We made our way towards 凤凰古城 (Phoenix Ancient City) and checked into Sulv Lianhua Hotel which was just by the riverside. The whole hotel gives off a rather traditional vibe and the interior of the room is as such as well, so it was quite different from the previous hotels we stayed
The hotel room overlooked the river so it was quite a pretty sight
The room is really pretty but I do find the bed a little hard
We got a short rest before going out for dinner and checking out the night scene so the guide brought us to this random restaurant. By then, I was so sick of 湘菜. Ha. I have never looked at the menu and taken so long to decide cos I really don’t know what to order (and I’m a really decisive person to begin with)
So we ended up with..
干锅土豆片 ¥58
which was a gigantic pot of sliced potatoes. Oh gosh
苗家酸汤鱼 ¥68
I decided to give their fish dish a try cos the guide keep saying the fish in Hunan is very good. Well, I think let’s just eat fish in Singapore. lol
After dinner, we made our way towards the main area which was so crowded
人山人海
Passed by this famous 苗饼 stall which I was tempted to try. But thinking how oily it might be, I decided to give it a miss
So the guide brought us to places where we can take photos of the night view and we just stood there for awhile with alot others all doing the same thing. We went to take a river cruise which will take us around so we didn’t need to walk cos the whole area was actually quite big
There are performances on the river as well to keep you entertained. I wondered how many times she had to dance. And the weather was actually quite chilly that night
After awhile, the view started to look the same, with the lit buildings on both side
So when we were finally done with the cruise, the guide brought me to a shop to do my photoshoot. He recommended this shop called 青花旅拍 which was a chain company so apparently their quality is better. The guide said they do wash their clothes and the makeup hygiene is better as well. Before I went into this shop, I actually wanted to avoid black outfit cos I think it wouldn’t look so nice in the background at night
In the end, the staff recommended 2 outfits to me which happened to be dark in colour. Ha
Also, did I mention the makeup and hair took 2 hours?!
Option 1
Somehow I felt like this didn’t look so nice on me
So I went with option 2 instead. I liked the 苗服 is the modified version so it didn’t look so traditional. I actually really liked this outfit
The photographer will guide you throughout with poses so don’t worry if you don’t have any experiences. The shoot was very fast. I think we took less than 30 mins for more than 30 shots and the photographer said I did very well. Ha.. They gave you free time to take more photos on your own phone if you like to but since it was alr 11pm at night, I decided to call it a day. So we got back to the studio where you can select 9 shots for them to edit for you. Not sure cos the editor was tired but he was kinda rushing me to select. So shall we see the end results?
Quite nice la I think. But I think I don’t have those 华族女子的美. lol
The whole package only cost ¥398 which includes hair, makeup and editing so I totally recommend you go to go it if you got the time
The plan was to wake up early, and head out to explore the area so that we can have brunch in the town (and avoid having more 湘菜) But alas, the weather wasn’t holding up, and made it better for sleeping instead
But I admire people and their dedication to have their photoshoots in this wet dripping weather. Like how to endure rain dripping down your face while you trying to your photos taken. I think that’s another level. lol
But we still walked abit. The morning scenery was really different. It was more calm and quieter and really, very little shops were opened
We didn’t find anything else to eat. We actually asked the guide if there’s other cuisines here and he said no. Literally every restaurant was serving 湘菜. I really PTSD. Ha
So we ended up with our favourite KFC for lunch which tasted really good. Imagine fried chicken and fries. Yums. And thankful for the friend who had a China number just cos they need to send updates to your mobile. I was joking else we wouldn’t have lunch to eat
We headed back to ZJJ city where the guide dropped us at their largest shopping mall so we can have International cuisines there. I was surprised ZJJ has a city and a shopping mall? I thought the whole area is just a national park. Clearly, there’s more than that
Didn’t it remind you of Hong Kong?
