Motykas in Asia 2018 Part 1 - China Itinerary

When we went to Winnipeg last summer, we planned our Christmas trip with our friends the Motykas. This trip were going to be their third visit to Asia with us. This time they chose Shanghai as their destination and even though all these times China had never been at the top of my list of countries to visit, we happily agreed because it would be a great fun adventure regardless!

I spent my 6 months following my trip to Canada on researching, planning, and booking our trip. There was one particular blog that I found very useful in my planning called Eat and Travel with Us. Another useful informational site for this trip was Travel China Guide. Before we left, this is what I had planned for us...

We didn't get to see a lot of stuff on this list, but I still think it is doable if weather permits and everything goes smoothly.

We flew with Cathay Pacific from Jakarta's Soekarno Hatta airport at midnight to Hong Kong, had 2 hours transit time in Hong Kong and boarded a Cathay Dragon plane to Shanghai's Pudong airport. This transit time gave us just enough time to get off the plane, use the bathrooms, and proceed to our gate.

In Soekarno Hatta airport we had a little bit of time so we entered the lounge for some snacks and drinks.

Airport lounge

On board!

When we arrived in Pudong airport it was about 10 o'clock in the morning. We proceeded to the immigration and joined the long line that was already there. When we finally got out, I followed my plan and headed straight to the Airport Bus area. Before heading outside, we put on our sweaters and braced ourselves for winter temperature. Fortunately, it wasn't very cold that day.

So I was drowsy from lack of sleep and doubted my plans right on the spot. Instead of taking Airport Bus route 1 to Hongqiao Airport as planned, I switched to another route that took me to Shanghai Railway Station. In retrospect, I think sticking to the original plan could've saved us a little bit of time. Just a little...

So we boarded the bus and got a seat right at the back. The bus staff (not a driver) collected payments from each passenger including me, and made sure that we buckled up on the bus. The funny thing was no one else in the bus were buckled and she didn't say anything to them.

Bus tickets

We got off the bus right in front of Shanghai Railway Station entrance, and got really confused. The entrance required tickets, and beside it were self-service ticket machines for Chinese Nationals only. We spent some time looking for the ticket office and finally found it after dragging our suitcases up and down the stairs. 

There were a lot of counters at the station with signs in Chinese, but we couldn't read any of them. I went to the information desk and asked how I could buy tickets to Nanjing. I was told counter 3, and later on saw the sign on the glass that said "English Speaking" on that particular counter. We bought tickets to Nanjing on a fast train 2nd class and entered the station. 

The Shanghai Railway Station was an overwhelmingly busy place. There were barely any place to sit and wait. There were way more people than seats. We were hungry and wanted to buy instant noodles. We found stores who sold them but we didn't know where to get hot water and none of the store staff spoke any English!

In the end, I bought bananas for us to eat. It was going to be a 2-hour ride or so, we decided we could eat in Nanjing. On the train tickets it shows not only the details of your train (train number, car number, and seat number) but also the waiting room numbers. This waiting room number also corresponds to which gates you can enter through into the station. We were playing the guessing games most of the time, but we got on our seat safely.

In the fast train 

Our belongings are stored on top

When we arrived at Nanjing Station we were greeted with a much colder temperature as well as moisture. It was drizzling outside and everything was condensing. I decided to take a taxi to our hotel and the first one rejected us because the trunk couldn't fit our suitcases. 

Van taxis were available so we took one and it so happened that the driver was a crazy one. He was driving like a maniac, but in the end we got to our hotel no problem.

I booked Novotel Central Nanjing and we weren't disappointed. The location was excellent! Very close to Xinjiekou metro station, this hotel is also walking distance to a few malls and food area. The room was on the larger side, and the layout is a typical Novotel.

We checked in and rested for a bit, then decided that it was too late and we were too tired to stick to our itinerary for that evening. Thus, we walked over to Deji Plaza for dinner. It was cold and misty outside, but we only had to enter one of the metro exits (exit 14 is closest to the hotel) and walked towards exit 7. Everything was underground and was very exciting. All they way from exit to exit they had stores selling food, clothes, stationeries, and more.

We entered Deji Plaza from the basement and found several restaurants there. We decided on a restaurant and tried to get a table. The host tried to tell us something but couldn't speak English so he seated us on the table right behind his station even though he seemed hesitant. He pointed at a barcode on the table and pulled out his phone for a translator. He told us to scan the code to order. It turned out that we needed Wechat to scan the app and order. We told him we didn't have any so he brought us menus to order from.... and it was all in Chinese with no pictures. Oh boy oh boy....

I pulled out my phone for Google Translate and asked him to help us order. That took a few times of back and forth because there were so many varieties. In the end I gave up and ask him to order whatever the thought was good. 3 dishes arrived and we shared all of the meal. One was duck with rice, another was goose with rice, and the last one was beef brisket with noodles. They were pretty good, and the total bill was RMB 128.

We finished our meal and exited the restaurant. It was then when I noticed the Zaku zaku store, the delicious choux we had in Harajuku. Miss Kiki and I decided to relive that moment we ate the heavenly snack and got the original and the seasonal strawberry choux. As one might predict, it wasn't as good as Harajuku's. They over baked the choux so it was a bit hard and bitter.

Neither of us slept well on the plane so we were exhausted by then. We went back to the hotel to rest for the evening and this was when Miss Kiki started coughing. I think she contracted it from grandma who had been coughing non-stop since we came back from Bangkok.

It was just our luck that it also rained on the second day we were in Nanjing. We walked around the area trying to look for a decent looking coffee. There was supposed to be one according to Google Maps but we weren't able to find it. We stopped at a Hongkong style cafe and had our brunch there. I've noticed since we arrived in China that there were people smoking everywhere. In this case, the restaurant was a smoking one so that's a minus point for them in my books.

Instead of going to Purple Mountain as my itinerary suggested, we decided to spend that day visiting the Gate of China. It was a rainy day so visiting mountains wouldn't have been the hottest idea. At the Gate of China we were able to see part of the remaining Nanjing City Wall. I've set aside another post for this visit. Please look forward to it!

That evening we went to the same mall we went to the day before and had Pizza Hut by Miss Kiki's request.

We rested for the evening and Miss Kiki's cough got worse. It had been a cold, wet, and tiring day. Every night I made sure to rub her with the essential oils that I brought with me.

In the morning we crossed the street to a mall's basement and I chose Yang's Fried Dumpling for breakfast. This restaurant was on my list to eat in Shanghai but I decided to try it early just in case I didn't get to eat it in Shanghai. I was glad I did because we didn't get to eat it again in Shanghai!

We took a taxi to Nanjing station, and this time we fit in a small taxi. In contrast with yesterday's driver, this time the taxi driver drove properly and he was very kind and polite. He even said good bye and gave me my 1 RMB change back for the taxi fare. This was a rare occasion, I figured out later on.

Learning from experience, we asked our hotel staff to ask the taxi driver to drop us off at the ticketing office. I went with Miss Kiki and got our tickets. By then I knew to ask any of the security people in uniform because they usually speak some English and he directed me to the counters I could buy tickets from. They didn't have an assigned English-speaking counter like Shanghai Station did, but the guy behind the counter actually spoke better English than the one in Shanghai!

The Nanjing Railway Station was newer looking and it was much more comfortable. It was busy but not overly crowded so we easily got a seat. Boarding for the trains start 15-20 minutes before departure and they announce it like they do at the airport. Prior to that, passengers just sit in the waiting area and not at the platform. So the system is different from Japan's.

We got on the train and went to Shanghai! Again, this was a second class fast train.

Please stay tuned for the next post about Gate of China and Nanjing City Wall!