Annual vacation part two. The UK trip was supposed to have 10 chapters (1 chapter per day) and so far I have only finished up to the 4th one. That’s also one of the reasons why I’m gonna keep this HK/Shanghai post short and concise.
I used to feel that HK is my second home, but I gradually feel the distance recently. Nevertheless, I do have relatively high level of tolerance and quick adjustment. Used to live in the New Territories and I guess that’s what made me less of a typical HK person. Whenever I visit HK, I always go to Yuen Long, the lovely town that I used to live in. Some may disagree with me. I know, and I find Yuen Long has indeed lost its original natural and undisturbed quality in the past 5-10 years.
I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned about this. This place is totally a landmark of Yuen Long. When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me to get off the bus when I see the Heng Heung building.
On our way to my aunt’s place, we saw these red persimmon doesn’t look natural to me. I was partly curious and partly scared. (What the hell are they… what have they done to these fruits? Mutation?) But we bought it anyway, white mouse.
Of course, I wouldn’t leave HK w/o having eaten a piece of wife cake. Yummm… Still so good.
I spent the first 3 days and the last 3 days in HK, the other days, I went to Shenzhen and Shanghai to visit friends and relatives. I didn’t take any picture in Shenzhen… just because it’s like my third home now.
*** Time blinks ***
The second week, I went to Shanghai. During this trip, I didn’t visit the famous restaurants. Instead, we lived with a friend, a man in his 70’s, and had the real local Shanghainese food – either homemade or in the local restaurants. The area that we lived in also gave me a different perspective of Shanghai. Outside the central financial hub, most internationalized part of the city, I could see the contrast between the rich and the poor.
The old man was so kind… He said, “This is the best moon cake here.” I tried the “5-nuts” mooncake. All of a sudden, the feelings and the flashbacks all kicked in. I’m amazed how sophisticated human brains are. Exactly 3 years ago, I was stuck in Japan due to an accident. Without enough cash, I lived on a tight budget. One of the few things that I was left with was a “5-nuts” mooncake. I think I always know the feeling of being poor, or… I’d say, without much money – since I’m so far a fortunate person who haven’t experienced the extreme situation. Compared to our parents’ generation, most of us are very fortunate. During that period of time I was in Japan, I really appreciated that I had many friends who cared and helped. AL, EC, KL, etc., maybe you’ve already forgotten about this, but I do remember.
Also, met up with a friend, my so-called god brother, in Shanghai. It’s such a fate that we could meet up everywhere, Shenzhen, Shanghai, etc. I checked out the KFC there. They have the fish burger and I loved it!!
Bro is now studying in Jiaotong University and he showed me around… and introduced me to his schoolmates – a bunch of smart (but friendly) ppl.
Then, we met up with another friend who came from Toronto. Walked around the city, including the “Xin Tian Di” (新天地). We went to a Japanese restaurant, however, the food was so-so.
Shanghai does have a great night scene. It is however quite different from what you’d see in HK.
The pictures above are the typical glossy look of Shanghai. The other day, we came to a market for jewellery. On our way, I took this picture. What a contrast.
Of course, we also went to a few other tourist spots, including the “Cheng Huang Miao” (城隍廟) and YuYuan.
Last but not least, I had the home-cooked 大閘蟹. Starting the 2nd day I was in Shanghai, it started raining and there was a typoon hitting Shanghai. The old man was going to get some better crabs from a rural market, but it was too much hassle. Plus, the best time for crabs was supposed to be 2 weeks after I left (which is about now…) It’s ok. I can always have it next time I go there. He also cooked the local corns. Those ones are the real stuffs – very different from the species that we get in the North America. He put all the whole corns in a big bowl and cooked them for an hour. The corn soup was delicious – very home-y.
During the trip, I also met up with other friends. I know some of you ain’t gonna see this post…But I just wanna say I’m really happy to see you guys & girls again!
– JC – Congratulations to you – getting married and hope you can lose the 30lbs before your big day!
– UTSC ppl – Congrats to the two pairs who are getting married the end of this year! Good to catch up on the 3rd floor BBQing!! I know I looked dead that night.
– CF – Can’t believe we met up on that one and only night – I had fun hitting 3 nightclubs on 1 night with you girls. Hope you had a great trip to Phuket!
– AL and KL – Good girls-nite-out before I left! Thanks for your advice. See you next year!!
– CLS old friends… gosh. I have to say you made me feel like home whenever I see you guys and girls. IL – look forward to your wedding next year! Hope I’ll see more CLS ppl next year.
– PC – Wahaha – I’ll definitely bring you to the CLS gathering next year! Hope your days are more sunny these days.
– Oh… and my cousins~ 🙂 +oil to expand your Chinese medicine business.
Good days… a lot of things happened in the two weeks… and yah. I forgot to say, I almost missed my plane for Toronto. Gosh. Almost had a heart attack! Schedule was packed – I have to say I did fully-utilized the two weeks vacation. But I definitely need some rest after this vacation.
*And I’ll definitely check out the hot spots in Shanghai next time. Thanks Fun for your reco.