Day 7 today ! We will be going back to Singapore tomorrow..so we intend to take this day to relax and go slow...
This morning, we did not feel like having breakfast yet so we roamed around the streets and lanes around the hotel. Interesting sights and finds !
Typical lanes scenes..
We bought a lot a lot a lot of preserved stuff from this shop. It's much cheaper that those selling along Nanjing Pedestrain Walk. This shop is located at a lane just around Shanghai Foodhall Mall..(Look at Day 8 for directions)
Finally hungry....:)) Went to have breakfast at Shanghai First Foodmall again...Duck noodles..nomzzzz..never seem to get tired of it...
Last minute shopping at the mall....
This hotel is located somewhere just behind the mall...in case anyone looking for accommodation on Nanjing Road..this may be an option?
We continued roaming the streets and lanes..
Lunch at a random eatery..vietnamese food..but nothing "vietnam" about the food..
See! See! Same dessert shop as they one we ate in Hangzhou at Day 4 ! We all aimed for the Doubled Boiled Milk carmel custard. My son ordered this mango icre cream dessert..
The sitting place is really squeezy...and very crowded too...even on a working weekday..
Continued roaming aimlessly..
I personaly felt that roaming around those lanes is a wonderful way to get the local flavors of life and see non touristy stuff. Even a trip into their neighbourhood supermarkets were interesting. Everything is so random and you won't know what to expect in the next shop or what good bargains u can buy along the way. My daughter bought a pair of sandals for SGD3/-. Cheap? :)) Of course not high-end material, but still decent enough to be worn to shopping malls.
Old folks getting tired so we made our way back to the hotel, using my phone's GPS as we have roamed until we lost sense of directions. LOL! Technologies does help much. Many years back I would have been more cautious to roam streets freely for fear of getting lost. There was once I got lost in Hongkong and when I took a taxi, driver wanted a fixed price..fine, I agreed, end up the place I wanted to go was just next street ! :((
Back onto Nanjing Pedestrian Walk..into one of those foodstuff stall...saw this pigs' head. Wah vacuumed pack...loansharks' fav? LOL!
Photographers trying to entice tourist to have their photo taken. Props and costumes provided..
Finally legs breaking, backbone collapsing...we reached back hotel! Soothing bath and comfy bed....here we come!
See those few guys standing outside the hotel's entrance? Yes they are touts and hasslers asking tourists if they want "cheap branded bags" etc. Just ignore and they won't dare do much.
Tonight's dinner, we went to Hai Di Lao again, jujst like Day 5 ! Food is just as good, service consistently top notch. But after dinner on our way back to the hotel, we have a real nasty scare!
The Metro station services stopped at 11pm ! We had no prior notice and not sure why it happened. And the station that we got stuck at was a quiet one with only another 3 commuters stuck just like us. Wow! scary..station so big...no human. We quickly walked out from the station and apparently the locals may be used to this. There were "drivers" with private cars just outside the station asking if we want to get a lift for a fee. We ignored..walked to the main road (no buildings around, very few humans) and finally I managed to hail a taxi for my parents..and kids am me hopped onto another cab. Taking taxi in Shanghai is relatively safe. If a driver does not know the destination, they wil not take your business. Both cabs arrived at the hotel around the same time and the taxi fare is the same...RMB29/-. Phew! Old folks was sooooooo worried. :))
The Metro station services stopped at 11pm ! We had no prior notice and not sure why it happened. And the station that we got stuck at was a quiet one with only another 3 commuters stuck just like us. Wow! scary..station so big...no human. We quickly walked out from the station and apparently the locals may be used to this. There were "drivers" with private cars just outside the station asking if we want to get a lift for a fee. We ignored..walked to the main road (no buildings around, very few humans) and finally I managed to hail a taxi for my parents..and kids am me hopped onto another cab. Taking taxi in Shanghai is relatively safe. If a driver does not know the destination, they wil not take your business. Both cabs arrived at the hotel around the same time and the taxi fare is the same...RMB29/-. Phew! Old folks was sooooooo worried. :))
Anyway, enjoy some more photos of Hai Di Lao !
We were preesnted with this nice fruit platter because a waitress accidentally broke a glass near our table and gave me a scare..(I squealed a little) and next thing I know they brought this to our table as an aplogy and also 4 cups of take away popcorns ! Now..that's service! Even though water melons is part of the free stuff on the sauce counter, but it's the thought counts and they serve it to us..with a nice carving.
After our meal, we bought some soup base to bring back home.
Non spicy..
Spicy soup base..
Sorry this photo not too clear...but this is the paste used to fry mala dishes..like those u get in Singapore at Mala stalls. Put in vegetables, meat and what-have-you...there a fragrance dish ready to be served.
We thoroughly enjoyed the dinner here, despite that unpleasant Metro experience described above!
Back to the hotel....headache task ahead...packing !
LESSON LEARNT
Do not take for granted that Metro station all close around midnight, everyday. It is best to check with the control station if you intend to return back to the hotel slightly later...so that you can plan ahead and manage your own timing.
No comments:
Post a Comment