DAY ONE: SHANGHAI IN A DAY

Una muna, ito ang sabi ni Pareng Wikipedia:

Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People's Republic of  China and the largest city proper by population in the world.

It is a global city with influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology and trransport.

It is a major financial center and the busiest container port in the world.

Sa akin naman, I liken it to the Big Apple as it is, like New York, the fashion capital of China.

People are so trendy and most brands hold their flagship store there.

I checked my mobile the moment the alarm sounded off and found out that the weather for that day would be mostly on the "negative" side.  I worry for my boy who is not so thrilled about layering at all.

We started the day filling our stomachs with the hotel's generous breakfast buffet.

Checked out soon after and left our bags in the concierge.

Off we went to see what was store for us in Shanghai!

At dahil "fresh" pa kami, we were brave enough to try their subway system.

Good thing the subway station is "super" lapit lang sa front door ng hotel.  As in 50 steps or so lang.

Kaya lang, we realized that it will definitely not going to be a "walk in the park" for us as we had a big stroller in tow at may "interchange" pa somewhere.

And di ba nga, most populous nga daw siya sa China kaya "kalurky"  lang ang daming ng  tao everywhere!

Pero "naitawid" naman namin with a little help from the Shanhai Railways System App we installed on our phones.

Isa lang naman ang destination namin:  THE BUND   

This is, afterall, the most photographed site in Shanghai.  

Ang "sarap" here to just people watch especially nung umaraw ng kaunti.

We then crossed the sea via the sightseeing tunnel (which was too overpriced IMO).

We ate a late lunch cum early dinner at a local fastfood which we did not really enjoyed pero di naman sobrang sama ng lasa. It was just enough to address our "nagsusumigaw" na stomachs.

After that we spent some time near the Oriental Pearl Tower (another icon in Shanghai) and bought souvenirs before going back to the Bund.

We took a taxi going back to the hotel and was happy that we did not have a hard time at all despite the thousand or so people in the area.

I was praying all along kasi we had to be at the railway station in an hour's time.

As expected, He did not disappoint.  Taxis were there the moment we needed it. Galing mo Lord!

After getting our bags from the Concierge, we begun walking towards the railway station which was, luckily, just nearby.  

It was literally a hop and a skip away.

Yun lang, pagdating namin doon, we were greeted by a multitude of thousands. As in.

Of all the days, do you really have to go to where we are going TODAY? Hehehe

We would know later via our Xian guide that it was "School Opening" the next day. Sheeesh.

We were boarding at exactly 6:30pm and wasted no time in making our cabin "homey" enough to catch some shut eye.

R did not have a hard time calling the train his "home" for the next 15 hours.  He would later sleep like a log for the whole duration of the trip. Pwede nang mag "backpack" trip ito soon. Yipee!

As for me,  I was so excited to spend the night inside an overnight train just like in India, Laos and in Bicol.

I could stare at the scenic view outside until it becomes pitch dark.  I do not know what is it about trains that I find too romantic.

Do stand by for Day Two will you?

It is the most exciting part of the trip as it is the day that I would get face to face with the TERRACOTA WARRIORS.

ENROUTE TO SHANGHAI

Our flight is not until  8pm on a Friday.  Something that I purposely chose so that J and I could still work on that day.

We left our house around 4pm, drove by the in laws' house to say goodbye and met the Azarcons (our travel companions) at Terminal 3.  They would be taking a Zest Air flight which was supposed to leave 15 minutes earlier than us.

Check in was smooth.

So smooth that we were done in a jiffy.  It gave us some  "extra" time to go up the food court and eat a relaxed dinner.

But our experience at the Immigration was a totally different story - the queue was terrible not to mention the fact that it was very hot in there. They should seriously look into this matter.

I mean, the long lines are acceptable, but the least they could do is to ensure that the passengers are comfortable.

At the final boarding area, we were informed of our flight's delay (t'was just 20 or so minutes kaya carry lang!) and good thing, our friends' Zest Air flight was delayed too.

Buti na lang din, I remembered to bring one of R's Christmas presents kaya he never cried while we were waiting to board the plane.

Thank you Ninang Emma and Ninong Arnel for this!

We were already boarding before we knew it.

But the Zest Air flight (we would know later)  took off an hour and a half later pa.  We thought they were also getting ready to board too.

I am still in the process of accepting that my boy is no longer an infant and he already has his own seat on the plane. 

Anyways, the flight was uneventful (thank the good Lord!).

Jon slept the entire flight while Ate Lyn and I chatted (she was very excited to see snow finally) the whole three and a half hours we were airborne.

When we arrived, we were expecting to see the Azarcons arriving too.  But after waiting for half an hour, we decided to ask one of the airport officers about the Zest Air flight.

We were shocked to know that they aren't expecting any flight from Manila that night.

At that time, the driver of the airport shuttle I prebooked at Asiatravel was there and he was already getting impatient.

Buti na lang I remembered that I have a copy of the Azarcons' flight details (I was the one who booked it online afterall), and to my surprise, they are scheduled to arrive at Terminal One ( we were in Terminal Two).

After calming down and mumbling a little prayer, I learned that the Terminal One is just adjacent to where we are.  If it happened here in our country, it is going to be a disaster for sure what with the distances in between our terminals. And, oh, did I mention, the clock already 1:50 AM.

Jon hurriedly ran towards Terminal One (mahaba habang lakad yun ha) only to find out that the said flight will not arrive anytime soon as it was delayed for over an hour.

Long story short, we were reunited at around 3am and off we traveled to the city.

The ride to our hotel was long and boresome maybe because we were already sleepy and tired.

But alas, we came and was able to check in in no time.

We agreed to start the day at 9:30 AM (yes, you read it right) as we only had one day to see all of Shanghai.

Jon, Ate Lyn and Rocco were instantly off to lalaland while I, on the other hand, had to mind our luggages and "ready" the outfits for the next day.

Stand by for the next post!

BACK FROM CHINA

We just came from our China Trip yesterday and I thought this would be a good time for me to start (yet again) a travel blog that would hopefully document all the memories we had during the journey.

Well, this really isn't our first time on this part of the globe as J and I already went here in 2007.  

But what made me decide to come here again?

Well, for one, all the photos and videos we took on that trip got deleted when my old (read: ancient) laptop crashed a few years back.  

Also, it was just the two of us back then.  Going back with the little bub would be a fantastic idea.

Add to that, our travel buddies Glenn and Anna (with their only son Giro) also wanted to go there for the first time.

But the most important reason (sige, aaminin ko na nga) is because I wanted to see the TERRACOTTA WARRIORS in Xian which we failed to see the last time.

This time around, I made sure we would go to Xian (no matter how far it is from either Shanghai or Beijing).

Join me as I relive our adventures in China via a series of posts starting from take off to touchdown.

This is the route we took:  Manila to Shanghai  (Cebu Pacific, 5J678)

                                        Shanghai to Xian      (on board the overnight "Z" train)

                                        Xian to Beijing         (Hainan Airlines, HU7338)

                                        Beijing to Manila      (Cebu Pacific, 5J673)

We were a group of 5 adults and 2 children.  

It is worth mentioning that once again, I opted to bring Yaya along as I am not sure Jon and I could handle the little bub alone what with an overnight train ride included in our travel plan.

We scored the our tickets back in October when Cebu Pacific had a seat sale.

For this trip, I opted to stay in Accor Member hotels (Grand Mercure and Novotel) as I was not up to our usual "backpacker style" of traveling.

Save that on the next trips.

At least just for this time, I want all our hotels to be a bit on the "luxurious" side.

O sya, simulan na ang kuwentuhan!