There’s an underground shopping mall where we walked abit cos it was too early for dinner. No, we didn’t buy anything but the prices are really cheap there
We ended up with Thai food for dinner. Cos I wanted something spicy, like the familiar kind of spicy
鲜虾卷 ¥23 (left) Sambal Kang Kong ¥19 (right)
Claypot prawn vermicelli ¥39
Mango Sticky Rice ¥28
I honestly didn’t think they tasted very authentic. lol. But beggars cannot be choosers. The mango sticky rice was not bad though. I was just happy I had a change of cuisine. Then I received a notification that our flight got delayed by 2 hours and I sian half cos by the time we reached Shanghai, it would be 2am already. Oh man, the journey. On the bright side, thankfully the flight wasn’t cancelled
We passed by a random food cart that sells sushi at ¥2?? wow. I wonder if any of my brave friends are willing to give this a try. lol
Last pitstop for the night – 72奇楼
We went over to take a look but didn’t go inside the building cos we didn’t think there would be anything that catches our eye. And with that, our guide dropped us at the airport and that’s the end of my ZJJ private tour. The guide told us to contact him the next time if we return. We asked if there’s anything else to see and he said we covered most of them. I guessed, there’s no point in returning then. lol
Jokes aside, I really liked the idea of this private tour and I would recommend anyone to go for this. It’s just daunting at first cos you don’t know which agency to choose and if they could really deliver. But I would say I had a good experience overall. I asked them if they cover other parts of China too, but they only focus on ZJJ so if you are looking at other cities, I guess you can go XHS for inspiration. lol. And I had people telling me my hotels are so much nicer than theirs. So yup, I’m really pleased with it. The whole 5D4N tour costs about SGD2.2k per adult and we had one room each. It covers attraction tickets, hotels, most of the transports (VIP pass/meals/ad hoc small transports not included) so for those who are interested, you can give it some thought
6 hours later, Hello Shanghai. I was soo exhausted by then
And all I want is to check-in and crash. I’m glad our driver was waiting for us and ready to whisk us off to the hotel
And that’s Langham Shanghai for the next 4 nights. Super modern and high class. lol. So different from the previous hotels for the previous nights
The next time my eyes opened, it was time for lunch. lol. The plan was to have crab noodles initially cos that’s what SH is known for. But the thought of having Chinese food again threw me off (I really PTSD) and I took out my phone, looked at 点评 and went – lets go eat pasta. lol
So we headed to Dopastta nearby which was quite highly rated
Mushroom Soup ¥18 (left) Grilled Chicken Wings ¥36 (right)
The starters came quickly. One mouth of the soup had me went back to normal palate. It was like wah, I’m so glad to be in Shanghai. Ha. The chicken wings were good too. It has a nice char taste without being too sweet
Minced Beef Bolognese
Pesto Prawn Tagliatelle ¥56
Pasta was really good. Cooked well, coated nicely with the sauce and overall very well balanced. I think the dad also enjoyed his pasta very much. I was so glad we had Italian for lunch
We went to 武康路 after lunch and decided to take a slow walk around the area
It was an area lined up with shops, coffee and alot of people on a weekend
Got myself a cup of coffee from Birdie Cup just cos the locals recommended it. The coffee was good. It was strong yet well balanced
Found a few pieces of artwork along the way. Really love the drawing of the 3 best friends
As we turned into 安福路, the joke came when I saw everyone holding this cup of coffee with a bear soft toy leaning on the cup. So I wanted to get one too, for the novelty
When they passed me the cup, I was like why is mine so different. Then I realised I bought it from the wrong shop. It was supposed to be the shop upstairs
…
Also overheard, the wait was 3 hours long
Anyway back to this cup of wrongly bought coffee, well, Birdie Cup was better
We headed back to Xintiandi area where it was also very crowded. So we decided to walk to 南京路 to get the butterfly snacks instead and cos we had so much time till dinner
Trying this viral marshmallow waffle that was all over XHS. Lets just say it tasted very normal
After we gotten all our snacks/souvenirs, we walked back to XTD for dinner at 马兰头小酒馆 which serves modern Shanghainese cuisine. I say, it was more fusionized than traditional Shanghainese cuisine
Starting with some cheap red wine that was too bright for me. But I guess you cannot complain for the price
Complimentary Appetiser
Baked Stuffed Crab Shell w Crabmeat & Goose Liver ¥58
Wenzhou Fish Cake ¥48
Rosemary, Foie Gras Scallion Oil Pancake ¥18
Fried rice with Beef, Vegetables & Black Truffle ¥88
I think the food was okay. Not memorable but decent enough. I guess at some point the food was a little too modernised. But I liked that the portions were small so it wasn’t too overwhelming to finish
They gave us another appetiser cos we ordered a round of cocktails
Ended with cocktails cos I wasn’t attracted by the dessert menu but I really wanted ice cream so I looked up the map and found an ice cream place nearby
which had me really satisfied
We got more alcohol and coffee to buy back on the way too so it was quite a fruitful ice cream run, and that wrapped up our first and very chill day in Shanghai
Our stomach was ready so we headed to 天羁·蟹黄鱼 for lunch. We went really early so the shop was still empty but we were soon joined by a group of Koreans
蟹粉黄鱼汤面 ¥88
This bowl of noodles was really heartwarming, especially on a cold weather. The creamy soup was infused with the sweetness of the crabs and I was surprised the fish was fresh and went well with the noodles
蟹千两拌面 ¥168
We got the dry version to try too. It was delicious too but it does get a little overwhelming after while
炸猪排
It was quite a decent and satisfying lunch
So I found a sample city walk map online and decided to follow the route all the way to 乍浦路桥, but not before stopping by The Press Cafe for coffee
It’s a very pretty old Shanghainese architecture where it used to be a newspaper office
The cafe was pretty crowded but more so with tourists
You can even read the history of it. The place was huge, with seatings stretching all the way inside and there were traces of history all around
But of course, coffee was the highlight. I thought the coffee was decent. Quite strong yet smooth and well balanced
After we were done resting, we continued on our city walk, passing by many places where it felt like you can have a photoshoot anywhere
