M on the Bund

I was bugging Chew Chin to bring me to Jean Georges, however, after surveyed and looked at the average pricing of RMB600 per person, he offered to bring me to M on the Bund for brunch. This is our second time to go M on the Bund. The first was with his friends when they visited us last year and we had our New year Eve dinner. It was a pleasant dinner however due to New Year Eve crowd, they only offered limited courses.

Yesterday, we re-visited the restaurant and this time is a weekend brunch. There is a balcony outside where you can you sit down and enjoy the panoramic view from the Bund to Pudong and you must make reservation for that in order to get a good seat. However, it's not highly recommend for brunch as the sun is actually sit on top of your head and summer in Shanghai is not a joke. They offer high tea for weekend as well, perhaps can have a try next time and I think the weather will be just nice after 3.

The brunch menu comes with some selections. You can choose a 2 courses with cocktail and "limitless" tea or coffee for RMB218 per person or 3 courses for RMB258 per person. Can have a guess on what we ordered from the pictures.

I ordered a starter and main course and the portions were too big until I was too full to get my all the time favourite - dessert :~(. I was asking Chew Chin whether am I a fool if next time I am going to order a starter and a dessert :P.

You must be wondering why we suddenly indulged ourselves for the fine dine. Yeah, just to celebrate our first year registration anniversary which falls on 11 May :D.

孙中山故居访

上 回去了宋庆龄故居，这次也应该去她的伟人丈夫，孙中山故居。友人的阿公曾经是前国名党和三民主义青年团党员。 阿公也在槟城创办了孙中山博物院，因为经费问题，博物院还没正式开幕，不过也会开放给有兴趣的公众。 友人来到了上海，去了孙中山故居，也应该照个相给阿公看一看。故居里都告诉我们孙中山的革命历史，很佩服这伟人的远见在于发展中国内地的交通线和主要的经济概念。

不过，老实说，比较吸引我们的是那美丽的后院，人也寥寥无几，我们都很开心的轮流拍照， bollywood 一番，哈。。。。。。

南汇桃花村 Peach Blossom

Flowers flowers, YES FLOWERS !!!!

世纪公园赏花记

友人来上海游玩，一起去了世纪公园赏花。美好的天气，凉风阵阵吹, 不过现在的天气还是有点冷。公园好大，之前走了一整天，有点懒惰，于是租了所谓的四人逍遥车， RMB80/hour 一辆。可惜忘了带相机，友人的SLR camera 电池又 flat了，只好用手机。有人陪你癫，发花癫，是很不错的！

欢迎海宝！

为了上海世博要来的朋友们， 先来介绍吉祥物，它叫海宝！

以汉字的“人”作为核心创意。

头发：像翻卷的海浪，显得活泼有个性，点明了吉祥物出生地的区域特征和生命来源。
脸部：卡通化的简约表情，友好而充满自信。
眼睛：大大、蓝色：充满包容性、想象力，象征充满发展希望和潜力的中国。
身体：圆润的身体，展示着和谐生活的美好感受，可爱而俏皮。
拳头：翘起拇指，是对全世界朋友的赞许和欢迎。
大脚：稳固地站立在地面上，成为热情张开的双臂的有力支撑，预示中国有能力、有决心办好世博会。

“人”字互相支撑的结构也揭示了美好生活要靠你我共创的理念。只有全世界的“人”相互支撑，人与自然、人与社会、人与人之间和谐相处，这样的城市才会让生活更加美好。

“人”字创意造型依靠上海世博会的传播平台，必将成为中国上海世博会的吉祥符号和文化标志。（摘文自中国2010年上海世界博览会官方网站）

宋庆龄故居访

托朋友的福，让我有机会去了宋庆龄故居纪念馆。其实，我对中国历史有点白痴，从三国演义时代，有哪几个朝代，什么朝代有什么皇帝都不是很清楚，唐宋明清，康熙乾隆，都是在戏里知道。还好，这里的节目有时会播历史人物介绍，刚好这个星期是宋家故事，也让我知道了宋家背景。又刚好去了宋庆龄故居，才知道宋庆龄故人的伟大。 纪念馆里有历史介绍，宋庆龄故人对国家的贡献，图片，录影以及生活的点点滴滴，还可以访她的故居和生活地方。故居里有一片漂亮的花园，鸟语花香。虽然书是说靠近衡山路地铁站，但我们都走了好远，差不多1km，入门票是RMB20。有兴趣者，不妨一游。

