苏州 - 杭州 (3)

We spent the night at 西湖天地，a 新天地 of Hangzhou.. Along the corridor are the boutiques of Dolce & Gabbana, Emporio Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna, Ferrari Club store etc.. Great architecture I must say..




















西湖天地

The second day was spent visiting the infamous 断桥！The legend has it that when a couple walked along the bridge, their love would be blessed and everlasting.. Well there's no harm trying since I want my love with dear be blessed and everlasting ;)

Actually the real reason we walked along the bridge is because we were heading to 楼外楼 for our brunch.. It only took us 20mins to walk past the bridge but we managed to found the freaking restaurant only 45mins later -_-' I was starving to death then!














The infamous 断桥

I managed to fulfill my desire for Hangzhou's specialty during the trip - 叫化鸡 aka Beggar Chicken，西湖醋鱼 aka Water Lake Vinegar Fish，西湖汤 aka Water Lake Soup，东波肉。。 Amongst all, I love 叫化鸡 the most..

One must be wondering why the name beggar chicken? In the past, the chicken was covered in a mud and cooked underground as they couldn't afford a cooking pot; hence the name. Of course, now it's no more done that way..

One thing I noticed is that the Hangzhou-ians 很会吃 醋！I could taste vinegar in most of the dishes!

We headed back to Shanghai in the evening for whole body massage and foot reflexology.. The whole trip, though fulfilling and enjoyable, has drained us so much that we needed the special relaxing treatment!














Best picture of the year!

苏州 - 杭州 (2)

We joined a one-day tour in Hangzhou and visited all of the scenic spots - 西湖，三潭印月，岳飞墓，灵隐寺，宋城，虎跑泉，龙井问茶。。 The tour begins from 7am all the way to 6pm nonstop! Imagine how tiring it was! But yeah that's how it is when you join one-day tour..

First itinerary was a visit to 西湖。 Only one word to describe: B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L! I was totally speechless being amazed by its beauty..















Beautiful scenery at 西湖

We then headed to 三潭印月 by boat.. It's a small island, and again, filled with beautiful scenery! There was a stone of 三潭印月 said to be written by the emperor. It was believed that touching the character 印 may bring fortune - male is supposed to touch it with his left hand; while female with her right hand..




















*gasps! speechless..




















All the superstitious stuff -_-' But oh well :p















At 三潭印月

Next visit was the famous 岳飞墓, a memorial place for 岳飞将军。















岳飞 Tomb




















岳飞 Statue















The traitors that caused 岳飞 death - in the past, people spitted on them, thus there's a saying in the wall 'DO NOT SPIT'!

Afternoon was spent in 灵隐寺。 If you're not up into praying and burning incents, you can skip this place.. But well the place was pretty cool for picture taking.. The question is whether it worths the trouble..




















at 灵隐寺

Hangzhou is famous for its 龙井茶 aka Long Jing Green Tea, thus trip 龙井问茶 is compulsory in any tour itenerary.. I bought myself two box of 西湖龙井茶 :) The culture in Hangzhou is not to DRINK tea, but to EAT tea - 吃茶. After drinking the tea, they either eat the tea leaves, or collect it for pillow as the effect is good for your rest.. I tried eating the tea leaves and it was surprisingly good :)














Buying 西湖龙井茶 - looked so happy then as yet to found out was being fraud -_-'

Spent a relaxing evening in 宋城 aka Soong Town. The place is built to resemble the ancient city of China where even the people there were still wearing the traditional costumes. It's specially created to bring you back to the dynasty era.. Interesting place..















Notice the costume they're wearing..




















Posing with the guard :p

The last item on the itinerary was 虎跑泉 aka Tiger Spring Hill, the third famous spring China..tl However few days later, it was reported that the spring ran out of water! Apparently, two spring water companies get their drinking water from the back of the hill, which directly link to the Tiger Spring Hill -_-'




















The famous 虎跑泉




















Look at how the coin floats!














Our lovely patient tour guide

苏州 - 杭州 (1)

Last week has been real tiring yet fulfilling :) I went for 3D2N Suzhou/Hangzhou trip with James. We took early bus from Shanghai to Suzhou and spent half day there before moving to Hangzhou via boat. The bus ride only took 1hr 45min; while the boat ride was 14hrs, but it was pretty clean and nice too :)

Suzhou really holds up its reputation being a city famous for its gardens. There are numerous of beautiful gardens there, and each garden has its own characteristics. However ,due to time shortage, we shortlisted our visits to only 网师园 aka Master of Net Gardens, 狮子林 aka Lion's Grove and 寒山寺 temple. The first garden is rather small, but it's claimed to be the most beautiful garden in Suzhou; while the latter is famous for its stone - there are supposedly 99 lions to be found in the sculptured rocks, hence its name.

