{"id":1147,"date":"2008-10-29T10:47:34","date_gmt":"2008-10-29T02:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mytwogirls.net\/?p=1147"},"modified":"2009-12-10T14:25:22","modified_gmt":"2009-12-10T06:25:22","slug":"shanghai-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mytwogirls.net\/?p=1147","title":{"rendered":"Shanghai 2008"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to Shanghai for almost a week 2 weeks ago. Approval was pretty last minute, and the Chinese Embassy was closed for a whole week prior to my departure. I only got my passport at 9pm on Monday, 6th October night itself, and my flight was 3hrs later. Imagine my stress level prior to my flight.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the trip was to conduct training to our clones<\/strike> new Shanghai colleagues. After months of being overworked, the management has finally decided to hire more people to ease our workload. <\/p>\n

I arrived early morning on Tuesday. This time staying in Pudong (\u84b2\u4e1c) instead of Puxi (\u84b2\u897f) where we stayed last year<\/a>. By the time I got into Raddison Hotel Pudong Century Park<\/a> it was 9am. With less than 4hrs sleep in total the night before, I slept in for the rest of the morning.<\/p>\n

The room was very nice and comfortable. I like the big glass panel seperating the toilet and the bedroom, making the place look very spacious.
\n\"Raddison<\/p>\n

The hotel is next to a commercial square with lots of restaurants and a Carrefour within walking distant. The only complain I have is there’s no MRT station nearby. <\/p>\n

My first lunch, I just grabbed a fried noodle (blech!) nearby and then headed to the office, located in Pudong, in an isolated techology park. For the 3.5 days of training, I spoke mainly in Mandarin (I thank my parents for sending me to Chinese school, making me so ‘useful’ in my adult life), I wonder if I confused anybody since my Chinese isn’t that great. \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

On my first day, I opted to be alone because I was still feeling tired from lack of sleep. Had dinner in a restaurant near the hotel. It’s difficult to order for one, I had a portion of smoke duck and pot stickers, and didn’t manage to finish them.<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

I spent the rest of the evening wondering around. Found a few road side DVD peddlers, so I did some DVD shopping (RMB5 for a movie, how about that?), and then also spotted a traditional massage place next to the hotel operating till 1am. I booked myself for a 1hr Duina (\u63a8\u62ff) massage that night itself. I slept like a baby after the massage.<\/p>\n

The next 3 nights, I have my colleagues accompanying me in the evenings, bringing me out for dinners. I had no time to shop in the malls, but thank goodness for all the DVDs peddlers which are opened till 11pm, I managed to buy quite a lot of DVDs. I also managed to go for another round of massage. <\/p>\n

Here are pictures of my dinners.<\/p>\n

2nd evening – with a colleague, at \u9e6d\u9e6d\u9152\u5bb6 (Lulu Jiu Jia) he ordered some of the more famous Shanghainese dishes. Chicken in wine; tofu with crab roe (\u87f9\u7c89\u8c46\u8150); some soya mock meat (\u56db\u559c\u70e4\u592b); steamed “many treasure fish” (\u591a\u5b9d\u9c7c), a type of sole which is only available in Shanghai.
\n\"Dinner<\/p>\n

3rd evening – Group dinner at Lang Yi Fang Restaurant (\u5eca\u4ea6\u822b\u9152\u6a13). Armed with a RM50\/head budget, this was what we got.<\/p>\n

5 types of cold dishes – I love the fried fish with sauce (\u718f\u9c7c), they come in a stack.
\n\"Group<\/p>\n

7 types of warm dishes – Gosh, I thought there was no end to the food they dished out. The fried prawns and the cucumber and corn soup were really good.
\n\"Group<\/p>\n

The restaurant even has a very good view of The Bund (\u5916\u6ee9).<\/a>. For RM50 per head, I think it’s so reasonable.<\/p>\n

4th evening, dinner was at Qiao Jiang Nan (\u6084\u6c5f\u5357). It took us almost 1hr 15mins to travel from MRT station (near office) to the hotel (to drop off some books I ordered) then to the restaurant at The Bund, all due to Friday rush hour.<\/p>\n

This was by far the best meal. The fresh vege with sesame dip was so good, I tried to make it at home last week, and Daddy loved it too. Then there’s the famous spicy chicken (\u53e3\u6c34\u9e21) and the most delicious chicken pot stickers I’d ever eaten.
\n\"Qiao<\/p>\n

These few dishes were not too bad too. Prawn and corn fried with salted egg yolk; cold noodle; stir fried shredded duck with mushroom.
\n\"Qiao<\/p>\n

All these with drinks and beer for 3, came out to RMB300 (RM150). I think dining in Shanghai, is still cheaper than dining in KL.<\/p>\n

If you think all my meals are this yummy, check out the lunch that they dish out in the canteen. Every thing is cold, and quite horrid tasting not to mention you have to queue around 10 minutes before you get your food.
\n\"Canteen<\/p>\n

Some sights : <\/p>\n

The Bund (\u5916\u6ee9) viewed from the Pudong side.
\n\"The<\/p>\n

Shanghai Telecom Building (\u4e1c\u65b9\u660e\u73e0)
\n\"Shanhai<\/p>\n

Love their road signs, so informative, telling you exactly what’s ahead, the name of the roads that are intersacting with the road you are on etc.
\n\"Road<\/p>\n

On the last day, before my flight, I managed to go to Puxi, and shopped for some Shanghainese cakes in Nanjing Road (\u5357\u4eac\u8def). If you are ever in Shanghai, you have to try the ShenDaCheng (\u6c88\u5927\u6210) cakes. They are really yummy.
\n\"Nanjing<\/p>\n

To get to the airport, I took the Maglev<\/a>. RMB40, and it only took 6min to get to the airport (instead of the 30~45min taxi ride). The fasted it went was 430Km\/hr!
\n\"Shanghai<\/p>\n

(All photos taken in Point & Shoot, such vast difference in quality)<\/p>\n

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