During the bus journey, everyone knocked out in their seats. Except me, I was pretty well rested the night before and can't fall asleep without having the urge to rock my head to the beat of the music. And that's what I ended up doing. Just a retard at the back of the seat, sticking his head outta the window and singing to his heart's content. Hahaha! Idk why music has so much power over me...
Finally! After venturing through the valleys, mountain creaks and caves in which we had to alight the coach to enter, we reached Shanghai's Urban Planning Centre (I was kidding about the valleys and shit btw). The shit about China is that, in the morning it freezes my ass to the core and slowly as it proceeds to the night, I became a voluntary stripper. THE COLD NEVER BOTHERED ME ANYWAY~~~ So in this museum thingy, we were tasked to, again, solve the questionnaires and blah blah blah.... It was pretty sweet considering the fact that for once, I was actually interested in the history of Shanghai and the future of it. And just so you know, the tallest building in Shanghai is built by a Japanese company. A lil' heads up, the Chinese hates the Japs. Reason being, the Japs refused to acknowledge their heinous acts for the Nanjing Massacre during the post-WW2 period which really pissed off everyone of them there. The building initially had a hollow circle all the way at the top. But amidst the construction of the building back in the days, the Chinese government suspended the project as the building would look like a freaking Japanese flag. So architects had get their shit together and redo the whole design and finally cap off the building in a tactful and peaceful way. The shit here about the model (painted gold) in the picture below shows the Pearl Tower being the tallest amongst all buildings. Fuck that national pride, that shit ain't true. HAHAHA damn ass Chinese and their family honour.... Notice in the pic that the golden model and the bronze sculpture on the wall doesn't tally? Why? BECAUSE THEY FORGOT THE CHANGE THE JAP BUILDING. THERE'S STILL A FREAKING CIRCLE THERE HAHAHA! We ventured the place and you know, as usual, did some pretty autistic shit. I've got it all down on tape. HAHAHA
Exited the centre and I was immediately embraced by the warm hugs of the cold breeze~ Couldn't resist the lollipop that I'm holding in my hand. Gotta wreck it now! The trees lining the busy roads and pavements were on form. Dry and crisp orange-yellow autumn leaves dangling off the trees. Wind blows and the leaves fall right off onto the ground. This environment is.... I can't express it in words.... It's just new. And I like new non-stressful environment. OH AMEN!! THE TEACHERS GAVE US 1HR LIBERTY TO SHOP!! We crossed the road to Raffles City (yes they have that in China too) that looked not too appealing considering such an atas name it has. RAFFLES SIOL! This place didn't unleash the legendary money-spending chiongster-shopper in me because there's just no feels! It looked like an average shopping mall with branded stores selling luxurious goods. And if you stereotype that all shit is cheaper in China, nah man, at least not in Shanghai, they sell some overpriced stuff just like Singapore. Totally not worth spending our time looking for expensive apparels that would land us into immediate bankruptcy once we make purchase. So, as badasses, the Ingardeners snugged out of Raffles City to take matters into our own hands. We gon' "gai gai" bitches!
LUNCHTIME! Boarded the coach and headed off to our next destination, the Mystery Restaurant, as what the teachers giggled about. I don't believe no Mystery restaurant gon' hold back a beast ass growling stomach! Hmmm... Weird... The restaurant doesn't have an entrance sign.. It's just a flight of stairs up to a door. And that door ain't ordinary. You gotta solve some number pattern shit before gaining access through the door. The toilet, was the key highlight of the restaurant. There were doors along this dark and dimly lit corridor that were supposedly called, the restroom. The doors can't be opened!! How's it a toilet?!?! It's a freaking trap! I opened this one door and there was a mirror behind it. Suddenly, someone came out from what-we-thought-was-not-the-toilet-door. HOLY FUCK. THIS IS HELLA MAGICAL!! FREAKING ILLUSION! THE DOOR KNOB WAS PLACE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE DOOR AT ITS HINGE. SO YOU GOTTA PUSH ON THE LEFT SIDE THAT WAS SUPPOSEDLY THE HINGE TO GET IN THE DAMN ASS TOILET! GG MINDBLOWN! The food was good, but one thing is for sure, it's never enough for me. #Starvation24/7
Alright! Time for corporate visits! This time round, I'm looking forward to the visit because we would be meeting the boss of Red Design and Wagas, one from the UK and the other from Aussie. English! FINALLY!!! We dropped by the office of Red Design company which looked pretty Singaporean, in a sense that, it had similar architecture feels. The boss, Mr Matthews, welcomed us warmly into the cramped and small office counter. The boss started his intro to his business venture, how he migrated all the way from the UK to Shanghai. It was pretty amazing how an English man can start up a company in a foreign land experiencing such major culture shock. But his key was being hardworking and getting the right connections. It's all about knowing who to trust and also selling your trust to get people interested in your services. Basically, I learned a heck lot by putting myself into the Englishman's shoes and view things in his perspective. Eye-opening indeed! Maybe because he spoke English that's why I'm able to register everything he said in my head HAHAHAHA! But that dude was pretty humorous and has a way with words. Thumbs up! Can't get any pics here tho, didn't have the chance....... Didn't have the space. HAHAHA!