All these gardens are actually man made, however it is created in such a way to resembles the nature. Looking at these beatiful views and breathing the fresh air really give one the feeling of serenity calm and peaceful..














网师园 aka Master of Net Gardens













狮子林 aka Lion's Grove













Inside 寒山寺 temple















盘门 aka Ancient Pan Gate

I'd say that the boat ride was pretty fine, basically it's enough for one to rest and travel to Hangzhou. But it'd be much wiser to travel to Hangzhou by bus and spend a night there, as the cost would be much cheaper! However, it's nice for experience sake.. *comforting myself

A 2-bed cabin costs RMB168/pax; while the best cabin costs RMB 788/room! We booked the 2-bed cabin but it was disastrous - it's a double decker bed with a really small toilet, so in the end we changed to the nicer one and had to top up RMB250 (which actually go to the crew's pocket!) -_-"















Our cabin's :)














Beautiful view from the boat that lasts only for 5mins -_-''

鼎泰丰

After the apple incident. I decided to award myself with nourishing delicious dinner at 鼎泰丰。

I was really skeptical of 鼎泰丰 initially as I didn't find them really fantastic back then in Singapore. Worse are the outlets in Jakarta, the dumplings were actually filled with chicken instead of pork due to the halal restricition! -_-" However, many convinced me that 鼎泰丰 here is a must-try for those who seek to enjoy the ultimate 小笼包。Thus, I decided to give it a shot.

True enough, the 小笼包 were fantastic! It comes with three varieties: 特色小笼包 (steamed pork buns) RMB38 for 10pcs，特色蟹肉小笼包 (steamed crab roe meat and pork buns) RMB58 for 10pcs，特色迷你肉汤包 (steamed mini pork buns with soup) RMB58 for 20pcs。The dumplings had beautifully thin skins and succulent fillings of either pork or crab meat. The 虾肉烧卖 (pork and shrimp shao-mai) was really good as well.

Well I had to admit that the price is pretty steep compared to Singapore's ones, even a pot of tea was but the quality is unquestionable! Well, as the saying goes: 一份钱一分货　；）

Rotten Apple

It was late at night and I was watching Sex and The City when my stomach suddenly hinted strongly that it needed to be fed. I walked to my fridge, decided to grab an apple to fulfill my stomach's desire, and went back to my computer screen to continue the episodes..

As I munched the apple, I tasted some funny weird taste; however, I was too engrossed in the Sex and The City to bother about such thing. So.. *munch munch munch and *ouch.. I got the seeds I thought, so I threw it out, but my intuition told me that it was more than seed..

I turned on the lights and *GASPS! The reality hits me hard! I was so shocked that I just threw the whole apple into the bin without seeing clearly what was inside!

The next thing I know, I was holding the toilet bowl vomitting the whole apple! As I vomitted, I saw black things coming out from my mouth together with the crush apple pieces.. I had mixed feelings of relieved and disgusted.. Relieved because I could get those out from my body, disgusted knowing that I actually ate it unknowingly!

It was so traumatizing that I ended up with sleepless night! I kept on having funny feelings inside every part of my body, stomach, brain, shoulder, legs, everywhere.. I know it's all this mental thingy, but you can't help it when you know that you just had a rotten apple!

I'd just spare the details and let you guys see for yourself - seeing is believing

Nothing is Impossible in China

Nothing is impossible in China as long as you know the 'right' person!

The previous weeks, I enrolled for both Biz Chinese and Calligraphy, however the class was already full so I was rejected. I went directly to the Head Department of the Student Affairs and managed to get my Biz Chinese class, but not the Calligraphy lesson. The nice lady told me about how strict the teacher is about the numbers of students, so I had to give it up.

I wasn't prepared to give up my Calligraphy lesson as this is my only chance to get it here. I have only one semester here and I'm determined to make it worthwhile. Yesterday, I went to find the Calligraphy teacher and asked him to get me into the class. And YEAH I GOT IT! Ha HA HA!!

Studying MERE Chinese can be real boring sometime. I have three hours core lessons everyday: speaking 口语，intensive reading 精读，listening 听力，reading 阅读，composition 写作.

Now, I have Biz Chinese 商务汉语 (一） and （二）, and Calligraphy 书法!

Bwahahhahaha..

城隍庙-豫园

A day at 城隍庙, visiting 豫园 and trying out the famous 南翔小笼包. Look at the crowds!

