3rd time to Shanghai with YJ and Leon (23/5/14-28/5/14)!

The first time I went was when I did exchange at ZUCC during poly days... it was merely a few days' trip. Second time was when I went to Fudan Uni for exchange in sep 2010... when I thought I'd discover most of this city. This time round, I had YJ (Shanghai-born) and Leon with me on my 3rd trip~ some new discoveries here and there!

The trip was rather impromptu, and since SIA had promo on their 2-way tix, we decided to grab the deal~ $622.80 with travel insurance included. We reached Changi T3 on thurs night and SS, YQ, MT, XY, MH and PY came down and had dinner with 3 of us at Itacho Sushi before we go off. *Changed SGD800 and I have nearly SGD200 left when I came back.*

The midnight flight there was pretty smooth, not much turbulence. We arrived at 6+am on fri morning, and took the 5-mins maglev (RMB40) towards Shanghai city~ omg in the blink of an eye la!

Alrdy pretty tired when we found our way to如家连锁酒店at塘桥站. The family room was decent, and Leon took the one with Master bed haha. We had to switch to one standard room (additional one bed) for a night, but all in all it costed us ard RMB550 for 5nights of stay... cheap and worth imo.

Took a nap and we woke up near noon to go for lunch at云南美食街. YJ recommended us to have小绍兴, saying it's like the "childhood food" for Shanghainese. 

冷鸡配上酱汁咸咸的，还挺开胃的。 炸鱼面则没味道。阿宝猪排油炸得挺脆的，还可以，只是有点干。

We took a cab to田子坊, the artsy area for tourist... a place I didn't know 4yrs ago. The place is pretty big with many小巷and小弄... got a bit giddy while window shopping ard haha.

Headed to新天地~ had cappuccino at a cafe there... so-so. Kinda pricey though.

For dinner, YH drove us to a restaurant not very far away from our hotel. We were in a VIP room... and had like 10 dishes served woohoo~ thks to YH and her hubby for the treat neh!

On sat morning, we took train to静安公园. It's not exactly a quiet park, many tourists there imo. The balinese restaurant inside was pretty.

Then, we went over to静安寺across the road. Too commercialised imo, and entrance fee was RMB50... too ex so we skipped going in.

Decided to walk all the way to南京东路via南京西路. All the big branded shops were along the way, and nv would I have thought the journey would be about half an hr omg!

Tried their西安凉皮 (RMB8) which I requested for the salty and spicy taste mixed together. Does remind me of what I had along复旦步行街but still not the same taste after all~ ok la not bad! Then, we walked in the midst of the crowd at人民广场, ate some finger food along the way before we took train to虹口足球场站in search for some small cafe. And finally~ I'd find CoCo!

A simple walk thru甜爱路but we didn't find any cafes, saw鲁迅旧址instead. So after long hours of walking, we took subway to find YJ's aunt (only a yr older than her) for dinner~ 小龙虾! It's pretty "scary" how much we had for dinner neh~ and青岛啤酒 (RMB10 a bottle) tasted nice imo. There's BBQ street food, and 8.5kg (3 trays) of small lobster in all~ in spicy sauce... delicious!

The night was still young when we finished dinner, so we headed to the bund to take some photos.*Sadly the weather was too bad so we didn't go up the Financial ctr.*

At night, we had some talks and alcohol at a bar nearby. It was midnight by the time we cabbed back to hotel. On sunday, we went to城隍庙、文庙and福佑批发中心to do a little bit of shopping before cabbing to YJ's home at高桥.

YJ's grandma brought us to this inn nearby to have lunch. I loved the菌菇汤and酸辣土豆丝and it's been so long since I had the latter! Then, DY came and brought us on a short tour ard their area... visited the高桥绒绣馆and高桥人家陈列馆... interesting.

Nilobon and YX came over from their uni in the evening and met us for dinner at a Korean restaurant nearby... the seafood platter was wow~

Then, the grp of us went to荷兰风情小镇which was a residential area, but sometimes tourists would popped by to see the scenery and architecture.

After sending Nilobon and YX back to MRT, DY and I cabbed back to YJ's grandparents' place to bid them farewell, and we left to the manicure parlour at her neighbourhood for my first ever manicure session! I didn't want a design that's too complicated, so I chose a simple one for my short nails... RMb150 for gelish not bad neh. *Leon did a simple manicare and massage haha~*

On monday, we packed some belongings and left for老街1933... nth much there.

Then, we took the cab to上海总站to take the tour bus to西塘 (round trip about RMB70). Took us nearly 2hrs with one stop at嘉兴. 3 of us squeezed on one rickshaw whr the guy panted quite badly while paddling~ lol we felt so guily though it costed us RMB30 for a 10mins ride lol. *YJ was sitting on my legs~ lucky nt a very long journey lol!* 

I happily chose the yacht theme-based room (RMB480 a night a room) that has like 2 floors~ and to my surprise... it's an OPEN TOILET omg! *Not much privacy for friends isn't it...*

Walked in西塘's tourist area, saw草泥马, had a not-so-nice-lunch-and-dinner, chilled at猫的天空之城, bought lotsa stuff, sang karaoke and had BBQ st food for supper! Imo, 西塘is so diff in the day and at night... totally transforms into a club st at酒吧街.

格桑花was not bad a small cafe where we had coffee, tea and fried chicken wing, though ex. *品尝了“热恋”，不错。*

Ordered a bottle of green tea for RMB30 for myself, and 3 of us spent about the whole night singing karaoke in a mini pub.

Returned to our room past midnight, and HTHT-ed haha~ nice session.
After returning to Shanghai on tues, we headed to城隍庙and福佑for last min shopping. Had小笼包at南翔cos Leon wanted to try. I bought my上海女人护手精油、唐饼家and some Shanghai tidbits.

After we put down our loots at the hotel, we walked over to YH's condo to collect some of YJ's mum's stuff. Then, YH drove us to老匠火锅to try重庆style's steamboat. It was my first time trying鸭肠、鹅肠（涮“七上八下”吃）and eel. I loved the intestines but not the eel... 腥.

Costed us about RMB100 each. Then, YH drove us to a st whr YJ rmb-ed whr泰和足道馆was at and dropped us. Soon enough, we realised the shop had moved... so had to walk another 15mins or so. I liked the interior of the place... feels "zen" and peaceful haha.

Tasted some tea there, while Leon bought the龙井茶. Then, we got ready for our foot massage~ 1.5hrs. The guy massage my head, neck, shoulders, back, calves and feet... ah I've got indigestion prob. RMB200~ finally a relaxing session after years since I did massage.

Supposed to wake up at 4.30am on weds but I overslpt! lucky YJ woke us up at 5.20am, and we quickly brushed up and got on the cab by 5.45am! Our flight was at 8.05am... hmm lunch did not taste very gd and there was a "sudden drop" when the plane was nearing landing... a loud thud on the ground when it landed somemore aiyoh.    
*My check-in baggage merely weighed 8kg when we came back haha. Guess I wasn't in a shopping mood for myself. Can't wait to travel again.*