Day 1: Hello Shanghai!

It was a 6.45am flight. Count back two hours and that was the time we set off from home to airport.

No more budget airline for my parents!

A rainy morning

Our snack for the one-hour flight to Kuala Lumpur: peanuts and orange juice.

And I was hoping for breakfast!

We had to change flight at the KL airport

Long queue at the gate to Shanghai already - are we in Singapore still?

Our flight

Children got to be served first on Malaysia Airlines - Coco chose Omelette

I chose Nasi Lemak with sambal shrimps

Our dessert - Magnum Mini

A hint of the massiveness of crowds in Shanghai.

The luggage carousel at Shanghai was crowded with passengers by the time we walked there! I had to squeeze my way through to get a glimpse at our luggage.

Our long-awaited trip on the Maglev Train.

The Maglev (magnetic levitation) Train station is in the airport. We followed the signage to buy the tickets and board the train. Children above the height of 1.3m pay full price (RMB 40). Not to worry about luggage. They had a gate in anticipation of big luggage.

On the train

The speed is phenomenal - fast and smooth.

One of the locals was heard commenting,"像飞一样！(Like we're flying!)"

Reached! We took a cab from Longyang Station to Astor House Hotel (RMB 40).

The maglev train at Shanghai Airport Station currently travels from the Airport Station to Longyang Station (one stop) by a mere 8 minutes. The Shanghai-Beijing train is undergoing trial run and is rumoured to open in late June this year. I would have bought its tickets if I could delay my trip up till then just to experience the thrill of travelling from Shanghai to Beijing in mere 3 or 4 hours!

Shanghai MRT stations' gates are usually swivel kind (left side). Some locals jump over (men) or go under (women) the swivel gates to avoid paying for the fare!

We took a cab from the hotel to go to the famed Jade Garden （苏浙汇）at Mao Ming Nan Lu (茂名南路）just to realise that it had closed down. Feeling abit sian, we walked along the street trying to find an eatery or restaurant. It was not easy finding one. Finally, we saw this restaurant and went in hoping to have some authentic Shanghainese fare.

I have read about the notorious or lack of service in Shanghai restaurants, even if they are five-star hotel restaurants. We were led to a seat, but no one attended to us for a good five or ten minutes. We had requested for someone to recommend dishes to us, but they asked us to wait and never came back! After a few more attempts, we finally caught hold of a young good-looking waiter who nicely recommended a few Shanghainese dishes to us.

 Fried crystal shrimps （水晶河虾仁）

As it is - fried shrimps with minimal un-named sauce

 Braised pork（外婆红烧肉）

Salty and sweet

 Chengdu Smoked Duck （成都樟茶鸭）

It has a smoked taste and it was salty.

 A wedding on the first floor

 The restaurant's advertisement for waiters

 Night street near Shan Xi Lu (陕西路）

 Shanxi Nan Lu Station

 No escalators down

How to buy a Metro or Subway (MRT) ticket:

1) Select the line

2) Select the station

3) Slot in your coins or notes ($1 note not accepted)

 MRT ticket

 MRT train

The authorities assumes that every Shanghainese is literate

In the cab

The kay-poh in me asked the cab driver,"Why do you have this plastic thingy around you?"

He replied,"To prevent robbers from holding us hostage from the back."