Day 9: 14 July--Martial Arts; Beijing Opera; Pudong

The day began early with martial arts class in the morning. Fudan engaged an external coach to teach us martial arts, which was to be held indoor at the Guanghua building. Unfortunately, the security guards didn't allowed the class to be held indoor, we were all shoo-ed outdoor. It was HOT to do martial arts under the very scorching sun. Even wearing a sunglass and cap doesn't help. In mins, we were all perspiring like hell. Moreover, our persistence level for the class got lowered when we realised that the class will stretch to 2hrs long. Really no joke doing martial arts under such terrifying hot weather. Anw, martial arts was more fun than I had expected. I had assumed it to be boring and a waste of my time but it proved to be otherwise. Moving from 1 position to another needs some discipline and concentration. During break time, our dear Ms Wang kindly bought 2 big packets of ice-cream back for us, which all of us cheered. Tt was really v sweet of her la. Aft some resting, martial arts class continued till abt noon and thereaft, we were given some time back to our hotel for a bathe and lunch.

The afternoon continued with lessons on Beijing Opera, which again, Fudan engaged a Beijing Opera Actress to engage and teach us. We had our share with playing with the opera props while the lecture on opera went on. However, only during class time did we learnt tt the Beijing Opera Show which was scheduled in the prog was cancelled. Cos Fudan couldn't get the tix. Haiz...this sent many of us grumbling. I was quite indifferent as to whether we'll go to the opera show at night, cos even if we had went, I doubt I'll understand. I can imagine myself engaging in the show for the 1st half and by the 2nd half, I'd be amusing myself with sth else, like chatting or fooling ard with the rest. So in anycase, I was somewhat pleased when the opera show was cancelled. Tt means TIME OUT TO EXPLORE MORE OF SHANGHAI!!! So right aft class ended, I shifted my planned "itinerary" upwards, which means we'll spend the night at Pudong.

First stop, was to get to the laser tunnel (上海观光隧道) at The Bund which allows us to travel in a cabin across but beneath the Huangpu River to get to Pudong. Since we knew we were going to Jin Mao Tower at night, we bought a joint admission tix at the laser tunnel, since it's slightly cheaper. Anw, the laser tunnel was somewhat disappointing. The lights doesn't feel and looked like it's laser. It juz seems to me as lights "lights" (or mini light bulbs). When we reached Pudong, we headed to the Superbrand Mall--Asia's largest mall to shop 1st and have dinner since it was sometime till night falls. We only wanted to ascend up Jin Mao at night so that we cld catch Shanghai night lights, which was mentioned to be beauftiful. At 6:30pm, we met up fr our shopping for dinner, which we settled at a Korean Restaurant aft some scotting. As we couldn't afford the time to have a Korean BBQ dinner, we had to settle for ala-carte/ set dinner, which was faster. By the time dinner ended, it was time for us to get to Jin Mao Tower.

We were surprised how packed and long the queue was to enter the Jin Mao Tower (金茂大楼). We managed to wringle our way into the building w/o queueing, but come inside, we needa get into the queue to take the lift up to the 88th stories. I cn't believe that even to enter the lift, we needa queue. Anw, once up the tower, all of us were busy snapping pics of Shanghai night lights and scenery tt we kinda got splitted. Only when some of us caught one another joining the queue to enter the lift to descend down, then we gathered tog. By the time we reached the 1st level of Jin Mao, we were all ready to head back to Superbrand Mall to continue shopping again, cos many of us couldn't finish our shopping earlier. We shopped till the mall closes and by then, realised the difficulty in getting cabs back to Fudan. All the taxi drivers were very selective in choosing their customers--they wanted pple who travel v far OR if not, there were few taxis on the rd. Given these situations, we had to walk to Shangri-La Hotel to take a cab, which of cos, we had to fake as the hotel guests, otherwise, we'll get chased out.

We returned to our hotel pretty late that night, but it was a fun and fulfilling night out. We had a fair share of sight-seeing, shopping and dining tt night.

Outside Jin Mao

金茂大楼 (Jin Mao Building)--88 stories, 340 M high

Shanghai night scenery viewed from 金茂大楼:

Sights of The Bund (across the Huangpu River) & Pudong

Korean Dinner

In the cabin at the Laser Tunnel

Laser Tunnel (上海观光隧道)

Beijing Opera Class

Lunch: Dong Bei (North-Eastern) Cuisine

Martial Arts Class:

