DID: Morning was a bit of a disaster. Stuffed up the breakfast order (after deciding to change the time for morning room service, the order card never got hung back up on the doorknob) so we ended up sleeping in later than intended. Then got hung up at the local cleaners (they tried to charge us too much, hence lengthy negotiations required) so we missed what we thought was the last bus out for our intended day trip to Tong Li (nearby water town). Got back to the hotel and the butler told us there were buses scheduled regularly over the course of the day. Based on his recommendation, we went to the bus station. Turned out there’s only 1 bus/day to the town we wanted to visit, and it leaves at 8.30 am. Useless butler.
Headed out to lunch, a dim sum place in the middle of a large public park (Hyh Chinese Restaurant in Xu Jia Hui Park). Nice playground and garden to walk around. Had to bribe the boys with lollipops to get them off the play equipment and into a taxi.
Back to the hotel for a bath (for the boys) and afternoon tea (included with our room package).
Walked around Fuxing Park, just outside our hotel. Gorgeous park with a rose garden, bamboo forest, fish + turtle ponds, etc. Lots of people doing group exercise/tai chi, also a group doing ballroom dancing, most of them looked to be in their 70’s/80’s. Playground not quite as nice as the one near the lunch spot but still good. Gavin was asking to go back before we’d even left.
Made our way back to the Bund area to see Yu Garden but it had just closed when we arrived. It’s kind of funny that the area is really the only part of Shanghai that resembles Chinatowns around the world, and it’s tourist central. More Chinese paparazzi but they were kept at bay because Rhys was asleep and Gavin wasn’t giving them his trademark stone face.
Got lost trying to get to get to our next destination, and a ride in a taxi didn’t get us any closer. Changed plans, tried another taxi. Driver had to call an English translator to assist with the communications (it’s a toll-free number, very handy!)- success finally!
After dinner, did a bit more shopping back in the neighborhood of our hotel. Found the Oriental Shopping Centre, which had five floors of kids clothing, shoes, toys, baby equipment, etc. Rhys again charmed all the sales staff, while Gavin tried on and dismissed about 7 pairs of shoes.
ATE: Missed breakfast. Dim sum lunch at HYH Chinese Restaurant. Beautiful restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. Had some interesting dim sum options. My favorites were the shrimp + pork buns (the bread tasted like they’d put a little bit of coconut milk in the dough), and prawns wrapped in rice paper topped with slivered almonds. Restaurant also offered a wide selection of fresh squeezed juices, and it seemed like there was a pitcher of juice on every table. We were disappointed with our choice of papaya, it was strangely flavorless.
Tea back at the hotel surprisingly good considering the mediocre quality of the breakfasts. 3-tiered tray of savories and sweets, easily enough for all four of us.
Dinner @ Yang’s Fry Dumpling. We had to laugh about this place. It was recommended by both Luxe and by United Airline’s 3-perfect-days article for Shanghai. Once the cabbie dropped us off, we realised it was also the place we tried to find on Sunday but gave up when the address led us to the middle of a construction zone. It must have relocated, luckily our Luxe guide had the correct address. Big queue outside and seating situation inside was worse than a shopping mall food court the day after Thanksgiving. Not sure what the big fuss was about, the dumplings were really heavy and greasy. Nothing like the little lovelies from the day before. Finished our meal completely stuffed but unsatisfied. Might also have been because Rhys only wanted to eat the filling, so my dinner consisted mostly of dumpling wrappers…
SLEPT: Too late. Construction noise still a nuisance but I think the immunity to it that we acquired in London is starting to come back.
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