Surviving Shanghai: Day 2

We lost another opportunity of going out in the morning because I had to take my final exam online in one of my subjects in my masters. So we left the hotel at lunch time and headed to Yu Garden and City God Temple. We got off at Yuyuan Garden station, crossed the street and walked our way to the temple.

 be careful while crossing the street 'coz they rarely obey traffic rules there

While walking to the temple, there were a lot of shops. That's Yuyuan Market, a place that looks like Divisoria. Anyway, we entered the temple and we were surprised that about 3/4 of the whole place were transformed into a shopping haven. Some parts of the temple were also converted into restaurants. But still, they were able to preserve the Chinese heritage the temple has.

 map

 super cute pandas!!!

We found a tip on GuidePal Shanghai, another useful application I downloaded from the Apple App Store, that the "xiaolongbao" or soup dumpling in Nan Xiang Restaurant is a must-try. So we tried it! There was a very long outside the restaurant for "take out" orders and it's a whole lot cheaper there too. But since we wanted to avoid the queue, we'd rather be seated and pay more, so we went up the 3rd floor of the 3-storey restaurant. The xiaolongbao is quite expensive at 36 RMB and it's good for 1 person only. I suggest, just be patient with the queue if you wanna get it for a cheaper price. Trust me, it's super worth it! It's very tasty! We also ordered another set of dumplings and a shanghai roll. The dumplings were also good, but we were surprised because the shanghai roll came in just one small piece and rolled like a crepe. It's delicious but not enough.

long queue outside

 dumplings

 THE "xiaolongbao"

 tea that doesn't taste good

 THE "spring roll"

 i want this! haha

There's a part of the temple that's more exclusive. There's an entrance fee of 40 RMB because it's peak season. I think it's cheaper at off season. Actually, besides the Chinese history reflected on the structure of the temple, there's nothing else to see there. By saying that, I meant that there's nothing spectacular and if I had to compare it with those I saw in Beijing a year ago, it's too far from how awesome the stuff in Beijing were.

 tickets at 40 RMB because it's peak season

 used an effect from my Camera 360 app

 the stage

saw this cute display on our way out

Then we proceeded to the Fashion Center where we saw a lot of international brands. But across that were stores that were like a bazaar or Divisoria. We were not able to shop because we had to catch a show after.

they have these yummy doughnuts too!

From Yuyuan Garden station, we took the metro train to Shanghai Circus World station. It's so funny 'cause we walked the wrong way when after all, we just had to cross the street to see the Shanghai Circus World. A week before leaving for Shanghai, I booked a 2 tickets of 90 RMB each (cheapest) through the ERA: Intersection of Time website. It was just a reservation as we had to pick up the tickets when we get to the venue. However, when we got there, I was informed that my reservation was for Friday night and not Saturday night! Gosh, how did I overlook that?!? Unfortunately, the seats worth 90 RMB were already fullybooked so we got those worth 190 RMB instead. But trust me, it's super worth it! ERA was the best thing I've ever seen! There were lots of heart-stopping stunts! To give you an idea of what I was talking about...imagine this: Eight motorcycles in maximum speed were all inside a globe at the same time! That's a superb finale! Anyway, I won't spoil it much anymore, you gotta see it for yourselves! 

 after buying tickets

By the way, before we watched the show, we had dinner at Saizeriya, a restaurant I got to know when I was in Japan. They served good food. It's located at the mall on the block next to the Shanghai Circus World.

 affordable and yummy!

 tiramisu! yum!

 chicken

hamburger

 during intermission. that's a timer.

 8 motorcycles inside that globe! anyway, here's the cast!:)

best thing I've ever seen, so far.

