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Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road

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China Trip – Shanghai: Apple Store, East Nanjing Road 南京东路苹果电脑专卖店 (Day 3) – I had some rest at the hostel after getting back from the awesome day trip at Zhouzhuang, the ancient water town. After that, the real Shanghai trip began as this started our real exploration of Shanghai. We started off with Apple Store which located at the super famous East Nanjing Lu (Road) Pedestrian.

I have always wanted to visit a real Apple Store for a long time, what’s difference between the Apple Store and Apple Reseller in our country is staffs at the Apple Store are very friendly, it’s always very crowded and happenings at the Apple Store, the interiors are beautiful and the big Apple is so awesome.

Apple Store @ East Nanjing Road is my first Apple store visit in the world. All the while, Apple Stores are present in United States only, later then Tim Cook, CEO of Apple expanded the stores across the world to Europe, Asia and Australia.

This Apple Store at East Nanjing Road opened just not long ago only at last year. It was so packed with people during my visit and the atmosphere in there were really happy. Everyone was smiling, happily playing Apple products and asking for help from the Apple’s staff. This is one of the most happenings retail outlet along East Nanjing Road shopping street.

In there, you can notice the standard Apple Store interior design like aluminum wall panel, wood table and of course the cool glass spiral staircase. Another cool thing is that every Apple products are accompanied by an iPad which works as product introduction & price tag. Very cool.

Big Apple logo.

Me in front of Apple Store.

Apple Store activity time table.

My brother holding his brand new iPhone 4S which was not available in China at that time.

iPad as product information display! Very brilliant.

Look at the amount of people in the store!

The famous glass spiral staircase.

East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Shopping Street.

To me, I feel Apple Store in China are must-visit places because there’s only 3 stores in China, 2 in Shanghai, 1 in Hong Kong. I’ve visited them all! Stay tune to my blog for more photos on other Apple Stores.

Click here to read more about my China Trip.

March 6, 2012
Zhouzhuang: 20 Minutes Canal Boat Ride

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China Trip – Zhouzhuang 周庄: 20 Minutes Canal Boat Ride (Day 3) – After checking out the sunrise, and a rest at the inn, we went to take a canal boat ride. The boat ride operates from 9a.m. and costs 100RMB for each boat and a boat allows a maximum of 6 person on board. It’s similar to gondola ride in Venice. Despite the expensive price, we still went for it because I think that it’s things to do at Zhouzhuang as there’s nothing much else, except experience and photograph.

The ride takes about 20 minutes and it’s manually driven by an old aunty at the back of the boat. She kept insisting us to tip her so that she can sing a few local song for us to listen but we refused as the tip needs at least 20RMB and we were stingy. =D

It’s a one-way boat ride and just feel sad that the canal is not long enough. Zhouzhuang is really small, I wonder is there any bigger water town in China like Venice. Overall, it’s a good experience on the boat, it’s very relaxing and calm on the boat ride but it’s kinda weird when people looked at us. Haha. It’s not really a must-do, it’s up to you, if you have 4 person or more, then it’s worth it.

“2 person for 100RMB? errr… errr…. ok-lah *finger cross*”. =D

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March 5, 2012
Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise

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China Trip – 周庄 Zhouzhuang: Early Morning Check Out The Sunrise (Day 3)– It’s 6.15am when my alarm of my mobile phone rang. Reluctant to wake up, I lay on the bed for a little while, my brother too. I got up, pour myself a glass of water to recharge my water level, and discharge the unwanted water in the toilet. It’s cold in the toilet. Brushed up, dressed up, prepared my camera, and off we went for a walk in Zhouzhuang to see the sunrise.

We’ve check the sunrise time and it’s about 6.40am. Upon stepping foot out of the inn, icy cold air pinched my face. It’s 1 degree celcius. Surprisingly, this cold is not as cold as the day before, although it’s cold, I felt good, acceptable, except that my hand must have glove on all the time, and my scarf too.

Aunty/Ah Mah selling tea leaves.

The sun rises already when we were out, outside was bright but quiet and cold. There’s no people on the walkway. While we were heading East, we bumped up with an aunty, carrying goods to sell. It’s really early for her, we bought a pack of Ah Po tea leaves from her for 10RMB. We continue heading to east of Zhouzhuang to see the sun.

The beautiful canal in Zhouzhuang.

A quiet street in Zhouzhuang.

