Carrot Uncensored: I Survived Shanghai

Yes, I survived Shanghai. And I have some stories to share.

Shanghai is a city of towering skycrapers, ancient buildings, interesting night life and a majority of citizens who seem out of place in such a "glitzy" city.

I was in Shanghai for a few days last week, when temperatures hovered around 13 degrees Celcius and rain pelted almost all day, every day.

This work trip was one of the most relaxed one so far, since my Hong Kong team took on most of the responsibilities. I had to only worry about a night function for the travel trade. Hence, this is also the only work trip that I managed to have quite a bit of fun exploring the city in the evening and drink into the night.

But before I take you through some great places worth your time - if you ever do plan to go to Shanghai - I would like to share some fascinating encounters with you.

Kinky Rooms
I put up at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Pudong. It was a pretty alright hotel with a huge glass panel for a wall in the bathroom. Again, this is further proof that modern hoteliers are a voyeuristic sort.

I could not find any curtain or blind that I could pull over the bloody glass wall. I was almost certain I would have to bathe in full view of my colleague whom I was sharing the room with. Well, that was until Housekeeping came and flipped a switch. Lo and behold, a blind flowed down stealthily from the ceiling and gave me some dignity during bath-time.

Strange Proposals
Yes. China has far too many people and not enough jobs.

One day before the exhibitions began, my team and I went to the site to set-up our booth. I noticed that a team of men followed us from the moment we entered the exhibition centre till we reached our booth. These men then offered to help us set-up our booth for a fee.

I refused but when my Hong Kong colleague realised that the hooks for the wall posters were missing, the men got excited and pulled up a variety of hooks from his bag. After some negotiation, the men agreed to sell us the hooks and hang our posters for RMB$30. That's pretty cheap and would save us girls the hassle of climbing around to get the posters up.

But after the job was done, the men demanded RMB$40 instead. My Hong Kong colleague feigned anger and refused to pay the extra RMB$10. Then to our surprise, the men said that they are willing to take five delegate bags as payment. At most trade shows, exhibitors and trade visitors are given "delegate bags" which are document bags containing show information and a million junk brochures. Often, delegate bags are plastered with a gaudy array of sponsors' logos. It did not take much thinking - we gladly gave the bags away.

A Wholly Different Attitude To Queuing
Can China's Chinese queue? I'm sure they can. But they sure view queuing policies rather differently.

People entering the exhibition hall do not queue in a single file. They gather into a ball and push their way through the zigzag queue barriers. The rain made things worse. These people jostled and pushed, stepped on each others' feet (yes, on mine too) and used their luggage as a battling rams. I hated it.

For god's sake! This is a trade exhibition! Why are these business people behaving like that?

I was so pissed that I lost my temper and shouted at the people behind me to stop pushing. Did it bother them? Nope. Perhaps I am invisible. Or perhaps they do not understand my brand of Singaporean mandarin.

I also discovered that if these China Chinese do queue in a civilised manner, they would press their bodies against you. Heck, or maybe they only do that to me cos for some odd reason, I am extra attractive to them.

In one instance, I was in a queue at a cafe in the exhibition hall. The pig behind me stood so close that it felt like he was rubbing his body against my back everytime he moved. Thank god for the thick overcoat I was wearing so I did not feel truly violated. So maybe he fancies the feel of wool. But what pissed me off is that he kept saying, "Move forward. Move forward."

Hello! I prefer to keep a polite distance between me and the person in front. But the pig kept on urging me to move forward. Since ignoring him did not work, I told him, "So what if I move forward - it still isn't my turn yet." The pig gave me a blank look, and repeated his chants again like a spoilt recorder. I hate it.

Trash Collectors On The Prowl
In Singapore, and perhaps most other cities, trade shows really meant only trade visitors are admitted. For this trade show, a bunch of frumpy old women and men prowled the show grounds. They scooped up armfuls of brochures, flyers, magazines, freebies - basically anything exhibitors display at their booths.

Then they huddled in a corner, sat on the floor, and packed everything into their luggage bags.

When I questioned my Hong Kong colleagues about their odd behaviour, I was told that these items fetched a good rate at the recycling centres. And apparently, they don't just stash exhibitors' giveaways. If you leave your file, pen, namecards on the counter, they'll grab too. Another colleague shared this tale:

She was at the same trade show in Shanghai a few years ago. She was talking to a client and had her hand resting on the magazines placed on the counter. In that hand, she clutched her namecard holder. She felt someone nudging at her hand and thought that someone wanted to get a copy of the magzine, so she moved her hand. But the nudging continued so she moved her hand again. Then she felt her fingers being pried. Shocked, she glared at the culprit who explained nonchalently that she wanted the item in my colleagues' hand.