Like we witnessed a couple having their wedding photoshoot here, with shots of them trying to cross the pedestrian crossing. It was actually quite nice
I thought this made a really photo shot (minus the cars). Sad the weather was abit cloudy so the Pearl Tower was a little hidden
We finally made it to 乍浦路桥 where you can have shots of the Pearl Tower without squeezing with people on the Bund, which was awesome
Cos that means I can have my own shots here 😀
We walked to 思南路 where there were traces of French architecture and took time to explore around the area
which we covered pretty quick. lol
So we took a cab down to EAU cafe at 永康路 and have a break. There were a few cafes in that area but spaces can be a little small
We got some refreshing coolers and a melon sponge cake (¥42) which was very delicious to be honest. I was tempted to try their coffee but that would mean it would be my second coffee in a few hours. So I decided to give it a miss, though I must say the coffee looks promising
And this is the quaint 永康路. It’s not big but apparently known to have strong cafe culture in that area. Since we still had time, we decided to take a train back to hotel to rest for abit, before heading out to dinner again
Was really excited for dinner which I had made a reservation online via 点评. Just cos the feeds kept showing up on XHS and the food looks so good
And that brought me to 大無烧肉 which was located at a shopping mall called 恒隆广场. The restaurant was quite big but could see most tables had reservations so I was looking forward to what the meal would bring
Starting with a double shot whisky highball while I looked through the many pages of menu and deciding what to order cos I wanted to order everything. lol. But the rational me knows we definitely couldn’t finish the food. So we made our order and waited
They heated up our grill with hot pieces of charcoal, and prepare many plates for us which I was so confused what they were used for. Anyway, a dedicated staff will be with you to cook your food so you literally just wait for the meat to be ready and you eat it
Ordered a side of kimchi to go along the meat. Somehow I felt like kimchi really goes well with yakiniku. This plate of kimchi was so good we had a second portion of it
Beef Tongue Fukubukuro ¥218
And this was the picture that kept showing up on my social. It just looked so cute
I wouldn’t say the same for the cooked product. lol. Honestly it looked better than it tasted. I would skip this the next time I go back
Grilled Beef Platter 500g ¥528
In my opinion, the grilled beef platter was really worth it. The cuts of meat was so delicious and the staff would take time to explain to you what doneness is recommended for each piece and what condiment to go with. And they place every cooked meat on a new plate and clear your old plate straightaway. Now I understand why they were so many plates on the table
They went as far as changing the plate immediately as long as there were signs of char or they think the plate is too hot for use. And, they really changed alot of plates during our dinner. I wonder how many plates they need to wash per meal service
Signature Sukiyaki ¥258
This was really good. I could have another piece of it
Sea Urchin wrapped with Beef ¥188
I was less sold on this. I preferred the sukiyaki
But this sakura ebi rice was the winner
It was so good, I had 2 bowls of rice. And if you know me, I don’t eat rice. lol
Ending off with some dashi so you can have it ochazuke style. It was such a comforting bowl of broth with the remains of the rice bits and flavour of the shrimps in it
We got some complimentary desserts cos we helped them with their review and the desserts were pretty good too
I was really impressed by this place, like I legit think it was one of the best yakiniku I’ve eaten in terms of food and service and the whole experience in general was memorable. Would definitely recommend this place if you are in Shanghai
It was our last day in Shanghai and given we need to depart at noon, I decided to finally join the dad for the hotel breakfast which he was raving about. Yes, we had complimentary buffet breakfast but I had been skipping it for the past 2 days. So we made our way down and I was so glad to say this should exactly be how a hotel breakfast be served – in order. The staff noted our room numbers, brought us to an empty table and took down our orders for coffee. Then we were free to proceed to help ourselves to the line
There was so much variety to choose from – pastries, egg station, ready cooked and you could even request a bowl of noodles from the made to order noodle station
The food was not bad. Even the coffee too. And juices were freshly squeezed for you. This was probably one of the biggest portions I had taken during the entire China trip and I’m glad to say, I was rather pleased with the experience here, as compared to previous unforgettable breakfast memoirs
We went back up shortly, chilled, checked out and proceeded to airport which check-in was a breeze. I was pleasantly surprised they gave me a priority tag even though I was just in PE class and I had already lost my status. I asked the friend – was it something I wasn’t aware of? She told me the station staffs were just being nice and I’m like wow, I wished every station staff is this nice then. Lol. The importance of this priority tag when you don’t fly premium – IYKYK
We passed by security control quickly and explored the airport a little before coming to a stop with Blue Bottle coffee! Which I happily bought a cup of it and it was sooo good! And I finished this so quickly I actually contemplated getting another cup. Ha
We waited around our gate and soon boarding commenced. It was a rather peaceful flight. For once, I decided to pre-order my meal and try their seafood selection cos I wasn’t very interested on the inflight menu and they didn’t have BTC option for the return flight
Seafood menu – Fish, Red peppers, Tomato sauce
Tasted very strange. Not sure if I did the right thing. lol
The dad went for the beef with rice which seemed better than mine
Well, the outbound flight was definitely better in terms of food and especially so when you get local options. But ain’t complaining for everything else
And so, that marked the end of our short China trip which I honestly had much fun. It didn’t turn out as bad I expected though ask me in another 2 years time for another China trip. I think about the food (and toilet) and I cannot take it. lol
Till next time!
Read here for my previous travelogues:
Easily satisfied, Hard to please 