Sorry... Delay in Hong Kong post

Sorry everyone, I supposed to write in 10 days time about my trip to Hong Kong! Unfortunately, I have been pretty busy and hectic this few weeks, so I will try to write about it as soon as as possible.

Thank you for understanding...

Coming Soon- Hong Kong- A place for Culinary Lovers

Hong Kong- A place for culinary lovers and to fill stomach, while the rest goes shopping and the kids visit Disneyland.

Coming soon- HONG KONG... landing on this blog in10 days

InfluenzaA H1N1- Travel setback

SARS, Mad cow disease, Bird Flu, Now Swine Flu, all this different type of virus and sickness all attacking humans...
The swine flu is a setback to all those who like to travel and who wants to travel...including me... but what to do??? Some say go ahead, some say better be careful, some say don't go....What do you think?

Therefore, I would like to hear to know your opinion... Would you still travel even though there is swine flu? Please vote using the poll.

Thank You!

Yu Yuan Garden- Old Town Shanghai

Yu Yuan Garden, Shanghai, is part of Shanghai old town, and is one of the tourist destination. It offers greeneries, and is a traditional Ming Style Garden. The entrance for Yu Garden in quite expensive and it is full of people.

The facinating part of Shanghai old town, it that famous American shops like D& D and Haagen Dazs has its own outlet there and but in a traditional building,like a chinese palace.... cool....

Below are pictures of the old town/ shops and Yu Garden:

Water village- Zhu Jia Jiao - Shanghai

Zhu Jia Jiao, is a pictureque, tranquil water village of Shanghai... It is just an hour away by bus. We did some homework on how to get there on the net and found out about the Tour Bus No.4,(from Shanghai Studium)and it costs about 80 yuan for a round trip(from the last time I visited, not sure if there is a price change.) One thing about this tickets is that you will have to take note of the time that the bus departs from the stadium and the time that the bus will depart from the water village. It is very important. When you reach the bus station, you will to purchase the tickets. The bus is very good and nice, so don't need to worry about it being dirty or uncomfortable.

You will need a few hours to tour that whole place and travelling time too.

As for this water village,it is worth a visit, and if you are trying to find scenic places and trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of Shanghai city. It is such a calm place, very beautiful scenery and full of ancient houses and backalleys to explore.

You can take picture anywhere and it will still turn out good. I was told to experience the boat ride. I didn't, as it was too expensive. I just went around the whole place, taking many pictures and enjoying the scenery.

After walking for quite a distance, my stomach was making funny noises. Yes, lunch time. There are quite a few shops that sells lunch, and there is a famous tea that, I was told to try. The places to eat lunch,wooden type houses small restaurant, that are sometimes hidden, then another type is those medium size restaurant and the big restaurants. Checking and comparing the price is important. I decided to go for the medium size restaurant, I wasn't careful and was rip off, the food wasn't amazing, just enough to fill my stomach and keep me going. Then I drank their special tea, it was ok, can't realy taste the difference. hehe.

Below are the photos:

Look at how the water pass through the houses and the trees just complement this whole place. The water relects the traditional houses in an interesting way. Calm and serene!

This old lady who rows the boat, gives you very special treatment... She sings a traditional chinese song as she rows the boat. I noticed that other boats did not have the same treatment.

Isn't it beautiful, I just couldn't stop taking pictures of this water village.

Thumbs up!!!

From the Historical City to The Modern City of Shanghai

From the Historical City to The Modern City of Shanghai... wow a vast different.

The hotel that I stayed in is the Seventh Heaven Hotel. After much researching and reading past customer's comments. I chose this hotel because of the location. The hotel room is located on top of Giordano. Don't worry, if you do not know where to go, they have a hotel staff waiting in front of Giordano and you can ask him to assist you. The location is really good, as it is the centre to town on East Nanjing Road, we found it easy to get to the place we wanted, The Bund and People's Square. The hotel was walking distance to two different metro lines(which brings you to most of the tourist spot).

