Another family holiday! This time we are going to Shanghai and Hangzhou...Yay!
Woke up at 4.45am, breakfast, one last check around the house and we were on our way in a maxi cab to Changi Airport.
For our stay in Shanghai, I booked Sofitel Hyland Hotel, which is literally located along Nanjing Pedestrian Walk..where the shopping belt is. It's a nice and comfortable hotel, but services??? Hmmm...ok lah, can't really feel the warmth and friendliness from service crew, but still they are polite and do their job. So cannot complain too much :))
TIP: I chose this hotel purely because of its location..but actually if one is looking for a cheaper option and yet want their hotel to be along the Nanjing Pedestrian Walk, I do see a few hotels - Seventh Heaven Hotel, JinJiang Inn, Asia Hotel, Central Hotel etc...they are all smack right in the middle of Nanjing Pedestrian Walk (nearby to Sofitel) ...definitely at a much cheaper price. I went to the lobby of Seventh Heaven Hotel (check out Day 8's photos), it seems pretty decent though I did not see the rooms . Google it if you are interested. JinJiang Inn seems to be going through some renovation, may be worth checking out too.
If I have known that these hotels are) within close proximity to Sofitel, I may have opted for one of these hotels too. Save $$$ mah. But with old folks and kids, I did not take any chances.
Ahh, one thing good about Sofitel though, I askd for an extra bed and they told me that I have to book a junior suite as the standard room does not have enough space to accommodate an extra bed. Fine..the cost difference is not a lot actually. But in return, I told the hotel to put in the extra bed for free..they did. LOL! So for those who needs an extra bed and choose to stay at this hotel, ask for free extra bed.
Hotel lobby is on Level 2. But in order to step out straight onto Nanjing Pedestrian Walk, we got to take the lift to Level 1. Once stepped out of the entrance, street views and human crowds greeted us.
Some hotel shots..
lobby...
junior Suite Room...extra bed was added in this separate living room...
View from hotel room window..
After a quick wash up, we set off for....FOOD! Of coz.... :))
Street scenes...
We are going to Lao Bei Jing for dinner tonight. Famous for its roast duck and some other dishes. Around Nanjing Road, there are clear road signs, so there is no need to freak out even though the place is huge-monstrous.
Some cold appetizer dishes ..chicken (口水鸡） and tofu..
As we walked towards Lao Bei Jing, we saw road signs pointing to THE BUND. So after dinner, we back track the way we came from and followed the sign to The Bund. It's very easy and takes only about 7 mins walk.
Around 8pm plus, we made our way back to the hotel..the night scene at Nanjing Pedestrian Walk..
Before I went to Shanghai, I actually downloaded an app with Shanghai's metro (MRT) stations, indicating where we should be changing trains etc. LOL>>Useless! Luckily I printed a large hard copy map on a A3 size paper and that serves me really well. App is not dependable because there are a total of like 13? different lines. Thus app may not be clever enough to plan the shortest route. For eg: I wanted to go Tian Zi Fang, the app told me to change train 3 times. But when I checked my hard copy train map and confirmed with a local, I only need to change train 1 time ! Xiao!
DIRECTIONS
From Airport to Sofitel Hyland Hotel
We had a driver, hence did not take public transport. But it is easy to get to Sofitel. Take the metro from the Airport, go to Nanjing East Station**, alight, take Exit 4, and once you come out of the station, you will see the main street on your right,. Walks towards the street, and turn left. Another less than 100 m you will see the hotel. When you enter, this is Level 1..thus if you need to check in, you have to take the lift to Level 2.
**(need to change trrain at Guanglan Road Station)
LAO BEIJING 老北京
No 1, South Henan Road (河南南路）
Nearest MRT will be the Nanjing East Station.
Ask any local to point you to Henan Road. Look at my above pics, when you reach the end of Nanjing Pedestrian Walk, you will see blue signs showing you directions. To make things easier, along Nanjing Pedestrian Walk, there is this huge Apple store (selling iphones, ipad etc), you will recognise that Apple logo. Once you see this apple store, you are coming to the end of Nanjing Pedestrian Walk. Go towards the main road, turn right and walk and walk and walk. About 8-10 mins of walking, you should see Lao BeiJing on your left. So you will have to cross the road.
PS: If you are coming out from Sofitel Hyland Level 1, just turn right and walk down the street, you will see Apple store on your left.
Actually for me, I just turned on my GPS, keyed in Lao Bei Jing, and the GPS brought me there. :)))
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