Shanghai tour 5 Nov 07 ~ 12 Nov 07

After this tour completed, had managed to saved down some memory and therefore manage to blogged it now…We followed the tour Happy Holiday (RM2588). Not that good, even changes our flight date after we gave our deposit, so, will try other travel agents (Forever Happy or Lye Peng) next round.

First day (Monday, 5th of Nov):
First pic taken is at PG international airport.

Checked in and waiting for the flight (7.45am flight). Went through custom check and as expected..tightened security check as all liquids > 100 ml were prohibited to be hand carry to the flight. Therefore already check in mineral water earlier with baggage..Bought a mineral water at the departure hall which cost us Rm3.05 ..mmmm…airport price…..

Beautiful sunrise at the airport. We are going to fly with Cathay Pacific. Yeah!! A first time trill…Gonna stop for a while at KL airport to pick up some other passengers and security check, then straight to Hong Kong airport. Few good points of boarding with Cathay Pacific are..each passenger has own mini LCD tv with multiple channels for your selection. Latest movies, discovery, drama series like CSI and radio stations are just at your finger tips.. To cater for passengers from different country, one can also select the language you prefer..Selected a favourite movie and start enjoying the meal on board...Serve quite nice food though and red wine and all kind of juices.

The Hong Kong airport, very big airport..have gates till 80+. We came down from gate 70+, but have to walk sooooo…far to reach our destination, gate 16th. The airport is so big, so are the cafes too many….

 

 

 

Once reach SH (~ 6pm), we met with the Local tour guide, named Xiao Zhang (Mr Zhang), we went for a ride at the famous Maglev train. The train sped up till 300 ~ 301 km/h. The train so fast till the night view is blurred… have to sit facing the right side as the train speed can make a person dizzy if sit in the opposite direction. The train only needs 7 and ½ mins to reach the bus station.

After the dinner, we head to Orient Pearl Tower (Ming Zhu Ta). We reach the 2nd “ball”, which is ~ 265 floors. The top one consists of hotel rooms and the tower is by far the highest in Shanghai..about 460 m.. We can view the Shanghai Bund (“Tang”) from the 265 floors. But get to know from tour guide that the highest tower > 500m just nearby is in construction. Chinese talk bout feng shui a lot and the existing location of ming zhu ta is actually a feng shui symbolic..

Second day (Tuesday, 6th of Nov):

Very early morning call, about 7am, after buffet breakfast at the hotel, we head out….

The banks along the SH bund is in plain color during the day light, however, once night reach, all the building will light up spot lights and the view is beyond words (this view is what we had when we went to the Pearl Tower)…however, there are some protestors who fight against this as this is wasting loads of electricity.

Reached Cheng Huang Miao. Though the name is a temple name, butit is a shopping place for the tourist. Becareful once reach here as the pick pocket is so skillful and 1 family of the same tour with us lost their camera.

The sales person is not that friendly as well. They intend to make you spend a lot, even cheated/ forced us to buy more….luckily the pkts of kuaci tht we bought is tasty. If this is not the last destination, no need to buy any souvenir (food type, clothes is ok if nice and cheap). Xiao Long Pau/ Tong Pau is not tht expensive there. Only bout RMB8. They said there is a famous shop selling very tasty Xiao Long Pau, but the queue is so…..long…The chau taufu is made with the bamboo shoot (shoon) and super smelly, please do not try if you have weak heart….ha…ha….

Next stop to the Super Brand Mall and the place carries it’s name. All shops are branded. There is a cinema and supermarket as well, but we went to have a coffee at Starbuck and ends up no time to shop, though really branded and expensive stuffs anyway…

Later on we head to Nanjing Street, not at Nanjing, but at Shanghai…. Considered as Shanghai’s pasar malam…nothing much to buy as well, but is a good place to shop for winter collection, bought a sweater there… quite pretty and not so thick as buy thick clothes are useless in the warm Malaysia… the sweater initial price is RMB139 and after discount 40% is RMB83. However, over this country, they do not use 40% disc, instead they use 6 zhe (meaning only pay 60%). For those who only come to see and not to buy, then can take the small train as the street is quite long. Price of train is unknown as we decided to walk and buy. Tried some “gong yuan” which is variety of fish balls/ meat balls/crab balls, soaked in different types of hot soups and served in cup.. st like lok lok in penang..
Night reach early, around 5.30 to 6pm. I think it is because now is going to hit winter season there.

After dinner, we head to Shanghai Bund. Ticket for the ship ride is RMB100. The queue was very very long, not recommended to go if not follow tour. However, the night view is mesmerizing..weather can be shivering cold when night falls..Sweater is a necessity...








Third day (Wednesday, 7th of Nov):


Too free, while waiting for the bus, pretending to be the local there... ha...ha...ha....









