4 Days 3Nights 上海之游, 7 – 11 September 2011

My work brings me the opportunity to travel and Shanghai is one of the places I visit often. In August, my Director asked if it was ok for me to make a trip to shanghai for a forum on 8 September. After some discussion with Adrian, we decided to make it a work cum family holiday as this week is the school holiday week. Anthea and Anders were thrilled to know that they are going to Shanghai and also flying on an aeroplane with TV..haha.

Day 1: Wednesday, 07 September.

Singapore → Shanghai (SQ 830) Dep: 1010 / Arr 1510

As usual Althea and Anders enjoyed the in-flight entertainment and their special children meal. The 5 hours flights seem to pass fast when they were having a good time.

Once we arrived and clear immigration, we went to the Maglev station. I had taken the speed train from airport to the main city centre. So I wanted Adrian and the children to have a try at it. Also this is one of the tourist main attractions.

At the main city station, we took a taxi to our hotel – Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel. We had booked 2 connecting rooms and enjoyed the luxury spacious accommodation.

Upon checked in, the children headed to the indoor swimming pool and Adrian went for his gym workout. Dinner was local fare around Yu Garden as I introduced them to my 2nd home.

Day 2: Thursday, 8 September

I had a full day conference and thus Adrian brought the children around on their own via the Metro services. Right in front of our hotel, there is a Metro station known as Yuyuan Station on Line 10.

The places that they visited were Century Park and Science Technology Museum. From the photos and their description, I could tell they had a great time.

Day 3: Friday, 9 September

I had another client meeting in the morning at 10am. Adrian brought them to the Insectariums and they had the chance to feed animal foods.

We met up around 12noon and I started my Tourist mode from here onward. We visited the renounced Confucius Temple and had a good time looking at all the wonderful architecture of the place.

After the temple, we had a quick lunch at a local lunch place and then headed to XinTianDi. Another famous tourist attraction for its food outlet and nightlife. We had a simple tea break of Hagan Daz ice cream before going back to the hotel.

In the evening, we decided to do the Bund Cruise but due to rain, we decided to postpone it to the next evening. We had a sumptuous dinner of Roast duck at the famous Lao Beijing restaurant.

Day 4: Saturday, 10 September

Adrian did some research before the tour and there are few children attractions. One of them is 锦江乐园, so we decided to bring the children to this park for an experienced. No regrets as they really enjoyed all the different rides in the park. We had about 2 hours of fun before leaving the park as the rain started to drizzle.

We had our lunch at a Macdonald outlet and Anthea claimed that the Fillet O fish tasted better than home…haha. After a good lunch, we decided to do some shopping. We headed to Nanjing Xi Road and shopped around the area. As I had some discount voucher from my client, I managed to get myself a pair of running shoes. Hopefully to prepare myself for the next run.

In the evening, we headed to the Bund for our pre-booked cruise. It was quite an adventure as we had a hard time finding the ticketing office to get the cruise ticket. Luckily we finally found it and managed to board the cruise ship in nick of time.

The cruise was very enjoyable and we had a good view of both the PuDong and PuXi of Shanghai.After the cruise, we took another slow walk back to our hotel.

Day 5: Sunday, 11 September
Shanghai → Singapore (SQ 827) 0810/1325

As it was a very early morning flight, we took a taxi from the hotel to the airport. On the way, both Anthea and Anders told me “mommy, I am going to miss Shanghai”.

Yes, for the last few days, we had so much fun exploring the city of Shanghai. I must said the children had really “walk a mile” during this trip. Every day, we were commuting to places via the local Metro services. Every point to point was walking and I am really proud that they did not complaint too much.

A first trip to our 祖国 – China, Shanghai and it had been a great experienced for the family and I believe this has open the door to more China Trips.

4 Days 3Nights Penang Holiday, 3 – 6 June 2011

After our 1st trip to Penang, we (Anthea, Anders and I) felt in LOVE with the place. Simply because of its beauty, food and shopping. So this June school holiday, we decided to make a 2nd trip back to Penang. This time with Adrian and a main purpose – DURIAN. Yes, its durian season in Penang and according to the local, Penang durians is not exported due to insufficient supply for local demand.

Day 1: Friday, 03June.

Singapore → Penang (MI 352) Dep: 1545 / Arr 1710

The flight was smooth and snack was served on board.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the local agent whom was taking care of our arrival & departure transfers.

