2019: Arashi Year

If I’ll describe my 2019, i think it’s Arashi year for me. First time to watch their concert and first time to see them up close (and not even a concert). And I think the major extracurricular activities that I had last year was because of MJPH (an unofficial Arashi fans group in the Philippines). I still feel so blessed to see them in Singapore. It was afterall a perfect timing. My only plan that weekend was to celebrate my birthday with friends then a week before, Sho was telling the world that they will be in Singapore on the date I’m there.

I’m thinking why I was so blessed last year with Arashi.. i was not a major fan like some that i know of. I don’t buy their merch unless bags. I didn’t even buy their album (sorry, practicality kicked in). Then I realized, God blessed me coz even if I was not that supportive of them myself... I was helping other fans in their fangirling feels through MJPH. I may not have spent for their CD, but I spent my own money and contributed time just so that activities will be a success.

To summarize, when you share, God will provide and He will provide more than You have given.

Guard My Heart

i am currently watching a Korean drama, with one episode left. it's a thriller. title is Sohn (The Guest).

it's about a psychic, a priest and a detective working together to stop the possessed from killing and exorcise the possessed.

i'm not a horror fan, but i can't stop watching this. it really made me follow it every week.

but every time i watch the drama, it makes me think. how am i as a person? how is my heart? is it free of hatred and bitterness? how can i guard my heart that i won't have bitterness in my heart?

i remember this episode, he loves his family. his family is his life. but still in the end, when he was possessed, it revealed that deep in his heart he had some bitterness in his heart regarding his family.

so if ever i would encounter someone/something who would want to possess me, would i be possessed?

also, this drama made me pray more. i am the kind of person who likes to count the seconds. i mean for example, i am waiting of something, i will count the seconds. but now, instead of counting i would recite the Lord's Prayer (Our Father).

so how about you? how's your heart?

Day 2 in Shanghai: Feeling Better While Sick

i was sick the whole trip and i think the worst is during day 2. and honestly, this is our most adventurous day. but still there are things i enjoyed even if i was feeling sickly..

Line Cafe

if you're a fan of the Line messaging app or their games, you would love to visit this cafe. actually, even if you don't know Line and just a fan of cute stuff, you would still like this place. it's crowded with Line characters stuff. you can have a date with Brownie

or even James..

or just seat beside Cony.

their food is also cute. i just had hot choco (thanks Joyce & Yan for the treat), but honestly i didn't like it. it's bland. but the cup is cute.  hehe. oh, and it's expensive. it's 34 RMB.

but still i suggest you to visit it. and the best thing about the cafe, picture-taking is very much welcome.

told you, i was sick. it was difficult for me to smile

The Food at Dongjing Station

it had been a long train ride.. it's lunch time and we still don't know how to get to Zhujiajiao Water Town. good thing there are vendors selling outside the Dongjing station.

for just 5 RMB, you can have your fill of this. 

and 8 RMB for the noodles, and they have friendly staff

Light Milk Tea

the day before, we saw a long line of people at a certain shop in Xintiandi, so we decided that we'll try it the next day. since it's really late already, there's no more line anymore.

and good thing, they still have one of their bestsellers. the cup in their display photo is nice (shaped like a bulb). and we're surprised that it's really shaped like a bulb! and it's made of glass.

but you know the other great thing about it? it lights!

it is more expensive than the milk tea stores nearby, but i think it's worth it..

Simply Thai

we really don't like to eat Thai food coz we're in Shainghai. it should be Chinese food and not Thai. but it was really late, Mystic South is also already closed.. and Simply Thai in Xintiandi is open until 12 midnight. so we just ate there. but you know what, i'm glad we ate there. i love their food! and the serving is for sharing. but i'm warning you.. it is spicy! if you're tired of Chinese food, i totally suggest for you to try Simply Thai.

since it's really late, we're the only ones in this part of the resto

with our orders while waiting for my sister

Tom Yum

Curry

Pad Thai

with these places, we visited, i felt a little better from my sickness. actually, not mentioned here is our main agenda for the day. i'll try to write a separate post where that will be included

Day 1 of a No Itinerary Chill Trip in Shanghai

i've said in a previous post that i was not able to finish our itinerary for Shanghai. well, i was able to write something but it was not enough. so our trip was more of an anything goes, but for the first day, i was able to write something and we kinda accomplished it. here's our day 1. i'll try to recount what happened to us, maybe it can help you in some way when you visit Shanghai. and just a note, everything that we visited in Day 1 is worth recommending. visit them also :)

Burger King in Pudong Airport

i have to mention this place. we had a red eye flight. we arrived in Shanghai at 2:30am. there's no public transpo yet, except for cabs. we can't check-in still, so what to do? stay in the airport until 6am. good thing Burger King is open for 24 hours. since it's the only open store that time, it's full. but you can stay at the connected restaurant (The Aviator). you can relax also since some of the seats are couches.