Fyi, the whole stretch is selling 南翔小笼包, but the famous one is actually in the 南翔 restaurant itself. One can easily find the restaurant as there's always long queue outside. The restaurant consists of three levels: first level is for takeaway 小笼包 at RMB16/8pcs; second level is for 蟹肉小笼包; third level is for both buffet and a-la-carte. There's min. spending of RMB25/pax for a-la-carte while buffet is priced at RMB60/pax.

The 小笼包 is real superb. It's a must-try delicacy when you're visiting 上海! I'd recommend 招牌蟹黄小笼包, where crab egg is added into the pork dumplings :) The price ain't cheap for the locals, RMB40/6pieces, but it worths a try as a tourist. Another recommendation is the 鱼翅汤包, where the bun is filled with soup and straw is used to drink the soup inside the bun.

豫园 is surely a great tourist attraction. Well if you're up to beautiful scenery, old temples, picture takings, quiet peaceful evening, then this is the place for you. It's surely hard to find this kind of place in such busy metropolitan city like 上海. When I was inside, I felt as if I were in a totally different place. The air is clean and fresh, time seems to pass slowly. One can find a feeling of peace here..

Picture paints a thousand words, so I'd just upload the pictures for your viewing. Check out the link ;)
















Beautiful scenery in 豫园
















城隍庙 at night





















Fortune tree

Girls Outing

Terrible dining experience at Xin Wang restaurant.

First, the waitress was rude and impatient in taking our order. She torn the order paper in front of us, gave us a pissed look and spoke in a rude tone!

There's a gap between the arrival of each dishes. It totally ruined our appetite. Imagine having to wait for more than 15mins for each dishes to come!
















Posing in front of Xin Wang restaurant
















Spent the night at Barbarosa. Cool place! Great ambience, great service :)
















Tac, Anstice, Julia, Nana, Me and James

Nana's Birthday

Four pretty gals ;p















Happy Birthday Nana! :D

National Day Sale in Raffles City

National Day Sale is here islandwide! The best bargain, however, is in Raffles City with discount up to 80%-90% for many outlets! I got myself a nice black overcoat and cool indigo jacket, both for only RMB 300 (U.P. RMB 1500). Even CK was having 60%-80% clearance sale!

The branded goods are, on the other hand, more expensive than those in Singapore though, up to 20% difference. My advice: get it in Singapore! Else, there's always a cheaper alternative: Xiang Yang Market ;) heee :p

One thing cool about Shanghai is the fashion! Its four season climate contributes to the clothings variety here.. I'm getting excited myself to hunt for overcoat, jacket, hat, shawl, gloves etc for my winter wear! These are absolutely stuff that I won't find nor wear in Singapore! Which sane human will actually wear shawl/overcoat/gloves in Singapore?!















Raffles City at People Square

China National Day

The picture below say it all..














Crowds at Nanjing Dong Lu -_-"














PuDong - viewed from The Bund aka Wai Tan

Reunion with My Darling

Finally! After 25days of absence, we're reunited once again! The best of all is that dear's spending one month time with me in Shanghai. Yay!

Fetched dear first thing early in the morning and spent the first day showing him around Shanghai.

Our first meal was cantonese dimsum brunch in Bi Feng Tang at Huai Hai Zhong Lu. The dimsum was pretty nice. I'd recommend the Har Gow, Feng Zaw (Phoenix Claw) and Nan Gua Bing (Pumpkin Cake). For the drink, get the Yen Yang (mix of tea and coffee). After the sumptuous meal, we walked around Xiang Yang Market.

Sunday is not a good place to go anywhere in Shanghai esp Xiang Yang Market! It was really crowded then. Luckily the weather was nice and cooling, causing the trip to be more enjoyable anywhere. Bought a scarf for myself and some socks for dear. We'd come back another day when it's less crowded to get more stuff :p

Headed to Cheng Huang Miao by bus - our first time taking bus around. Strangely I felt real safe, perhaps because dear's around :) The bus ride costs RMB2 for aircon bus and RMB1 for non-aircon. It's a single price for all destinations. The whole journey destinations are given on the window and the next stop is displayed through a LCD in Chinese. So long you understand Chinese, taking a bus shouldn't be a problem.

Cheng Huang Miao is really a tourism place, filled with stores mostly selling jewelries, pearls, jades, antiques etc. The place reminded me of Chinatown.. Nothing really attracted us there though. The Yu Yuan garden outside the Cheng Huang Miao resembled Istana Park in Dhoby Ghout. Spent a real short while walking around and decided to move to Wai Tan instead.

