The Cube

Along the road, specifically East Nanjing Road is this old-ish looking building and a big crowd.No doubt I was there on a public holidays so I guess many people were out shopping.

Nice art on wall

Speaking of shopping, if you are after some souvenir shopping - in terms of things like magnets, keychains, etc, friend brought me here, Shanghai Science and Technology.


To be exact, the shops near Shanghai Science and Technology. Goods sold are not at fixed price, so it's back to putting haggling skill to use :)

So there, the last of my China series of posts :)
It feels like I should go on another holidays now! LOL


Side note: This is a good comic stripe - on the last line, she wrote, "不被爱的才是第三者" (The 3rd party is the one who not being loved) - that's quite true, is it?

Snacks while waiting

My friend raved about this place. The food is good but the outstanding part is the service. Of course, you can argued that the service is included in the price but let's put it that my friend is willing to pay for that. Of course they take reservation but we didn't make one, just rock in. It wasn't a very long wait, and snacks helps. They served fruits and popcorn accompanied with plum drink (酸梅汤, suān méi tāng). My friend had to remind me not to overeat the snacks and to save tummy space for the meal. :P

An ordering sheet was given upon waiting so that you could pre-order. They also provide board games, playing cards, computers and even manicure service.

According to my friend, they also provide delivery service where the delivery person would set up the hot pot and spread out all all the food on top of delivering them.

Tomato based soup

Tomato based soup as recommended by my friend. It tasted very tomato-ey in a good way, not tomato sauce/paste taste. Here are some of the food we ordered, which I happily snapped away, much to my friend's amusement.






Also not in photos is the sauce. There was a table with different types of sauce and one can mixed and matched to own liking. Prior to serving the food, they also bring some covers to protect your jacket or coat. I even get a cloth (the type which comes with glasses case) to wipe my glasses.

I went to the washroom prior to leaving and I got a shock. In a good way but nonetheless, shock because someone actually handed me tissues after I washed my hands. Umm.. I thought those things only happened in TV drama. I also realised that they will clean the toilet stalls every time someone come out from the stalls. I told my friend that it was scary! He laughed and joked that they were only short of helping him to go to toilet! :P

All in all, it was good food but the service that they sell. :)


Side note: The more frequent I run, the more I eat = ="

Jing'an District is in the center of Shanghai downtown area, and one of the the busiest and most stylish areas in Shanghai. This district owes it's name to Jing'an Temple, an ancient traditional Chinese Buddhist temple.

I find that we walked a fair bit around Jing'an District as I ended up staying in Jinjiang Inn Jing'an. I was planning to book a room in Zhenbei Hotel Shanghai near The Bund after asking Paul but the price shot up during the time of my visit. Also, my friend very kindly offered that he would keep me company on the night prior to my departure as I decided not to travel back to Wuxi.

My friend suggested Jinjiang Hotel. To my horror, when I googled Jinjiang Hotel - I found this. Gulp. My friend is too posh = ="
A minute later, he sent another message, 锦江之星. I realised it was suppose to be Jinjiang Inn, and not Jinjiang Hotel. Phew.


However, to be honest, I am not very sure which road or street I was at, as I followed my friend blindly. I would not choose this hotel if I was travelling by myself, as this hotel is not exactly near to any metro station. As a tourist, I would probably still choose to stay near the Bund, for easy convenience to see the Bund at night :)

However, Jing'an District does has it's charm - it feels a little arty, with sculptures and some paintings on the wall. Strangely enough, it reminded me of Melbourne. Grin.





This is my favourite photo in this lot - love the contrast

Aslan?

Not to forget, my dose of 生煎包 (shenjian bao) from Yang's Dumpling. I got mine from the branch in Wujiang Street. (2/F, 269 Wujiang Lu, near Taixing Lu 吴江路269号2楼, 近泰兴路 +86 21 6136 1391)


The shop was full and there was a queue, so we did a takeaway. The shop was inside a plaza of some sort and there was no food policy outside the shop or perhaps the whole plaza. We ended up eating these yummy morsels outside the plaza.All worth it :)



Side note: Sore throat, sore throat, please go away :/

The neighbourhood was originally built in the 1930s as a Shikumen residential district. (Shikumen is a traditional Shanghainese architectural sytle). Tianzifang is now one of a major tourist attraction with quaint little shops selling crafts, cafes, bars, studios. It has some small similarity to Melbourne's network of laneways. :)


We started day 2 in Shanghai with brunch in Kommune. I gathered my friend enjoys his big breakfast here, I think he would like brunches option in Melbourne. Kommune has a comfy and cosy setting, it does remind me of having a lazy brunch on weekend in Melbourne.