Location: Really Good! Fantastic!
But we were not happy with the staff when we reached there, they were rude and ill-mannered, did not treat us as guest, not trained properly. She scolded us and it made us very unhappy. We asked her a few questions and she was too busy to answer. We were annoyed with her attitude. The staff represents the hotel, with such staff, our impression of the hotel was ruined.
Shanghai hotels are overpriced and overated, in my opinion, so a 3 star hotel, may not be as what you expect back home. It is just the very basic. Our room was very old, and looks dirty, the sheets were all dirty brown. The price for the rooms,not cheap at all, USD 39(CNY 300)per room per night, breakfast is not included.
Thumbs up for the location only,nothing else.


In the night it is quite beautiful as you will notice bright and colourful lights. Some may say it is light pollution though. hehe... We went to The Bund for a night view of Shanghai. Look at this modernise city, full of skyscrappers, full of people too.

The famous, Shanghai postcard picture, Oriental Pearl Tower.

This is the building that are across the bund.

Look this is the AIA building.

I must say, I found Shanghai a more organized city, in terms of transportation. As the Metro takes you to most of the tourist spots.

In Shanghai, for the first day, we ate the famous Ma La Guo (spicy hotpot), for those who are not use to spicy food, better not try it. It is really spicy!really! not kidding! Honestly, other than spicy taste, can't really taste anything else. Maybe since it is so spicy, it numbs all my other taste buds. haha...or maybe I didn't go to the right restaurant. But this restaurant that I went too, they have people lining and waiting just to be seated. The next few days, we went to the nearby shopping mall and ate Hong Kong food. Love it, the price was reasonable too comparing it to normal shanghai price.

Choo..choo train... Beijing - Shanghai Train

Ever thought of taking the trains in China?
During my trip I took a train from beijing to shanghai. Other than the loud people, it was good, thumbs up.I took the Z train and my friend told me that it was comfortable, I took the sleeping deck. It was more expensive but it was much more comfortable than seating all the way. I would take the train again, it is very convenient,as it travel at night and the next day you are in the Shanghai.Will recommend it as another mode of transport to travel around china.

Below are the pictures of the train:

We took the double decker bed. the bed are quite comfortable too....

One thing I would recommend,that you go early to the train station and especially if you don't know how to read chinese, because it can be quite confusing, and there are many people, using the train.
Anything you would like to ask me about the train, feel free to write to me...or leave a comment.

Which Great Wall? I chose Mutianyu

There are many section of the Great Wall that tourist are able to visit. Some have become really tourist area...packed with tourist, while others are less discovered and has less tourist. Badaling is the most famous, as the tour groups take you to that too. You can imagine, full of people... I was deciding on which great wall to go too, some say that even Badaling is packed with people but still it is the best, while others say try to the other side, where there are less tourist. I'm happy that finally my friend told me and chose for me. MUTIANYU is the one that we went, I love her choice and happy for that, as it is a good choice. The journey was so cooling compared to the hot city center of beijing. You can get a glance of the country side, where is it not so hectic. The plus point of this part of the Wall? Cable Car and Toboggan...


You can choose to take the Cable Car up, is one of those where you have the seat and something to guard you, while you legs are hanging in mid air. Toboggan...Was so fun!! Love it!! That's how you can chose to come down. I enjoyed it so much.

Here how the scenery look like on the Famous Great Wall of China:

When choosing which Great Wall to go to, don't forget to consider Mutianyu. I will highly recommend it!!!

Summer palace--- More Pictures

Interesting boats...looks like traditional chinese houses that are able to float and move.

Couldn't believe what I seeing at first, thought that I needed to wear spectacles and that I'm dreaming. haha....

Don't forget to put Summer palace down as one of the must visit list ok!!!
Very beautiful place!!!

Summer Palace

This is Summer Palace, Wow, the place is worth visiting, but it takes about a day or two to finish touring the whole place, if you look at every corner. When you look at the map the place, look small, but really the place is so so big, that you wonder how the emperor or the princeses walk from one end to the other. Or would I say how hard must be for the slave to carry them from one end to the other. Tiring.
If you can't finish the whole place, maybe just choose a few from the map that you would like to visit, and test your map reading skills. hehe... and make sure you don't get lost.

The adventurous side of me was bugging me to go to the summer palace but public transportation, as I found some instruction on how to get there. So I changed metro twice and went on a bus. It was fun!!!

Here are the pictures that I would like to share with you...

 

 

 

 

The walkway is full of all this handpainted sceneries...so beautiful...