Day 4: I'd Do It All Again
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2012
1
6
7
Trip End
Mar 03, 2012
Where I stayed
The Phoenix Hotel
Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Thursday, March 1, 2012
10.20 am: Reached The Bund for the first time in my life. (oh wow now I make it seem like a big deal :P) I was very much disappointed that I could not view the World Financial Centre. My plan was to go up to its 100th floor. I saw on Youtube that the so-called World's Fastest Elevator is so awesome. Watch it here. Maybe God gave me reasons to visit Shanghai again in the future. I took as many photos as I could, without bothering what the passers-by think. I could tell that most of them were not locals; friendly faces with looks of amazement.
11.45 am: I walked through an unknown market, passed by what I thought was Yu Garden. It did have the same atmosphere like in Singapore, say, Chong Pang market. There were a lot of DIY stuff and arts and crafts. I bought myself a pair of PVC gloves for RMB 15. Here, people eat their meals while walking/shopping/talking/squatting/anything... and while I was standing in the middle of nowhere I witnessed a lady vendor dumped a bowl of unfinished food behind her. I was just a few steps away. Phew. No dumpling shower that day.
12.50 pm: I was at Ning Bo Dumpling near Huxinting tea house trying to have a taste of the local feast. But the only fish and tofu I could get was not the usual dumpling kind - more like a fish ball and fried thingy thingy. The vegetable soup looked tempting but it was too bland for me.
The rest of the afternoon went by with my walking through more unknown streets. I took a costume photo. Haha! It was fun but I hate the haggling part. I only wanted the smallest size possible but she was really beyond tolerable, and in the end I gave in. But I'm happy for the photos i have. Then I decided to go back to my hotel because I was too tired and the sky was still very hazy I can't see anything much if I walked around further. Being a spoiled princess, I took a cab home because I couldn't imagine myself walking for 30 minutes any longer.
Back at the dorm I met with the rest of the travelers. Adventurous bunch they were. The lady from UK (the one who went to India) was called Rian/Rhee Ann/ Reeyan. For a blonde with blue eyes, that's such a peculiar name. The guy under me (:P) was from Sweden. There's a guy from Holland, another guy from Canada and another from Sweden as well. The ones that crept in in the middle of the night were from Italy. But I didn't get to see how bello they were.
Later that evening I went out again, this time with a company. We walked the same way i did that morning to The Bund. It was drizzling. We took photos and talked, I was happy - at least I wasn't alone. We walked again to East Nanjing Rd (whatever) and had dinner at one of the local fast food chain. Whoa. I was close to churning pork. Haha! (But i guess i accidentally did at McD for breakfast before I went to the great wall but that's another story)
The rest of the evening was very nice. Memorable. By the end of that night I felt extremely sad because I was going to leave Shanghai and there is no certainty that I'll be coming back anytime soon. ='(
Song for today: All those pretty lights by Andrew Belle.
Total expenses today: RMB 435.