MagLev Train

the fastest train in the world. we were traveling for 301kph. but you won't get dizzy. within 15 minutes, we're in Longyang Road already.

and before we know it, we're in the city proper already. and the MagLev is spacious.

it costs 50 RMB for one-way. but if you arrive on the same date, you can have a 20% discount or just pay 40 RMB. just show your airline ticket.

Park Hyatt

i'm not really sure what you can see in the Observatory in the Shanghai Financial Center, but if it is just the view, I recommend you just go to the restaurants of Park Hyatt Hotel (it's just beside the Observatory).

though it's only the 87th or 91st floor, at least you will have a magnificent view

be comfortable (and they have a luggage counter so you can move and relax comfortably)

and great food! we ordered waffle, french toast and hot choco. i love their hot choco. it tastes like tablea. you should order it.

and the most important of all, you can access the networking sites! Twitter, Instagram, Facebook... so if you super miss your SNS, it's a great place to visit.

honestly, with those three food, experience of dining in Park Hyatt, having our SNS, nice view and comfortable breakfast, it's like we were able to save some money compared if  we went to the Observatory.

5th Floor of IFC Mall

carrying our luggages, we kinda walked around the Financial Center. and saw the IFC Mall. since there's an IFC Mall in Seoul that is memorable for me, we decided to check out this mall. we saw the directory and saw that there's a roofdeck on the 5th floor. and good thing we did! there's totally not much people and you can view the streets of the Financial Center.

and a good photoshoot spot.

Fuxing Road

it's on our way home. and just as we were strolling, we totally felt that we are in another country (not in the Philippines). hehe. and the old buildings are a nice change. i think it would look better during spring or fall

Xintiandi

our favorite place. it has everything. and it's clean and stylish and really nice. we're always there everyday. not only because it's our neighbor but it's really a good place to visit. you can find everything there, malls, banks where you can exchange your money, good food, everything.

Xintiandi Style

it's a mall in Xintiandi. sorry, i really don't have a picture of this. but anyway, i included this coz in the mall, you can find lots of good stuff. there's a bookstore/cafe where you can mail your future self or other people in the future. just tell them when you want it to be delivered. but i think you have to buy the postcards from them. and i also saw the books Ode to Joy, and When a Snail Falls in Love (with Wang Kai and Olivia on the cover), but it's in Chinese. hehe.

credits to @robellejoyce for this photo

and the mall has a supermarket. honestly, i think this supermarket sells the expensive stuff. hahaha. but! a big but! we've looked at a lot of stores selling white rabbit, and this is where we found the cheapest white rabbit pack. so i suggest that you buy white rabbit there.

and one thing i like again in this supermarket. they sell Rio. hahaha. i just have to buy it coz Yang Yang is endorsing it and you can see it in almost all mainland dramas. though i didn't see three squirrels there..

how to go there? it's just Exit 1 of Xintiandi Station.



Mystic South Yunnan Ethnic Cuisine

literally our favorite restaurant in Shanghai. we ate there 3 out of the 4 nights we stayed in Shanghai. and the reason we did not eat on the second night is because it is closed. the food is great and the servers are friendly and fast. though on the first day we had difficulties in communicating, later on we got used to each other. hahaha. they recognize us already. and the food is not that expensive.

how did we discover the place? before the trip, i searched on top restaurants in Xintiandi and this is in the list. this is on the top of my list but i thought that i'll have difficulty in finding it since it's not in iPhone map. so we tried looking for the second in my list. then we passed by it. and i told my companions that it's in my list so we tried it.

