Shanghai By Day

Derek had a recent business trip to Shanghai that coincided with a long holiday weekend so we decided to take advantage of it.  Derek went to Beijing earlier this year but I had yet to visit China.  I am happy to say that I have been but I would certainly not make a point to visit Shanghai again.  There were many good things but also many bad things that I will have to share.

Shanghai is a more modern city so in many ways lacked some of what I thought would be the "China experience".  From the airport we were able to take the Maglev train, which travels at 300 km/hr, into the city.  We then rode the metro almost everywhere we went.  Some would think that is daring but it was relatively clean, efficient, and cheap.  We made sure to go at off-peak times and for the most part avoided any super crowding/pushing situations.  As Shanghai was in the midst of a heat wave, the air-conditioned metro was like a refuge from the scorching heat.

On our first day we decided to visit the Shanghai Museum.  While we were walking to the museum, we were stopped by a news crew doing a story on the heat.  Did they pick the wrong couple.  The conversation went something like this:

Newswoman:  Where are you from?

Derek: Singapore

Newswoman:  *with puzzled look because she wasn't expecting that answer* So would you say this is hotter than Singapore?

Derek:  It is a little hotter here but we are used to it.  Singapore is hot and humid year-round.

Newswoman:  So are you from the US originally?  Where in the US and does it ever get this hot?

Derek:  We are originally from Houston and it gets much hotter there.  Houston has greater humidity that makes it feel really hot.

Newswoman: *sweating profusely* So you really do not think it is that hot?

Derek:  *without breaking a sweat* No, not too bad.  We were just going to walk to the museum.

We walked away laughing because everyone was making such a big deal about the heat (40degC = 104degF) while we felt it was a normal Houston summer day.  We never checked the news but I have a feeling they didn't use our interview.

We did finally make it to the museum and enjoyed looking at all the artifacts.  It is not often that you get to see ancient Chinese artifacts dating back to 18th century B.C..  I only took a few select photos, unlike some people who took a picture of each and every display.  Seriously.

This little boy was learning how to draw bamboo in the middle of the museum

Along Pedestrian Street after the museum

Shanghai has the 6th tallest building in the world so we went to checkout the skyline.  I am not editing any of the photos so you can see just how hazy it was.  Part of that "China experience" I suppose.

What the skyline should look like (at night) and the building stats

And what the skyline actually looked like. 

So much haze

To see architecture that was more Chinese inspired we went to Yu Gardens.

This is looking promising, Chinese architecture

Oh wait, KFC and Haagen-Dazs?  Maybe not authentic Chinese

We did have a few interesting experiences that I don't have pictures to document.  We quickly learned that if someone approached you and spoke in English that they were either trying to scam you or sell you fake goods.  So the scam they kept trying to run on us was the Tea Scam.  As you walk by in a public place, a group will ask a Westerner to take a picture of them in front of some ordinary building.  Once you have done this, they try to get you conversing with them in English.  They will then ask if you are interested in lunch or tea so you can continue talking.  They then escort you to cafe where you sample tea and coffee and then leave you with an inflated bill.  Fortunately we were warned about this before we were approached but we watched a few people fall victim to the scam.  We walked back and forth to the metro one day and had the same guy ask us three times to take his picture.  This same guy was in that spot multiple days while we were there.  If ever in Shanghai, watch out for this!

Derek wanted to find some tea or a red clay teapot as a souvenir and so we went to a sort of tea mall that was recommended to us.  When we walked in, it seemed like the place was dead.  Stores were closed and it seemed like no one was there.  As we made our way around the place suddenly came to life although we were really still the only people there.  It felt like they were putting on a show just for us tourists.  We found a teapot in one store that Derek began negotiating for.  The lady didn't want to come down on the price anymore and walked away for a second.  When she came back she stood awkwardly looking into a cabinet when a man approached and picked up the exact teapot Derek had been looking at and asked "how much" as though he wanted to buy it.  As if we couldn't see through that negotiating tactic.  They hoped that if someone else wanted it then we would be willing to pay their asking price.  Derek just walked away without saying a word.

It was experiences like this that made us all too happy to sit in the quiet of our hotel room and watch movies.  It was good to see and experience but I certainly wouldn't pay to go back.  Next up is our nighttime experiences which were far more enjoyable!

Malaysia BBQ and Karaoke

I cannot believe it took us almost a year to finally cross the border and go to Malaysia!  Whenever I would mention to someone that I wanted to drive to Malaysia they would tell horror stories about muggings, car jackings, people trying to swindle you, and being stopped by corrupt police officers.  The way they would make it sound was that you had a 50/50 chance of something going wrong if you crossed the border.  This perception is perpetuated by Singapore just being one of the safest countries in the world so to them, any crime is A LOT of crime.  One of the guys in my group, Keith, lives in Malaysia and invited us all up to a Taiwanese BBQ restaurant and out for Karaoke.  It was the perfect reason to just risk it and cross over.

When we started the trip we figured it would take about an hour, maybe just a little more to go from our apartment in the middle of Singapore to his house just a few kilometers into Malaysia.  Three hours later, we finally made it there.  So what took us so long?  First we found out that you must have at least 3/4 tank of gas when you go through Singapore customs or you will be fined $500.  Seeing as my car only had 1/4 tank, it was necessary to fill up.  It never crossed my mind that there would be a fuel minimum but this is because too many people were filling up their cars on cheaper, less taxed fuel in Malaysia so Singapore had to put a stop to it.  Next we had to go through Singapore customs.  There was a little bit of a wait but like all Singapore government services, it was relatively quick and efficient.

We crossed the bridge connecting the island of Singapore to Malaysia and then came to a dead stop.  We were 3km (1.9 miles) from the Malaysia customs checkpoint and it took us two hours to make it through.  At that point I was thankful I filled up my car as we sat there inching forward every few minutes.  There were no exits, no stores, no bathrooms, and no turnaround points so all you could do was sit and wait.  At that point we started to wonder if we made the right choice to come but once we got to Keith's place and the party started then we knew it was worth it.

We started with dinner at a Taiwanese BBQ restaurant.  Derek and I had not done Taiwanese BBQ before but we have tried Korean.  Apparently the only difference is the sauce.  The concept is your order a ton of meet and then cook it, or as in Derek and my case burn it, yourself.

Our selection of meat included SPAM.  At the end, we taught them how to properly roast marshmallows.

After dinner we walked across the shopping center to the karaoke venue.  Now when everyone wanted to do karaoke we were pretty skeptical.  Derek and I are not fans of standing up in front of a bunch of people we don't know and pretending we can sing.  Fortunately for us, they do karaoke completely different!  In this karaoke bar, there were 25+ private rooms that could be rented by the hour for you and your friends.  We were shown to our private lounge, ordered drinks, and began singing the night away.  They had a wide selection of Korean pop (K-pop), Japanese, Chinese, and American songs.  Everyone passed around the three microphones and took turns singing in various languages.  It ended up being a really fun time!ć

We headed back to Singapore just after midnight and breezed through customs.   Besides the long trip there, we had no other issues.  It was a great night out with friends and another stamp in the passport!