Shanghai Holiday Day 2 ~ 31st January 2007 Night

Puxi District Night Sceneries

After my day trip to Zhou Zhuang Ancient Township, we returned back to Songjiang, had a rest and a quick shower before leaving for dinner in Shanghai.

Dinner was at one of restaurant in a shopping centre, located in the southwestern part of Shanghai, didn't took down the name and take photos of the dinner I had. It was lovely food, just a little bit oily. I just loved the stir fried noodles.

After dinner, we split up, one group went to shop for goods and groceries while I went to Puxi District. When we drove towards the Puxi District, the beautiful lights of Pudong and Puxi District, lighting up the Huang Pu jiang, giving it a great aura of a modern cosmopolitian city that is able to retain its culture and history. There were many people along the Bund (as it known to the world), soaking in the cold winter night, taking photographs of Pudong District, chatting and having a great time. It is full of life and gives Shanghai the unique identity that stands out. If you ever visit Shanghai, it is a must for you to visit Pudong and Puxi District, in both the day and night.








We quickly walked along the road, admiring the various colonial buildings, the colours it bring to the river life. After that, we walked into Nanjing East Road, whereby a part of the shopping mall was located. There were not cars running in the middle of the road, just full of people shopping. It was brightly lit up with neon lights and advertisements. There were no intention for me to do any shopping yet and we just quickly walked up and down Nanjing East Road, looking around the various shopping complex, both old and new. People were all around, this place is lively and it brands Shanghai as a major city in the world.







Soon, it was time to pick up the rest and we headed back to the sub-urban district. Returning back to Songjiang, had a good rest and preparing for my Day 3 adventure.

Shanghai Holiday Day 2 ~ 31st January 2007

UNESCO Heritage Listed - Zhou Zhuang Ancient Township

Before I came over to Shanghai, this town was mentioned to me by my cousin, as a well-worthy place of visit. Upon hearing it, I went to read up on my Lonely Planet Shanghai book and found that it is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage listed venues in 1998.

They have a comprehensive webpage on Zhou Zhuang Township, please go take there to take a look and have a greater understanding on this remarkable ancient township Zhou Zhuang Ancient Township

Today, after having a hearty breakfast by dearest Auntie, we set off to our destination Zhou Zhuang Township. However, before we even reached 5km, we had to stop for an hour to fix a leaking and rusty water pipe in the car. Therefore, we stopped at a garage for an hour to get it fixed before driving to our destination.

Along the way to the destination, we passed by different parts of Shanghai, great massive lakes before entering Jiangsu Province, where Zhou Zhuang Ancient Township is located. By the time we reached, it was around 12pm and it's time for lunch. Looking around, we just pop into a restaurant at the corner of a cross junction leading up to the entrance of the Ancient Township. We had a great lunch and the pork leg meat a.k.a. "ti pang", a Jiangsu delicacy. The meat was great but it was a bit too big for the two of us.

Without further ado, we went into the ancient township and started my journey into another world of rich and strong heritage, culture and history. It doesn't take too much time to realise why UNESCO had chosen Zhou Zhuang Township, once you are inside there, you felt that you had gone back in time. The water canals connecting the houses, the bridges across many different sides of the entire township, display of historical kitchens, items, different chambers within the big houses. Wooden boats parked at the side of the canals, boatman and woman rowing the boats inside the canals, wriggling their journey through the narrow straits, singing their local songs. The villagers preparing their food, washing their stuff etc etc, displaying their traditional goods and local food.





I took about 100 photographs in Zhou Zhuang, something that I felt I didn't do enough justice to this beautiful ancient township. I hope that my selected photographs on display would show Zhou Zhuang its rich history and beauty to all folks who visited my blog.









I walked around pretty quick and covered pretty much most of the whole ancient township. Within the ancient township itself, there were many other mini-museums e.g. Zhang's House and Shen's House, two of the houses we visited and we had a greater understanding of the famous people during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, their family house, artwork and their contributions.





Looking back, in the face of modernisation, many countries in the world faces economic growth at the expense of losing historical venues, items, culture etc etc ... A world citizen in the modern globalised world, can play a big part in preserving the history and culture of the countries they visit and the motherland they originated or presently residing.

Let's all play a part. I hope my writing here would make a difference to you and me.

Shanghai Holiday Day 1 ~ 30th January 2007

My Brief Travel Itinerary for Shanghai

Type of Holiday: Free and Easy
Flight: SQ 816
Dep: Singapore Changi Airport 0115 hrs
Arr: Shanghai Pudong International Airport 0620 hrs

I arrived in Pudong International Airport in the early morning of 30th January 2007 and I was feeling the coldness of the winter months. It was about 2 degrees Celsius ?, supposingly freezing conditions for tropical folks like us but I was enjoying it thoroughly.

