xi'an trip day 1!! =P

Day 72 – 30 Sept (Tues)

30 sept! haha... we were leaving shanghai for xi’an in the afternoon... so my dad and I woke up earlier for a light breakfast near the hotel... we just had some 豆腐脑, which is like tau huey (soya beancurd), except that instead of adding sugar syrup which makes it sweet, the people here take it as some kinda tofu soup, where they add some tiny dried shrimp, seaweed and eat it in a hot soup... so it's a salty version of our tauhuey... haha... we also had 豆浆油条 (soya bean & youtiao) at that small chinese eatery, before going back to check out of the hotel... then we cabbed down to pudong airport, to catch our 1255pm domestic flight from shanghai to xi’an!

豆腐脑

豆浆油条


The flight from shanghai to xi’an takes around 2.5 hours, so we were scheduled to arrive in xi’an at around 3+pm... I’d made arrangements to meet shanshan’s friend,, cui yichen at the airport... yichen lives in xi’an, and he’d agreed to bring us around xi’an during this 3d2n trip!! He’s really been a great help, from planning our itinerary, to hiring a guide on our behalf, and even fetching us from the airport... omg... he rocks!! Yichen, remember to let us know if you’re coming down to sg, we’ll definitely be more than glad to bring you around to try all the local delicacies, especially the bak kut teh that you missed out on during your last trip! =P

So I’m glad i managed to correctly guess yichen’s identity when we first met at the airport... haha... we’d only roughly told each other what we’d be wearing, but we’d never seen pics of each other previously... hahaha...

Yichen drove us to check into a motel 168, which was really quite nice too... xi’an’s motel 168 is even cheaper than both shanghai & nanjing... think it only cost us 158rmb/night... =P after checking into the hotel, we took a 5-10mins walk to the nearby drum tower and bell tower... 2 very famous historical attractions in xi’an... the drums at the drum tower were used in the past as a form of weather report... different drums and different beating rhythms indicated different weather... haha... as for the bell tower, the bell was struck at sunrise and sunset to mark the time... =)

bell tower in the day... =)

bell tower at night... =)

nice cloudy sky... =)

walking to the bell tower... beautiful flowers... =)

sunset from the bell tower... =)

some of the drums in the exhibition hall inside drum tower...

stage with percussion instruments

here're all the drums for different weather and seasons! =P

pic with dad! =)

LARGEST drum in the world! (on the guiness book of world records!)


After taking lotza pics at the drum tower and bell tower, we went to the nearby 回民街 for dinner... 回民 (Hui people) is like an ethnic race of people originally from northern china who’re actually muslims... so along回民街 there were lotza restaurants, food stalls and small stalls selling souvenir items... since it was the golden week, where the whole of china gets to enjoy a week of public holiday, and xi’an being such a popular travel destination due to its rich history, there were many other tourists there, and they were mostly from other parts of china... so yah, it was really damn squeezy... it’s really not easy squeezing with the Chinese here... they can be really rough and ill-mannered, so you gotta be careful... oh, and not forgetting, it’s most important to keep an eye on your belongings, especially in crowded places... you never know when you might be targeted by pickpockets...

We first went to a very crowded shop selling lotza bbq items... ordered mutton satay, mutton leg, beef satay, bbq fish, some beef stomach thingy, olive fried rice and 西安凉粉... their satays are very different from those typical satays we eat in shanghai or Singapore... their satays are like thin metal sticks with very very little meat on each stick... so the staff goes around with huge bundles of sticks and if you call out to them, they’ll generously hand you a bundle of whatever they’re carrying and finally, when you finish your meal, they’ll count the no. of sticks at your table, and each stick costs 0.50rmb, which is about S$0.10 per stick, which isn’t that cheap actually...coz each stick really has VERY little meat, like it can be just 1 tiny thin piece of meat hanging by the edge, and even if you take 4 or 5 sticks of that, the amount of meat is still less than 1 normal S$0.50 satay we get in sg I believe... hahaha... but well, this is a tourist attraction in xi’an after all... so their stuff’s bound to be ex-er... >_<

西安凉粉 - the 凉粉 is translucent & has a texture like chee kuey, with various spices & seasoning added...

bbq mutton leg?

skewered beef stomach

西安贾三灌汤包子馆


After the bbq stuff, we went to this 西安贾三灌汤包子馆, which was supposedly very famous for their 灌汤包, as recommended by yichen. True enough, there was a queue outside the restaurant, so we had to wait quite a while before we got a table... well, the waiting time was good anyway... had to give our stomachs some time to digest the earlier bbq stuff...

