One Night In Shanghai!

Date of Travel: 18 May 2013

We stayed in Shanghai, China for 1 night as a stopover before heading to South Korea! My boyfriend interned in Shuzhou, China for 6 months the previous year and often visited Shanghai. He knew the city well, and since I've never been to any part of China, we decided to stay in Shanghai for 1 night to just have a look see!

Dock Bund Hostel Shanghai

Dock Bund Hostel

Address: No.55 Hongkong Road 200001, Shanghai, China
Tel: +86 21-53500077
Email: dockbundhostel@gmail.com
Website: http://www.bmhostel.com/en/gyls-dock.html

This hostel is about 10-15 mins walk from the metro, and about another 5-10 mins walk to the bund. Location wise, it is relatively close to the bund, but if you're coming from the metro with lots of luggage, it might be a little hassle. You have to cross a number of roads and junctions to get to the hostel. Gilbert was carrying a backpack and I only had 1 small luggage with me, so we managed.

We stayed in the Standard Double Ensuite right at the top floor. The floors and tabletops were quite dusty, but I couldn't complain more! We had a clean toilet of our own, and the bedsheets were clean!

Shanghai Bund (外滩)

Shanghai Bund

We arrived at the hostel at about 8.30am (we landed at 5am, had breakfast and took the train out). Obviously the room that we booked at the hostel isn't ready yet, as the previous guest has not checked out. So we dumped out bags in the storage room and headed out to the bund!

It was drizzling when we reached the bund which was a little mood killer as it was cold, wet, and foggy! Luckily we had our splash proof windbreaker. Along the way, we saw plenty of old buildings! I looooooove old buildings and architecture!

Shanghai Old Town (上海老街) 

Old streets

Nearest Subway: Metro Line 10, Yuyuan Garden Station  (轨道交通10号线,豫园站)

Next we went to this place where the architecture and buildings were built to replicate the olden Shanghai/China. This is a tourist hotspot/trap and sells all things touristy from postcards to bags to REALLY AWESOME FOOD.

We had two things there, smelly tofu and bbq squid. I still feel that the smelly tofu I had in Hong Kong was nicer and more salty (which is how I like my smelly tofu).

Smelly Tofu!

 The BBQ squid on the other hand..... The auntie took a whole piece of squid on a stick, cut it up and fried it on a hot plate with some onions and garlic. She then sprinkles some oil, sauce and sesame seeds. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water!

BBQ Squid

Hui Lau Shan (許留山)

Mango-licious!

Now, they don't have this in Singapore, and the only time I had this excessively was in Hong Kong about 2 years ago. I loveeeeee all things Mango, and Hui Lau Shan serves not only all things Mango, but other fruit desserts too!

We ordered the big bowl of 'Glutinous Rice Balls in Mango Juice with Extra Mango' (as per menu). But I think the appropriate name of this dessert would be 'Glutinous Rice Balls in Mango Syrup with Chunks of Mango and Mango Ice Cream'. It costs RMB38 (SG$7.80/ US$6.20). It's quite expensive for a regular dessert (especially in China) but it is worth every penny!

The Grandma's Restaurant  (外婆家)

Grandma's Restaurant Entrance 

In Mandarin, the name of the restaurant means Grandma's House. Gilbert has this when he was in Suzhou, and he loved this restaurant a lot! He hunted down a brunch in Shanghai and we went there for dinner!

So, he told me that last year in Suzhou, they queued for 4 hours waiting for their table. They only open during dinner time at about 4pm. They took turns waiting in line or with the queue number for 4 hours! That was madness! We decided to try our luck here in Shanghai.

We arrived and there was massive number of people waiting. We took a queue number, waited a while (10-15 mins) and the numbers did not move at all. So, that was when we decided to go out for a walk, and we had our mango dessert (yes I know, before dinner?) at Hui Lau Shan. When we returned, we were surprised that the number has passed ours by over 20! We immediatly approached the hostess stand and they gave us another number which was just 3 diners away! *Whew*

Grandma's Restaurant!

We ordered:

• Braised Goose Liver in Sake - 19RMB
• Grandma's Special BBQ Meat - 29RMB
• Grandma's Special Pork Liver - 19RMB
• Spinach with Century Egg and Salted Egg - 16RMB
• Stir Fried Straw Mushrooms with Chili - 25RMB
• 2 Cups of Green Tea - 8RMB each

We spent a total of 124RMB (SG$25.40 / US$20.20) for 2 persons!!!

It is affordable, service is very fast and efficient, and the food is fantastic. I understand now why the Chinese are willing to queue for 4 hours just for a 1-2 hours meal!

Nanjing Road (南京步行街)

City lights along Nanjing Road

Bright city lights can be seen along the whole stretch of Nanjing Road. It really is very beautiful in the evening when all the lights are on, shoppers coming in and out of the retail stores, and cute chubby children running around. We basically just walked through the streets are I wasn't in the mood for shopping (think.. Korea!).

CoCo Bubble Tea

Coco Bubble Tea

If you live in an Asian country like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore or even China, I'm sure you've heard of the fad, Bubble Tea. It's usually just Milk Tea with 'Pearls' or rather chewy, starchy (fat inducing) balls. Even though I know it's full of sugar, the 'pearls' are nothing but empty calories, I just love drinking bubble tea!

And according to Gilbert, CoCo is one of the best in Shanghai (or China?). We literally walked out of the way just to find this stall, and it was indeed refreshing after such a strenuous long walk. I like how some brands of bubble tea has the tea taste like Koi (SG) or 50 Ban (TW) and mostly, other brands just has the milk taste.