On 26 Dec 2007, Mr Milo and I went to Shanghai for our annual vacation. We were actually debating between Perth and Shanghai, and by the time we made up our minds, there was only one seat left on the flight to Perth on our preferred dates. So Shanghai it was.
We got tickets on a China Eastern flight from SA Tours I think 2 weeks before departure.
Day 1 - 20.12.2007
Our flight was at 10 in the morning, and so we were able to wake up at a reasonable hour to get ready to leave. Mr Milo's parents gave us a lift to the airport.
At the airport, we checked in, had breakfast with my PILs, passed through customs and then roamed around for a little. Mr Milo used the free internet to check on his Travian game.
The flight was good - not too full. We were given a window and aisle seat (2-4-2) configuration and stayed there, even though the aisle seats beside us were empty as it was a day flight, and there was no need to sleep to adjust our internal clock. No complaints about the service or food.
Upon arrival, we did the usual immigration stuff (every single immigration counter was open) and then took the Maglev train to the Longyang Rd Station. There are only two stops - that, and the one at the Pudong Airport. For pictures of how to get the the Maglev Station from the International Arrival Hall at Pudong Airport, you may visit this site which has very clear and detailed instructions. Tickets are 50RMB each way, but if you show them your boarding pass or air ticket, you only pay 40 RMB. There is a two way ticket, but that is for sightseers and only applies for same day travel.
(JH on the Maglev at the PVG Station, waiting for it to start)
As you already know, the train is *very* fast. It travels at a top speed of 431kmh and takes 8 mins to travel from Pudong Airport (PVG) to the Longyang Road Station 30.5km away. Apparently is only runs from 8:30 am till 5pm, so bear that in mind if you want to use it.
I've uploaded two videos, one show the train accelerating, the other, the scenery on the way to Longyang Road Station, when the train is travelling at around its top speed.
Top speed of train
At Longyang Road Station, we went to the taxi stand and grabbed a cab to JX's place. JX and Serene has kindly offered us their place when they realised that we would be in Shanghai. Although it wasn't planned, it so happened that we would be in Shanghai the same time they would be back in Singapore for Christmas (with a few days to spare so that we could arrange to collect and return the keys). The timing was purely coincidental. It also just so happened that the two of us had not yet booked our accommodation, because we are not too 'kancheong' about it - we were shopping around for rate on the internet, and were going to buckle down and book it that evening when they offered their place to us. It totally saved us a bundle.
Anyway, JX's place is also in Pudong. It's a condo called Yanlord Gardens (http://www.shanghairealty.com/yanlord.htm) built by a Singapore developer. The place has very good security, with not only security at the entry points, but also key card access to the residential lift lobbies, and key card activation of said lifts, and a security guard in every lobby. The quality of the place is also excellent.
As we arrived at JX's in the late afternoon/early evening, we did not roam very far that day. We walked around the neighbourhood (which had a Motel 168 and a Police Station at the end of the road) and ate a a nearby restaurant. The food was good, especially the soup, which was very very yummy. (The restaurant was around the corner of Motel 168 (with YG behind you, and 168 on your left, turn left. Shortly after the hotel.)
Day 2 - 27.12.2007
We wanted to go to the Pearl TV Tower today. However, it was extremely foggy, as these pictures from the 27th floor show. We decided to go and have a look anyway, and so walked over. Although it is definitely walkable, I would recommend taking the Metro as it is very affordable. Moreover, Shanghai is not as nice a walking city as Paris or even New York.
When we got to the Pearl TV Tower, we could barely make out the lower sphere in the fog, so we decided to give it a miss. We went to the nearby Superbrands Mall to have a look-see (and a Macs brunch as I was hungry and grumpy). After walking around a little, we took a train(metro) to Nanjing Dong Lu (Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall) which cost us 3RMB each, just one stop away (across the Huangpu) from the Pearl TV Tower. We roamed around Nanjing Dong Lu for a while, stopping at the Sofitel there to visit the loo. It was there that we found out that the tourist maps we had were dated, as the metro station He Nan Nan Lu (South He Nan Road) had been renamed to Nanjing Dong Lu Station. We then popped into a shoe store to try on boots, and spent some time in Giordano where JH bought some long-sleeved t-shirts. The Giordano store was very large, and also included Giordano Mens and Giordano Ladies, which are more upmarket ranges that what we have in Singapore. I was very tempted to buy a long knitted cardigan, but at 895RMB, I just could not justify it, so I did not.
We then continued to walk eastwards, and came across some live music entertainment. There was a gentleman playing his saxophone on the 1st story balcony of a building. Really cool. We walked on to the Shanghai First Food Store. Right at the back of the building, on the ground floor, we found a queue at Yang' SFry-Dumpling (sic) (Yang's Fried Dumpling?) where fried dumplings were sold at 4 for 4RMB. Of course we joined the queue. The dumplings were D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. They were large, and oh-so-juicy. In fact, we did not realise how juicy they were until Mr Milo bit into one and squirted the juice all over my bag.
