Shanghai - Day 3

22nd July 2009 (Wed)

Rise and shine! Woke up at 7am to get ready to meet Jia Wei at 8am.. the reason.. because Shanghai is the one of the best place to see the Total Solar Eclipse!! So qiao that we wld be there to witness such a rare event! The longest total solar eclipse during the 21st century!
*excited excited*

Met Jia Wei at 85oC to take-away bread and milk tea for breakfast.. and we headed to the area near Pearl Tower to catch the Solar Eclipse. Found a spot to eat our breakfast with the sun in view..

BUT.. 天不做媒，grey clouds started being blown in our direction.. and very soon the sky was filled with GREY clouds!!! And there was no sun to be seen.. (but at least I manage to glimpse a bit of the sun being covered by the moon for a few seconds before it was covered up by the clouds again..) then it started raining!! Sadded..

Luckily our spot was just outside Super Brand Mall (正大广场).. so we went in for cover.. lots of ppl standing / blocking the entrance..

then at about 9.36a.m when it was the start of totality, some ppl started moving out into the open and we followed.. and then blackness descend on us!! Amazing.. it was like someone suddenly turn off the lights!! Woo~ the whole totality lasted until 9.41a.m before lights were turned on.. A little sad that we did not witness the covering of the sun but like carol say.. it is the experience of the lights turning out and the reaction of the surrounding people :)

After that, because it was still raining, we went to the underground shopping center at the Science and Technology Park (科技馆) train station. This is the famous shopping place for fake goods.. New Xiang Yang Market (新襄阳路市场).. it is really very very big with many different sections..

After shopping quite a bit.. we had lunch at this restaurant.. i felt the food was so so only..

After that we took the train to 东昌路站 (I think) as Jia Wei suggested that it was much cheaper to take a cab from there to another place at 泰康路.

But because it was still raining, so we went walking around Pacific Digital Plaza (太平洋数码广场) - 52 Haidian Street Haidian District 海淀区海淀路52号 that was connected to the mrt.. there mainly sells all the digital products, laptops, camera, electronic parts etc.. After that.. with only slight drizzle.. Jia Wei brought us to a nearby place that sells VERY DELICIOUS egg tart! highly recommended! Woo~

- lol.. they ownself claim to possibly sell the best egg tart in the whole of Shanghai.. which could be true! :p -

found another branch at 淮海路..

Then we took a cab to 泰康路.. but I think the driver used a longer route to get there.. because he was grumbling that we shld have cross the road to get a cab and now he has to U-turn and stuff.. but in the end he also never U-turn.. cab fare turned out to be much more then expected.. -_-''

Yup so we reached 田子坊 泰康路艺术街.. where there are lots of old architecture.. all the Shikumen (石库门) style buildings that I came to know just today that they are unique to Shanghai only! And they are very few left in Shanghai..

石库门 are actually shanghai-style lodgings in the past which has a unique blend of European and Chinese design.
‘石库门是一种从传统四合院建筑风格演变出来的另一派建筑风格。’

The buildings there have actually been converted to art gallery or shops that sell arts stuff or small boutiques.. so is mainly to walk through and explore a little.. but it is a very gd place to take lots of emo photos :D

-loll Jia Wei's sian face cause she had to use Wei Chen's ultra short umbrella to shelter her when she took photos.. hands very suan..-

-hee.. Wei Chen new plastic bag braclet when her shopping bag broke!! lolll.. was super funny!!-

After that we left for 新天地 which is like Clarke Quay of Shanghai.. pubs and restaurants.. as it started to rain quite heavily, our plans to go to 淮海路 which was nearby was pushed back to the next day.. and the 4 of us headed back to the motel..

- 新天地-

Stayed indoors till the rain stopped and then we went hunting for food near the place we stayed.. hee.. Jia Wei suggested we try a 麻辣烫 stall that was something like the yong tau fu we have back in Singapore.. we get to pick the type of ingredients (all conveniently strung on sticks and arranged in individual baskets by variety) and noodles we wanted from a refrigerator and then we give it to the owner to cook.. hee.. given our experience with sichun food on the first day.. we just went without all the hot spices that could be added to our soup.. in the end the soup itself was already spicy.. so lucky :p but yup the meal was good!

After that we walked with Jia Wei to take the train home and we did some window shopping before heading home :)