I can see the shine of sunlight.

This is me, in 1 degree celcius.

This is brother.

I wonder how can she stand the cold weather and water.

Picking up leaves and trash on the water.

Although the sun has rises, it’s just nice that it’s still near the horizon. There’s no tourist out at that time, except locals bring their kids to school, washing cloth by the canal, and clearing up the fallen leaves and trash on the canal. They are strong, I see some of them do not wear gloves on their hand.

At the east side of Zhouzhuang, there’s a park, a temple and a bridge. The bridge actually connects to the outer area of Zhouzhuang, which is not under the ancient water town. It’s not open to public, but the gate was open, so we went to the bridge to check it out. The other side of the beach is a housing area, not under Zhouzhuang ancient water town.

In the shops selling those Wan Shan Hock (pork knuckles), I wonder do they change to a fresh one everyday because I see not many people buying it.

It’s worth to wake up early that morning, it should have been earlier, but still OK. We went to eat a little food at a small shop which actually cater for locals, I ate a herbal egg cha ye dan, it’s only 1.5RMB. Later, we headed back to hotel again, for half an hour sleep before going out again to explore more of Zhouzhuang.

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March 5, 2012
Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town

China Trip – Zhouzhuang: Explore The Ancient Water Town 周庄 (Day 2) – After 1.5+ hours of ride from Shanghai, finally we reached outside-of-Zhouzhuang. Zhouzhuang is 30km away from Suzhou, you can say that Zhouzhuang is under the prefecture city of Suzhou. I tell you what, the first thing I felt when arriving at Zhouzhuang is cold! It’s 7 degree celcius there, 2 degree lower than Shanghai. The wind and the dryness were really cold.

Very funny thing is that when the bus was stopping, the “private” cab drivers started moving close to the bus, offering a ride to Zhouzhuang. It’s not one or two person, but 6-7 persons together.

There’s no official cab at Zhouzhuang. It’s all these “private” cab, charging you for only 10RMB, and they will drive you to Zhouzhuang water town area. We did not the ride as we had someone to fetch us, it’s arranged by our hotel – Long Xing Inn. The bus station to Zhouzhuang is very near only, about less than 10 minutes and I was starting to feel excited already.

“Private” taxi driver.

We met with the owner of Long Xing Inn outside of Zhouzhuang ancient water town and she brought us to the ticket counter to buy our entrance ticket. You need to buy tickets to go into Zhouzhuang ancient water town, it costs 100RMB per person for two days or visit. You must always keep your ticket well as you can’t go in again without the ticket, you also need to show the ticket when visiting some of the attractions in the water town too.

Canal at Zhouzhuang.

This is where you buy ticket to go into Zhouzhuang.

Brother booked the hotel through a Chinese website and the owner told us that we were the only one who used English name to book. Haha. The room was not bad, only 140RMB/night with attached bathroom. They also have Chinese-ancient-themed room which is more expensive.

We put our stuff in the hotel, rest a while, then we went to explore the ancient water town. The sky wasn’t really blue enough for me to take nice photos. It’s very dull and cold afternoon.

Zhouzhuang is a very famous and popular water townships in China and it’s also known as “Venice of the East”. It has over thousand years of history. Although it’s not as big as Venice, it’s still pretty with authentic Chinese architecture house. Though, many of them are upgraded with better building materials.

There’s no road in Zhouzhuang, it’s all water canal that connects to different parts of the town. Though you can tour Zhouzhuang by foot.

There’s so many water townships near to Shanghai and the reason we chose Zhouzhuang was because that it’s the most famous and has the longest history. I realised that we should have visited more water townships as Shanghai was pretty boring after then. Haha.

Zhouzhuang was kinda quiet in the afternoon. Most tourists come in the morning. I’ve met people spending a few days at there as Zhouzhuang is very relaxing. It’s the opposite of the Shanghai’s busy city. It’s very calm and there’s no pollution. People at there are very friendly too, but I don’t really understand their dialect. There’s some attractions to visit in Zhouzhuang like ancient house of famous people, temple, but we only did the visit the next day during the morning. We just walked around Zhouzhuang.

This is public toilet at Zhouzhuang.

Sunset at Zhouzhuang.

Cute dog at Zhouzhuang!

Be sure to get a map with you as it’s easy to get lost at there. We did get lost and ended asking people for direction to go back where we came from. Haha. It gets even quieter when the night falls at about 5pm. Many shops started closing and the temperature drops even lower to 5 degree celcius! It’s my first time experiencing cold weather.

