Musings on Shanghai..

Its one more week before i leave for Sunnyvale. I have been musing about Shanghai for 3 weeks now. Thanks to all my colleagues who have been patiently listening to me.

1) Terrible terrible service. Pleasant smile + warm service = Sunnyvale, Straight faced + warm service = Singapore, Grouchy look + cold service + heck-care attitude = Shanghai.

2) Blaring horns start at 6.30am, ends at 10pm. No tea break, no lunch break.

3) For the 1st time in my life, i see cracks on almost every taxi driver's steering wheel(where the horn is). It just goes to show how often they use their horn.

4) Ever experienced the feeling of biting sand between your teeth after you take a small breath through your mouth?

5) Every taxi driver swears at least 50 times a day.

6) Everyone is trying to snatch a piece of the road. As if there is not enough road for use!

7) "hhaaaarrrrgggghhhhh Puuuiiiiii!" - Red alert! Dart your eyes to watch out for phlegm bullets!

8) I think my lungs have accumulated a layer of 2nd hand cigarette smoke juz after this assignment.

9) Unfriendly - people look at me like an alien when i try to ask for directions.

10) Finally, how i wish i was more diligent during secondary school chinese lessons!

Waterways of ZhouZhuang(周庄）

I decided i had enough of city life, and i decided to pay a neighbouring town a visit.
Took a cab down to 旅游集散中心 where i paid an exhorbitant RMB140 to 周庄。 $40 for the bus ride, and $100 for the entrance fees. Ridiculous.
The ride took almost 2 hours, with plenty of honking and cursing from the bus driver. So much that i almost thought we would never make it.



1st impression: Very very tourist-ty.
You recognize a very touristy place in China by all the peddlers who sell tiny trinkets and snacks at exhorbitant prices. Prices are always brought down by the following steps:

1) Look like you really like the item of interest
2) Offer 1/2 to 3/4 of their asking price(which they will try to compromise)
3) Decline their offer.....
4) ...and start to walk away..


周庄is considered one of the ancient towns(古镇） of China. Having maintained their buildings for over 900 years, it has become a tourist attraction. She is largely well-known for her waterways, and is known as the number 1 water town in China.


Some interesting shops occupy the area too. There is a beancurd shop that makes soyabean milk from the "old-school", huge, stone grinder. They also have old women making clothes by spinning cotton threads.

Finally, its time to go back to Shanghai. But i managed to snap a sunset of 周庄 before i leave. Overall, i think the place is nice, albeit abit too touristy for my liking. No doubt the buildings are still in place, but the town have lost much of its ancient flavour.

Too much, in fact.

Coincidence!!

Never met a single time for the last 7 years despite being in Singapore all the time.

Its funny how being in Shanghai for barely a week help old friends meet.


城隍庙will hold a special place in our hearts.

If i was not greedy enough to queue for the famous Nanxiang 小笼包，and he was not choosy enough to shop further....we would not have met.

Brother scouts reminisce old times together reading maps. But this time, Darren & i, are reading the map of Shanghai. Worst still, its all in Mandarin!! Somehow, it helped us remember how we always got scolded by Tan Boon Heng and the rest of our chinese teachers....

Ahhh.... the good 'ol days...

20 Million People spending a weekend...

With 4.5million people in Singapore, most of us already feel the G.S.S(Great Singapore Squeeze)

Just check out 20million people in Shanghai.....




Transfer this amount of people onto Orchard Road....Unimaginable.

"Soup Bao"-汤包

Instructions to Enjoy:

1) Pay RMB$11 to get a straw, pair of chopsticks together with your bun。
2) Stick the straw into the bun and enjoy the tasty soup.
3) Fumble with your disposable chopsticks and enjoy the rest of the bun.

China blocks Blogspot!

I dunno how they do it. But i am unable to access my own blog! I can only access blogger.com to edit my blog. If any of videos fail to load, pls leave a note, i will see what i can do.

For now, i can only use Mozilla Anonymouser to access my blog. (yay!...long live Mozilla!). But still, i am unable to view the videos. I hope they come up with a solution soon!

263m up on the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）

I was so busy with the videos that i had forgotten about a brief intro regarding the Geographical aspects of Shanghai..


Shanghai is mainly divided into 2 parts, Pudong(浦东) and Puxi(浦西) and are separated by the HuangPu river(黄浦江）. Amazing thing is, they actually managed to construct a tunnel beneath the river from Pudong to Puxi for vehicles, and the light rail.

