Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Shocking Shanghai!

There are many jaw dropping moments for me in the China city of Shanghai. Though I must admit, I must look like one country bumpkin to the many Shanghainese!

shocking shanghai snacksWhen I first arrived, I saw this snacks being sold in their marts. And it was selling like hot cakes!

I waited a while for the crowd to disperse and took this quick shot - with the cashier auntie giving a smile like "I know you are from somewhere else". Haha!

shocking shanghai, cold drinkAnd some of you will know my 'addiction' with cold drinks and dessert in the cold weather in Shanghai... but look at this queue - I'm really not alone! With the outside weather at about 0 degrees or so, this is like crazy!

shocking shanghai, flowerAnother thing that got my attention is these flowers around Shanghai. I was taken aback that the flowers looks so real - I mean, all the while back home, we always see this as those plastic flowers sold during Chinese New Year.

And thinking that Shanghai might just do the same, I went to feel the petals... but they are for real! (so not all China goods are fake!)

shocking shanghai, fish tankThis may not be that shocking... but I won't like to be a fish here! In fact, all their tanks I saw around China are like that - cram with too many fishes!

shocking shanghai crabsThe way the Shanghainese sell crabs - where the crabs are put in barrels after barrels, and seperated like that.

shocking shanghai, coupon machineI was also very shocked to see so many people surrounding such booth. This booth actually sells coupons & vouchers, which I think can be used at the same mall.

It's interesting to see this cos for us, we always throw vouchers away, don't we? Maybe machines like this may help :)

shocking shanghai snowOne of the moments that got me smiling here was when the crowd went hyper (see the girl on the left). Many were so excited with this fake snow! I guess it's not only us who are amazed with snow haha!

shocking shanghai, man made showBtw, the fake snow came from this machine at Raffles City Shanghai.

shocking shanghai christmas decorationsBeing in this mega city, I thought nothing seems to stop the growth, despite the world in crisis. But well, I guess Shanghai is also hit cos even here do they re-use the decorations! (or maybe it's their style to save money!).

shocking shanghai, new year decorationWhat makes this more surprising of this shopping mall is because this is a very upmarket mall... (drum rolls...!).

shocking shanghai expensive fruitsJust look at the price! And this is already the cheapest fruit I saw.

shocking shanghai, expensive fruitsHonestly, we back home are blessed.

shocking shanghai, expensive fruits
I think now, we will give a second look at those stalls selling local fruits!

shocking shanghai, expensive fruitsAnd if tropical fruits were expensive, see this - 678 yuan for apples! I think I must really looked funny taking all these snapshots of the fruits in the supermarket!

shocking shanghai, friendly peopleNow, here's the final 'shocking Shanghai' thing.

I mentioned the style here with the Shanghainese is simply be frank & direct, no small talk, and you can hardly hear them asking you where you are from (we find it weird & maybe even rude, but to them, it's polite).

And most don't quite like you taking their photo - they will either run away, or make some comments.

But not this group. They actually made some small talk to me, asking which country I came from - and when I mentioned, they just went like "Wow, so nice". And in fact, they also exchanged a small RM1 note with me, just as souvenir.


In fact, of my whole 16 days in China (with a huge chunk in Shanghai), though I enjoyed everything mega, the cold weather and desserts, etc... but it's actually this moment that I savour & treasure most... this rare & special moment with friendly Chinese :)

*Oh btw, they are not from Shanghai, but working there!



14 comments:

  1. feel a little sad yr trip is winding down and there wont b many of these posts left. enjoyed this series a lot

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  2. Hello, I found your blog and I think it's lovely. :)

    It's very informative, and I love how you really bring out the details into the places you visit or things you do.

    I really enjoyed reading your blog. More power and cheers!

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  3. Wow! So many fishes in the tank! Poor fishes - no space to move around!

    They have booth selling coupons and vouchers? Now why didn't we have such machines here?

    Maybe Chinese people are also quite stingy since they recycle their decorations? LOL!

    So expensive those fruits! We are really blessed!

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  4. Cold drink and dessert at that temperature? Lol. I won't! But weird thing I did eat ice cream at -17 degrees. Lol. Yes, at a time I feel I'm weird too.

    I feel lucky to eat fruits in Malaysia which the price is very reasonable compared to others. I miss ciku and guava hehe.

    The fake snow is cool. Why Malaysia never plan to do so too? I wish we can have fake snow flakes around Malaysia, so that I won't miss Europe so much hehe.

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  5. Cold weather-->cold dessert! You guys are crazy!

    The fish in the tanks-->Are they parrot fish? Poor fish! But they look astonishing!

    Poor ketam have to be stuff in those little barrels!

    All in all I find your 16 days in China is nothing BUT mesmerizing!

    ARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! I wanna go to!

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  6. Your trip look very interesting! Shanghai look like a happening place. Seeing the fishes are really a jaw dropping moment... Thanks for sharing. :)

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  7. Now I shall look at our fruits with more appreciation. LOL!

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  8. Hahaha, you obviously looked like a tourist there! :)

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  9. There's a lot to see and plenty to eat in shanghai. somehow, I found Shanghai people to be the rudest of all people I have met while traveling.

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  10. @bengbeng
    thank you for enjoying the posts. it makes me happy to share them :)

    @teress
    wow, thank you - what a lovely comment to start the new year! it will definitely inspire me to write more informative posts :)

    @foongpc
    do u think the machines will be a hit here? :)

    @faisal
    there is a bukit cahaya right - i remember seeing the 4 seasons house before, only thing we cant touch the snow! a pity.

    but i agree, if only we can have like an area that is super cold - that would be cool!

    and u ate ice cream at minus 17, that is even 'crazier'! haha! :)

    @tekkaus
    look out for airplane promos when they have. the time i went was a bit cheap cos its low season, but its very cold and night starts by 5pm.

    but i enjoyed it lots, and it makes a great budget trip, without the holiday crowd :)

    @leon
    thank you once again. yes, truly enjoyed this Shanghai trip lots hehe :)

    @happysurfer
    ya, me too. actually i like our local fruits and now i think ill like them doubly more! haha :)

    @宝茹
    ur right. though i wasnt the only one taking the fish photo. there were local chinese people posing with it too! haha.

    @life-ramblings
    i agree with you. but i think its their style, which we got to get used to. after i knew that, i didnt care about them, and just be direct with them as well.

    in fact, there were a few funny incidents that happened like me telling the guy barging the queue to wait. or me closing the taxi door when they couldnt wait to enter (while i was paying)! haha :)

    @rw-fine-art
    yes, do make shanghai a holiday destination. ull love it! for me, ive never liked a city that much before!

    btw, i wrote a post on things i miss about shanghai, which i think ull find interesting :)
    http://quachee.blogspot.com/2009/01/ill-miss-you-shanghai.html

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  11. The way they seperated the crabs is so funny.. The crabs can breath or not ah?

    Is eating seafood there expensive?

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  12. ill be going to shanghai hangzhou this coming 6th Feb, hope it is still cold by then. My god the apple is freaking expensive larx. xoxoxox

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  13. Wow... I didn't know shanghai is this cool. :)

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Oh hey, thank you for commenting! :)