We strolled along Wai Tan for a short while. The place is filled by tourist. The scenery was nothing fantastic. I found the scenery from the other side is much better. Dear commented on how Wai Tan reminded him of One Fullerton and Istanbul.. The only differences are that there aint any Kebab sellers and most of the people are white -_-'

The evening was spent taking few pictures and strolling along the riverside at Bin Jiang Da Dao in Pu Dong district. The scenery was great but both of us were too tired to enjoy. Had a coffee-muffin break at Starbucks in the end :)

We wrapped the day by shopping for groceries at Zhen Da Guang Chang, the biggest mall in Shanghai. Bought food for the night and breakfast for the next morning - cereals, milk and yoghurts! Yes I'm into HEALTHY lifestyle now! ;p

All in all, I'm real happy that dear is around! We're going to discover more of Shanghai and the nearby cities together :) Next week is national day holiday :) We plan to go to HangZhou and perhaps SuZhou, ZhouZhuang etc. So excited!! :D

New Hairstyle

Had a haircut, dye and highlight at Soho. The hairstylist is a Cantonese and he cuts real well! Spent 5hrs in the saloon -_-' Total damage was a mere $80 for all the above!!

My new hairstyle is pretty short, well it wasn't real long to begin with. I personally like my new hairstyle though, gives me a fresh vibrant look.

Sad thing is that I'd be stucked with short hair for quite a some time.. Haiz..

This should be my last haircut. Next goal is to have a long hair!

Happy Mid Autumn Festival

After a week of endless parties, I decided to award myself a peaceful weekend. Spent my day working out at the gym and resting at home..

Well I know it's Mid Autumn Festival today; but after the havoc I went through last night, I don't think I'm up to the challenge cramming with the crowds once again. I guess I'd call it a day off today..

It's kinda ironic. Before I came to China, I was so excited to celebrate all the chinese festive seasons. I planned to experience the mid autumn festival, chinese new year festival etc. However now that I'm here, I don't have the mood anymore. Perhaps I'm still trying to adjust myself with the changes, thus not in any festive mood.

I have no one to celebrate with here anyway, dad is back at home in Jkt while bro is in US. All my friends went clubbing again -_-' I wonder how much energy they actually have. They have gone clubbing for consecutive 5days and yet to feel tired! Goodness..

Well for those who are actually celebrating, Happy Mid Autumn Festival! Hope you have a great celebration guyz! ;)

Tourism Festival in Shanghai

Tourism festival in Shanghai is really lively. The whole stretch of Huai Hai Zhong Lu was full packed with people gathering to watch the parade. Roads were closed, people were squeezing and cramming with each other to watch the show. The parade was nicely performed. However, it was the WORST situation I've ever been in!

I was on my way to a restaurant in Huai Hai Zhong Lu for a birthday dinner celebration. Unfortunately, the road was closed for the parade, thus me and my friends had to walk to the restaurant. The weather was considered hot for night time plus the street was very crowded, so you can imagine how 'hot' we all were.

We couldn't get ourselves to cross the road as there were so many people standing in front of the road and they were unwilling to let us cross. Thus, we ended up stucked in the middle of the crowd for an hour! Nevertheless, we decided to find a restaurant as we were feeling hot, wary and hungry. The journey to the restaurant wasn't as easy as we thought initially. We had to bare with people pushing, squeezing, shoving and forcefully cutting the queue. Apparently, queueing isn't really the trend here I guess.

Well, we finally managed to enter a restaurant and seized a table for dinner. Luckily it was an air conditioned restaurant, we all needed cool air to cool down ourselves. From inside the restaurant, we could see many people trying to push themselves into the restaurant for the sake of cool air, while the staff tried to stop them. I was taken aback by the 'fight'. It was real loud, noisy and embarassing IMO. I guess I'm still not used to it. Don't think I'd ever get used to it -_-'

Morale of the story: NEVER EVER GO OUT DURING FESTIVE SEASON IN CHINA!

Party Week

It does take time to adjust oneself with the new surroundings. Similarly, I am starting to get myself adjusted.. Although I can't really say that I like Shanghai but well I am pretty alright with it now. It's about accepting the fact I guess..

The past two days have been real tiring. We had consecutive two days of birthday celebration for my flatmate, William. The eve of the D-day was spent dining in Sakae Sushi at Nanjing Xi Lu and KTV in Party World at Fu Xing Gong Yuan; while the D-day celebration was spent in my apartment, with cards, snacks, drinks, beers and of course cake!