Last corporate visit of the day! Went to a French restaurant called La Poste to await for the arrival of the boss of Wagas, Bakers and Spice and La Poste. Lemme tell you first, the ambience of the restaurant was a killer. Lighting was on point with good exploitation of the dimness to bring out the romantic atmosphere. Walls coated in grey paint blended neatly with the wooden layout. Wonderful~ Then came the boss, Jacky. She's a rather soft spoken person with a tint of humour underlying her expression of words. One thing appealing about her was her fashion sense. She was banging out in her scarfs and her youthful outfit. She basically got swag~ Her stories were intriguing! Started as a spoilt Aussie kid who wanted to run a cafe in her hometown. Amidst the opening of her very own cafe sponsored by her mum and dad, she started to feel that the job wasn't meant for her. She made a big big resolution to curb her spoilt child attitude and enrolled in a school in China. Her Mandarin was shitty, couldn't really adapt to the culture there, but eventually, pulled through that "ordeal" with people she knew there. Slowly, she joined partnership with a friend there and BOOM! The business expanded so quickly. One thing she highlighted about doing business is LOCATION and ENSURING QUALITY. 100% true. If you set up your luxurious cafe in a place not even ghosts frequent, you're gonna make all kinds of losses. And if you favour certain ingredients over the quality ones to cut cost, your quality goes downhill and you'd be losing your customers. Sweet ass lesson learnt, though it's pretty basic, those words etched deep in my mind.
Right after her talk, we began feasting at the restaurant. SERVES UP! Smoked Salmon with asparagus~ Portion, once again, unable to satisfy my stomach, but I'll compensate for the weight loss when I get back to SG. After we finished our meal, my Starhill group sitting together with the Selfie group decided to play a game on the table. The other group decided to be the audience of our stupidity as we proceeded to playing the number game. Before that, we mixed up a concoction of disgusting juice throwing in all kinds of shit on the table. Sprite, tomato sauce etc. Yucky af... The game was damn intense and we've got Edwin, Bryan and I playing the roulette. Bryan was making us laugh till we flip HAHAHAHA! FREAKING AUTISTIC OMG!! Got into so much trouble for laughing so loud but Bryan had to hide the concoction. The way the act like nothing happen was so retarded it was like Mr Bean!! HAHAHAHA! I had the privilege to drink half of it too and man, the experience was something I will never try ever again...
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| Bryan being stupid... |
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| Jacky giving her speech |
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| Smoked salmon shiok! |
After the madass dinner, Jacky took us upstairs to tour her lil' humble office. Apparently she bought an old mansion, renovated the whole thing into a luxurious fine dining eatery :) That's how you make money people. Hahaha location. Ended off the night with our fining shopping at the convenient store to get the essential Haagen Dazs for me and only me, before heading to our new slumber place, Grand Mercure Hotel.
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| View of Shanghai from Jacky's office balcony |
When we first arrived at the new hotel in Shanghai, the exterior design and the lobby was banging! But I also learned a lesson from the trip, never judge the hotel by its lobby. Fuck that lobby shit, my new checked in hotel room was SHIT. BULLSHIT. BIRDSHIT. WORMSHIT. SHITSHIT! FUCK! It was so cramped and unkempt. Two beds for three people accommodation? Nigga what?!?! Air con blowing out hot air even after setting it to the coldest mode. Warm af! Gotta open the goddamn window to let cold air in. BITCH! OUR ROOM WAS FACING THE DAMN ASS HIGHWAY!! In China, mudafuckers honk their cars for fun. It's like a challenge to see who honk the most times get to go home with a dog to eat. The Ingardeners crashed my room because Amanda and Saranya scared of their room, thinking it was haunted or something. Weak lah... Chester didn't wanna mix with his hot roommate and Sarah had enough of her two roommates bickering over small matters. Sheryl and Cheryl got locked out of their room like Mr Bean in the hotel episode. So we ended having an illegal gathering in my room until shit went back to normal. Dang it, Imma try to sleep....
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