China Chronicles Day 5 (Part II)

After lunch, I guess Tony realized that we barely had time to shop for souvenirs while we here. So we headed for a shopping area in Shanghai (the name of the place? I seem to have forgotten) and he gave us about two hours to shop. This place houses a temple as well. The place is like a maze with so many shops, stalls and at the center (or is it courtyard? that's what it resembles), there are so many people. I call it the food plaza. Everyone is eating, chatting and just, well, eating! It was a bit noisy in that part of the place. So, it was to each his own, we would just meet up @ Starbucks (see? I told you we had a homing device for Starbucks).

After haggling, selecting and making our purchases, the gang was there outside Starbucks. We then found ourselves eating Siao Long Pao, a delicacy that’s very popular here. It’s a huge dumpling, huge because it’s about 2” in diameter and it fits into a tiny steamer. Actually it’s sold in a steamer with a plastic cup underneath and you get a straw. Yup, you read it right a straw. That’s because you sip the broth inside the dumpling first before you can actually eat it. The broth is so tasty and it really makes you wonder, how in the world can you cook it without tearing the wrapper and allowing the broth to seep? One for Ripley’s!


Siao Long Pao

Then, it was time to get to the airport. From the shopping district, we rode the bus to the Shanghai Maglev Train Station or what is more popularly known as the Bullet Train. Jackie & William met their new tour guide and we said our good-byes. We, on the other hand, waited for Tony to purchase our tickets. The Maglev, or Magnetic Levitation, is a railroad line from Longyang Road in Shanghai to the Pu Dong International Airport. Ordinarily, you could take a taxi or a bus or have someone fetch you at the airport and you’d drive 20 miles to get to the city proper. Now that is going to take some time. But via Bullet Train, get this: you travel the same distance at 430 kmh and the trip takes only 8 minutes! Unbelievable! Well, of course you don’t get that kind of transport service cheap. A ticket costs Y 40.00 that’s roughly Php 300.00. Well, it was part of the tour.


(L-R) Jane, Diane, Jane (Gan) & Me


Maglev Ride

Now this is where sheer frustration comes in. We saved time by taking the bullet train to the airport. Nevertheless, we had to 'walk-run-walk-run-run-run' from one end of the airport to the other and line up at the baggage counter. I was so close to having an asthma attack! I haven’t been in such cold weather for a long time and that kind of weather coupled with running leaves me “breathless” then the wheezies come in. I really had the end of the pack covered because Ricky was caught between monitoring where they went through, which door they took and motioning to me where to follow. At this point in time, I was close to cursing the tour guide. If I had an attack, would he take me to the hospital? Damn. We finally met up with the bus, claimed our luggage and started another sprint towards the check-in counter.

Here’s another one for the books. Imagine around five lines for the baggage check-in, all for the same flight and the guide CUT THROUGH a line thereby making our group cut the line. That’s not all, imagine the people in line are fellow Filipinos! Triple damn! I was so ashamed I just tried my best to ignore the stares and most probably the curses that were uttered our way. Hay! Nakakahiya talaga! Our groupmates, Jane and Nelson Gan even knew some of them, they were gracious enough to let us off the hook, or was it just Jane and Nelson?

Having checked-in the baggage, said goodbye to TONY the tour guide, gone through the monitors and security checks, all that was left was to wait in the lounge near the boarding gate for our trip home to Manila.


Jane & Me waiting for the boarding call

Wow! As I sat there, I realized five days had gone by so quickly, I hoped there was more… But like all stories, events and good things, it came to an end.

On the plane, I got to watch Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. Good because, I didn’t get to watch that when it was shown in Manila. The flight home was okay. Just a final hurdle at the immigration desk in NAIA and we found ourselves saying good-bye to Jane, Diane, Nelson and Jane. If God permits, I hope we'll be in the same group next year, sans the Tour Guide we got ...

Please do visit our online album or simply click on the Snapshots link on the right side of this page and access the Holy Week 2005 and Shanghai Too albums; I haven't uploaded all of the pics so visit once in a while... Thanks y'all!

China Chronicles Day 5

Morning call - 7 a.m.

Well this was the fifth and final day of our Shanghai trip. Jackie & William will be proceeding to Beijing for a couple more days while the rest of us are going back to Manila.