Did you see? The lady is using an iPad too...

Utensils and condiments hanging in a pouch under the table

Sugar and salt in test tubes

We had big breakfast and I had skim flat white.

Served in a milk bottle lookalike jar

Big Breakfast

What to do after a hearty breakfast? Walkabout to check out the area :)



It was a rainy day though...

Spot the bicycle

More bicycle.. haha.. I got soft spot for bicycles :P



A cafe

Souvenirs

Chopsticks

Err.. more bicycles

Painting studio?

I didn't try the cheese cake

Side note: Love my lunch break runs!

Lately don't have the mojo to blog, and.. where has the time gone?

Anyway, The Bund is the famous waterfront, a symbol of Shanghai. Since it is so famous, so it doesn't really need any introduction.. and hence, here are some pictures. Pardon me for slacking but am trying to pick up again.:)


And of course, me being a tourist wants some night shots too. Shame about the weather though. In fact, if it wasn't me insisted on seeing the place again at night, my friend would have just gone back to the hotel and curled up. LOL



It rained and rained, probably the only rainy day on my two weeks in China.



Side note: Addicted to peanut butter & strawberry jam = ="

Carving detail in Yu Garden

I had two and a half days in Shanghai, day 1 in Shanghai was actually Qing Ming Festival, which is a public holidays in China. Day 1 in Shanghai was done as a day trip from Wuxi but I opted to stay overnight for day 2, just so that I could see Shanghai at night and avoid the hassle of moving my luggage around on the last half day.

We (my friend and I) left Wuxi for Shanghai in the morning and made our way to Yu Garden area. Friend was most hospitable, he also volunteered to be my guide in Shanghai and even took a day off work. Friend knows his way around, and travel like an expat (nonetheless), therefore my knowledge of transportation in Shanghai is zero. He even passed me a metro card for the subway, so I didn't even queue up to get tickets for the subway. The part where I comment my friend travel like an expat? Ha, there were a few times we just take a taxi to get around, something that I usually avoid when travelling as I unconciously equate taxi to pricey (except to and fro airport, etc). I was told that taxi charges in Shanghai is one of the highest in China.

Anyway, I digress, back to Yu Gardens.


Yu Garden (or Yuyuan, 豫园) is a famous classical garden from Ming Dynasty. This garden was built by a government officer named Pan Yunduan for his parents as a place to enjoy a tranquil and happy time in their old age. A lot of restoration works has been done on this garden since it first built in Ming Dynasty. It was open to the public in 1961.


See, I told you.. it was crowded. It was probably the most crowded garden I visited in China. 

Huge rockery

Dragon wall

This dragon was said to have only four claws and not five, as so not to incur the emperor's wrath.


Next to the garden, one can find old-style buildings in the Yu Gardens bazaar. The shops in this bazaar are somewhat a tourist trap but there are heaps of things to see.



Our other destination in this area is 南翔馒头店 (Nanxiang Steamed Bun Shop). This place is notoriously known for its long queue for 小笼包 (xiǎolóngbāo) takeaway. Like I mentioned above, my friend travels like an expat (he is afterall an expat working in China :P) brought me to second floor. This restaurant has 3 storey - level is where they handle takeaway, level 2 and 3 are sit down diner, by different price range. This means that one has to spend a minimum of certain price per person. Price tier for level 3 is higher than for level 2.

Just as Peking duck is the thing to eat in Beijing, Shanghai is famous for it's xiǎolóngbāo. Great breakfast to kick start the day, washed down with a pot of Longjing tea.

蟹黄白玉卷 (Crab roll)

招牌小笼 (xiǎolóngbāo)

香辣蟹肉小笼 (Crab meat dumplings)

椒盐腰果酥 (Cashew flaky biscuit) & 蟹黄灌汤虾球 (Prawn & Crab ball)



干贝蛋丝盅 (Scallop and egg soup)

龙井 (Longjing Tea)

Side note: Of late, I feel like whistling.. wonder why.. LOL