Day 8: 13 July--Last Day in Hangzhou

This morning we woke up late as the nite b4 we slept v late. We had no plans for this morning as we'll be departing Hangzhou for Shanghai in the afternoon. Hence, prior to lunch, Kit suggested going for a stroll ard West Lake. I agreed and phone Roy & Frank. The 2 boys were still in bed then but Frank agreed to meet us. Within mins, we met at the lobby and were ready to go. While walking to West Lake, we realised tt it was quite a distance and hence, changed our minds to roam the streets of Hangzhou instd. Aft a while, we began asking the locals to recommend some gd restaurant so tt we can have a nice lunch b4 leaving Hangzhou. We settled at Grandma's Kitchen. This restaurant looked posh and at 1st, we were skeptical abt going in as we were not sure how ex it cld be. But even b4 we cld see the menu, the waitress alr took us to our seats. So we juz relented. Soon, we realised tt it's not tt ex as it seems, given our strong currency. Hence, we juz ordered wadever we wanted. Frank did the unexpected--at 1st we said we'd order dishes tt;s of moderate pr. But he ordered a fish tt he tot cost Y50, which turned out to cost double tt amt, equivalently to S$20+. Since it was a final lunch at Hangzhou, we were alrite with it then. Anw, lunch was really gd and it's one of those relaxing one we have had thus far. Aft lunch, we walked back to Zhejiang Uni to do a final packing in our rooms b4 meeting at the lobby to depart for Shanghai. We left Hangzhou at 1:30pm, reaching Shanghai at abt 4:30pm. All of us went back to our rooms to unpack 1st b4 meeting at the lobby to go for dinner by ourselves. While unpacking, I realised my silly luggage inbuilt combi lock can't be opened again despite having the correct code. It's really frustrating! As the others were alr at the lobby waiting for me for dinner, I juz left my luggage there and went to meet them 1st. Dinner was at a Beijing Restaurant which Dong-Ho, a korean student suggested aft reading his travel guide. It's at Wu Jiao Chang, near Fudan. Though dinner was gd too, but thr out the entire time, I was thinking abt my dumb luggage and sms-ing home. I was so worried abt it tt I didn't really enjoy e dinner. Aft dining, the rest had plans to go out but I didn't follow. I juz wanted to go back and try opening my luggage. I didn't wanna spend my entire nite randomly trying to open my luggage. So aft dinner ended, I hurried back to the hotel. Juz when I opened the room door, Kit had alr opened my luggage for me. She stayed back tt evening to complete her essay and didn't join us for dinner. While doing so, she randomly tried various codes to open my luggage which she succeeded. Thk god for her, else i can forget abt my slp tt evening. Tt day was the final time I'd use my luggage inbuilt lock. I gave up! I resort to using another of my combi lock thereaft. Anw, with my luggage open alr and since the night was still young, I decided not to go out alr since I was back. Instd, I took a nice long shower and lazed ard in my bed, flipping thr TV channels and chatting with Kit while she wrote her essay. It was another of those rare nite tt I cld rest early.

At Grandma's Kitchen:

The dishes we ordered: Fish, Spinach, Tofu egg with seafood underneath, Bacon wrapped with vegs, Soup with veg bacon and tofu Along the streets in Hangzhou. Still in our midst to find restaurants

Day 7: West Lake & Hefang Street

Another early day again to visit Xi Hu (West Lake). This is practically like a morning exercise---We were walking continuously at West Lake for 3 whole hrs, from 8am to 11:30am. It's no joke given the super hot weather and scorching sun! We were all so sweaty and my entire back was wet so was the back of my bagpack.

West Lake is beautiful but I realised aft walking for so long, that most parts of West Lake began to look like a park and it feels as though I'm talking thr a v v v big park in S'pore. From West Lake, we walked to Lei Feng Ta which by then, all of us were drained from the morning walk. Upon reaching Lei Feng Ta, many of us "collapsed" onto theose empty seats to rest.

Lunch, we hitched a ride on the coach t was going back Zhejiang Uni to Zhi Hui Guan. The restaurant was so packed that we had difficulty finding 4 tables. In the end, we juz split into 4 gps and each gp ordered their own. B4 heading back to Zhejiang Uni for the afternoon program, I dropped by a tea shop to buy the famous Xi Hu Longjing tea which is reknown in Hangzhou. Just like tt, 250g of tea cost me S$50. I was spoilt for choice at the tea shop and it's quite a challenge to buy a better tea. How to differentiate the gd tea fr the lousy tea was difficult. Fortunately, Yijian, from Hangzhou was with me hence he helped me w the tea selection.