Check out http://www.era-shanghai.com/era/en/ for details. Here are some photos I've grabbed from the website, featuring the highlights of the show:

Highlight 1: Mirror Mirage

Highlight 2: Magic Water

Highlight 3: Floating Gondola

Highlight 4: Music of ERA

Highlight 5: Jar Juggling

Highlight 6: Wheel of Life

 Highlight 7: Forever

Highlight 8: Space Motorcycles

Anyway, after the show, we headed to Century Avenue while figuring out where to go for a Saturday night. Incidentally, we detected a free/open wifi outside O'yamee right outside the Century Avenue station. We stayed outside the place for almost an hour trying to browse our iPhone travel apps on suggestions of places to go. Guidepal Shanghai is nice because on wifi or 3G, it can show a live map wherein it shows you the nearby spots, as you move your phone around. It has this censor that detects your location. Super cool! Plus you can also checkout www.smartshanghai.com on the internet because it contains the daily events in Shanghai. That night we read about lots of events happening in multiple places but we're not dressed and we just wanted to have a steady night.

Guidepal screen cap

Then we decided to go to The Alchemist. According to the app, it's a bar that serves unusual cocktails that will get you amazed as they prepare them in front of you. Since we got curious, we chose that place. It's at Fuxing Lu, the heart of nightlife in Shanghai 'coz it's where you'll find series of different bars. Anyway, The Alchemist is located at Sinan Mansions, it's like a mivi village of nice houses that has a commercial area at the entrance. There were a few people that night at The Alchemist but most of them were expats. The English-speaking Chinese bartender was so entertaining because he kept talking to the customers and he really speaks with American accent! His favorite word: f*ckin haha! Anyway, their cocktails were good though a bit pricey. We also ordered the Eggwich -- 4pcs butter-toasted bread with poached egg on top -- and it's super addicting! After more than an hour there, we headed back to the hotel.

 cocktails :)

 we're seated by the bar

 eggwich! super love!!!!

 salad

 seems like a very nice place to live in

So that's our 2nd day in Shanghai! Next post is about our 3rd and last day in Shanghai...

Surviving Shanghai: Day 1 (Official)

Sept. 21 (Friday)

By "official" I meant, it's the real deal...those activities we sort of planned to do.

Since we started out late, we were not able to do everything in our itinerary for this day.  First thing we did upon leaving the hotel was to find a place to eat. We walked along North Sichuan Road, until we saw a mall with signages of food stores. There we tried Happy Lemon (it's cheaper there than here in the P.I.) and a Chinese restaurant. We order a roasted duck and a set meal like that of a shabu-shabu. Then we ordered "mi fan" (rice) but we were given a black rice that tasted sweet, which we felt was a dessert haha! There, you'll have to pay your food right after the waiter has gotten your order.

cute Hello Kitty cake! I want!

So after our late lunch, we took the Metro train to the West Nanjing Road. It's a long road of lots of boutiques! Truly a shopping haven! It reminded me of Shinjuku and Harajuku wherein all the brands are on the the both sides of the road.

From Nanjing Road, we took the Metro train to Century Ave. There we were on an elevated walkway and we got a perfect view of the best buildings and structures in Shanghai, most especially the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We originally planned to have a dinner buffet at the tower but it costs around Php 2,500 when converted. So we opted to find something else to do. We wanted to go to The Bund, so we had to cross the Huangpu River. We went through The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel wherein we rode a see-through covered cart on a rail going to the other side of the river. The ride costs 90 RMB/pax. We didn't actually pay much attention to the voice over and the effects shown inside as we were passing through the tunnel, but for sure, it's not worth 90 RMB! haha

Jin Mao Tower

 Oriental Pearl TV Tower

 BFFs and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower

 I was surprised I can take a photo this nice!

it's very evident on this photo how tired I've been from walking the whole day

 that's our ride going to the other side of the river

That's the tunnel! Kinda scary haha!

Besides the Huangpu River, we also got a nice view of the French Concession on the opposite side. And to cap our night, we headed to The Apartment where we had our late dinner and some drinks. They serve sumptuous Italian dishes and good cocktails. Just like what its name suggests, it's a 3-storey apartment with a roof deck that somehow felt like Skye. One of its rooms was for house music and it felt a bit like Relik, while the other room was playing RNB and HipHop, which felt like Republiq. There were lots of expats and tourists at the place. We headed back to the hotel at 1:30am and it only took us around 36 RMB via cab.

I used the HDR effect of my Camera 360 app on iPhone 

 The ferry ride costs 2 RMB only. We should've taken this instead on the tunnel thing.

