Sleepless Shanghai - Part V

Running out of topics to write about and thought of abandon my blog for a day or two, then I realized there's some old pictures from the Shanghai (SH) trip I did with my BFF Eling last August still craving for exposition. So here goes the last SH post!

Nelson brought us to a wildly popular Hong Kong restaurant, Cha's Restauran (查餐厅) for a casual Cantonese dinner. Super crowded, we waited for about 45 mins, but Eling & I managed to shop at H&M while killing our time. Haha...

But we also spotted a real gross and scary scene right before we entered the restaurant. Guess what we saw? Some random people collecting gutter oil from the sewage drains right in front of the restaurant!!! Ewwwww (@.@)lll

We're gobsmacked but Nelson said it's quite common. Honestly, I wanted to take pic of that real bad but super afraid I'll get myself into troubles cause those workers looked pretty furious to me. It was our 2nd last night in SH, and obviously we no longer able to enjoy SH food as much as we used to. Hopefully Cha's Restaurant isn't using any of recycled gutter oil :(


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#6 Their signature milk tea tasted so good, super authentic~~ The ice cubes are made of milk tea too :D


#7 Woo Hoo~~ Nelson got us tickets to the closing ceremony of Nike Festival of Sport 2011 (耐克运动汇全攻略).


#8 The stadium is sooooo huge!!! And we got lost, twice.


#9 BFF Eling & I ❤❤


#10 Met some awesome friends too! Nelson, Crystal, Me & Eling (from left to right). And Wing Wu actually took this one for us, thanks!


#11 MCs & guest of the night (from left to right): Jason (Taiwan), 艾力克斯 (Taiwan), 刘翔 (LiuXiang) and I forgot the last MC's name, sorry. They're also a lot of famous international athletes that I didn't bother to take pics, apologetically speaking :p


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#13 Elva Hsiao (蕭亞軒)!


#14 Then 张震岳! O.M.G!!! He sang about 8 songs, all super popular one like 爱我别走, 分手吧, 思念是一种病 and 爱的初体验. I personally considered that the climax of the night, love him soooooo much (cause Chean kinda looks like him, don't care even if you do not agree :p)!


#15 Million thanks to Nelson! Thank you for showing us around, treating us to good restaurants, making sure we're well taken care of... It's so good to have you around!

Gonna bring Chean here next time! Thanks again for the warm hospitality, we miss your homemade coffee already (^___^)V



XOXO,
Bev

Sleepless Shanghai - Part IV

So there's one day, my BFF Eling and I were at Old Town Kopitiam, indulging ourselves with unnecessary caffeine intakes and extra calories as usual. We both reiterated that time flies and life is so beautiful yet so short; we both missed the craziest fun we used to have during high school. But most of all, I think we missed the courage we used to have, the carefree spirits that we both once possessed.

We seem to accomplish a lot, we seem to have everything we want now, yet emptiness strikes from time to time. She doesn't understand why. Neither do I.



Silence.




Dead silence.




"So, what's next?" She broke the ice.

"Let's escape for awhile," I said.

We then booked our flight to Shanghai right away, and I contacted Nelson, a friend of mine who lives & works in SH, for advice and suggestions. Bought a travel guide from Popular bookstore on the next day. Reserved a decent hotel on the third day. D.O.N.E.

We told the world we are ready to take SH on day four, guess what, almost everyone asked me why would I ever want to visit Shanghai, why not travel to some places nicer, cleaner, and... more civilized. Many said to me that they love the city but the crowd makes them impatient (which I have to rationally agree to a certain extent, but it's really not that bad).

Anyway, I insisted to go. Forget my stubbornness, I insisted to explore SH myself instead of seeing it through others' lenses.


#1 Day four of our SH trip. Brunch at Amokka Cafe.


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#3 Nice environment, decent western breakfast, and good coffee! Y.A.Y!


#4 Stopped by at a bakery store next door.


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#6 Yup, this is Shanghai, a lot of expats, like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.


#7 Love the antique & boutique shops...


#8 Another vintage shop Nelson brought us to.


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#10 The interior of Lulu Vintage


#11 That's Nelson apartment! So authentic yet so homey! I want to steal the brick wall.


#12 So much like a cafe, isn't it? Latte please, Nelson :p


#13 Tian Zi Fang, a must-go for sure! One of SH's most popular tourist attractions.


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#18 Good place for souvenirs.


#19 Time is the eraser of memory, or something like that :p That's why everyone should keep a journal, what a good selling point ;)


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#21 Tian Zi Fang is flooded with a lot of independent labels.


#22 Getting caffeine fix again, this time we shot for Yunnan coffer at Q's Coffee (邱公館咖啡).


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#25 Green Tea Tiramisu.


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#27 Surprise! Hi 5 if you could read the shop's name! Hari Rabu stands for Wednesday in Malay.


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#29 Heading to The Bund (外滩).


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#35 Aww... lovely~~

You know the ending, I've voiced it out loud in all my SH postings. I love SH, I love everything of it, the old shanghai charms, the modern attitude, the rich cultures, the not-so-unbearable messiness, the crazy traffic, the contrasting socioeconomic status and lifestyle, the unexpected surprises around every corner. That's the true Shanghai in my eyes, and my heart.

Although the trip has ended long ago, Eling & I still working our asses off to look for that little "something" that is yet to be determined, this trip marks a very meaningful beginning of our soul-searching journey. Life is still undoubtedly wonderful, despite the ups and downs.

Lurve this spontaneous trip, appreciate our awesome friendship (Eling & Nelson) and grateful for the freedom I have to be M.E.


#36 上海，给力!!!



I ❤ SH,
Bev