First Experience of Maglev

MAGLEV, or magnetic levitation, is a system of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles, predominantly trains, using levitation from a very large number of magnets for lift and propulsion. Shanghai Maglev train is the first commercial high speed maglev line in the world. I've been traveled back for two times but still didn't get to try on it. It is because maglev passengers are more suitable for those who travel light and alone due to the inconvenient location and price. As the train will stop at the Longyang terminus, at Pudong then from there you will either transfer to use subway or take cab to your destination, vice versa and it's still quite a distance from the city centre. One way pricing of Maglev is RMB50. The advantage of the maglev is it only take approximately 8 minutes to reach airport from Longyang terminus (by road is around 45 minutes, i guess) and the maximum speed reaches 431 km/h.

A "sua gu" like me when I kept taking the speed photos, there were a few starring eyes. Really sumimaseh.....

天鹅湖

在今年年初，因大少爷的友人到访，因刚好有俄罗斯国立芭蕾歌剧院芭蕾舞团在上海大剧院演出天鹅湖，就约了一起去看。本来预算门票最贵只买到RMB380，怎知好位子，便宜的都卖完了，友人也就帮我们买了两张RMB680的门票，哇塞，真的好贵!

说真的，看完以后，有点大失所望，好像被欺骗的感觉。以为会有交响乐团在旁，可是音乐是播放的； 虽然芭蕾舞团跳得很好，但故事情节有点乏闷，间中大少爷和友人差点要被周爷爷叫去下棋了。在观赏中，是不可以拍照的，在黑暗中拿起手机或camera可以被发觉到的，工作人员要不停的将 laser light 照着那些人，叫他们停止，可是有些人就是没教养，有些还要重复两三次，真的 @#*&￥· !!

不过，我想我应该不会再看芭蕾舞了，还是比较喜欢 musical type， 有跳舞，有唱歌那些。

泰康路的田子坊

If you want to have a peaceful and not so Chinese day in Shanghai, perhaps you may go to this place called 田子坊 (Tian Zi Fang). It is originated as a workplace for China artists and the display of their paintings. Eventually, the neighborhood also converted to commercial shops. You walk around the neighborhood like treasure hunt, those shops may hide at the end of the lane or just a small staircase for you to go up second floor. A lot of unique shops sells things from all over the world and a lot of western restaurants where you can stop by to have a sip of coffee or tea. The paintings here at least are more humane, at least I can understand compared to what I saw in 莫干山路 - Moganshan Road which I wrote in previous blog. This place is full of artistic and characters. It's a decent place for photography too. I like it very much. If you have half day to spare in Shanghai, this place is highly recommended.

百福自庄严，大愿悉成满 - 静安寺

今天我去了静安寺站（地铁二号线）逛逛。那边有名店，久光百货及闻名的静安寺。 到了上海两个月，第一次拜访这里的庙。哦，发觉春节祈福入门票，RMB50, 哇赛！我听说中国的寺庙都要付入门票， 不知道那么贵。你看照片，就知道不愿付钱的我，只在外徘徊。。。 （怪不得，我早不到工，因为我不拜这里的佛脚）

回家 google 了一下， 才知道寺内藏有八大山人名画、文征明真迹《琵琶行》行草长卷及南宋淳熙十年(公元1183年)光宗赵当太子时为学士钱良臣所题“云汉照国之阁”石刻等珍贵文物。。。。 有大雄宝殿、天王殿、三圣殿。。。 最重要的是，平常的入门票是 RMB20。不用紧，来日方长。

莫干山路50号

一个没有艺术细胞的人跑到一个充满艺术气息的园地. 说真的, 有些看了,是懂又不懂; 有些艺术品的大胆风格, 有点错愕. 艺术真的 very personal, 我想我身上真的没有 sense of arts.

莫干山路50号, 就由这里了解吧, http://www.m50.com.cn/.