Wan Shan’s Hock 万山蹄, pork leg named after the richest man in the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasty in Jiangnan – Shen Wanan.

Cheap beer! It’s only 3RMB/bottle and with 3% of alcohol only.

We went back to the inn for a rest, then headed for dinner. Food at there was not really nice, it’s different and it’s weird. It’s different from Southern Chinese food. I don’t really know what’s good to eat at there, appetite haven’t came back at that time.

After dinner, we went to buy some beer at the mini-market and also some sweets to bite. Slept early that night because we wanted to check out the sunrise at about 7am.

March 4, 2012
Shanghai: Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station

China Trip – Shanghai: Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station 上海长途客运南站 (Day 2) – Good morning! It’s second day at Shanghai. I was not feeling well the day before due to lack of sleep and sudden cold, but then I was so much better on the second day. I was craving for some McDonald’s to bring up my appetite.

The second day of my China Trip was to a very famous ancient water town – Zhouzhuang, which is located near to Suzhou. After getting direction from the hostel’s front desk, we started our journey.

How to go to Zhouzhuang? – Go to Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station and take a 1.5 hours bus ride to Zhouzhuang.

The morning was OK-cold, it’s about 9 degree celcius. It’s my first time experiencing Shanghai, but the main point of day 2 was not Shanghai, but Zhouzhuang, so I didn’t bother to see Shanghai yet. Shanghai South-Long Distance Bus Station is kinda far, we have to change two lines in Shanghai Metro. We took Line 2 train at Nanjing Lu Station to People’s Square, then change to Line 1 to Shanghai South Station.

Walking towards the Shanghai Metro.

Wet morning, but not heavy rain.

11 Lines in Shanghai Metro. Not easy reading the Metro’s map.

Look! Chinese people queuing up to board the Metro! That’s so cool man.

The bus station is not located right beside the Metro or above, it takes another 10 minutes walk from the metro station to the bus station. We were hungry, but we wanted to go buy ticket first.

There’s two bus going to Zhouzhuang daily, one at 8:15am, another at 1.20pm. We bought the 1.20pm tickets, and as usual, we need to produce our ID document while buying the ticket. It’s only 35RMB to Zhouzhuang. Then we went to buy food for lunch – McDonald’s!

How am I gonna shit here? Imagine you see other people’s poo floating pass you.

Cold duck wing. Yums.

Checking ticket.

Spicy Chicken Fillet Burger is awesome!

Spotted a ferries wheel while on the way to Zhouzhuang.

The bus station is really high tech. There’s a waiting hall and ticket check point gate. We boarded the bus at about 1.10pm. The driver wanted us to finish the McDonald’s burger as he said that the burger smells weird. Haha. Chinese driver doesn’t like McDonald’s. The ride to Zhouzhuang takes about 1.5-2 hours depends on traffic. I looked out of the bus window to see Shanghai and I found some stupid thing. A driver parked his car by the highway’s road side, went down of his car, then pee by the road, then get back into his car and drive. DA FUQ is the Chinese doing?

March 4, 2012
Hangzhou: 1-Hour Train To Shanghai Hong Qiao Station

China Trip – Hangzhou: 1-Hour Train To Shanghai Hong Qiao Station 搭快速火车到上海虹桥 (Day 1) – It’s almost 6pm at Hangzhou, I was tired and not feeling very well. I wanted to go to Shanghai, checked in the hostel and sleep so badly. Brother and I went to take our luggage back, checked that everything was still there and we went to buy the train ticket to Shanghai.

Very stupid thing is that train ticket counter was about 10 minutes walk from the platform. It’s just far away from the boarding platform. There’s super many counter at the ticketing area, but it’s easy to buy at ticket. We need to show our ID document (passport) to buy the ticket, it costs 78Yuan one-way to Shanghai Hong Qiao station. After buying ticket, we realised we only have less than 15 minutes until the train starts moving.

I hate that the platform is so far away, and with a 12kg backpack on my bag. We ran. We ran towards the platform as fast as we can, together with the backpack, I was panting away. Phewwwww. What a relief that we still have about 4 minutes before the train started moving. Train in China is very on schedule, they won’t wait for anyone who is late.