While I was on the Boeing 777-300, I was watching movies and relaxing, great to be away from my work and just enjoying myself. This trip was made possible by my cousin who was on her project management regular trips to Shanghai, that resulted in me having "sponsored" accommodation and wonderful hosts and tour guides for my holidays.

We were received by my cousin's company representative that picked us up and we were soon on our way to the company in Songjiang, about 30km southwest of Shanghai city. Travelling on the expressway, I had my first image of China, it is really very very big. Studying in Australia for my Bachelor was a very memorable experience and I appreciated the sheer land size ..... however, Shanghai, which is part of China, just is so much much bigger ...... People who visited China would be able to share the same thoughts as me.....

Many different sights of Shanghai appeared while we were travelling on the road, new upcoming beautiful apartments, houses, Huangpu River, Xupu Bridge, farms, canals, boats...... A cultural experience and exchange is soon on the way

Upon reaching the office, I unloaded and unpacked my luggage, a quick wash up and off I went, visiting the world famous Pudong District of Shanghai. Travelling up along the financial district hub of Shanghai (& China), I was in awe of the size, modern high rise buildings and number of financial institutions (local and overseas) residing here. My first stop was Oriental Pearl TV Tower Oriental_Pearl_Tower . We bought the tickets that allowed us to visit all the various levels of the magnificient tower, the highest viewing point was 350m.



The weather in the morning was foggy and the day views when I was up there was clouded. On a clear day, it would be a very beautiful landscape. If you are in Shanghai, this landmark is a monument not to be missed. Besides that, when we finished visiting the different levels of the tower, we went to the ground floor and had a great time looking at the mini history museum, understanding Shanghai culutre better. My excellent tour guide was also on hand to explain some of their unique farming equipment.











We had our lunch and later went over to Puxi Disrict, on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong District. Walking down the Bund, looking at the colonial buildings of great heritage, displays the historical pride of Shanghai in its early days. There were many people from all walks of life, taking photos of the Pudong District, relaxing, chatting and enjoying themselves.

I was there, along the beautiful Bund, an icon of Shanghai to the world. It was a great opportunity to put my Canon EOS 30D to the test and bring out my photojournalism skills to the next level. Taking many different photos and writing down my travelling and cultural experiences into my blog.





Returning back to Songjiang, a rest and shower, before heading for my first dinner in China. Great food but I wasn't too used to their style of cooking (a bit too oily for me) at He Ji Restaurant. After that, we went to look at Songjiang city centre district and I had to admit that my initial opinions on Songjiang had changed. It is growing and it is a major industrial area hub (very similar to Tuas Industrial Estate w/ Jurong Housing Estate but twice or three times the size).

After a long day, I was knocked out, partly due to the fact that I hardly slept during my midnight flight. My Day 2 adventure would be starting soon.

Prelude to my Shanghai holiday trip from 30th January to 3rd February 2007

Shanghai ~ the Paris of the East

A magnificient city, prosperous and metropolitan, busy, modern yet she is able to retain its beauty and history. This was my holiday destination, since my last (personal) holiday to Penang, Malaysia in October 2004.

It was an eye-opener for me to the mighty and powerful China, my first trip to this giant country (even my parents went to more places in China than me), great cultural experiences, exchanges and chat.

I would be writing up on my daily adventures and would try to write in my "best photojournalistic" manner. The travel schedule would be as follows:

Day 1: Oriental Pearl TV tower, Pudong, Puxi, East Nanjing Road, Songjiang
Day 2: Zhou Zhuang, Puxi (Night sceneries), East Nanjing Road
Day 3: Sheshan, Zhu Jia Jiao Canal Town, Shanghai Film Studio, Jinmao Tower
Day 4: Temple of the Town Gods, Songjiang
Day 5: Factory outlet, Pudong International Airport

Do keep a look out for my adventure story telling with great photographs.

My family pet, a Japanese Spitz

We recently purchased Canon 30D, moving up into a higher level of photography (for us) and we tested our photos on my lovely family dog, a Japanese Spitz.

She's a lovely and playful puppy. A bit overweight though.....





I would be planning to take more pet portraits in the future, especially with my neighbourhood cats (in time to come).

Dragon Chapter Bowling at Kim Seng Plaza - 11 January 2007

It's back, another Dragon Chapter Activity !