Today we are leaving Shanghai and heading to Suzhou. Before leave SH, we went to Temple of Jade Buddha… Nothing much here, except for the beautiful Jade Buddha which was located inside the temple. No photographs are allowed.
Had lunch (Hong Zhi Kai) at a restaurant which performs roller skate dance. Bought a pkt and a box of instant noodle and also lor eggs (quite tasty and cheap) from the Kedi shop (some sort of 7-Eleven shop). Bought a persimmon, but is waxy, maybe not ripe enough. Seems like the persimmon there should be eaten when ripe or bleakly. The persimmon is quite big though.


From SH to Suzhou, we en route to Zhouzhuang, this takes about 2 hrs ride in bus. Had to make sure went to toilet and do not drink water along the journey as the journey is quite long and the bus do not stop (not sure if there’s any toilet along the way).
Zhouzhuang is a traditional water village of more than 900 years. The village started without any fame, then came 1 day when an artist came to sit at the spot where 2 bridges (1 is semi sphere and another is square) can be seen and drew a drawing of these 2 bridges. The artist took this painting and try to sell it abroad, however no one wanna buy it. When he renamed the painting, the foreigner came to notice it and the painting became famous and eventually, the village became famous as well. The founder of this village became rich and had 2 wifes, elder wife with a 30 years old son and the second wife with a 3 years old son is fighting for this founder’s fortune in court today.

This place is famous with the pig’s leg. We can see whole row of stalls selling this pig’s leg..but not recommended as not sure of the hygiene..
The view is soooo…… beautiful…can be said the most scenic view from the whole tour. If not mistaken there was a war movie starred Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro was filmed here…

We proceed with the boat ride…the fare of the boat is only RMB80/ boat and a boat carry max 8 person. My boatman started this career when he was in his teen (16 if im not mistaken). You can have the boatman/ woman sings to you if you want, but have to pay. Not sure how much as we didn’t request.

Next stop to Suzhou which takes us 1 hr plus bus ride. Once reach Suzhou, we had dinner at a local restaurant.. a suzhou local lady will sing & play “er hu” while we enjoy the dinner but only limited to one song as the next song will have to pay.. not cheap RMB10 onwards ..meets up with our Suzhou guide (Xiao Zhu), then proceed to hotel. The pasar malam tonight is located at 10 mins to the hotel we are staying. Quite tiring to walk the distance…the pasar malam is basically not much different from our next station (Nanjing), so if too tired, is ok to miss out this night walk, unless for those who prefer a little walk before sleep..
The food they sell here mostly is the grilled sotong or pork..the chilli they have is powder chili, which is not as nice as our chilli sauce…


Fourth day (Thursday, 8th of Nov):
After the same early morning call and breakfast, we head out to Master of Nets Garden…

Suzhou have loads of this type of garden, and the Master of Nets Garden is one of the famous one….the garden is basically a resident for the ancient rich family…






After getting into the front door, there was the antique transportation (the sedan chair) for the historical rich family, this place is called the sedan-chair hall.

There was a saying that the ladies/ misses of the rich family cannot leave the door of their home till their marriage day. There were two doors which they are forbid to passed, the main door and the second small door

Then we proceed to the reception hall, where the host receives their guests…the guests will sit according to their level. The center is the heating instrument, where the hot coal will be put inside and the guests can warm their hands.

Since the ladies cannot leave the house before their marriage day, therefore, they’ll stay in their house though winter and summer, when there’s drastic change of weather. The wooden bed-chair serves main purpose during the 2 season. In winter, they’ll put burned charcoal in the middle to warm the bed-chair. In summer, they’ll put cold water or ice instead to cool the chair.

In the house itself, they have their own garden and lake. The scenery is just superb. They have the saying that if the ladies not yet married and they have the “xiang shi ping” that can be cured by drinking water mix with the stone look like wood’s powder. The big stone which look like a dinosaur was once mentioned by Tong Pak Fu (one of the famous artist and bachelor of old time) as look like a lady. Well, you can have your own side of view too…

Next stop we go to the silk factory. We bought a pillow for both of our mom (1 pillow cost RMB240). I bought a quilt for myself (RMB400). After the factory tour, they have a small fashion show wearing the silk clothes…the silk clothes here is quite expensive too…

After lunch, we head to HanShan Shi (HanShan Temple). Nothing much going on here. We head to Nanjing after this.

The weather is getting colder (~11 Degree Celsius) once we reach Nanjing.
First stop at Nanjing is Dr. Sun Yat Sen Mausoleum. There’re ~ 390 steps to his burial place. It was said that the feng shui of his mausoleum is very very good as there are 2 great hills (each are the burial places of famous kings) beside it. . There are 2 statues of Dr. Sun Yat Sen once reaching the top. Both are carved white jade; however the inside one is much more expensive as different quality. The outer statue is showing Dr. Sun Yat Sen wearing Chinese traditional cloth, holding a suit case. The inner statue showing him wearing a western coat and on top of a carved coffin. It was said that the actual coffin few feets below the carved coffin, but some said otherwise.