Our flight was at 5:10 p.m. so, we managed to squeeze in a few places before we left. First stop: the daytime view of the Bund. Now in my previous post, I mentioned that it was much more beautiful at night. There's a boat that goes around it so you can see Shanghai in all it's nighttime glory. It's a pity that I didn't get to see it but thanks to our ever-efficient and accommodating tour guide, no Bund tour happened (Our guide is another saga altogether). They say that you haven't been to Shanghai if you haven't been on the Bund and seen the Pearl Tower. The weather wasn't cooperating that morning, there was a drizzle. Nevertheless, we stole a few pics. Sayang din naman...


Bund @ Daytime; the view from here ...


is this!

After the 5-second tour of the Bund, we proceeded to the Pearl Tower. Now this structure is fascinating as well. It is a 468 M tall structure with several sightseeing decks/levels, a rotating restaurant: the Oriental Pearl Sky Revolving Restaurant and a level that showcases gifts from friendship cities. This tower is the highest tower in Asia, the third highest tower in the world. It was a sight to behold as well.


Check out the Pearl...


Upclose & Pearl-sonal

Afterwards, we went to the other side of Shanghai to actually get to the Pearl Tower. We only went up to the upper sphere (263M). There were viewing decks for you to see Shanghai and if only the skies were clearer, it would've been much more beautiful. Then, at the Ground Level, we took some pics with the Great Wall in the background...


Great Wall Pic

Before we left, we went to the Gift Shop and bought some items there. We had lunch at a restaurant where there are dishes cooked and served from a bamboo stalk! Anyways, the food was good they also had a stage and we were entertained with two folk dance numbers.


Grinning because I'm full...


Bye-bye elephant

China Chronicles Day 4 (Part II)

It was another 3 hour ride back to Shanghai. Thank God there weren't any boat rides anymore. So, we dozed off on the bus.

We're en route to Shanghai but we just made a stopover at Tongxiang for a BOM (that's what I call it - a Business Opportunity Meeting) which is famous for its Chrysanthemum Tea. Just like our Longjin Village stopover, they offered a cup of tea and made a Sales Pitch... - copied from my palm note pad

When we arrived at Shanghai, I thought we were going to the hotel first but Tony took us to another part of Shanghai that had the tiangges. It was a Friday, the start of a long weekend so there were a lot of locals everywhere. It was at the Shangyung area and Tony gave us, would you imagine, 45 minutes to shop! That's barely scratching the surface of the merchandise if I may say so. At this point, nagkanya-kanya na kami so, Ricky and I started going around. It's like Greenhills at night...Well, it turns out that we spent nearly 90 minutes and when Ricky & I returned to the meeting place, Tony was there, along with Jane and Nelson. So, Ricky and I slowly inched our way towards the other side of the tiangge since there were only 4 of us there. So bad of us! But we quickly returned & by then, the group was almost complete. So, it was time for dinner, we were all hungry by then.

Afterwards, since we weren't going to the Bund (which they say has a spectacular view at night), Tony took us to Xin Tian Di, a place in Shanghai that combines new with old, east with west. It's like our Libis, Malate or Makati areas here in Manila. It's like you're in Shanghai, France and SanFo all at the same time. I'm positive that it would be a different experience altogther had we gone there during the day. This is definitely one place I'd love to go back to and savor the place by sitting outside let's say Starbucks, with Ricky and we're just doing our 'mall thing' (a.k.a. people-watching ). There are cafes all about and even a bar where Filipino bands perform - a true testament to the Filipino talent. And mind you, the line at the entrance was long; they must be really good.


at the square entrance (L-R) Jane, Nelson (partly hidden), Jackie, Diane (partly hidden), Jane and William

We really didn't go around the whole place due to lack of time but it was pretty interesting. Here, we just decided to get our coffee fix at Starbucks then just walk back to our meeting place.


Starbucks Xin Tian Di


outside Xin Tian Di waiting for the bus to take us home (L-R) Nelson, Jane, Jackie, William (partly hidden) and Me (pretending to be surprised...)

We arrived at the hotel and decided to forego our earlier plan of going out again. We called it a night and prepared for our last day in Shanghai.

China Chronicles Day 4

Morning call was not so early - 7 a.m.. We had breakfast at the hotel’s café and I was pleasantly surprised...The café's interiors were tastefully done but it was small, cozy; food selection is comparable to Holiday Inn breakfast fare - maybe not as many dishes but definitely better food than the other hotels we stayed at.