At the 汤包馆, we ordered quite a few items... a 羊肉灌汤包 (mutton tangbao), 牛肉灌汤包 (beef tangbao), 八宝粥 (eight treasures porridge), 凉拌面筋 (cold noodle salad)... I think people who like mutton will love the羊肉汤包but I didn’t really really fancy it coz the taste of mutton was quite strong... I’m not a HUGE fan of beef either, so the牛肉汤包 was just not bad... although I personally prefer the usual pork filling in my 汤包, I must say that the restaurant does serve very nice 汤包 coz the skin of the 汤包 is thin, with a generous filling of very juicy meat along with nice & sweet ‘soup’ inside the 汤包...

羊肉灌汤包

八宝粥 (eight treasures porridge) & 凉拌面筋 (cold noodle salad)


After leaving the 汤包子馆, Yichen still went to get us some fried persimmon cakes! Haha... supposed to be one of the more popular local snacks... it’s basically like the sweet dried persimmon we eat during Chinese new year, fried with a thin layer of batter... quite nice but very oily... haha...

After all the delicious food, we took a nice & COLD stroll back to the hotel... =)

dad's visit day 3 & 4 =)

Day 70 – 28 Sept (Sun)

Had a simple breakfast with my dad this morning... (very unlike yesterday =P) haha... we just ordered some noodles and a xiao long bao... after breakfast, we went to the optical shops near my SH apartment to make new specs! Haha... I made a new pair of frameless specs, while my dad made himself a pair of reading glasses... =)

We took the mtr to 陆家嘴... showed dad the oriental pearl, which he took a couple of beautiful shots of... then we walked around the huge super brand mall again... and my dad also remarked about the countless restaurants in the whole shopping mall... in the end, we had lunch at lisboa restaurant, serving hk-portugese cuisine... ordered quite a few dishes...food was good! =)

courtesy of my dad...the oriental pearl... 东方明珠塔 =)


蚝油芥兰 (oyster sauce kailan)

delicious portugese egg tarts!

澳门炒饭 (macau fried rice) NICE! =P

海鲜咖喱 (seafood curry) very special curry! =)

海鲜汤 (seafood soup)


after lunch, we went to check out a new place called 蓝村路 (lancun rd)... there were quite a couple of steamboat restaurants but we weren’t really hungry yet... so we just continued walking... by the time we kinda felt hungry, there wasn’t any decent restaurant in sight... so we settled for this small Chinese eatery and ordered simple stuff for dinner... the food was cheap but average... didn’t look too hygienic... so yah, it wasn’t a great meal... haha... we had a shengjian bao, a bowl of 酒酿丸子 (small glutinous rice balls in a soup with a bit of wine), and a bowl of noodles... headed back to the hotel after that... =)

Day 71 – 29 Sept (Mon)

Breakfast was fantastic once again... haha... we had hairy crabs AGAIN! Haha... and this time round, not 2, but 3!! Haha... sinful indeed... but well, my dad was saying, since it’s sorta the last day we’ll be spending together in shanghai (before we fly to xi’an and then to nanjing), we shall just pamper ourselves and savour the hairy crabs once more before my dad returns to Singapore... =P we savoured the crabs slowly back in the comfort of the hotel room... after that, we went 七浦路 (qipu rd) to shop around... my dad has actually been there before as well, coz it was part of our tour package in our family trip a few years back... since it was the weekend, the whole place was really crowded... at qipu rd, there’re actually quite a no. of shopping malls congregated in that area, selling more or less similar stuff, with lotsa imitation goods... so it wasn’t really nice to shop... there wasn’t anything we wanted to get anyway... so after walking around a bit, we went to a street nearby where there were some small eateries and food stalls... we just had some snacks like mutton satay, some small bun thingy that was pretty nice =) and since there wasnt really anything decent for lunch, we headed for some ajisen ramen at a nearby shopping centre... hahaha...

After quite a tiring afternoon of shopping, we went back to the hotel to slack for a bit... then dinner was settled at this Chinese restaurant opposite my SH apartment called 跃民酒店... I’d been there with my mom previously... so we ordered a few similar dishes... and tried some new stuff too... =)

abalone　& broccoli

水晶鸡

红烧鱼　(braised fish)

dad's visit day 2

Day 69 – 27 Sept (Sat)