The Sakae Sushi was pretty alright. I'd give 4stars for the ambience and 2stars for the food. Price was pretty similar to Singapore's price, buffet for RMB98 (plus RMB28 for drinks). Ala carte price was around the same price too. I guess it's considered expensive for locals standard.

The KTV in Party World was big and nice! The rate for big room is around RMB250 and half price after midnight. We stayed for 4hours till 3am. The birthday boy was feeling high, drunk, dance, concuss and back to sober by the time we left. It was a real long night for all of us and none was able to wake up the next day, including me.

It's only the third day and I have already skipped -_-' Fortunately it was only a listening class, so I guess it was pretty alright, but still... -_-' My homework is piling up too, so I better take it seriously.

The lessons starting to get challenging.. I'm learning many new terms and words here :) Feels happy to have the chance to enrich my vocabs. Sadly, I don't get much of practice cos I'm hanging out with Indonesians who do not know how to speak Chinese. My Indonesian have improved a lot though! In fact, nowadys I'd have Javanese accent, influenced by Julia from Surabaya -_-'

Blogspot is UP!

Thanks Ronald!! :D

Yay! I can see my blogspot once again!

You might be a geek but you're a nice geek! Thanks man! :p

First Day of School

Shanghai was attacked by typhoon last night. It was a night with heavy rain and incredibly strong wind. It was impossible to walk outside in that kind of weather! The wind was so strong that I believe it's enough to blow you away..

Today the weather is sunny and HOT! The change of weather is pretty weird here. A 10mins walk from school to apt and I'm already sweating!

Today is my first day of lesson. How was it you ask me.. B-O-R-I-N-G. I wonder now how I ended up here studying Chinese with all the other foreign students. Now I really feel like one of 'em -_-' Basically I can speak two version of Chinese now; one is foreign chinese, second is traditional chinese. I still remember Singapore chinese too! Really jack of all trades, master of none -_-'

My class is an advanced class, filled with mostly Koreans! According to my Korean friend, Korea govt is encouraging its citizen to learn Chinese, thus many are subsidized by govt or sent by their companies. Now I understand why I see so many Koreans in Jiao Tong and Fudan uni.. Well, yes I see a lot of beautiful girls here, be it Korean, Japanese or Chinese. Ronald, this is the place for you, not me!

I'm looking forward to my optional courses to begin. Planning to take calligraphy and biz chinese. I bet it'd be more interesting. I really feel that I'm wasting my time here -_-' Arrggghhh!!

I can't wait to get back to Singapore, get a job and work.. Well I guess I better start my job hunting soon, so that I can go back even sooner.. I would appreciate any lobang from you all though *winkz :p Keep me informed if there's any openings in your company k ;)

Xiang Yang Market + Pudong

Went to the most popular shopping place in town, the infamous Xiang Yang Market. As articulated, it sells 'fake' various range of branded stuff goods, from sunglasses, bags, shoes, sports wear to winter clothes. You can see many brands around such as Nike, Adidas, CK, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Fendi, Prada, LV, Gucci etc!

Haggling plays an important role here.. First, you have to act as a foreigner, do NOT speak Chinese even if you understand what they say. Second, haggle to 25% of the original price, say if the price given was RMB 100 then state RMB 20 or RMB 25. Let them lower their price until 40%, then you can up your price to 30%. Else, walk off! Most of the sellers, 98%, will grab you back and agree to your price!

One important thing to remember is do NOT be afraid to lose a bargain as there are many stores selling the same things. If you can't get a good bargain in one store, you'd most probably get it in another store!

I got myself a nice pair of Puma shoes for RMB 85- original price was RMB 380, and a nice Adidas gym bag for RMB 30!

Hunted few nice sports wear and winter clothes.. I'm going back for more! Yeah!! :D

Night was spent with Yang Peng in Pudong area. We had a modest Korean BBQ dinner at Zhen Da Guang Chang. Afterwards, he brought me to Bing Jiang Da Dao I think for sightseeing. It's a riverside of Huang Pu Jiang facing The Bund. The view was spectacular at night!





















Look at the BIG LCD screen!! It's 20 floor height!
















Spectacular view at The Bund.. too bad my camera can't capture the brightness ;(

Beware of Soya Guys!

The humble soya bean may play a role in the problem of male infertility, a team of researchers in Belfast has found

Soya contains the female hormone oestrogen and too much of it is being linked to poor quality sperm.

Dr Lorraine Anderson says she found the link in research carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

"What many men do not realise is that soya is not just consumed by vegetarians, it is contained in a lot of everyday processed foods.