The train was pretty cool and was very clean in it. It’s a very long train, with about 15 coaches. We found our seats and rest ourselves. I think I’d a little fever, so I sleep all the way to Shanghai. The train was so smooth and calm as it’s electric train. It’s fast and takes about an hour to reach Shanghai. There’s people selling coffee and food on board too.

We reached Shanghai Hong Qiao Station, which is a train station, and also a domestic airport. I asked brother to take the cab because we did not know how long it takes for MRT to reach our hotel – Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel. I couldn’t really feel the outside temperature because we were indoor. The bad thing was, we waited the cab for about 1 hour! It’s a super duper long queue at the cab area. WOW. Cab driver in Shanghai doesn’t really speak English well, it’s better to have the address print in Chinese for him to refer.

In Shanghai already, so excited!

Felt so good after boarding the cab, it takes about half an hour to reach Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel on Shaan Xi Nan Lu 陕西南路. Actually, we should have take the Shanghai Metro, it seems faster. We did not do homework about the Metro station and hotel distance so we went for cab which cost us 70RMB.

About the Blue Mountain Bund Youth Hostel, it’s cheap, 130RMB/room but no attached bathroom, it’s troublesome a bit but it’s cold when taking a shit as the bathroom somehow connected to the outdoor balcony! The people at there are very friendly too, most of visitors are young travelers like us, you can mingle around with them and get social. There’s a bar with free Internet usage and free-wifi. Every Wednesday night, there’s a movie night at the bar. Besides, there’s also washing machine and dryer. Room is very small, but I don’t think you will spend many time in room. Opposite the hostel, you will find a convenience store. It’s about 10 minutes walk to famous Nanjing Lu and 15 minutes walk to the nearest Shanghai Metro, Line 2 and Line 3.

Guess what I did after check-in into the hostel? Slept until the next day! I skipped dinner. =D Wasted my first night? Not really, I have plenty of time in Shanghai. I needed to charge up for the coming days.

March 4, 2012
Hangzhou: Zhi Wei Guan & Xi Hu West Lake

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China Trip – Hangzhou 杭州: Zhi Wei Guan & Xi Hu West Lake 知味馆，西湖 (Day 1) – After exploring Qing He Fang Cultural Street which has not much thing to see, without wasting time, we headed to the famous Xi Hu West Lake next. However, we have to eat something first because brother did not eat anything for lunch. I didn’t have much appetite though.

We get to know about Zhiweiguan Restaurant has good Dong Po Rou 东波肉, so we hopped on a motorcycle-tuk-tuk style vehicle which brought us to Zhiweiguan near to Xi Hu West Lake.

Dong Po Rou.

Xiao Long Bao.

Zhiweiguan is a famous restaurant in Hangzhou. I’ve head that Dong Po Rou is pork with fatty belly that must not be missed in Hangzhou. After trying out, it’s awesome, but not that wonderful as people said afterall. Perhaps we went to a wrong shop? Since Hangzhou was just tour-for-fun, we didn’t bother to look for the best Dong Po Rou. We also ordered Xiao Long Bao to try out. One sad and funny thing is that the restaurant does not serves Chinese tea. OMG! Chinese restaurant with no Chinese tea. I wonder why? We’ve to buy mineral water from convenience store nearby.

So, this is Xi Hu, the West Lake, what do you think?

After a little bit of food, we walked to the famous Xi Hu West Lake. Everybody say Xi Hu (West Lake) is a must-go attractions in Hangzhou. It’s a very big lake, standing by the lake side feels super duper cold because of the wind. I read that you can hop on the boat which brings you to a garden on the other side of the lake. Unfortunately, it’s raining, the weather was no good, the scenery was not really nice also. So Xi Hu did not leave a good impression to us.

What’s cool by the Xi Hu is that there’s many branded shop, designer’s brands located across the street at Xi Hu. It’s like a luxurious shopping street along the lake which is pretty cool.

Cool bus with wooden interior.

Since, it’s cold, nothing much to see in the blur rainy weather, we went to look for cab to bring us back to the train station to go to Shanghai. Sadly, it’s very hard to find a cab at there. Then local thought us to take the bus which will bring us to the train station for only 2RMB. Cool and cheap! =D

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March 3, 2012
Hangzhou: Explore Qing He Fang Cultural Street

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China Trip – Hangzhou: Explore Qing He Fang Cultural Street 清河坊文化街 (Day 1) – Finally I’ve touched down in Hangzhou after 6 hours of flight from LCCT, Kuala Lumpur. What a long flight, it was. I went to the WC to dressed up my winter wear and meet my brother who was waiting outside the airport.