Our day started off with a sinful breakfast... sinfully fantastic breakfast... hahaha... my dad and I wanted to get breakfast somewhere near our hotel, but we saw a stall selling the all-famous 阳澄湖 (lake yangcheng) hairy crabs! Haha... after bargaining a bit with the seller, he quoted us 55rmb for each crab (male/female)... well, my dad was saying that hairy crabs in sg can be really quite ex, especially those sold in restaurants... coz they’re somewhat considered a relatively rare delicacy in sg since you gotta import the hairy crabs from china or elsewhere... so 55rmb was already considered quite cheap... haha... so well, we bought 2!! =P haha... the crab seller even helped us to cook the crabs on the spot, for us to eat them in this small Chinese eatery right next to his stall... it was a very simple cooking process... he just placed the 2 crabs in a pot of water, sprinkled some salt into the water, and placed the pot on an electric stove... it took around 30mins for the crabs to be nicely cooked, after which, the crab seller brought it into the Chinese eatery for us... as he entered, we were greeted by the steaming hot and highly appetizing red crustaceans and simply couldnt wait to feast on them! =P true enough, the crab were not the least bit disappointing... the freshness and natural sweetness of the crab meat lingered in our mouths even after we took the first bite... heavenly... the tinge of salt added brought out the taste of the flavourful seafood... yummy...=D

阳澄湖 (lake yangcheng) hairy crabs!! (before cooking)

阳澄湖 (lake yangcheng) hairy crabs!! (while cooking)

阳澄湖 (lake yangcheng) hairy crabs!! (after cooking)

omg... look at all the roe inside...=O


after our satisfying breakfast, we went to science & tech museum’s underground shopping mall... my dad was busy looking out for some golf equipment, but apparently, the stuff there was too chui for his liking... shopping here is really a good test of your bargaining skills... I had gd practice once again... bought a nice pair of court shoes and a grey hooded jacket which you all will probably see in some of the pictures uploaded...

after some nice shopping, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant... there were actually 2 rather similar restaurants side by side, and we were wondering which to enter... in the end, we just chose the one with more people inside... haha... follow the crowd... hope it doesn’t go too wrong... and yay...thankfully, the food was pretty good!

sci & tech museum restaurant - braised mushrooms

prawns!

chicken 三杯鸡

sweet & sour fish

sumptuous lunch... =P


After a great lunch, we went to ren min guang chang to walk around... went to the nearby 南京路步行街 with the beautifully lit shops and took some pics there... since china’s national day was in a few days’ time (1st oct), there were lotza china flags hung outside buildings, flying in the wind... quite a pretty sight... =)

happy national day, china! =P

pics taken at 南京路步行街



We were finding a place for dinner, when I spotted this restaurant on the 2nd level of one of the buildings along 南京路步行街 which looked really crowded... so we decided to check it out... the restaurant’s called 干锅居 and had a full house! so we figured that it must be quite good and decided to wait... we got a table soon after, and ordered some stuff... but ALL turned out to be disappointing!! Omg... their supposed specialty, 干锅鸡 was just bones with hardly any meat! And the whole dish was just bland... not salty, not spicy, just bland!! >_< the 麻婆豆腐 tasted alright but was freaking oily... and the vege soup with meatballs was so average... all in all, a lousy meal! >_<

yucky 干锅居

disgusting 干锅鸡 at 干锅居... >_<

super oily 麻婆豆腐

finally...my dad's visit!! =P

Day 67 – 25 Sept (Thurs)

Yay! I’m finally progressing to the date of my dad’s visit!! Haha... –excited- have been procrastinating blogging coz I’ve been busy with work and other misc stuff... so yup, shall now blog about my dad’s visit! =P

my dad was supposed to arrive in shanghai at around 10pm on Thursday, but his flight was delayed for 4.5 hrs, so he only arrived in the wee hours of the morning on Friday! >_< well, according to him, at least he was given some kinda food voucher to dine at a crystal-jade like Chinese restaurant at changi airport while waiting for his flight... -_-“

so anyway, I checked into the hotel first, and went out for dinner... the hotel stay only cost about S$30+/night, but it was really comfortable! definitely value for money! It has a huge king-sized bed, and the room’s basically quite new & has all the basic necessities like a tv, dressing table, and even FREE INTERNET! Haha... oh, it just didn’t have a fridge (not really necessary in my opinion, especially if it’s just a short stay) and it didn’t have a wardrobe either... in place of that were just hooks and hangers, which were good enough since they served the same purpose... =) so anyway, there wasn’t very much to eat nearby, but there was a 重庆鸡公煲 (chongqing chicken hotpot)... I’ve tried it before, and it’s quite nice... you can check out my earlier blog entry to find out more... =)

重庆鸡公煲


after dinner, I headed back to the hotel to work on my Chinese presentation (for tomorrow’s lesson) while waiting for my dad... haha... oopz... rather last minute work... (as usual...-_-) but of coz, I was easily distracted online and ended up progressing rather slowly... but eventually, I managed to get it done, and was about to head to bed when my dad finally reached the hotel! =D WELCOME DAD! Haha... really glad to see him since it’s been quite a while...about 2 months since I last saw him on the night of my departure... =)

as expected, my dad carried a huge luggage filled with stuff for me, and only carried a small bag with a few pieces of clothing and some basic necessities for himself... oopz... hehe... =P courtesy of everyone at home, my granny as well, I had lotza nice food too! My mom specially prepared some mushrooms cooked and marinated with soya sauce while my granny cooked her specialty shrimp sambal chilli! Woohoo! Delicious home-flavoured foodstuff to spice up my meals...=P