we asked what are the bestsellers and i have to agree that they really are the bestsellers except for one. anyway, here are our favorite dishes that we ordered and i recommend that you order them also. i can't find the picture of the menu, so i'll just post the picture of the food and just put what i remembered from the dish (and we didn't order all of them on the first day. hehe)

cold noodles. my favorite. even if it's winter, it's still refreshing

tilapia. joyce's favorite. a little spicy though

bread

Grandma's Mashed Potato. my sister's favorite. it's 9 RMB

K11 Mall

while i was going around Xintiandi alone, of all the malls there, i don't know but i decided to enter K11. and i think i made the right decision.

what i like about the mall is that parts of it is like an art exhibit. i was not able to explore the other exhibits.  but when i visited, there's also an instruction on how to do a crane, but of course i failed. but i tried coz i want to do this and have my wish come true.

sorry, i don't know where my pictures of the mall are 😐


this had been a chill day 1 minus the luggages. we've been to only a few places but still it's a fun experience and the places we visted in day 1 are places we wanted to go back to.

How We Survived in Shanghai?

i don't know anything about Shanghai. i have just started a drama filmed in Shanghai, so i really don't know anything. i tried to do our itinerary but i failed. i only did he first day and a little on the second day. my companions are not also familiar with Shanghai and we don't have any Chinese skills. also Google is not working. so how did we survive?

(note: this is not a paid blog, but it just so happened that they're the ones we used and i would just like to share it instead of people wondering what it is. also, i'm an iphone user during the trip so mostly would be based on iphone, just kindly search it on Google Play)

1. Wifi

yes, Google is not working but the wifi helped us a lot in looking for places, talking to our host/car rental anytime and anywhere. as i have previously blogged, we used iVideo and it was fast and really reliable.

2. (iPhone) Map

since Google is not working, we can't rely on Google. Waze is not working well. so i tried using the map of my phone. i never used it before but it became my bestfriend in Shanghai. i depended on it so much. not only on the directions but also on the top restaurants nearby. yes, you can search for restaurants near your location.

3. Subway Card

sorry it won't rotate..

this helps a lot especially if you love to commute coz you can also use this when you ride the bus. i'm guessing even with the other transportation, you can use it. but at least just even with subway, it would save you time and effort of buying tickets. and the card is just 20 Yuan.

4. Metro Subway App

this app also helped us when we try to see how we can go to one place to another. it made life and transfers easier

5. Translator

it's in Shanghai that i realized i relied on Google too much. of course i can't use Google translate which is the only translator app i have in my phone. good thing my sister has the Naver Papago Translate app. it helped us communicate with our driver and others. just type what you would like to say and show the Chinese translation to the other person. and because of the app, our driver led us to a cheap restaurant that is really good.

6. Calculator (on your phone)

so this what i did in Shanghai when asking for prices especially from the street vendors. i just say "Dushao" (how much), then show the calculator in my phone and let them type the amount

7. Rent a Car if you're going to Suzhou

i truly recommend that you visit Suzhou. the parks there are really good to visit. but it's better to rent a car. why? (1) coz it's far. (2) the parks are not walking distance from each other so it's better to rent a car to make your life easier.

we rented a car from ShangCar.com and Felicia who became our contact person is really helpful. i've inquired from a few other sites and she was the one who sent the lowest rate. and the great thing about them is even if it's last minute, they were accommodating and helpful. we decided to just rent a car on the day of our departure. i just messaged her at 9am and we needed the car at 11pm. our car was Buick GL8. just drop them an email at info@shangcar.com.

8. Val, our AirBnB Host

Val was a great host. she patiently answers all my questions, and trust me i have a question everyday (like is there a church nearby). even before we booked, she was already helpful. her place is in a perfect location. 

don't mind our bags. hehe. thanks to @robellejoyce for the pic.

i very well recommend her properties. though the one where we stayed, you should be quiet but it's okay. you can check all her Shanghai homes here . i think all her other homes also have great locations based on the reviews.


9. Whatsapp and WeChat

these two are the popular chats in China. sometimes Viber would work but not most of the time. Facebook messenger, i would receive notifications but we can't open them. so these apps (ad iMessage/FaceTime) are what we use.

what's good about WeChat is that it has a translator, so it makes communication easier.

10. Look to Your Left and to Your Right Before Crossing the Street

even if you're on the pedestrian lane, you still should look (especially to your left) before you cross. coz the traffic for vehicles in Shanghai is.. turn left/right with care

i hope this list would be of any help to those traveling to Shanghai and i guess to other China cities.