Spatrachina Volume Twelve

Century Mansion: Where I stayed in Shanghai

The block I stayed

My last day in China, and I didnt sleep a lot the last night basically. Loads of stuff to pack. And some clean up to do as well. The feeling of a natural sense of sadness swept over me. It's gonna be goodbye holiday, hello work soon. This last day was dedicated to the area I had been staying the past few days, XuJiaHui. And the most famous icon was the Catholic Church. The church, which was out of bounds to outsiders, was a pretty sight given the blooms that adorned the grounds. It was also good that the skies was clear that day.

The Church

Me in front of the church

Bloom

Church side

The streets of XuJiaHui was filled with throngs of people in the early morning. Guess the Shanghainess were eager to enjoy their weekend to the fullest. Along the way, we came upon the statue of Mr Xu, whom have inspired the naming of this region. So cool.. we only have Sir Stamford Raffles statue.

Street of XuJiaHui

Statue of Mr Xu

Blooms

After the walk, I went to the supermarket to buy a dozen of hairy crabs home. It's gonna be a surprise for my family cos my dad's been telling me not to buy.. But such a delicacy at such low prices, how could I resist? A crab was selling at 28RMB (SGD 5.6), while it cost SGD 45 each in sg restaurants. After fillingthe foam box with crabs, we met up with Yufei one last time for breakfast. Then we moved outta her apartment. It was almost a sombre moment for me.. It's been almost 4 years since we last saw each other. (Edward if u r readin this entry: Remember our pact with Yufei? We are supposed to meet up together for a cuppa someday..)

GangHui Complex: Where I bought the Hairy Crabs

1 dozen Hairy Crabs

My Breakfast

Jeremy, Me and Yufei at People's Square

After bading farewell, I followed Jeremy to his hotel room in the Bund area. Relaxing a bit then headed for the Maglev. The Maglev was the much-hyped magnetic railway linking the airport to Pudong. As an air ticket holder, I got to enjoy 10RMB off and paid 40RMB. The futuristic station was the right design for this supersonic train. You could really feel the train flying as it zoomed past buildings like images you would see when u fast forward your videos on TV. The max speed it attained was 431km/hr. F1, move aside man!!

Old and the New

My Maglev Ticket

Maglev Station

The Maglev

Interior

431km/hr!!

Within 10 minutes I'd travelled over 30km to reach Pudong Airport. The airport looked impressive on the outside, but the inside was rather cramped for such a large scale terminal. I guess they dont really maintain the airport as it should have been. Nonetheless, the design was intriguiing enuff for me to snap a few shots.

Airport

Departure Hall

My SIA plane home

Finally, after almost 5 hrs in the sky, I reach the sunny island. Lugging my 30kg worth of luggages (inclusive of hang carry), I took a cab home. The contrast upon stepping outta airport was immediate. The 10 degrees warmer temperature, the higher humidity and the distinctively clearer air. But my heart was still in Shanghai..... The next day, I cooked 1 of the crab for snack.. the delicious taste brought me back to Shanghai for that instance... If only the ticket was cheaper, I would be flying there every other year!!

My luggages

Food stuff I bought

Steaming Hairy Crab

My delicious crab