Melbourne City

[28 - 29 April 2010]

Finally I was able to visit Melbourne by planning everything in budget!!! Thanks to Jetstar. The journey to Melbourne was extremely tiring due to long hours sitting in the aeroplane without any FREE entertainment or FREE drink. Luckily we brought tiny netbook on board which can entertain us for about 4 hours. No direct flight from Singapore to Melbourne during my visit. ="= We had to transfer via Darwin.

Reached Melbourne airport around 12pm (Melbourne time). We spent AUD 26 (round trip) on skybus. By taking skybus, it will transfer us to Southern Cross station. From there, we can take FREE mini bus to our hotel. Do find more information in this website.

We choose not to wait for mini bus. It takes about 10 mins walk from Southern Cross station to our hotel. The weather was cold with little rain. Prayed for tomorrow will be better weather.

We booked for 5 nights at Travelodge Docklands. We booked it with promotion price due to newly open since Feb 2010. The environment is clean and neat but the location is a bit far from attractions.

We headed to Franklin Street to rent car after checked in hotel. Without spending any dollars in transportation, we can travel in Melbourne city.

First by taking FREE circle tram No 35.

Second by taking FREE tourist shuttle bus.

Last but not least, by F-O-O-T.... :P

We had late lunch at Mimo cafe. Ordered a really big portion of Fish & chips and burger.

After recharge ourselves, we headed to visitor information center. Remember grab a FREE Melbourne map and some discount coupons that attached in brochure.

St. Pauls Cathedral

Federation Square

Old Flinders station

Next we walked to Yarra River and Crown Casino.

We went back hotel early due to cold weather. We have to rest early tonight because tomorrow would be very fun. Yes! We are going for a road trip along Great Ocean Road! ^_^

Shanghai(上海)

[Feb 19, 2010]

Should never miss Xin Tian Di (新天地) at Shanghai. It is one of the nicest areas to go at night. Don't miss the brasilian barbeque restaurant. After dinner, have a nice drink at any bars around.

One of the most famous structure in Shanghai and the cradle of typical Shanghai snacks, is the elegant built Town God Temple (Cheng Huang Temple - 城隍庙). As local Shanghainese believe that, under the protection of Town God, they could be empowered to live peacefully and make a prosperous future. Today, Town God Temple become a very popular site for visitors from all over the world. Other than temple fair and worship, it's also been used as a nice place for shopping and dinning. Nowadays there are more than one hundred small shops and restaurants and the products on sell are countless.

At night, we went to Oriental Pearl Tower (东方明珠塔). The tower is 468 m high, the highest in Asia and the third highest in the world. There is a revolving teahouse and a sightseeing platform, which can accommodate 1600 people in the largest ball. Here visitor can get a panoramic view of the Bund and Pudong New area.

Another new attraction in the list is Shanghai wax museum (上海风情蜡像馆). People may think that it is similar like Madame Tussauds. In fact it is different. The wax museum only displays the ancient lifestyle of Shanghainese.

The next day we went for last minute shopping at Tao Bao Cheng (淘宝城) before heading back to Malaysia. It is definitely a great place to grab for cheap souvenirs like key chains, magnets, T-shirt with the word "Shanghai", baby clothes, lugagges, dress, and etc.

HangZhou(杭州) - Shanghai(上海)

[Feb 18, 2010]
It is really enjoyable to take a boat ride at West Lake (西湖). Xī Hú is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic center of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province of eastern China. The lake is divided by the causeways of Sū Tí (苏提 / 蘇堤) , Bái Tí (白堤), and Yánggōng Tí (杨公堤 / 楊公堤).

We headed toward green tea plantation. Famous green tea in HangZhou named LongJing (龙井).

Everywhere in HangZhou looks like a painting. So amazing!

On the way to Shanghai, we passed by WuZhen (乌镇). Wuzhen's uniqueness lies in its layout, being divided into six districts. These are: traditional workshops district, traditional local-styled dwelling houses district, traditional culture district, traditional food and beverage district, traditional shops and stores district, and water township customs and life district.

Another boat ride at WuZhen. You should not miss it! ^_^

It's already 6pm when we reached Shanghai. Sunset earlier during winter and it is freaking cold at night... It is not advisable to stroll around under such killing weather. By the way, the tour guide brought us to NanJing shopping street (南京路步行街) after dinner. Mum and I was hiding ourselves inside the shop. At least we feel warm there. :P

We stayed in this hotel for 2 nights because tomorrow we will only stay in Shanghai! No more moving from town to town...

NanJing(南京) - HangZhou(杭州)

[Feb 17, 2010]

The 1st stop of the day and also the last stop in NanJing (before headed to HangZhou) was Dong Shui Guan Gate (东水关城墙遗址). I am not really understand the history of the gate. I think you can find more in website if you're interested. :P

We spent about 3-4 hours journey from NanJing to HangZhou. It was really a tiring move, but it is alright for me as long as the heater is on in the bus. :P We visited HangZhou Grand Theatre (大剧院). It is designed by internationally known Canadian architect Carlos Ott. and it covers 100,000 square meters with a total construction area of 55,000 square meters. It consists of an opera house, a concert hall, a multifunction hall, an open air stage and a culture square.

Hangzhou International Conference Center (国际会议中心) is one of three symbolic buildings of Qianjiang New CBD axis line. The artistic waterscape has 5 programs. Sector waterscape integrates with buildings and roads.

From City Terrace (城市阳台), you can see HangZhou Bay Bridge (杭州湾大桥). HangZhou Bay Bridge is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. It connects the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in Zhejiang province.

We headed for dinner at Ba Guo Bu Yi (巴国布衣). Its name translates as "Sichuan Common People," which describes both the restaurant's style of food and the local clientele it attracts. The menu is a greatest hits of Sichuan cuisine, including mapo tofu, braised tofu with chili and brown pepper, and lazi ji (chicken smothered in chili peppers). Furthermore there is mask changing (变脸秀) performance on the stage every night.

After dinner, we strolled around at West Lake Xin Tian Di (西湖新天地) in cooling night. You can find a lot of restaurant or coffee shop (like starbucks / coffee bean) here.

That night we enjoyed 1 hour West Lake Cultural Show (西湖之夜文化表演). This show is really impressed me. Contented with the myths and legends of the West Lake, the show leads you to a sweet thousand-year dream.The special concealable auditorium provides a wide and bird’s-eye view. Show time: 19:45-21:00.

Checked in hotel after end of the show. Must have a great sleep because tomorrow I will move to Shanghai. ^_^