I didn’t get a chance to take photo as my camera was in my big backpacker’s bag. My backpack was really heavy at 12kg! How wish I can find a place to drop my bag to lighten up myself. I wonder why people like backpacking. Haha.

Near to train’s station.

We went to buy ticket to Hangzhou’s train station outside the airport. There’s actually an AirAsia counter that sells bus ticket traveling to Shanghai (3 hours bus ride) for only 75 Yuan. but I recommend you to take the fast train to Shanghai, it’s only an hour ride from Hangzhou. To take the train, you have to go to the Hangzhou’s train station in city. This is where we were heading to.

Hangzhou’s alley.

At there, we found luggage drop service to drop our backpack. It’s 15Yuan per piece of big luggage for one day. It’s safe, but it’s better to get all the valuable with you like cash, passport, and electronics. I felt so relief after dropping the luggage there. We then asked for direction to go our first stop – Qing He Fang Cultural Street, about 4km away. I realised not many people know about this place, we have to show them photo only then they know about it.

Very cool thing in Hangzhou that they have bicycle rental service where citizen can rent a bike to ride, then park at another station.

Buying umbrella.

The weather was not really good, drizzling and temperature was about 11 degree Celcius, we bought umbrellas along the way. It took us about 20 minutes from the train station to Qing He Fang.

Lonely Planet introduced Qing He Fang to us. Qing He Fang Cultural Street is a street that has old Chinese shop but tourist centric, selling gift, food, sweets, and more. It’s not very wonderful because it’s raining and nothing much interesting to capture. I think it’s better to visit during fall or autumn. Wanted to find food at there, but failed, so we moved on to Xi Hu lake.

Buying Long Xu Tang, a kind of sweet.

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Click here to read more about my China Trip.

March 3, 2012
China Trip: Overnight At KLIA LCCT Terminal

China Trip: Overnight At KLIA LCCT Terminal (To Hangzhou/Day 0) – Last December, I went to a 13 days-long China semi-backpacking trip. My travel destinations were Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen and lastly Hong Kong. For the flight, I took the Air Asia to Hangzhou, only then take the fast train to Shanghai, it costs me about RM500 for one-way ticket to Hangzhou.

Since it’s Air Asia, my flight departs at LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal), Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It’s my first time at the LCCT and I’ve to spend my night at there because I actually flew from Penang to there and wait for about 8 hours, only then I get to board the flight to Hangzhou.

I was actually very excited of “transiting” at LCCT, overnight at the airport like other travelers do, but then it’s not really a good experience. Sleeping on the hard and cold tiles flooring was really bad and uncomfortable. In fact, I didn’t get any sleep on there. I think I did successfully fall asleep for about 30 minutes on the bench outside the LCCT. Hahaha.

You can’t really get a good sleep after 3.30am when the announcement of flight started going on the loudspeaker. Another thing is, don’t bother to tour around the LCCT at night, I was curious so I did not settle down at first when I touched down at LCCT about 12.30am, I toured around the airport for half an hour only then I was busy finding an empty power socket. Luckily, I found one but it’s not really working well. I have to readjust the plug to make it works. My phone battery was running low and I need charge badly for the next day usage at Hangzhou. Phew, I got 75% charge after-all.

The night was really long. 6.30am was when I started moving around again, look for a sandwich, toilet, brush and enter to the departure hall. I was started for not feeling well because I didn’t get a good sleep. My body was tired and head was heavy. When I got the board the plane, the plane was so far away and I have to walk. At the plane, sleep wasn’t pleasant too, I have no idea why. It was a long way, and luckily I’ve got chicken rice. =D Despite the tired-ness, I was still able to tour Hangzhou on the first day. =D Let’s get ready for my China trip.

There’s many restaurant at LCCT like McDonald’s, KFC, OldTown and more, but not all of them are 24 hours.

There’s not many water fountain at there and they were not working well.

Found a good spot, to lie down.

Lousy power socket. Sucks.

Flight to Hangzhou is located at the end of the parking way. LOL

Although it’s HOT SEAT, it’s very uncomfortable to sleep.

Chicken rice, not nice already. I prefer nasi lemak.

In Hangzhou already.

March 2, 2012

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