We got tickets on a China Eastern flight from SA Tours I think 2 weeks before departure.
Day 1 - 20.12.2007
Our flight was at 10 in the morning, and so we were able to wake up at a reasonable hour to get ready to leave. Mr Milo's parents gave us a lift to the airport.
At the airport, we checked in, had breakfast with my PILs, passed through customs and then roamed around for a little. Mr Milo used the free internet to check on his Travian game.
The flight was good - not too full. We were given a window and aisle seat (2-4-2) configuration and stayed there, even though the aisle seats beside us were empty as it was a day flight, and there was no need to sleep to adjust our internal clock. No complaints about the service or food.
Upon arrival, we did the usual immigration stuff (every single immigration counter was open) and then took the Maglev train to the Longyang Rd Station. There are only two stops - that, and the one at the Pudong Airport. For pictures of how to get the the Maglev Station from the International Arrival Hall at Pudong Airport, you may visit this site which has very clear and detailed instructions. Tickets are 50RMB each way, but if you show them your boarding pass or air ticket, you only pay 40 RMB. There is a two way ticket, but that is for sightseers and only applies for same day travel.
(JH on the Maglev at the PVG Station, waiting for it to start)
As you already know, the train is *very* fast. It travels at a top speed of 431kmh and takes 8 mins to travel from Pudong Airport (PVG) to the Longyang Road Station 30.5km away. Apparently is only runs from 8:30 am till 5pm, so bear that in mind if you want to use it.
I've uploaded two videos, one show the train accelerating, the other, the scenery on the way to Longyang Road Station, when the train is travelling at around its top speed.
Top speed of train
At Longyang Road Station, we went to the taxi stand and grabbed a cab to JX's place. JX and Serene has kindly offered us their place when they realised that we would be in Shanghai. Although it wasn't planned, it so happened that we would be in Shanghai the same time they would be back in Singapore for Christmas (with a few days to spare so that we could arrange to collect and return the keys). The timing was purely coincidental. It also just so happened that the two of us had not yet booked our accommodation, because we are not too 'kancheong' about it - we were shopping around for rate on the internet, and were going to buckle down and book it that evening when they offered their place to us. It totally saved us a bundle.
Anyway, JX's place is also in Pudong. It's a condo called Yanlord Gardens (http://www.shanghairealty.com/yanlord.htm) built by a Singapore developer. The place has very good security, with not only security at the entry points, but also key card access to the residential lift lobbies, and key card activation of said lifts, and a security guard in every lobby. The quality of the place is also excellent.
As we arrived at JX's in the late afternoon/early evening, we did not roam very far that day. We walked around the neighbourhood (which had a Motel 168 and a Police Station at the end of the road) and ate a a nearby restaurant. The food was good, especially the soup, which was very very yummy. (The restaurant was around the corner of Motel 168 (with YG behind you, and 168 on your left, turn left. Shortly after the hotel.)
Day 2 - 27.12.2007
We wanted to go to the Pearl TV Tower today. However, it was extremely foggy, as these pictures from the 27th floor show. We decided to go and have a look anyway, and so walked over. Although it is definitely walkable, I would recommend taking the Metro as it is very affordable. Moreover, Shanghai is not as nice a walking city as Paris or even New York.
When we got to the Pearl TV Tower, we could barely make out the lower sphere in the fog, so we decided to give it a miss. We went to the nearby Superbrands Mall to have a look-see (and a Macs brunch as I was hungry and grumpy). After walking around a little, we took a train(metro) to Nanjing Dong Lu (Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall) which cost us 3RMB each, just one stop away (across the Huangpu) from the Pearl TV Tower. We roamed around Nanjing Dong Lu for a while, stopping at the Sofitel there to visit the loo. It was there that we found out that the tourist maps we had were dated, as the metro station He Nan Nan Lu (South He Nan Road) had been renamed to Nanjing Dong Lu Station. We then popped into a shoe store to try on boots, and spent some time in Giordano where JH bought some long-sleeved t-shirts. The Giordano store was very large, and also included Giordano Mens and Giordano Ladies, which are more upmarket ranges that what we have in Singapore. I was very tempted to buy a long knitted cardigan, but at 895RMB, I just could not justify it, so I did not.
We then continued to walk eastwards, and came across some live music entertainment. There was a gentleman playing his saxophone on the 1st story balcony of a building. Really cool. We walked on to the Shanghai First Food Store. Right at the back of the building, on the ground floor, we found a queue at Yang' SFry-Dumpling (sic) (Yang's Fried Dumpling?) where fried dumplings were sold at 4 for 4RMB. Of course we joined the queue. The dumplings were D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. They were large, and oh-so-juicy. In fact, we did not realise how juicy they were until Mr Milo bit into one and squirted the juice all over my bag.
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