Tag Archive for 'shenzhen'

Scenes of Shenzhen

Published on April 5, 2010 in Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: .

Lyn (my boo) and I have always been fascinated with what Shenzhen has to offer. Nevermind that the little city still retained some of its unruly citizens (wait, maybe most of them are not from the city) and unsightly scenes. But having travelled by air, sea and rail, we constantly managed to find the destination charming and enjoyed every single experience from the affordable (and clean) massages at Queens Spa to its food offerings.

Having written five posts on my recent trip there (here, here, here, here and here), I figured its best to spare my readers (anyone left?) from being completely ‘Shenzhen’ed out’ and lump the rest of my experiences in just one post with accompanying photos.

We start off with a visit to a Japanese-inspired restaurant serving ramen and BBQ located at Luo(2) Hu(2). My apologies but I can’t seem to recall the exact location, but it is somewhere across the road from Shangri-La where we visited Shang Palace.  The ramen is pretty decent and we love how the soup helped warm us during the cold weather. Adding to that, the marbling of the beef and pork we ordered were amazing. Too bad the photos do not give them enough justice.

McDonald’s!! Just can’t get enough of them. As much as I hate to admit it, the Macs there seem to taste much better than back home. I guess it could be the entire food experience that played a part (we are on a vacation aren’t we?), or that the meat in their burgers are much bigger than the anorexic ones served back home ~shrugs shoulders~. In addition to visiting the first MacDonald’s opened in China, I also get a kick out of eating their ice cream outdoors for a good 10 minutes without any threat of melting. Cold weather rocks eh?


Left: Before | Right: 10 minutes later


Left and Right: First McDonald’s opened in China


Left: Garlic Chillis are served in packets similar to our curry sauce | Right: The sheer size of their McChicken is oh so wonderful


Food is not bad, England not good :P

Always ready to try something unique, we popped over to a stall serving duck gizzards and other parts such as tongue and heart. I know this is something we have always been eating back home but we felt compelled to try Shenzhen’s version.

Lastly, on our way to the ferry heading to Macau, we passed by a Sands factory outlet. Given the logo, I think it might be the same Sands as the one in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. But I can’t for the life of me wonder what is on sale in there. I’m thinking either pawned items from losing gamblers or overstocked/refurbished products from their office ~shrugs shoulders again~.


Told you…I lie not!

Next up, Macau!! :)

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Shang Palace, Shenzhen

Published on April 4, 2010 in Usual Ramblings. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

For the second time in a row for me and the third for Lyn (my boo), we returned to Shang Palace at the Shangri-La Hotel in Shenzhen for some lovely dim sum buffet. The restaurant is located on the second floor of the very posh hotel situated about a good 10-minute stroll from Luo(2) Hu(2).

For just RMB 78, or about S$17.50, we were treated to a lovely line up of dim sum delicacies from your usual must-haves such as har gao and siew mai to other innovative fare including some sort of a meat dumpling wrapped in almonds and served in a sugarcane stick. As usual, I’m really bad at describing food so let’s do the ‘ol ‘pictures speak a thousand words thing:


Left: We were made to pay $0.20 for chili, the only downside | Right: Siew Mai

As always, Lyn and I had a blast taking in all we can for a fraction of what the restaurants in our lovely country would charge. Yes we are bargain hunters aren’t we? Needless to say, we left completely satisfied (and bursting) promising to return in our next trip, which I reckon will be soon ~crosses fingers~. :)

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A Crocodile knockoff?

Published on March 29, 2010 in Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Yeah I would think so. Quite interesting what one can spot in lovely Shenzhen eh? :D

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Shenzhen Food Street

Published on March 28, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Coming back to a series of entries on my trip to Shenzhen and Macau, Lyn (my boo) and I upon taking a nice walk along the streets of Le(4) Yuan(2) discovered a hidden gem to our pleasant surprise, street food. I can’t really direct you to the exact location given my unfamiliarity of the Le Yuan area and the restaurants around. However I’m pretty sure I would know how to get there if I was back in Shenzhen again.

The street food is as authentic as it can be with makeshift stalls selling and displaying all kinds of food from porridge to desserts. For those looking for a nice clean location serving very hygienically prepared food with service staff clearing dishes and cleaning the tables once the customers leave, that is not exactly the kind of place you want to go. Ingredients were displayed openly, the tables and chairs are dirty, the floor is littered with plastic bowls, utensils, uneaten food, tissue paper and other unsightly things I can’t bring myself to describe. Food handling is also not exactly something NEA will use as a positive case study and we do see a number of chefs cooking with lit cigarettes in their mouths. Talk about multi-tasking.. :D .

However, not that we are gluttons for punishments but these are the kind of experiences Lyn and I are always on a lookout for whenever we travel abroad, like in Thailand and Taiwan. Needless to say, upon discovering the food street bustling with mostly youths and Hong Kong tourists, we were ecstatic and didn’t pay any mind to the fact that we just had dinner.

