The Only One Who Ever Wanted Me Was You!

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Life is not about the number of breaths you take but the number of things that take your breath away. We should live our everyday to the fullest. Till now, I am still trying to be the person who help more, reject less, praise more, criticise less, comfort more, upset less, cheer more, jeer less, love more, hate less........... And maybe I can succeed one day with the strength given to me by God, the Almighty and also the encouragement and love showered upon me by my loved ones.

Thursday, October 09, 2008 | 9:20 PM

Shanghai Trip

Day 1 – 27 September 2008

Our flight was at 4.00pm in terminal 3 of Changi Airport. In the morning, we went to help out dear’s aunt in organizing her Kumon centre’s ASHR 2008 award ceremony. This is to reward kids who have excelled in their Kumon work and achieved higher than their level in school. It was nothing tough for both of us as we were only assisting in ushering and taking pictures. Though in the midst we were delayed due to the meeting with Viki and lunch at home, we were able to reach the airport considerably early. We walked around in the duty free sections to take photos, find magazines, books and etc before we boarded a rather warm China airline plane to Shanghai Pudong Airport. The whole flight was quite terrible with much turbulence and uncomfortable seating. There is a reason why people pay more for SIA flight. Despite that, the food was actually quite exquisite. After 5 hours, we arrived in Pudong and were welcomed by Adeline (dear’s sister) and uncle (dear’s dad). Taxi was hard to find and so we took a bus to Longyang Maglev Station and then a cab to uncle’s apartment at Dingxiang Road and Jingxiu Road. It is a condominium developed by Yanlord Town. As it was late, we just had some supper and chit chat abit before we rested to prepare for the next day agenda.

Day 2 – 28 September 2008

The day started with our brunch at Bi Feng Tang in Da Mu Zhi Shopping Complex. Of course, we ate all their local food like dumpling, noodles and etc. Then we headed down to Lu Jia Bang Cloth and Tailor Market to try, collect and pay for the tailored clothes. We also made some new clothes there and went around searching for new stalls with better tailors and prices. It was all about bargaining in Shanghai. It would be easier if you buy more. We also aimed to find some gifts for our bridesmaid and groomsmen. At the same time, we tried to look out for items to give our families. In the evening, we travelled to People’s Square where there were many shopping malls. We had dinner in Ajisen Ramen before strolling all the way to The Bund. Due to the golden week, the sightseeing tunnel was closed and that place was filled with soldiers and policemen. We even witnessed an unfortunate event of a female hawker who was selling toys illegally being caught by a few policemen. As the area was quite crowded, the lady was not able to escape and eventually had to surrender all her products unwillingly. What a sad scene!

Day 3 – 29 September 2008

We woke up at 4.00am so as to catch the train at 5 plus. Uncle booked a private van to bring everyone to the train station. Before we knew it, we were already in Suzhou after a few moments of comfortable rest in the train. From Suzhou train station, we crossed over one huge road and a large river before we took a bus to the end station which was within walking distance to Tongli Ancient Town. The tourist attraction was expected to welcome loads of visitors since it was the golden week and people from other parts of China would take this chance to take a look at this place. Luckily, we were there early enough to avoid the crowd. The town was retained by the Chinese government as a tourist site and inside it stood the exact buildings, structures that people lived in since hundreds of years ago. It was a extremely nice place for sightseeing with all the lotus ponds, rivers, bridges, pagodas, koi, gardens and etc. I imagined the place to be very serene for people to stay. Everyone led a very simple life down there. After we had some snacks in Tongli Ancient Town, it was time to check into Bamboo Grove Hotel, one of the most recommended venues for accommodation in Suzhou. We had a short rest before exploring downtown area in the evening. We had a Cantonese dinner which served the most tasty soup ever! After filling our stomach, we walked a long long way to Guan Qian Street which held Suzhou’s main shopping malls.

Day 4 – 30 September 2008

Our train back to Shanghai was at 6 plus and so we had one whole day time to spend in Suzhou. We went to try their famous dumpling which turned out to be quite delicious especially as breakfast. Then, we had a short visit at Tiger Hill before attempting to hire a cab to fetch us to The Humble Administrator’s Garden. One thing not so endearing about China was that touting was almost everywhere and it could be rather irritating especially to Singaporeans. There would be people with private cars trying to get us to take their transport instead of getting a taxi. That reminded me of Vietnam! The Humble Administrator’s Garden was actually rather similar to Tongli Ancient Town but with more specific histories in relation to the previous owners of the place. The name was in fact slightly contradicting because to me, the garden was definitely not humble!

Day 5 – 1 October 2008

Back in Shanghai, we visited a really crowded place called Yuan Garden (or Yu Yuan in Chinese). There was a temple there and many people went there to pray during the holidays. We wanted to try the Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao but were discouraged by the queue. We were just too late. Down there, we managed to buy gifts for Jade and Brian, Adele and her fiancé, dear’s grandparents, my grandma and parents. We bought the paper cuttings. I think they were really nicely done and definitely suitable for giving our loved ones as presents from Shanghai. It would be quite representative. We then walked around in the Shanghai Old Street, scouting for any cheap deals as there were a number of RMB2 shops. Finally, we reached Shiliu Pu Cloth and Tailor Market where I made another suit for the wedding. All these while, we were constantly searching for the gifts for our bridesmaid and groomsmen. At the end of the day, after much walking and bargaining, we ended up in Da Mu Zhi shopping trying out the Korean BBQ food as dinner. Before we made our way back to the apartment, we stopped by Nike Factory Outlet to shop for stuff for my sister.

Day 6 – 2 October 2008

We thought there was no need to wake up early but by the time we reached The Science and Technology Musuem, it was already swarmed by tour groups. In the end, we took about 45 minutes to get our entrance tickets and all tickets for theatre shows with suitable timings were sold out. It was quite an interesting place to go with the exhibits showcasing advanced technological breakthroughs. My favourite was the World of Animals. The showroom on the environment was slightly disappointing as I thought the information presented could be enhanced with better structural design and layout. Some information would not easy to read and more things could be included to make the place attractive to visitors. By the time we were back at the apartment, it was already 3pm and we had a late lunch before setting out to Huai Hai Zhong Road. Down there had many shopping centres and boutiques but our purpose of visit was to try the renowned Beijing Duck in a certain restaurant there. It turned out to be good but not exceptional.

Day 7 – 3 October 2008

We went back to Yuan Garden to attempt to buy the Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao. We intentionally woke up earlier and this time we were fortunate. After about 20 minutes of queuing, we managed to get the steamy food and consumed them at a dirty corner – a true experience of local culture. The food was quite delicious but 16 of them would be too much to eat at one go. After that, we went back to Lu Jia Bang and Shiliu Pu Cloth and Tailor Market to collect the clothes and suits. Mostly, we were quite delighted by the output quality especially with the price we have to pay. More efforts were put in to scout our gifts for bridesmaid and groomsmen.

Day 8 – 4 October 2008

In the day time, we went to the downtown area of Puxi to do any last minute shopping before we packed our luggage for our flight at night. It was definitely enjoyable spending the 8 days with dear and her family and exploring more of Shanghai. Dear had been a wonderful daughter and fiancée all these time!