Aft returning to our guesthse, I was so drained fr the morning walk, then instd of taking a shower, I went to take a 0.5hrs nap. At 2:30pm, went down to the lobby to meet the rest for our prog to silk mkt and hefang street. Boy, when we were downstairs, we heard tt the coach had broken down while on its way back from West Lake to the Zhejiang Uni. Hence, afternoon's prog was cancelled and we were free. I was somewhat quite happy cos tt means I can go Du Jin Sheng, a reknown silk shop, to buy silk. I didn't wanna buy fr e silk mkt cos I was afraid of getting cheated, as many of us wasn't sure hw to see wad's real silk. I was afraid the items I buy may be partially silk and partially cotton. Hence, I'd rather spend abit more to get it fr Du Jin Sheng to buy 100% silk. Tt afternoon, we split into 2 gps, 1 gp wanna returned to West Lake to take the boat ride at the lake while for us, we hated being burnt in the sun and rather go shopping. Hence, my gp cabbed down to Du Jin Sheng. This shop is huge but empty, cos the locals mentioned tt it's ex. But since I was determined to get silk, I still went in. It took me a long time to choose the silk ties and scarves, and in the end, I juz bought 2 silk ties and 2 scarves. Pretty pretty. I love the feeling of silk, so smooth and soft to feel. At least, buying fr this place puts my mind at ease of its quality. Aft silk shopping, we cabbed down to a shopping mall near Hefang street to shop 1st b4 meeting the "boat" gp for dinner at Hefang St. I was happy to meet them again cos it's fun going out tog, and also, given tt we cldn't contact each other by hp, I'm glad to be able to find them at the destinated place. Off we went for dinner tog, which Rongfei took us to. There, we managed to try more Hangzhou cuisine, courtesy of Rongfei's ordering. I esp love the dongpo rou. It's the nicest one which we had so far. Dongpo rou originated from the history of Su Dongpo.

Aft dinner, we stroll down to Hefang street to see the sights of the local shops. Once our food digested, we headed to 've tea at a local tea house. Ok there's no pubs ard, so we had to fulfil our drinks at a teahse instd. By the time we entered the teahse, it was abt 10:30pm and we sat there drinking and eating till the teahse closes at 12:30pm. Tt's when all of us decided to return back to our guesthse at abt 1+am.

It was a long nite out tt day but it's v enjoyable. The picture of us drinking tea tog and chatting esp etched a deep impression in my mind.

At the Tea House:


At Hefang Street:

Ding Sheng Gao (Sure-Win Cake)
Hangzhou Cuisine

At Lei Feng Ta:

At Xi Hu (West Lake):

Mora & I

Shuehei & I

Day 6: 11 July--From Shanghai to Hangzhou

This morning began very early for the weekend getaway to Hangzhou. We took a 3hrs long coach ride b4 arriving in Hangzhou at abt noon. Though the journey was somewhat long, but we had some comic relief along the way. Particularly when Armand needed to pee so urgently on the coach. The guys offered Armand a waterbottle for him to relieve himself but he complaint the hole was too small, then they re-offered him a bigger bottle & set up a "curtain" for him using a jacket. As the guys were "shhhh-ing" all the way--teasing him, he cldn't resist his urgency. Tt's when we shouted for the bus to stop but Ms Wang, Fudan coordinator, tot we were all joking. Only when Alex went to the front to tell Ms Wang, did she realised tt we were for real. Armand then did the unexpected by relieving himself along the expressway. It was so funny that all of us looked out of the window to see where he was. When he returned back to the bus, everyone cheered for his experience.

Upon reaching Hangzhou, Zhejiang Uni, we checked into the guesthouse and went for lunch at it's restaurant. We had local Hangzhou food for lunch which Yijian ordered for us. I tink the Fudan students muz have been glad for this Hangzhou getaway, as they cn get a break fr coordinating all of us, particularly Kangyin. As alwys, whoever home cty we're in, tt person will have to take on the job of ordering e dishes and recommend us gd restaurants to dine at. It's really quite a tedious job esp when many of us gather to go out tog.

Aft lunch, a campus tour ard Zhejiang Uni and visit to it's Science Park was arranged, which many of us dread going. Thkfully, tis time the campus tour was done in the coach, which spared us the need to walk which we did in Fudan. All of us were really so disinterested in this tour tt despite there was explaination on the various campuses we went, none of us listened. When the tour ended, we tot we were freed, but only to realised otherwise when the coach brought us to a museum. Inside us, we knew tt they juz wanna pack us with more progs for tt day. So, to amuse ourselves in such boring places, we begun fooling ard to wherever we went. By the time it came to the Welcome Speech prog, I was quite tired and decided to take a "nap" while the speaker went rattling on. Today's prog ended early and fortunatly, we cld have dinner early too.

