Shanghai March 2019 - Day 5

Day 5, we checked out of Sweetome and moved to Novotel Shanghai Clover Hotel in Pudong, near Disneyland. It was between Novotel and Disney's Toy Story Hotel. But Toy Story Hotel's room was half the size of the Novotel room, and more expensive.

The moment we walked into our Novotel room, we knew we'd made the right choice. The room was huge, with 2 queen size beds, and a children's corner with a tent! The kids loved it. Aaron even slept in the tent for 1 night! 

Very quickly after checking into the hotel, we went to Shanghai Disneyland. As advised by Gillian and Lun Cheak, we had lunch outside at Disneytown before going into the park. Had an excellent Japanese lunch.

We were expecting huge crowds even though the Shanghai Disneyland app showed that queues at most of the rides were short. But there was no crowd at all! Probably the emptiest Disneyland we'd ever been to! 1st time we could take somewhat empty shots without loads of people in the background!

We managed to do 4 rides, all with 5-15 min waiting time only: Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Voyage to the Crystal Grotto, Hunny Pot Spin and Pirates of the Caribbean Battle for the Sunken Treasure. 

Also caught the Eye of the Storm: Captain Jack's Stunt Spectacular show. Even though the dialogue was all in Mandarin, the kids enjoyed the show very much because there was so much action and the set was so impressive.

By the time we finished the show, it was starting to turn dark, even though it was barely 6pm. Was nice to see the attractions light up.

We went out to Disneytown for dinner. There were so many restaurants to choose from: Breadtalk, Crystal Jade, Xin Wang, Wolfgang Puck, The Cheesecake Factory, etc, and even a Food Republic! We went to Food Republic for the variety of food.

We finished dinner by 7pm, and still had plenty of time before the fireworks at 8.30pm. So we went to Gardens of Imagination for Aaron to meet the various Marvel heroes.

I was slightly disappointed with the fireworks. It was more a light show than fireworks. Very high tech, but not quite the magical disney fireworks we had anticipated. Too little fireworks.

Still, it was a nice, magical ending to the day.

Shanghai March 2019 - Day 4

Day 4 was nice and sunny again.

We set out for the Shanghai Natural History Museum. Decided to take the metro, instead of jumping into a taxi. Good decision, because we sort of got lost, and by chance, ended up in front of the Starbucks Reserve Roastery!

This Starbucks is not like any other Starbucks. It is roasts coffee beans for the Starbucks outlets in Shanghai. Besides being a roastery, it is also a cafe, bakery, souvenir shop and tea shop. 

It's a huge place, and sells a huge variety of coffee - not just the usual frappucino. Its bakery sells freshly baked bread and pastries. Looked really yummy, but we'd just had breakfast and didn't have space for any more food. The 2nd floor is a tea shop, all kinds of herbal tea.

The shop sells a huge variety of coffee mugs, cups, coffee makers, clothes, bags, etc, etc. Very interesting.

After our lovely cup of coffee, we took a nice stroll to the Natural History Museum, walking pass the Jing'an Sculpture Park.

The rows of plum blossom lining the walkway were beautiful! No need to go to Japan to see sakura!

The Shanghai Natural History Museum was way better than we'd expected.

It had a pretty good range of displays, although we were not sure if some of the fossils were real. Again, what impressed us most was the English signages. Very good explanations and translations.

It was quite a big place and many halls. We could have spent more time, except there were a few groups of school children, making so much noise that we had to get out of there.

From the museum, we walked out to the main road, hoping to get a cab. But every cab that came by was occupied. And as we walked further, we stumbled upon a noodle shop. So we decided to have lunch. The noodles were excellent!

After lunch, we proceeded to 大世界. It was the first, and for a long time, the most popular amusement park in Shanghai. At one point during the war, it was a refuge for Chinese fleeing the fighting in the Chinese and Japanese zones.

Today, the old building has been restored, and is a culture center showcasing various Chinese art and culture.

This guzheng artist did not just play music. She explained the art of guzheng music and its history as well!

There was a 变脸 performance too, which we unfortunately missed. By the time we got to the room, the performance was over, and the artist was explaining the art of 变脸, which was boring for the kids because they couldn't understand him.

Next was shopping - first at the 4-storey Nike flagship store, then at the Lego shop next to it.

By the time we were done shopping, we were tired and famished. Went back to the hotel to leave our shopping and then headed out to a nearby Italian restaurant for a nice hot pasta meal. End of Day 4.

Shanghai March 2019 - Day 3

Day 3 was quite a gloomy day, and very cold. Total contrast from the day before, when it was nice and sunny.

We started off with the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum. Booked a tour guide to take us through the area, so that we can understand the place and history better.

In the late 19th century, Russian Jews migrate to Shanghai for its business-friendly foreign concessions. But the bigger story here is that between 1937 to 1941, Shanghai received about 25,000  European Jewish refugees who fled from Nazi rule. It was the only place, besides Dominican Republic, that remained open to the Jewish refugees. It was their Noah's Ark.

We took a walk around the Jewish Ghetto. These were the apartments that the Jews lived in, and they are still occupied, by Chinese though.

The museum is housed in the compound of the former Ohel Moshe Synagogue. It had lots of stories from Jews who had escaped from Europe to Shanghai, and described their lives in their adopted city.

We stepped into a synagogue for the first time.

While waiting for our ride, I caught Nadine zipping Aaron up. She can sometimes be such a sweet and caring sister.

We were famished by the time we finished the tour. Went to 新天地 to look for the legendary Shake Shack. Daddy raved a lot about Shake Shack ever since he tried it in the US. And yes, it was very very good. The buns were soft and the patties were juicy and tasty. They were so good that Aaron asked for a 2nd burger!

After lunch, we went to Shanghai Natural History Museum, only to find that it was closed. It's a Monday. So it's universal that that museums close on Mondays!

We met my ex-colleague from a long long time ago, Gillian and her husband Lun Cheak for dinner. They've been living in Shanghai for 6 years, and we can now understand why they like the city so much!

They took us to an old, traditional Shanghainese restaurant in the French Concession area. The place reminded me of an old restaurant in Europe. I enjoyed the food, but James found it too sweet.

After dinner, we walked down the street to find a coffee place. Walked into this area that's really beautiful.

Was great to meet up with Gill and Lun. Besides bringing us to lovely places for dinner and coffee, they also gave us plenty of tips for Shanghai Disneyland!