At night, we have dinner at Xiang Yang Yu Gang (Asia Biggest Restaurant). There are many floors and each floor consists of few dinner halls. Some have their wedding dinner at 1 of the hall. The toilet of this restaurant has a small tv to entertain the customer. In the restaurant have a few of the very super expensive carved jades at the main lobby.

Night time we head to ConfuciusTemple- Qinhuai night market for shopping. This night market is just beside the hotel. This is the best place to shop for this tour. Should be insufficient travel bag, the bag here only sells at RMB80 (of course with a bit negotiation).

Nanjing specialty is salted duck. Nearly all the shops here sell the duck, and with many many brands too.. The Confucius temple need entrance fee and since no one bring us there, we just took photos outside. The night view at this night market is spectacular. The lighting and the small lake, with all the lighted boats are just too beautiful. The boats serve as restaurant, but we did not try as we do not know the price.

Went to McD for China different menu and found egg and ham pie. Had one, not bad, the pastry is made of puff and inside have loads of scramble egg and some ham.


I bought a purse here and a coin purse for 1 of my friend…both are made from cow’s skin….not remember how much, but total around RMB150…. Over here, Joey start to sick….cough and flu…pity her…



Fifth day (Friday, 9th of Nov):
Leaving Nanjing today, but before that, we head to the famous Nanjing bridge.

The tour guide keep on reminding us that many people would like to see the bridge as well and moved our ass out of the hotel at 7 plus. However, due to too cold and foggy, we cannot see the bridge, only able to see the model. The tour guide mentioned that the bridge had caused many lives. As the bridge cross over a river and they had 9 whole pillars to build the bridge across the river, they have to have volunteers to go under the water to find the right position to put the pillars. If the volunteers to go under water at summer time, the water current is just too fast that will sweep the person away, that way, they are forced to go under water at the coldest time where the water was going to freeze to ice. There was ~80 volunteers who will just jump down to the river at the time. The bridge was completed in year 1968. This bridge took 9 years to complete as the earlier age, the technologies are still very low.

Below 1 part of the Nanjing Bridge, there is 1 shifu who is well known for his glass drawing. He can draw the pictures using a kind of bended brush and draw in opposite direction inside the glass itself…
Next stop is to Jade shop, though the tour guide mentioned that he’ll help to negotiate the price, however he was helping the sales girl in the end. 2 of our tour members bought a jade pendant which original price is RMB2400 and reduced till RMB480. Therefore, the price here is just to cheat.

After lunch, we leave Nanjing for Wuxi. Upon arrival at Wuxi, we drove by Tai Lake. There was a saying that the Tai Lake have 3 “bao” or precious things. If not mistaken is white fish, white prawn and of course, the pearl. The white prawn will remain white even when cook, unlike our red prawn.
First place to visit is at Mountain Lingshan, where famous for one of the biggest Buddha statue in the world – Giant Buddha. As the next day (10th of Nov) is the 10 years anniversary of the temple, therefore, there are constructions and decoration every where…the tv crew even came for this pre-ceremony talk. There are 6 words from each side of the gate which teaches human of their life.

Since the weather at Wuxi has drastic changes due to winter and summer, therefore, though they wanna plant Bodhi tree (which is the tree that Siddartha Gautauma sat and I believed die), but the plant will not survive, therefore they planted the gingko tree instead..the gingko leaves are like fan…








 
 
 

 

Net at home

at last i have net at home.....
friends been telling me that im always MIA....but i cant help it....
though bit glad and exhausted over the search for best network provider, but after getting it, just feels......hmmm.......maybe im really a zombie soul..... :)
cant say excited, cant say bored.....
im beginning to think im going to nirvana soon..... :)
or unfeeling soul..... :) just in good or bad ways nia....
oh well, hope with this WWW, i'll be able to get in touch, especially those old pals....
:) to daily pals, dont think that i'll leave u guys out..... :)

Desire

What do we desire the most?
some ppl will say, money!! loads and loads of money!!
power? some may say that... or even beautiful wife/ hubby....big house? yeah?
good health? long life?

i have no idea! totally no idea what is my desire.....feels like a zombie, aimless, goalless....as a matter of fact, an actual walking zombie....no idea at all what i desire....what i need.....what to do with the balance of my life....no idea how long do i need to continue to be a zombie....no idea when can i leave this world....

Once there was a fortune teller told me that my life is great! no "fan nau", nothing to worry about....he even told me that he wans my life.....but i guess everyone never appreciate what they have.....because im not happy with my life.....though most of the time im happy, because do not think or worry much......but when i stop and think, then only will realize how bad my life is compare to most people....i have many friends whom i think tends to thinks or worry too much...too pessimistic....but when u come to think bout it, they have desires, goals, aims....therefore they worry they cant achieve the goals.....but when you have zero goals, what is the use of keep on living? just to occupy a few feets on this earth?

as a matter of fact, i have no idea what i would prefer if god asked me before i was born....u wan to be happy ur whole life and have no worries and pass your life steadily till u die or u wan to have many many goals and most are tough ones so that u will keep on strive to meet your goals? wonder what answer will i give?