The term 磁浮　would mean Magnet + Levitation.
I took a short video of the train arriving...

The cabin we were in was of the Economic class type. Each tickets designated a numbered seat, so there is no MRT -rush type. Feels like airplane... keke...

A very much used ticket...

I didn't really bothered taking much of the outside scenery... becuz they would probably past by too fast for my camera...

Well.... becuz this was the kinda speed the train was moving in...

Dun believe? Watch the little video below...

Merely 10 minutes later... we reached the Maglev Longyang Road Station... some 250km away from the Airport... (thats like Changi to Jurong more than 5 times...)

Me was already trigger happy... snapping everything along the way...

Hailed a Cab and headed for the Xuhui District (徐汇区). The locals termed "徐家汇". Local public taxis were all equipped with either an acrylic or metal protective shell separating the driver and passengers... probably to curb assaults and robbery...

I must say, Shanghai city is a labyrinth of roads and highways...

Even a single cross junction is huge~~

Ah... the tallest building in Shanghai spotted afar...

Crossing the 南浦大桥 (Nan Pu Da Qiao)...

For your information, when I took this photo of the 南浦大桥, I was STILL on the 南浦大桥... moving downwards into the city below...

... becuz the entire bridge is so mega-sized, getting down involves winding down 3 stories of road that goes round and round...

Common residences that looked like Condominiums... the locals called them 鸽子楼　(pigeon building). For a moment... I was thinking Singapore might looked like this in another 10 years...

... finally got off the 南浦大桥...

We arrived at our hotel around 3pm, checked in, then went straight into serious business in the cafe across the road...

5:11pm... finally back to the hotel...

My bedroom...

Oh the blinds flaps open to reveal the bed... kinky...

This has to be the BEST hotel toothbrush I've used so far...

I loathed showering so much during my stay there...

I dunno what this is officially called, but I termed it the Rainforest shower... I love it! But no freaking way I was gonna use it in there in Shanghai... like it was some +/- 10 degrees celsius?

The marble floor was so freezing I frantically rummaged the wardrobe for this pair of bedroom slippers so I could step in...

Hotel was pretty generous in their ahem... "Adult Healthcare Products" there...

Well I guess if you could enjoy a splendid view of your partner showering from the comfort of your bed... those "Adult Healthcare Products" probably gets replenished very often... did I mentioned the shower cubicle is semi-see-thru?

The little stuffs I grew up being told never to touch them...

These too...

5:38pm... all geared up for the evening exploration!

The hotel we stayed in: New Beacon Qingzhilv International Hotel. Official site here.
Its located at No. 210, Wending Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai, China.
中国上海市徐汇区文定路219号.

Temperature outside... last checked... 11 degrees celsius...

Right across the road of the hotel, a row of boutique selling things I never bother to take a second look nor remember... By the way, its only 6:09pm when I took this photo... Shanghai and Singapore has no time difference~

Yep~ dusk starts to set in by 5pm... so by 5:30 it was already dark... below is a snap shot I took in a taxi... 6:41pm...

6:50pm~ The famous Nanking Road (南京路)...

The whole of Nanking Road is like a shopping street~

There was even several tourist trams that take you for a ride... literally.

It was pretty chilling out there... considering it was my first evening in Shanghai... 8 degree celsius?

Here's a short video scene...

What I love about Nanking Road is the lightings and the advertisements there~ its so trademark Shanghai~

Just a random shot of a hotel... might be useful if I wanna travel there again~ can book this hotel... cuz Nanking Road is right at the doorstep... There are like SO MANY hotels in Shanghai...

6:56pm~ Further along the street, I could hear someone playing the saxophone to the tune of SHANGHAI TANG (上海滩)... its so OMG....

We walked towards the music and saw a huge crowd enjoying the music...

An old mister up there by the balcony playing solo~

He changed to another song by the time I was there... but its just as nice...

Just a random shot of a puny police patrol vehicle...

Nanking Road has like shopping malls EVERYWHERE... I dunno which one to go into...

My loving parents~

The best photo my dad could take of me...

More views of Nanking Road scenes...

Curry fishballs~

8:09pm~ spotted a Noodle House...

So we walked down the stairs for dinner~

Very Chinese style furnishings...

Noodles are available at +/- 20 RMB...

I could use chopsticks like a pro...

Ah... I wanna take this opportunity to share a new Chinese word I learnt... "Soup Spoon" is commonly called "调羹" in China. Pronounce "Tiao(2) Geng(1)". Below's noodles with fish slices...

I ordered 蟹黄拉面... Crab Paste Ramen...

Here's the Crab Paste... pour it into the Soup Noodle and you get a slurplicious concoction of Ramen...

9:03pm~ Back onto the streets again after dinner... Nothing much to shop during winter cuz all the clothings on sale are thick winter jackets and woolen sweaters... then again, winter coats were selling like more than 50% cheaper than what you can get in Singapore...