Once again, we were back in G Hotel, the same hotel we last stayed when we vacationed in December 2010. The hotel rooms had the added value of FREE Mini Bar and FREE WIFI. The mini bar was replenished daily and both Anthea and Anders enjoyed the drinks and the kit kat bars.
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After checking in the room, the children first activity was swimming. Adrian was busied checking out the hotel gym.

Children spent about 30minutes in the pool and we went back to shower and change after that. Our dinner was at Nandos located in the G Plaza shopping mall. It was the first time we tried this restaurant and the grilled chickens were delicious.

We took a slow stroll in the mall after dinner and had ice cream for dessert. Then we walked to the Gurney night market and experienced the husk and buzz of the night life. The last trip we didn’t get the chance to do this. Adrian bought a few famous dishes from the food stalls for his supper and we had them in the comfort of our hotel room. He had cuttlefish with kangkong and Penang Laksa. The children had cup noodles bought from the supermarket.

Day 2: Saturday, 4 June

We had buffet breakfast at the hotel café and as usual the breakfast spread was sumptuous. Our first tourist site was the Butterfly Park and we took a taxi from the hotel to the park. However, when we arrived at the entrance of the park, the guard informed us that the park was closed. Although disappointed but we proceeded to our next stop – Durian Farm. Yes, this was one of the main Bonus for the trip. The taxi driver drove us up the hill the along the way, there were few durian farms and he stopped us at one of them.

There were durian everywhere and according to the durian seller, it was the 604 breed that were available and 1KG cost MYR$20. We ordered 1 durian and were in for a real good “Taste-treat”. The durian was fleshy and sweet. The seeds were really small and we ate till we were so full. Both Anthea and Anders also enjoyed the durian.

After eating the durian, we bought some mangosteen back to the hotel. On our way back to the hotel, we decided to visit the Toy Museum as we missed it the last time. It was great fun walking through all the displays and figurines. The children were so excited to see so many of their cartoon heroes in the museum.

We headed back to the hotel and had late lunch after the museum visit. As usual, the children headed to the pool and had some water play before we went on our food trail. In the evening around 5pm, we took a walk from the hotel to the Tean Ean local products shop. We bought local products like 豆沙饼，马蹄酥 and some candies from the shop.

As we were walking along the Gurney drive back to the hotel, we went passed quite a few eateries and decided to so some food sampling at the different outlet. We had roti canai, beef noodles, spaghettis and tuna sandwiches. The food trail was very fun and Anthea liked the idea of the food trail and said she looked forward to more such trails in Penang.

At night, we went back to the night hawkers and packed Penang Fried Kuay Teow and rojak for supper. We also tried the Penang chendol. The children liked the friend kuay teow so much that they finished one packet in record time. Another fun filled day for us. Anthea was tasked by my eldest brother to do a journal (in Chinese) and shared it with them when we were back in Singapore. It was a good way for Anthea to practice her Chinese writing.

Day 3: Sunday, 5 June

We woke up around 9am and had our buffet breakfast. After a good meal, we headed out to George Town. We decided to visit the Peranaka Museum which was famous to Singaporean for its filming of Little Nyonya. We followed a guided tour in the museum and learnt some interesting facts of the Nyonya and its culture. The tour ended at the kitchen area when there was a little stall selling nyonya kueh and chendol. So we had a sample of the food.

We took a bus from the town and arrived at our next stop – a small shopping mall. As the mall was small and not so interesting, we decided to find the famous 義香豆沙饼 (Ghee Hiang) When we reached there, we were told 豆沙饼卖完了 (sold out). So we had to go back to the hotel empty handed.

In the evening, children had their usual swim before dinner and we had it at Gurney Plaza. Our late night supper was Fried Kuay Teow and Oyster omelets. Every night was a feast for us and we truly enjoyed all these local delights.

Day 4: Monday, 6 June

Penang → Singapore (MI 349) 1505/1655

We slept till late and had a good breakfast. Then went back to the room to chill out and I was busied packing for home-going.

We checked out around 1pm and did some last minute shopping before our transfer picked us up at the hotel lobby for our flight home.

It was another fun and memorable holiday for the family. Thought there were some misses but taking it in a positive manner. This only meant we had excuses to visit Penang again.

Till we meet again, thank you for the sweet memory!