"It is contained in foods such as pizzas, any of those foods that you add hot water to, to reconstitute them, or some of the pre-packaged dinners like steak and kidney pies," Dr Anderson said.

"You'll find that a lot of the meat is not really meat, it is soya protein because it is cheaper and soya has the highest percentage of oestrogens compared to any other foods."

The director of reproductive medicine at Queen's University, Belfast, Dr Sheena Lewis, said the findings were clear.

"What we have shown is that if men are consuming large amounts of soya products, for example, there is a negative relationship between that and the quality of their sperm.

"If they already have a slight problem in that area, then it might be better for them not to consume so much."

Dr Lewis said that the way to avoid excess oestrogen was to eat fresh produce.

"In our fast food diets, we are inclined to eat lots of meals and we really don't know what the ingredients are," she said.

"If we eat fresh fruits, if we make fresh food at home ourselves, which I know is very difficult in today's busy lifestyle, then we are really aware of what the ingredients are."

However, the research does not simply have implications for men who wish to start a family.

Dr Anderson said if boys eat a lot of soya when they are growing up, it can damage their reproductive capability.

"The key time for that is when a male foetus is developing and in the early toddler years and up to puberty.

"All through that period, if you alter the oestrogen that a man is exposed to, you can not only affect their sperm quality but affect the development of their reproductive tract, so that you can get an increase in structural abnormalities like undescended testes and you can also get other problems later in life, such as testicular cancer."

Dr Anderson recently came runner-up in a prestigious competition for her work on the link between male fertility and oestrogen in the diet.

ps: Thanks Ronald :)

Pissed Off

I'm feeling real pissed now! Why?

1. Blogspot is blocked in China!! %#&&*^$%@W$%!@#! You guys must be wondering how on earth did I update my blog then.. Well apparently blogger.com is accessible, only blogspot.com is blocked. Thus, I'm able to update, but not able to see my updates! Sounds silly eh.. Worse, I'm not able to see any of my friends' updates in blogspot.com! ARgHhh!!!

Now I have to think of ways to crack the proxy server in order to access blogspot. Ronaldddddddd.. you're the CPU brain! Please help meeeeeeeeeeee... I don't wish to move to any other blogger web..

2. My agent cheated us, yet had the nerve to shout at us! F*CK! We paid him everything in advance and this is the kind of service that we get?! #%!$@$)^*&!!!!

My friend just told me the doctrine of doing business in China, that is NEVER PAY ANYTHING IN ADVANCE! Get the product and service first, satisfied then you pay! He too told me that I have to learn to shout here, it's the way of getting things done around here. Agent is considered people from the bottom of society, thus don't hesitate to shout, else you won't get things work the way you want it to be.

I was STUNNED upon learning the fact! I know the saying of 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em', but do I really need to become one of them? Darn!!!

The even more ridiculous fact is that there's no foreign atm or credit card here in Shanghai, as in foreign banks are not allowed to have atm/credit card service in Shanghai. So if you go to HSBC to open an account, they'd just issue you a passbook. Any transactions e.g. deposit, withdrawal, transfer etc must be done in the bank itself. There's no credit card nor checking account service. ONLY local banks are allowed to have these services. I wonder how foreign banks survive here!

Well I'm trying to look at the bright side now- this is one invaluable experience one can only get in Shanghai. I guess I just have to discover more of Shanghai and its people now..

I'm ReaLLY BLessed!

Last night I was out with my flatmates exploring Xin Tian Di when I decided to withdraw some cash at Bank of China's ATM. We walked around and explored more before we decided to call it a night. It was approximately 2hours later when I finally discovered that I lost my ATM card!!

I was even more panicked when I realized that I actually left my card INSIDE the ATM machine! I couldn't believe that I was so careless!! Called the customer hotline to suspend my card and checked the last transaction. The card was successfully suspended but they can't check the last transaction due to a reason that I'm not even sure up till now..

Anyway I was supposed to go to my opening branch to cancel the card permanently and get a replacement card. The opening branch of my account is located 35mins away from my house! Worse, it can ONLY be done in that particular branch and NO other branches!

20mins later, the customer service hotline called me to inform me that a gentleman picked up my card and accidentally withdrew RMB 1000 from my account. When he finally withdrew the money, he then realized that it wasn't his card. The person actually promised the bank that he'd return the card and cash tomorrow morning to that particular branch as he'd be leaving Shanghai in the afternoon.

At that moment, I was pretty skeptical that he'd would really come to the bank in the morning JUST to return the card and cash, especially when he's leaving the city in the afternoon. Moreover, how could he 'accidentally' withdraw RMB 1000 from my account? All these seems very illogical... But oh well I didn't have much choice so I decided to give it a chance.