As shown in the map, 外滩 is actually located in 浦西, and 东方明珠塔 is located just across 黄浦江 in 浦东。

Of course there is more to that. But i am too ignorant to explain further. I only know that Shanghai is further broken down into districts.

I prefer to feign ignorance and enjoy the view from above.....

In this video, you can see 浦西 on the left, and 浦东on the right. I have noticed that the structure of the buildings in 浦西 is a little more scattered and disorganized. 浦东, on the other hand, is more organized and orderly. Somewhat like dominoes. Probably because 浦东 is newer in development, and the government has learnt from previous lessons that a messy infrastructure can create tonnes of problems.

The Bund(外滩） & Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）..

After going to Cheng Huang temple, we proceeded to 外滩. While the vids a few days ago shows the night scene, these vids are taken in the day. Here, we can really see what is so magnificent about the Pearl Tower(东方明珠塔）.




东方明珠塔 , as i was told, is actually owned by the TV station. Reason why it is built to such a great height, towering over most buildings in Shanghai, is because it is the source of TV signals throughout the whole of Shanghai. The top of the tower probably carries the signal boosters that emits all the TV signals. Video below shows a close-up of the Pearl Tower.

Cheng Huang Temple...(城皇庙）

It was nice of my colleagues from Excelics-Shanghai, Hu XiaoYan & Hong YaPing to bring me out for some sightseeing this weekend. Its funny how they treat me like a little boy, coming to the hotel to pick me up and their gentle persistence to see me safe in the cab before they take the light rail after the long day. After the independence and that was expected of me in the US, this treatment really required some getting used to!

城皇庙is pretty grand. With interesting statues and figurines. And not scary like the ones in HawPar Villa! They are pleasant, and emit a certain character in their posture & expressions. Interesting, but commercialized. Not that im complaining. But the appearance of Starbucks in such a place really spoils the rustic feel of the ancient temple.

People actually pay a 150RMB to place their names on tags to ensure good luck for an entire year? You mean i need to pay to be a member of good luck?... Aww man...

Darkness amidst the Light - Disparity between the rich & poor..

Managed to knock off a little early, and i headed down to 外滩（The Bund) for some sight-seeing. I chanced upon this little street off the famous, brightly-lit, 南京路(Nanjing road)

Very odd feel. 南京路 is brightly lit, with plenty of branded name shops. Poshly dressed gentlemen, and ladies throng the streets. But this small alley...appears to be at another end of the spectrum.




Notice how the dark alley emerges onto Nanjing road...

Shanghai "Lights"...

Shanghai is just another city.

But i must admit, their night scenary is impressive.

古浪路-Possibly the Worst Road in Shanghai...

Taxi drivers complain about this road all the time...
You can find the deepest cracks here...

Need i say more?

Note: Videos were taken with extremely steady hands, in an Extended-BMW 7 series

Disclaimer: Pls take anti-motion-sickness pills before watching the video clips.

Chaotic...

I used to think orchard road was chaotic.

When i reached US, i thought SF was even more chaotic.

Now living in Shanghai, i think the previous 2 is nowhere near.

Shanghai "Nights"..

Had been facing the raging winds and rains(due to the typhoon in Taiwan) on my 1st day in Shanghai, and i did not want to thread too far away from my hotel.

The 2nd night was dry enough to thread further to secure my mobile line and essentials. While im curious about how "outdoor cooking" in Shanghai tastes like, i think i will hold my curiosity until my stomach fully adapts to the conditions here.

Just an idea on what outdoor cooking is like:

7 Day Tour - Singapore...

Had a great time in Singapore for a little break from work. 7 days to reminisce my past routines and lifestyles...and relive the life with family and friends around me. My 1st day made me realize how much i missed my family. And my last day made me realize that times have changed and i have to be strong. Every Singaporean....has to be global. Singapore is too small. That is our strength and that is our weakness. Because we are small, we realized much earlier than our lumbering neighbours that globalization will come sooner or later. This realization made us accept this fact more readily, than most others.

Food is still good in Singapore, and i still love it. My best memory is sipping Yuan Yang, and having thick-goey-sinful-peanut-butter toast at 新旺茶餐厅 in Marina Square. Wonderful recommendation by WP. No food pics here....was too greedy. Left hand on the yuanyang, right hand on the fork....no hands for the camera...


Weather was great too. Felt great skating in breezy ECP with WP...finally. Beats skating alone in Sunnyvale.