We, the Dragon Chapter went bowling for our leisure and get together activity. This session was held at Kim Seng Plaza and we had more members joining the activities that committee is organising.


Weiliang & Hongliang


Panther vs Lion

For a start, everybody thought it was just another friendly bowling session for a get together, chit chat, bowling etc etc...... but we were wrong ! Those guys were excellent and a lot of us hit a pretty decent score and some of their results were very good. I was glad I wasn't the last of the league table as I would have to buy the league champion siew mai.


The 3 Teachers

It was really fun overall and it allowed us the older boys to mix around and get to know the younger old boys more. As the year 2007 moves along, we would be looking foward to gather more old boys from different era to come down, have fun and build up the Dragon Scouts Old Boys fire again.


Hongliang, Ganesh, Prashanna & Wei Bin

To the Dragon Scout Old Boys, 2007 would be Gan Eng Seng Dragon Scout Group 85th Anniversary Celebrations. Please keep a lookout for the upcoming events (85th Campfire and 85th Dinner). Hope to see you all there ! More details would be released at a later time.

Happy 2007 !

Celebrating 30 years of my life with mates from fin-exis @ Blu Jaz Cafe

10th January 2007 - 30 Not Out

This date marks the 30th historical year that I am in and indeed, it feels very different from my other birthdays. I got a lot of well wishes from many people (is it because I turn 30 ?)..... from my former housemate, Ammi from Queensland, Australia and Stephanie from KL, Malaysia.

My feelings are mixed, felt that I am embarking on another phase of life that is gaining greater importance and significance. It would probably come to light in this year 2007 or the years to come ahead.

My lovely bunch of fin-exis colleagues, great friends that I made, youngsters that call me old man, ah pek, ah gong ...... (I am not that OLD !!!!). We went to this area near our office in Bugis area, Blu Jaz Cafe @ Bali Lane. Please go their Blog and take a look Blu Jaz Cafe , it's a really cool and happening place to visit, chill out and have a nice meal.





There were a huge bunch of lovely folks with Bravehearts and Care Bears characteristics and we had fun taking photos, Issac planning CNY 07 KL trip, Sean selling pineapple tarts, drinking, listening to music, people letting their hair down and enjoying themselves. It was great to see old friends such as Kev & Ah Kua. My DSLR came to great use, these few people had fun taking many different photographs..... Scott, Keith, Ray, Sean, Vik









A birthday cake was there for me, my request to avoid having 3 candles on the cake was rejected. Apparently, it was of utmost significance to show people how old I am ??!! . Some birthday songs singing and the whole 2nd floor of Blu Jaz Cafe was filled with our birthday party atmosphere, even the people at the tables beside us were helping to sing and celebrate my birthday !



With a crazy bunch of mates, it is inevitable that I would get "extra" and "special" birthday treatment from my mates....... that came in the form of "Flaming Spirits Cocktail Waterfall", look at the pictures and the truth would come to light. It was really fun but it was burning hot hot hot in my stomach ......... I couldn't finish it, did about 1/2 or 3/4 before Vik finished it off ......



This birthday celebration was very special to me, it was a very big and unique group and they wrote many beautiful words, verses of well wishes, greetings and jokes.... These "family members", had been with me since I joined and we had went through thick and thin together, you people out there would know many many mountains and valleys we went through, the rain and sun, the storm, challenges, tests and projects etc etc etc

I sincerely would like thank all of you who were with me on 10 Jan 2007 (from the bottom of my heart) .....

Viktor, Raymond, Jerlyn, Kevin, Hanlong, Sean, Issac, Celeste, Waifung, Xiangling, Chan Hong, Collin, Scott, Keith, Jenny, Kelvin & Ah Kua.

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

Gotheborg visiting Singapore

Gotheborg

An ancient replica sailing ship from the 16th century, from Sweden, plying the lucrative sailing and trading routes to Asia, reviving the history.

This ship was manned by volunteers and they had been sailing around the world for a while, promoting exchange of knowledge between countries and fostering world peace and friendship at the ports of visit. They came just in time to Singapore wishing us Happy New Year 2007 !

I went down to Vivo City whereby the ship Gotheborg is berthed, and I also took the opportunities to look at Vivo City for the first time since it opened. There were displays on the history of Gotheborg and information on the country Sweden. There were many people taking photos of Gotheborg from different deck levels of Vivo City and around the berth area too. I was happily snapping photos away in the midst of the rain. There was on 1st January 2007, when I also took the evening photos around Harbourfront area in my earlier posting.

A Beautiful Evening @ Vivo City - 1st Jan 2007