So, I went to the bank in the morning to get back my card and cash. However, when I reached the bank, no one seemed to know about this matter. I explained the matter to an officer and she told me that the possibility of the meeting such kind low is really low. I waited in the bank for an hour when I finally received a phone call from the customer service manager.

The manager informed me that the person has already returned the card and the money to an officer in the bank, thus I was supposed to look for the person to get back my card and cash. I was so relieved when I found the person and took back my stuff.

In addition, the bank officer even helped me to cancel my card suspension, saving me the trip of having to go to my opening branch to do so. I was so relieved when everything's over.

Can't believe that such kind hearted soul still exist in this world!

I'm really feeling blessed! Praise God!!

New Apartment

Apartment

Passage way

Living Room

Dining Table

Kitchen

Bathroom

My room :p

Registration Day

Registration for new semester starts today. It was packed with foreigners, as expected from international students school :p The majority of students were dominated by Korean with Japan on the second list. There were many Indonesians seen around too.

Despite all the downsides, Shanghai is filled with many pretty hot babes! It really makes me wonder how they managed to keep their eight-shaped figure given such unhealthy food. I rarely saw any obese females around; in fact I’ve spotted none so far! Moreover, they are blessed with beautiful complexion and fair skin tone. I guess it’s in the genes! How envious..

The weather is getting colder each day. I guess the autumn is here. I sleep with heater and blanket nowadays. My flat mates said I was crazy! I just can’t stand cold. I can’t imagine the winter here.. Last year it was minus 2 degree man! I better prepare myself with the thermal clothes – they call it long john here. Don’t ask me the origin of the name..

One advantage of living here is that I get to eat dimsum anytime I want as it is served 24hours!! Yay!! The dimsum tastes pretty good too! :D

Healthy Food Finally!

Today I had steamboat meal. Finally! A healthy oil-free food! The past few days have been real dreadful. The food here is incredibly oily, be it Shanghai food, Cantonese food, anything! I’m real fortunate for the invention of Xenical. Without it, there goes my liver, and there goes my figure.

Went to IKEA to shop for furniture. I’ve never seen so many people in IKEA before. It looked more like groceries store than furniture store. Price is pretty much the same here and Singapore. Certain goods are cheaper, while the others are more expensive. I noticed that Shanghai’s living standard is pretty much comparable to Singapore.

I rushed to Airport by cab after my shopping as I was supposed to fetch my friend from Japan. Waited for 1.5hours and haven’t seen her at all. I was extremely worried if I missed her. She’s a German and she knows nuts about Chinese.

The cab driver parked his car and helped me to look around. He went to information centre to make announcement. We waited for another half hour. In the end, I decided to call my friend’s bf’s dad to inquire about her flight. He informed that my friend cancelled her trip as she’s not feeling well. I was like.. WTF?! @%&^*$~! Oh well, I tried to keep my cool though.

The cab driver in the end sent me back to my apartment. The total fare from IKEA to Pudong Airport and back to my apartment was RMB 346 and on top of that there was still a parking fee of RMB 10. But the cab driver asked me to pay him only RMB 240. He did say that he’d give me discount if I take his cab for round trip journey, but to give a RMB 100 discount?!

My friend was cheated by cab driver on his first day here. He paid RMB 400 for a one-way journey from Pudong International Airport to my apartment! I was like WHAT?! And this driver actually gave me RMB 100 discount?!

Well not ALL Shanghai people are rude and fraudster. I did meet few kind and polite people. This nice cab driver is apparently one of them.. I am feeling real blessed :p

Carrefour shopping in Shanghai

The past few days have been hectic days and today is no exception. Today we moved in to the new apartment. I’m currently staying with my god cousin, William, and his friend, Jeffrey.

Spent the whole afternoon shopping in Carrefour for basic necessities. Carrefour seems to be doing good job here as they do everywhere. It was really crowded everywhere, perhaps because today is Saturday.

Today I encountered a very shocking experience. I was queuing cashier and two ladies behind me were quarreling over a mere queue. They were practically scolding and shouting at each other. Both ladies were in fact cutting the queue! The husband of the first lady tried to stop her, but was in turned scolded too.. -_-‘ I just watched them in disbelief..

On weekends, the streets are fully packed with vehicles. Traffic jam is everywhere and unavoidable, unless you travel to suburb perhaps. It really resembles Jakarta. I feel like living in Indonesia without vehicle. Feel damn terrible.

