Shanghai Day 2

DAY 2
We woke up to a bright morning and cloudy skies. The incessant drizzle the day before had seemingly disappeared. Meng and Zhong led me in search of their favorite eatery near Zhao'an Hotel where they had also stayed in their trip 4 years ago. To no avail though, as it had closed down and in its place was a suspicious restaurant ("we have no electricity, would you like some porridge?). The street also housed our first street hawker du jour. Who was selling the dough fritters that we so desperately craved, but being the sanitized Singaporeans that we were, we were did not try the stall in fear of a premature end to our culinary exploits.














We headed for the Shanghai Tailor and Fabric Market (or some name to that effect) on the recommendation of Wenshan to have our suits tailored. His resident tailor (Jackson Xue, not TAI) was not in for the day and the lady assistant took our measurements and promised to have them ready in a tailoring feat of 4 days. The ties here were of quality and sold at 10RMB. Needless to say, I bought 3 of them in expectation of my daily requirements at PwC.














We headed across the street on the recommendation of the lady assistant for some lunch, and it was a 130RMB well-spent (considering that we blew 110RMB on the crap dinner the day before).














On a belly filled with good food, we headed for the Yu Gardens and the Cheng Huang Temple located in the historic heart of Shanghai, named (what else) Old Shanghai Street.














Walking into the street, we came across many shops selling the ubiquitous tourist trinkets and tea, and Meng popped into one such store for the first of his purchases - he bought some LongJing Tea for his parents. The XiangPian Tea was appealing, but being the miser that I was, I did not want to buy the tea as yet.














When we reached the doors of the Temple I found out that it was not the Buddhist one that I was expecting (there is a difference) and was quite reluctant to buy the 10RMB admission ticket. Given that Meng was waiting outside, we chose not to enter the compound and miss out on the Yu Garden as well. Remember what I said about being miserly?

























We then headed off to Miser Heaven - Qipu Road. Given that its predecessor, Xiangyang Road had been raided by the relevant authorities not long ago, Qipu Road succeeded the former as a bustling haven for pirates and imitation goods.

The streets were extremely crowded even for a Tuesday, and given the number of locals present, it was obvious that this was a market that catered to native Chinese. We trudged through the crowded malls (particularly the basement levels selling shoes and bags) in search of the ultimate bargain.














One notable fact was that the street hawkers here sold pretty much the same fare - Mutton or squid on giant bamboo sticks (that could potentially qualify as a lethal weapon in Singapore) and large slices of melons that looked fantastically sweet. All these without proper storage and hygiene! Imagine squid and fruits being kept at 23deg throughout the day , staying exposed to the elements and the smog that pervaded Shanghai.














We chanced upon many imitation goods, but the most memorable purchase was Meng's Gongtai shoes, which was the subject of Celest's post. Also, Zhong took the chance to whore himself for the camera, and did the classic Chinese squat which he repeated throughout the trip. Oh, and Meng succeeded in purchasing the pair of shoes at 40RMB, which translates to a mind-boggling 8 buckaroos here in Singapore.














We eyed several other purchases, and were keen to come back nearer the date of our departure. We walked about 2.5 squares (on Koof's map) back to our hotel - which took an agonizing 1 and a half hours. To further complicate matters, Zhong was having a bad stomach, which explains his constipated look as evidenced below:-














Zhong headed back to the hotel in search of a much-needed release and supplemented his diet with a bottle of Po Chai pills from the well-stocked 百宝袋 of Meng's. The two of us had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel and we encountered our most disgusting find just yet - a whole fried turtle that cost 24RMB. We had the pleasure of seeing people spit in the upper-class restaurant, and Meng witnessed firsthand a group of locals eating the turtles and I saw a lady munching on the shell of the aforementioned delicacy. GROSS.














We headed to BarVue at Hyatt on the Bund to meet Claire and Weizheng, and the view from the top was much better than that from the Bund the night before. Meng ordered a 60RMB Hennessy VSOP and we were chuckling at the volume of alcohol within the big wine glass.