Dinner was hosted by Zhejiang Uni who gave us a v sumptuous Welcome Dinner. We had so many types of delicacies---scallops, Hangzhou fishes, crabs prawns. I love the crabs & scallops best as it was so sweet and the cooking style is unlike the usual style we've in Singapore. Anw, aft dinner, we headed back to our guesthouse. The plan at night was to take a stroll to Xi Hu (West Lake) from ur guesthse. However, i lost everyone the moment i turned away to buy peaches with Mora. Aft I turned my head, the crowd cleared off and I tot everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Hence, i returned to my room for an early night at 10pm, which was the earliest I had thus far. Only in the next morning did I realised actually eveyone walked to West Lake despite the drizzling. However, my initial disappointment I had tt night was turned into some relief. Apparently, Frank told me tt they nite out was a waste of time, cos they had to walk 45mins for nth to West Lake and didn't see much sight at West Lake given the drizzle. Plus Lulu who brought them there lost the direction and the gp had to make a merry go round. Luckily for Kit & I, we went to bed early tt nite to recharge

At the Museum:

Reading a BIG BOOK
Silk

Waiting for the Welcome Speech to start

At the Conference Centre:

Our Guesthouse at Zhejiang Uni Journey to Hangzhou

Day 5: 10 July--Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Hall & The Bund (外滩)

Morning began with a lecture on City Development in Shanghai which followed by an early lunch. Since Kit & I were craving for xiaolongbao & soyabean drink, we went to De Long Guan, walking distance from Fudan to have our lunch. This eatery soyabean drink tastes quite different from S'pore. I'm not quite sure how to describe this taste but it's somewhat "creamy". Aft lunch, we walked back to our hotel lobby to meet the rest for our visit to the Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Hall. This is very similar to the URA which S'pore has but over in Shanghai, I feel that their plan and exhibit are more comprehensive and also they had more displays to exhibit..guess it's becos Shanghai has a longer history.

And aft the program at the exhibition hall ended, we hitch a ride from the coach that was going back to Fudan to get to the Bund. This was our "itinerary" for today--The Bund! We had the most no. of pple following us to The Bund and seems like hardly no one followed the coach back to Fudan. Anw, tt afternoon was spent strolling ard The Bund --sight-seeing all the colonial architectures and enjoying the breeze from the Huangpu River. Thereafter, we took a very very long walk to Xiao Shao Xing Restaurant which Kangyin (a Fudan student) recommended for dinner. The walk was long partly cos of the distance, but the main reason was tt the gp was too big and many times, our gp was broken into 3..as many lagged behind. So when nearer the restaurant, the 1st gp tt i was in, the pple began to be impatient as the 3rd gp was walking too slowly. By the time we reached the restaurant, many of us were exhausted. Thkfully, dinner was good & hearty. The restaurant serves good bai zhan ji (chicken) and most of their specialty uses this chicken as an ingredient. The tea which accompanied the dinner--Chrysanthemum with Wolfberry was v refreshing. After dinner, many of us were perked up and we took a bus back to The Bund for the cruise along the Huangpu River.

The view of the Bund & Pudong was fantastic from the cruise, together with the sea breeze. It's so long tt we feel such cool air, as Shanghai is really really hot, even at night. I especially love the night lights on the architectures coming fr the Bund & Pudong. It was splendid! The cruise took abt 1hr and by the time we ended, it was abt 10pm. We went back to the cruise station to find Mora & Kangyin who didn't join us for the cruise since they're locals. Thereaft, we took a local bus back to Fudan, to experience how Shanghai bus transportation is like. It was quite shocking to see that given it's 10pm, the bus was still v packed. In order to get all 20 of us onboard, those in the bus were squeezing the rest of the communters, so tt the rest cld board. Though we were kinda tired on our way back, but still it was fun travelling tog. I was v grateful to Kangyin esp who despite not staying at Fudan's hostel, he accompanied us all the way back to our hotel and by then it was alr almost midnight. Wad a nice guy he was!

Anw, though how tired we were tt night, we still had to pack our bags for our wkend gateaway to Hangzhou the next day. We had to pack carefully to ensure tt we don't leave behind any stuffs tt we'll need while in Hangzhou. So by the time we head to bed, it was alr abt 2am. It was a long day out tt day but was a v fruitful & fun one.

Night scene at The Bund:

On the cruise

At Xiao Shao Xing Restaurant:

Me, Maria & Tom at the dinner table

Some specialty dishes at Xiao Shao Xing restaurant

2 tables = 20 pple tog for dinner

At Xiao Shan Xing restaurant

Some sights along the way to the restaurant

A pic tog, while waiting for the gp behind to catch up w us

At The Bund:

Various Colonial Architecture at The Bund

The place where we took the Huangpu River Cruise at Night

Roads at The Bund

Gp pic at the Bund

The 3 NUS!

Frank & I

Behind me is Pudong The Bund strolling area

Pudong

Huangpu River

Various Colonial Architecture at The Bund

At Shanghai City Planning Development Hall:

Gp Pic at Shanghai Museum

Shanghai City Planning

Old Shanghai

At Shanghai Museum

This site shows all the famous architecture in Shanghai

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

Lunch at Xia Duo--an Italian cafe

Blueberry Cheesecake & Pasta at Xia Duo