Day 68 – 26 Sept (Fri)

Had my presentation during the Chinese movie lesson in the morning... think it went quite well so yah... getting an S shouldn’t be a prob... =P went to meet up with my dad after lesson... we had lunch at the very nice Chinese restaurant called 金桂皇朝 at 静安寺that I visited with my mom previously... the place with the delicious roasted meat and durian puffs! Yummy... let the pics do the talking... –feeling hungry already- >_<

烧味拼盘 at 金桂皇朝 (mixed roasted meat)


sumptuous feast!


After the sumptuous lunch, we took a walk around the 久光 shopping mall, which sells a lot of jap stuff... then went to a coffee bean outlet nearby to chill... haha... it’s been quite a while since I just entered a café to slack over a cup of coffee... I used to go starbucks with my dad to slack quite often... haha... him with his fave americano, me with my rumba frap, which became java chip frap... sinful treats... =P so yup, after a relaxing time at coffee bean, we went nj west rd for dinner! Haha... first stop, pudding green tea... 2nd stop, xiaoyang sheng jian! Haha... showed my dad how to eat that, and once again warned him about william’s cmi (+highly dangerous) shengjian eating habits... beware if you’re wearing light coloured clothing... must siam and get your tissue ready in case the juice from the sheng jian bao spurts out as he sinks his teeth into the sheng jian tactlessly... =P

Ok, 3rd stop, bbq food! haha...we ordered scallops, oysters, mutton satays, chicken wings, bbq fish (1st time trying...very nice!!), octopus and mushrooms... we were sitting in the restaurant, so we had to pay 10rmb extra, but it was well worth it...since we wouldn’t have to queue outside and could get our delicious piping hot bbq food much sooner! =)

By then, we were already super full... so could only show my dad the other delicious foodstalls selling 锅贴, smelly tofu, takoyaki, egg tarts, etc... =)

goodbye pudding milk tea...hello pudding green tea! =P

Day 62 – 21 Sept (Sun)

As you all might know, my fave beverage in shanghai was coco’s pudding milk tea with pearls! But ahem... sadly, with the disgusting melamine scare, I’m steering clear of dairy products! And this includes the milk in the milk tea! Haha... so my new love = pudding green tea with pearls! Haha... yay... the pudding and pearls at coco really rocks! Nice and chewy! You can totally tell the difference between its quality pudding and pearls after comparing them with those from other cmi bubble tea stalls! =)

So yah, armed with the delicious pudding green tea, we headed for lunch at 游子老鸭粉丝馆！it’s one big bowl of vermicelli soup for 10rmb...so 2 people can just share, and pls order their yummy 卤蛋 (soya sauce egg)! haha...that’s 2rmb for 1... satisfying meal for 7rmb/pax! =P

eating 老鸭粉丝汤 & coco PGT!! (pudding green tea) =P


wonderful 卤蛋 & 老鸭粉丝汤


delicious 老鸭粉丝汤... =)


游子老鸭粉丝馆



After lunch, i figured there was still some time before my train ride back to nanjing, so decided to explore nj west rd... usually the food street will draw us there immediately, and we would spend all our time eating, or at most walk around the nearby shops...but since there was more time today, we decided to walk further down, to see what other shops there were... after a 5-10min walk, we saw a big shopping mall with an isetan! Wow... the shopping mall looked rather high-class, lotza branded boutiques... as we entered the mall, we were greeted by melodious music coming from the central plaza of the mall... walking towards the source of that beautiful music, we saw a beautiful stage with 3 pretty violinists performing! I was instantly reminded of a friend who plays the viola superbly and wished she was there to watch them too! =P after the trio finished playing their pieces, another pretty emcee took over and it was then we realized that the whole set up was an publicity stint for a perfume... hahaha... there, I was, thinking it was just some nice, random performance... there were lotza pple taking pics or filming the performers, and I was no exception... haha... I loved a few of the pieces they performed... too bad I didn’t know any of the titles... >_<

the emcee and the beautiful stage... =)


Well, after the inspiring performance, I decided to grab some food for my dinner back in nanjing...bought yoshinoya’s beef bowl! There happened to be a promo, so it cost only 18rmb or something... =) Woohoo... nice and cheap! =P

me on 1st clsas train...

my dinner - yoshinoya beef bowl! =P