I haven’t gotten used to the environment and lifestyle here. Somehow I miss Singapore a lot. I’m used to living in a clean and orderly environment, eating healthy food, living a healthy lifestyle..

Andrew, I haven’t seen the bright side of Shanghai. Perhaps I should go to the tourism area, and THEN I’d be able to appreciate Shanghai.

Second Day in Shanghai - Busy Looongg Day

Nothing is impossible in China and I have proven the saying true.

This morning, I went to Jiao Tong Uni for application. In actuality, the application is closed in June and there were still 300 people in waiting list. I called in previously and obviously was turned down. However, this time I got the admission! Surprising eh?

I can’t complain anything about NTU’s halls after seeing the local dormitory here. The local dormitory is a very small room, comprising two double deck beds and two small study tables. It really looks like army bunk! The foreign dormitory, however, looks like hotel. I haven’t had the chance to check out the rooms inside though.

Found a nice apartment –NEW, three bedrooms and fully furnished- in Hong Qiao Rd. The rental fee was pretty reasonable considering that it’s located in downtown. One must be prepared to pay a 2months deposit and 2months rental fee during the first month. The agent commission fee was 30%, but it is negotiable. We managed to bargain till it was left 20%!

Went to Fudan Uni to give up my admission, but the director wasn’t around so I had to come back again on Monday -_-‘ There goes my effort! I spent my whole afternoon there, walking around and getting lost trying to locate the office! Crap!

Fudan Uni was really huge and surprisingly clean! It resembles Chinese Heritage Centre of NTU. The first moment I stepped into the vicinity, I was astonished by its friendly environment. Just outside the school, major reconstructions were underway, thus resulting in terribly polluted and noisy environment. However, the inside of the school was filled with greeneries! I felt like I was in two different worlds.

Entrance of Fudan University















Walkway in Fudan University

In a split second, I almost regretted my decision of giving up the admission. But after spending 4hours getting lost and walking around, I knew I made the right choice.

Fudan Uni is located at North East of Shanghai, far away from civilization. Moreover, the area was still under major reconstruction; thus creating a polluted environment which is bad for health. On the other hand, Jiao Tong Uni is located at South West of Shanghai, in downtown of Xu Jia Hui area. The location is much better than Fudan Uni. The only drawback is the heavy traffic flow.

Talking about traffic flow, I wonder what the figure of accident rate in Shanghai is. It is truly terrifying seeing the way they drive around here. Courtesy driving is not applied here. Honking and lane cutting are common practices. They don’t seem to have any ‘stop’ sign in their mindset. I wonder if they’re aware of the existence of the brake pad beside the acceleration pad. Perhaps they thought it’s just a mere decoration.

All in all insurance is a MUST here

First Day in Shanghai

Huge was the proper word to describe Pudong International Airport. One has to walk a long distance before reaching the immigration section, and be prepared for the long queue. I was amazed by the way they conduct luggage screening, which uses dog to sniff every single luggage on the conveyor belt!

I have heard a lot about the impressive Shanghai’s Maglev, but riding it is a total whole different story. The train travels at speed of 430km/hr, taking only 7mins 30secs to clear 30km journey. It ends at Long Yang Rd, so one has to take other transport to go to their desired destination. The Maglev was pretty clean and empty, perhaps due to the expensive fare of RMB 50. But I think it’s good to ride it at least once, for experience sake ;)

The train station has NO elevator going down, so you only have the option of stairs. During peak hours, the station is so packed that it’s almost impossible to protect yourself from pushing, squeezing etc. The positive thing is that you don’t need a pole since you will never lose your balance as there are so many people squeezing around you.

I was stunned by the attitude of the locals – once they see the train coming, they’d rush to the door, cross the yellow line, stand in front of the door, and push their way in when the door is opened. Here, you’re allowed to consume food/drink in the train, only smoking is forbidden. However, I don’t think you can eat/drink in a packed train where you can’t even move..

The traffic in Shanghai reminded me of Jakarta’s traffic, worse as there are more bicycles and buses here. It seems that there’s no distinct traffic rule. Zebra cross seems to lose its purpose, people are seen jaywalking freely. The pollution is kinda terrible, both ar and noise – cutting each other and honking are common practice here. You can, too, stop taxi anywhere on the road.

I haven’t tried the bus yet, and don’t think that I’d give it a chance after seeing the traffic here. I actually saw people standing at the top level of double deck bus, and the driver was literally speeding! Err…

Weather was hot and humid, even at night. I kept on sweating even though I had showered. I guess summer’s still here. Oh well, the next few days should be better.

Xu Jia Hui's Train Station