After breakfast, Tony took us around West Lake, a place Hangzhou is very famous for. The lake, surrounded by mountains on three sides, has three man made islands in the middle. The Hangzhou local government developed the lake and the areas surrounding it into a strip of cafes, causeways and tourist attractions. Shangri-la Hangzhou is within the vicinity of the lake. West Lake is a beauty and it certainly beckons one to just sit on the benches, gaze out at the lake or read a book; you know, a place to just 'chill out'. Now, to get another view of West Lake, Tony was going to take us on a boat ride (oh no, not again! But this time it was perfectly safe...) that went around the lake.


at the back of the love boat

In the middle of the lake there are 3 hollow pagodas, the sides of which have moon shaped "cut-outs". Tony explains that during the Spring Festival, lamps/bulbs are placed inside these pagodas and are covered with paper. At nighttime, you get a spectacular view of what they call 'The Lake that Mirrors the Moon'. This view shows you 32 moons! 32 because the pagodas give off the reflection of 30 moons. Then you have the real moon up above and its own reflection hence, 32 moons. I'm sure the place is much more beautiful during spring or summer when the flowers are also in full bloom.

After the boat ride, we walked around the park, took some pictures and made our way into a neighboring restaurant for lunch.

pose tayo sa puno


the beauties

Then it was back to Shanghai via bus.

China Chronicles Day 3 (Part II)

Next, T-O-N-Y took us to the Longjin Temple which houses 2 buddhas and has a hall with 500 statues of monks. Picture taking is prohibited in the hall but if you could see those statues, life-size and life-like! Amazing…



Longjin Temple

Then we went around a park where there were 300+ buddha carvings (in and on the cave walls). Wonderful!


there are 300+ stone carvings like these on the inner and outer walls of the caves

And I ate corn on the cob. Man oh man, their corn cobs were huge! Hehehe Ricky and I love corn so we bought and shared a cob; we were happily eating while walking around the park.

Next stop: the Longjin Tea Village. Longjin is China’s best tea. They also call it the Dragonwell Tea. We visited the village (yes, according to the guide, it is an actual village where the villagers' livelihood is producing the tea). The village is situated in the mountanous part of Longjin and tea bushes line the slopes of these mountains. Upon entering the village, there are several rooms where they entertain tourists and guests and treat them to a cup of their famous product. Perfect since I just ate a cob of corn, I could have tea to wash it down ... It smells like seaweed but tastes nothing like seaweed neither does it taste like the Green Tea we have here. It is actually quite good. Locals (or as I call them, Sales Associates, explain the process of creating the tea, from harvesting or picking the leaves to packaging and the different kinds of Dragonwell Tea. They also share the medicinal properties of the tea which has been said to help reduce high levels of cholesterol and 'cure' diabetes. Of course, such a presentation leads to their Sales Pitch and the group places their orders. Ricky bought a canister for himself.

Then, we went to the giftshop, bought some delicious tea candies that look and taste like our turrones de kasuy except that the filling is made of tea leaves and some nuts too, I think. They also make Tea Cookies but we didn't buy any of those, just the Tea Candies...

It was late in the afternoon so we went back into town and checked into the Regal Park Hotel. Now amongst the hotels we stayed in this is my favorite. Actually, medyo bago pa sya but the interiors were nice. The bedside and reading lamps were so cool, I wanted to stash one in our baggage and bring it home. Anyways, I enjoyed our stay there.


Nice lamps...

After unpacking, we decided to go out. No matter if it was so cold...if I remember correctly, it was about 7 degrees outside. We wanted to try and shop in the nearby malls unfortunately, there wasn’t anything to buy so what we (Jane, Diane, Ricky & I) did was we went to Starbucks! Ricky & I bought a tshirt with Starbucks Hangzhou written on it (I suspect this is going to start a collection for us) and Diane bought a tumbler. Since we couldn't go shopping, we did the next best thing: eating! We sampled the dumplings (Wu Da Niang Dumplings) that Tony said were a must-try. As the man said, the dumplings are good and they were! They're not just the regular kind of dumplings we have here, may sabaw sya sa loob although it isn't exactly Siao Long Pao. But, tasty enough. Next, we went to the noodle house that Tony recommended. We wanted to try a bowl but man, the size of the bowl was huge! So, we walked back to the hotel but dropped by KFC first. We checked out what was different on their menu and guess what it was? Corn on the cob. Hehehe Jane asked if I'd care to sample the corn but the huge cob we had earlier was enough to last me for another day or two. So, we went back to the hotel and had a good night’s rest.