In the 2 hours that we spent at the bar, we saw the smog obscure the Pearl Tower twice. which was really quite amazing given the strobe lights flashing from the pearl on top of the tower. It was some dense shit indeed.














Zhong's choice of a raw-ish salad-looking alcoholic concoction did not help his gut much, and we concluded the evening with a group shot.

Shanghai Prologue and Day 1

The Shanghai trip started off with a bombshell from Koof - not the feminine kind that one would usually associate Koof with but the news that he'd injured his eye (again) in a freak ricochet of the ball whilst playing cage.

The 3 of us (Me, Zhong & Meng) trooped to the airport knowing that we had to make the most of what was left of the initial gang - with Jing backing out after deciding on Shanghai as the trip location (in consideration of a potential rendezvous with Renee) and the freak accident with Koof.

Before the plane had even gotten off the ground, I had spent a total of 103 bucks buying some 7 cosmetic articles for HER mom. And Meng spent half that amount on a nice-ish Braun Buffel wallet going at a discount after my spree. We got on the relatively empty China Eastern flight MU546 which eventually proved to be a blessing in disguise, as my ample bulk was given sufficient space in which to maneuver.

On bored (sic) the plane, Zhong and Meng amused themselves with the Pro Evolution Soccer on Koof's PSP and mine, whilst I amused myself with my digital camera taking photos that looked like this:

Which was essentially crap.

Anyhow, our arrival in Shanghai was a reflection of our luck (or so we thought at first). Our plane was rerouted from its original destination at Pudong airport to Hongqiao Airport which was further away from the coast. However, I was convinced on the necessity of the move after seeing the fog sweep in from the coastal areas. In addition, the cab fare from Hongqiao to our hotel in Hengtong Road was a measly 60RMB, in comparison with the 160RMB fare that me and Meng would later incur on our way to Pudong Airport on the return leg.














DAY 1
Our first day in Shanghai saw us make a beeline for the tourist district of Nanjing East Road immediately after we'd dumped our belongings in the hotel room, which was very comfortable given the incredibly low price of 300RMB that we were paying per night. The entrance to the metro (Hanzhong Road) was right beside the hotel, and it took a short 15 minutes for the journey to the East (Nanjing Road). Nanjing Road is the likeness of Orchard Road, with prices to match for the similarity as well.














We found a dark alley behind Nanjing Road and ate our first meal of the trip. I had earlier rejected Zhong's suggestion that we eat at CoCo Curry in consideration of the "watery curry" and Meng not seemingly interested (he was at the next junction looking out for more eateries). We found a dingy little shophouse that served authentic Shanghainese fare (or so they claimed). We ordered a plate of unknown meat (and possibly tripe), a plate of unknown greens, a plate of mutton (which turned out to be 20% raw) and 杂浆面 for me and Zhong. After pushing about the noodles in our bowl and flipping around looking for the less-rare portions of mutton, we decided to give up on the meal and head for the Bund.

The Bund was filled with people even on a Monday evening, with peddlers, touts and ice-cream sellers having a field day selling their wares to the crowd. Even though the view from the Bund could not rival that of Hongkong back when I visited it in '05, the skyscrapers and illuminated buildings signified China's progress as a capitalistic member of the global society. And with that, our day ended with a walk back to the metro from the Bund.

At the airport

Over a cup of tea, my bleary eyes struggle to keep themselves open. Pulling an all-nighter watching a drab match of anti-football played out by the world champions Italy was a testing experience. Waiting for the arrival of Koof and co, upon which his presence/absence at a later time in Shanghai would decide the nature of me and Meng's activities from Friday to Sunday.

Didn't get to see HER for the past day, but received HER enthusiastic call early in the morning and after learning about my departure timing (at 10.15am, no less) she marveled at my incredible waste of time and promptly hung up.

Am looking forward to my Shanghai noons.

:)