On our first visit, we started off with a bowl of tang yuan dessert. As we ventured deeper into the street and taking in the aroma and sights of the lovely dishes and atmosphere, we gave up and popped into yet another seafood stall. Since we were already full, we ordered a small plate of fried rice and some clams. Our damage, RMB 2 (S$0.50) for the tang yuan and RMB 18 (S$5.00) for both the fried rice, clams and a can of pepsi. Adding to that, Lyn ordered a takeaway packet of pig’s blood (yeeeech!!) for just RMB 1 (S$0.20). Yeah I know, it can’t get any cheaper for the both of us and we almost fell off our seats.

Still wanting more of the street food goodness, we returned the very next evening with a partially full stomach. We started off with little eats like yu tiao and desserts followed by a visit to another seafood stall and ordered a plate of mantis prawns and another type of clams. Again, it was another night of cheap eats with the seafood and a can of pepsi totaling to RMB 18.

We ended our night with a big bowl of porridge with selected ingredients including eggs, two whole crabs, meat, fish, pig’s intestines and vegetables. We were unable to finish the bowl but left satisfied paying only RMB 15 (S$3.50).

As we departed the food street, we swore to return and spend more time there in our next visit to Shenzhen. So if you folks are looking for something with a more local flavour when planning your vacation there, do consider the food street as an option. I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed… :)

More photos in my Flickr album here.

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Black Eyed Beans?

Published on March 9, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 2 Comments Tags: , .

Lyn (my boo) and I were walking along a street near Le Yuan and came across this bubble tea shop. I quickly snapped a photo and we made our way hurriedly. The guy at the door looked like he wants to kick my ass. Really, I mean look at him…

So my initial thought was, “Wah so creative, I wonder where they get their inspiration from….hmm..”

Still can’t put my finger on it…can you? Oh by the way, I wonder if they monkey they featured are related… ;) More interesting experiences from Shenzhen coming soon.

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Seafood in Shenzhen

Published on March 7, 2010 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

In a bid to get some pampering after a hectic but oh so lovely wedding this year, Lyn (my boo) and I took a short trip to Shenzhen and Macau in early January. Shenzhen is one of our favourite destination with affordable (cheap more like it) massages and seafood. Nevermind that Lyn has only been there three times and me twice, but we somehow have always seem to discover hidden gems as we venture deeper into the charming city.

If you so happen to pop by Shenzhen for work or leisure, do plan to have one of your meals in a street called Le(4) Yuan(2) (please excuse the pinyin, I’m not too familiar writing it in Mandarin). To us, Le Yuan is a bustling street with seafood restaurants at both sides with tanks upon tanks of live fish and long rows of shell fish. Having visited Le Yuan about 10 times during the course of our visits, we could easily brush aside touts looking out for tourists like us and make our way to one of the many preferred restaurants in our list.


Left: Take your time to select your seafood outside the restaurant | Right: We are not great fans of how animals are kept there, but yeah there are loads to choose from ranging from pigeons to rabbits and snakes

Great variety aside, Lyn and I are constantly amazed at how affordable seafood can be in comparison to Singapore. For a mere $35 per couple, we could order a few dishes including bamboo clams (my favourite), oysters, braised pork, vegetables, king prawns and even some beer. Here’s some of what we happily devoured during our trip there:


Left: Some herbal soup | Right: braise pork belly and intestines


Left: Salt and pepper prawn | Right: Spinach with century egg


Left: Bamboo Clams (yums) | Right: Scallops

Left: Steamed fish | Right: Conch


Left: Sea urchin | right: Steamed prawns


Kingway beer..not bad actually

More photos in my Flickr album here.

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Lodging in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Part 2/2

Published on January 10, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I said that Lyn (my boo) and I were keeping our fingers crossed hoping for better accommodations after experiencing two cramped hostels in Hong Kong. Walking around the rooms can be a real b**ch especially with two opened luggages and with me being the bigger (in size) person, let’s just say my presence didn’t make it any easier.

But thankfully, our last two locations were just wonderful. They were much roomier and oddly cheaper. I am guessing our first two hostels were pricey due to their location. But hey..lets move on.

After taking a short ferry ride to Cheung Chau island from the pier, Lyn and I had the initial problem of navigating to our hotel. We didn’t have a map of the island and being in a foreign land, we tend to be in some ways..blinder. Some things are just in your face but we rather spend our time scratching our heads and whining about how unfriendly the island is. Okay okay…I admit…I was the only one complaining :P . Take for example, street signs. Quite a number around but we kept missing them…yeap…blind as a bat.