Flying Spittle
God help me. These China Chinese still spit on the roads! Every time I exit the hotel in step onto the streets, I would hear "kharrrr-phuuui" around me. And when that happens, all my hair stand on their end. I was so terrified that their spittle would land on me.

Cyclists Have Nine Lives
Judging by the way the cyclists barge head-on into the flow of traffic, I would think that they have nine lives. And the cars did not seem to want to give way either.

Alright, now let's move on to the nice places worth visiting in Shanghai.

Barbarossa @ Peoples' Square
Barbarossa is smack in the middle of Peoples' Square (Ren Ming Guang Chang). It is a moroccan styled bar - very comfy and very popular among the expats and higher-income Shanghainese. It is often packed, but you can still hold a decent conversation with your friends. However with its location inside Peoples' Square, you'll need to know where to walk cos the place is pretty dark at night and their are no visible signs to point you towards Barbarossa. But if you do find it, you will be pleased.

No pictures from here, darlings. I was with a client and I was too shy to take my fave self-shots.

CJW @ Xin Tian Di
Everyone knows that Xin Tian Di is the hottest place to be in Shanghai - except me. Xin Tian Di is basically where notable fashion brands, cool drinking holes and expensive eateries converge. One bar worth visiting is CJW. If you enjoy quality jazz, this is your "almost heaven".

According to Dawn - my new Shanghainese friend who is a lawyer in an American law firm and who is also Manna's street directory - CJW flies in popular jazz bands from across the world to perform once in a while. Although it was raining cats and dogs that night I went to CJW, the bar was bustling and packed. So you can guess how popular this place is.

No pictures either. We were all tired and horrid looking with wet, tangled hair from walking in the rain.

People @ Ju Lu Lu
Ju Lu Lu literally means Giant Deer Road. Again, according to Dawn, Ju Lu Lu features several good eateries and bars, while half of it is a red-light district. People is well hidden, so if you don't have its exact address, you won't find it that easily. And I can't help you, cos I don't have the address - I happen to chance upon it after a late dinner with Marisa and Kat in the vicinity.

But People is a cool place. It oozes modern Japanese zen and its cocktails have Japanese roots - most of them are sake cocktails. You won't find the common cocktails like Screwdriver or Bloody Mary here.

Worth mentioning is its entrance - you need to punch the right button (and there are nine!) on the wall for the door to slide open. Get the wrong button and a false door will open to reveal a mirror. And the toilets are a bloody maze and the doors are another brain-teaser. I had to grab a waiter and make him take me to the toilet and show me how to open the door before I leak in my pants.

Sorry darlings... no pictures from People cos I was too relaxed in my seat to move my fingers. Anyway, you should experience it for yourself. :)

Faigo Steamboat @ Ju Lu Lu
Nothing beats having a steamboat dinner on a freezing night! While this isn't the usual Shanghainese fare or Chongqing hotpot that is common in Shanghai, Faigo Steamboat serves Hong Kong styled steamboat. That means, you get a variety of quality soup base and an array of fresh food. With me around, we ate loads of beef.

Yep! All those red meat keeps me warm, see!

* Shaky pictures. Tsk tsk! Not my fault, hor!

Dining at Faigo isn't cheap. A plate of raw beef slices laced beautifully with fats costs about S$16. We spent over S$120 on the dinner - but we were all contented.

Millennium Hongqiao Hotel
There are many places where you can get great desserts, I'm sure. But I just need to highlight Millennium Hongqiao cos we barged in late at night demanding for bite-sized cakes and the nice people there entertained us.

Millenium Hongqiao is part of the Millennium & Copthorne group of hotels, so one can expect quality ambience there. According to my China-based colleague, the hotels serves very nice cheese cakes and choc fudge cakes. But at the time, all bite-sized cakes at the pattiserie have been sold out. The only bite-sized cakes avail were for the buffet spread. Still, the nice waitress managed to gather a lovely platter of cakes specially for us and made us all very happy.

And I washed all the late night sins down with a Shanghai Sunset cocktail.

Shanghai Uncle @Times Square
I could be wrong about the name of the building cos I was starving and my mind was blank at that time, but just ask around for the nearest branch of Shanghai Uncle - also known as Hai Shang Ah Shu. This restaurant chain is very popular so somebody, anybody from Shanghai should definitely be able to point you in the right direction. Just don't approach the beggars.

Here, I ate hairy crabs for the first time!

Despite not having taken a lot of pictures, I can tell you that the dishes here are pretty good. I just can't remember which cos I was just too hungry and cold.

But I don't like the roasted duckling. Salty. Very salty. And I thought they were bats.

Oh! The interior is shamelessly red - red walls, red lamps, red chairs! I like!

And here is the worst thing I've eaten in Shanghai - yiluo. Some sort of shellfish uncooked and marinated in Chinese wine. Yucks.