SIP trip: Departure & Day 1

Here we are... travel diary that I have been postponing to write.. =P

DEPARTURE DAY - Thurs, 1st July 2010

Left Melbourne in the morning on the first of July.. Full of excitement, joyful, happy.. u name it! Lol.. My first trip alone.. anyway, off to Singapore on A-380!
(Before my departure time, there was a bit of drama. Of coz, drama! How can we live without it! Here it is... My bro paid my ticket using his credit card and he was in a rush to go to work on Thursday morning. So, he forgot to actually accompanied me to the check-in counter to verify his credit card!! Guess wat, he had to come back to the airport after he left airport proximity about 20 mins. To make things even more eventful, my younger bro was lost on his way back to pick up my older bro from the airport!)

Meet up with my old fren in SG.. wondered arnd Sentosa Island: Universal Studio and Casino (FYI, in case u r wondering, I DID NOT gamble, just went there to have a look.. =P). Then had BBQ pork ribs for my dinner. Not a bad dinner only a bit disappointed with the quality of our chips (a bit too soggy) and the ribs were a bit bland.. Forgot what the restaurant name was, but it was right in front of the Universal Studio globe (see photo below).
 

After dinner.. went back to airport and off to Shanghai..

DAY 1 - Fri, 2nd July 2010


Arrived Pudong International Airport at 6am.. A very very tired Julz, who hardly got enuf sleep on the plane - thanks to an uncle who snored so loudly - forced herself to take Maglev to LouYang Station

Maglev Train Ticket =D

Then took a taxi to Xi Tian Di / French Concession to meet up with my project manager, Michael.. After that, off to factory visit! I thought I was trying to be smart by bargaining with the taxi driver. But thinking back again, I realise how stupid I was.. I have been warned in any circumstances, do not trust the taxi driver. Make sure they use a proper charge-counter thing! Guess what, I got cheated (even though I have to admit the driver was friendly..)! Sigh.. 50 RMB tips for his friendliness ==;. A very expensive one, indeed!!

Photo that I took while in the taxi that costed me 150RMB!!

On our way back after factory visit (that trapezium shape building is China Pavilion @ the Expo!!)

Shanghai's magnificent bridges...

After the site visit, 4 of us (in CGA Group) went to check in hotel, then off to lunch.. Thanks to Steven, we get to taste 小楊生煎 Yang's fried dumpling - a very nice soup dumpling - on our first day in Shanghai!

My two SIP buddies in the hotel lobby - A customised welcome message for us!! =D

Yummy dumplings

Next stop after filling out tummy was 玉佛禅寺 (Jade Buddha Temple)

Since it was a really really hot day and I was not used to the heat yet, finally I gave up. Decided to go back to hotel and freshened up abit before dinner time..

We had our welcome dinner at Mural Bar on 衡山路 (Hengshan Rd). It was actually a restaurant recommended by a local who volunteered to assist us while we were in Shanghai (Thanks a lot Thomas and Thomas' mum =D!). We had plenty of awesome food to fill our stomach. If I am not mistaken, there were 8 dishes for entree and 8+ dishes for main course! I know, it's crazy!! Also, we had a small celebration for a birthday boy, Shaun!

The Bday BOY, Shaun, on the left getting some help in cutting his cake

Final thing to end our night was a visit to NanJing Road and a short visit to infamous The Bund where I was sprayed with water (because some workeres were cleaning up the area and tripped over their hose =S)
P.S. By the end of the long day, we went back to our hotel to crack MS's lugagge code. Lol.. It's funny how we tried twice from 0 0 0 to 9 9 9 (count how many possibilities there were! =P), but we still couldn't figure it out until MS actually called her mum and asked for the combination number. Lol.. Another "DRAMA".

Shopping malls at NanJing Rd - still so crowded even though it was late, about 10-11pm

Half of the SIP group at The Bund!