Anyhoo allow me to focus on our lodging since I will write about Cheung Chau later on. When we got into our room, we were pleasantly surprised at the way it was decorated. The nice people at Miami Resorts gave us a newly renovated room with cleaner facilities. For S$60 we got the usual amenities like a small bathtub, a nice comfy bed, a TV (with like 4 channels or something), a small fridge, a kettle, 4 chairs and a small table. But what sets this hostel apart from the other two was the balcony with a view of the ocean.


Left: Roomier and cleaner | Right: Our balcony


Left and Right: Although the toilet was still cramped, we loved them.


Left and Right: Our view from the balcony. Too bad it isn’t summer.

Our only problem was that the temperature in Hong Kong dipped during our visit. So with the cold ocean wind blowing into our room at about 10 degC, let’s say it wasn’t easy sleeping at night. Lyn had to sleep with her jackets on. But the view of the ocean paid off. The next morning, I may have woken up stoned but was awed by the majestic sunrise (well to me at least). Kudos to the Miami Resorts, We give them a rating of 3.5/5.


Woah!!

Lastly our final accommodation at Shenzhen. Being a much more economical location compared to Hong Kong, we were able to afford living slightly more luxuriously and checked into a hotel. At Shan Shui Trends Hotel in Luohu, we almost burst into tears when the bellboy opened our room door and led us in. It was beautiful.

The room was huge compared to the other three hostels and the toilets were much bigger. Amenities include free internet connection, a fridge, cupboards (woah!! cupboards!!), the usual flat screen TV and other good stuffs that a hotel should have. Oh btw, our beds are round ;) . And all that for about S$50 a night. I’m sure heaven is better but upon entering the room, I can’t begin to tell you how happy we were.


Left: Roomier…much roomier | Right: Round bed!!


Left: Bigger toilets and the nice rainfall type shower

To round it up, I am pretty sure you would already know which accommodation we preferred in our Hong Kong and Shenzhen trip. Dearest Shan Shui Trend Hotel, we love you long time. We give it a 7/5…yes, we were that emotional.

Well that’s all I have for our lodging. Allow me to end with this really interesting point though. If you have read both posts on our accommodation, you would notice that as we progressed in the trip, our hotels got roomier and less expensive. Kinda weird eh? More stories to come.. :P


A peacock chillin’ outside Shan Shui Trends Hotel

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Coming back from Hong Kong and Shenzhen

Published on January 7, 2008 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

So yeah, I guess you would already know by now that I am finally back from my Hong Kong and Shenzhen trip. Lyn (my boo) and I are completely flat broke but we take comfort at the fact that the trip was filled with a ton of experiences we can’t exchange for cash. But then if you see it in another way, the trip was paid in cash so we kinda did use money to trade the experiences…hmmm… ;)

But hey!! Details aside. I am currently taking a look at my photos taken from the trip and I must say…woah..there are lots to write about. So tune in for more entries about my Hong Kong and Shenzhen trip…mostly on food tho… :P .


Lyn (my boo) and I at Cheung Chau, Hong Kong

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No blogging love in Shenzhen

Published on January 4, 2008 in Things that suck and Usual Ramblings. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

It is our 2nd last day of our trip and Lyn (my boo) and I are preparing to head out to see the wonders of Shenzhen. While waiting for Lyn to finish putting on her make up, giving me about a good 1 hour of jTime, I headed to the ‘ol Google Reader to catch up on the lives of my friends.

Although I was able to read off feeds, I quickly found out that I was unable to visit my friends’ sites directly and post comments. Brudder Walter’s blog seems down and so were other close friends like KP, my dear sister Fel and Nic, amongst others. However, I was able to get through to Simply Jean, Precious, Sheylara and other blogs with their own URL. Interesting eh?

So I did a quick check at the ‘ol Google to see what was going on only to learn that there could be a blog ban in China, or at least I think so. The only post on it was here and here, but it was back in 2005. Basically it is about China blocking a few blog sites and I am assuming WordPress and Blogger are hit.

So I guess I can’t comment on your blogs until I get back home. But I can’t really verify any of these information at this point of time tho…does anyone know what the heck is going on?


This is how Brudder Walter’s blog look like in China ;)

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Hello Hong Kong

Published on December 28, 2007 in This I like and Usual Ramblings. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

For those who don’t already know, I will be heading to Shenzhen and Hong Kong in a few hours time, and to play the role of a caddy for Lyn (my boo). Yeap, from what I gathered, her itinerary had indicated a ton of shopping places and I am, for the lack of a better word, pretty much f**ked. Let’s just say I will be contributing a huge chunk of my year-end bonus to the Hong Kong economy.

Although we will be bringing our laptop over, I am not too sure how the wireless situation is there so I can’t guarantee popping over once in a while and blogging my experiences away. If my internet connectivity fails, here’s wishing you a wonderful new year and I will see you when I return on 5th Jan 2008… ;)


Image shamelessly taken from Conneva

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