 So funny that this looks like the Empire State Building in New York haha!

 The French Concession

Felt like Paris over here!

Price Range: 70-200 RMB (drinks at 70+, food at 100+)

 the dining area (resto part)

 Roof Deck

 Shanghai party :)

 the room for "house music"

the room for "RNB and Hiphop" music

It's so cool because we found flyers/invites for Maroon5 Shanghai concert's after-party at The Apartment scheduled on the coming week.

Tip: Download the Wow Shanghai app because it's very useful in finding the perfect places for shopping, dining, partying, and more! It's complete...with directions!:)

So that's our 1st day in Shanghai! I got more to share about our second day. Stay tuned!:)


xoxo

Surviving Shanghai: Arrival Mishaps!

So I went on a weekend trip to Shanghai with my BFF. There's only 1 flight everyday from Manila to Shanghai via Cebu Pacific at 8:20 pm and it arrives in Shanghai at around 12mn. 

We got our tickets booked on sale last June and it only cost us around Php 5000+ roundtrip. About the visa, we got it 4 days after our application. Well we just renewed the Chinese visa we got September last year for a weekend trip in Beijing. I suggest you course it through an established travel agency because it's a whole lot easier.

We left Manila (NAIA Terminal 3) on Sept. 20, 8:20 pm. During our trip, the plane was less than half full. And 90% of the passengers were Chinese. After more than 3 hrs in the plane, we're finally in Shanghai. You better grab those tourist maps you can see on your way to the immigration.

neck pillows:)

The Pudong International Airport was almost closed when we got there. We were starving but got no place to eat. Our check-in at the hotel is at 12 noon and we have 12 hours more to go. We thought we could hang in the airport but we're wrong. Then an English-speaking Chinese guy with an "airport service" name plate approached us and offered us help in getting an "airport hotel". At first we thought that's the "per hour" hotel at the airport but we ended up booking a hotel, which was a 15-minute ride from the airport. initially the guy told us it will only cost us 300 RMB so we agreed. We bought snacks from Family Mart, the only open convenience store in the airport. Then we got out of the airport, rode a van, and arrived at the hotel. There we were charged 398 RMB for our room. Thank God, to the Chinese-speaking South African guy, a hotel guest who was nice enough to do the translation. The place was a bit creepy. And the bathroom was see-through! So we slept for a couple of hours and left the hotel at 10am. They gave us a free ride from the hotel back to the airport.

never again!

right before we left the "emergency hotel" haha

We're supposed to take the MagLev train but it will cost us a lot more so we settled on the regular Metro train. That's Line 2 from the airport. You better pay attention while in the train because at Guanglan Station, you'll have to get out of the train, transfer to the other side and ride a new train because if not, you'll end up heading back to the airport. It's kinda weird because when the train reaches Guanglan Road, it does not head to the next station, but goes back to the airport. When we noticed that the train was pulling back, we got off immediately after two stations back. We went back again to Guanglan Station and rode the right train after. Anyway, so we got off at East Nanjing Road, then transferred to Line 10 and got off at North Sichuan Road. Our hotel is at Dongbaoxing Road so it took us a really long walk to get to our hotel, most especially because we started walking at the wrong way. haha!

Note: The SHANGHAI METRO app is very helpful. Be sure to download it before going to Shanghai. It navigates you around Shanghai by telling what Metro Lines to take and which stations to go. It even calculates your estimated travel time. It's an offline app so you can use it even if you're not connected to the internet.

We stayed at Jinjiang Inn. It's a group of hotels so there are a lot of branches in Shanghai. But for the Dongbaoxing branch, we're really satisfied. They got good service and they got really nice rooms. We booked it via Agoda, and 3 nights cost us about Php 4,000+. It's super worth it! There's LAN in the rooms, plus cable TV, and heater at the shower. They also have wifi at the lobby. Room keys are cards, and these cards are required to be inserted in the elevator to bring you up in your room.

After a few minutes of rest at the hotel, we went out and started exploring the city. That's what my next post will be all about....

xoxo