Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland March 17 – Day 7 Complete in Hong Kong Proper; 12/04

[zanzibar138]

Looks like a lovely morning, with the exception of the credit card debacle. Glad you were able to find your zen afterwards and not let it ruin your day. Love the photos from the square, especially the guy doing Tai Chi.

 

[franandaj]

OK, I'm only partially caught up, but that's because I'm not going to look at these photos from my phone and I've only been looking from my computer so I am having trouble keeping up. I do have to say that your pictures are incredible! I know you have been doing "etudes" in your photos and posting them in albums online, but on FB all I have time to do is look at headlines and besides from my phone, pictures are pictures and it's hard to enjoy whether or not they are any good.

I have to say that your pictures have evolved to absolutely exquisite. I mean you have always taken great pictures, but they have become even more artistic as you have honed your craft!

I enjoyed the story about the Father and Son, I'm sure they were wary because they thought you were "fan girls" when in reality you just wanted to cling on to someone as a lifeline. When you showed that you were simply another "person" and that you didn't know they were famous, they probably lightened up. I think you made a good choice to bail on the tour, why bother go to something where they are selling you stuff, although I might have been enthralled with a silk factory as to how they made stuff. I just wouldn't have bought anything. Don't like the feel of silk. But that guide was absolutely rude. I spend plenty in food and beverage, I don't need to bring home unnecessary souvenirs from your country. Fran takes care of that!

Glad you got the rickshaw ride in before you went home.

I hope you got some Pho in the last couple of days! I decided that I needed some Hot Pot; so we had the home version for dinner last night. I suspect home made Hot Pot might make it to my dinners a bit more over my winter months.

Well that Nomad Asian Bistro has a pretty good "Chicken Noodle Soup" that I picked up that morning. It did the trick.

You can either hire guides or book yourself in with one of those vacay tour companies. But knowing how you two travel, I think the individual guide might be the better way to go for you.

We don't want to be on a bus, so we would probably book a guide that would accommodate Fran's scooter. You will see this in my current TR.

The areas that I headed to in Shanghai were mostly flat and well paved, so it would be easy to navigate. But then...my idea of flat and well-paved may not match yours.

That's kind of like what we found in New Zealand. They called a lot of things HA that we had to laugh at. Yes they were flat, but in reality if you were to push a wheelchair or ride a scooter it was a joke.

The restrooms.....you know that China does a lot of squat toilets, right?

You mean like the holes in the ground like they have in Europe?

If you're thinking about taking the scooters, you might want to take your scooters with very good brakes on them.

Well I would walk, and we would just take it slow. I don't need a scooter as long as we don't cover too much ground in one day. You'll see that at the end of my current TR. However they have no brakes, just that they stop once you release the throttle. Fran is pretty good negotiating crowds. It's just whether or not she can make it up curbs or not, so the curb cuts are important.

 

[dolphingirl47]

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel. At point of check-out, the hotel tried to reverse the transaction and it failed!
It failed on two separate machines and with 3 hotel staff trying to complete the reversal.
The message they got on the machine was that the card holder should contact their bank.

That is a new one on me and an absolute pain.

According to the person he spoke with, they only block charges....they NEVER block refunds.

That is how it should be. After all, nobody is going to do you any harm by putting money into your account.

That looks absolutely amazing.

The thing that I liked about this place was that the storekeepers weren't that pushy about pulling you inside their shops. They were (mostly) happy to let you browse.

That is a definite bonus.

My multi-quote is playing up again. I loved the photos of the people on the square and also the one with the tea house.

Corinna

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

What an intereting buffet breakfast at the hotel! I couod have circled that for hours. Watched what locals ate. Nice they offered both western and eastern.

Oh my re credit card! We hate using our credit cards out of the UK. We find America the worse for credit card fraud. Now we mostly take cash. How annoying re $200. Is this a scam by the hotel?

The old city sounds great lovely to meet up with Aussie Wendy and DD. I love the lions being yin and yan. I will watch out for those.

Lovely photos of Tai Chi and fans etc. Plus old town.

Lol re ZigZag bridges. It's like a lot of this folk law. Irish says keep holy water by the door. Keep the spirits out. The amount of spirits the Irish drink..

 

[WanderlustNZ]

More great updates. It's so nice to read about your catch-ups with Wendy so I'm looking forward to the upcoming posts about Old Shanghai.

Sorry about you cc issues. Looking forward to hearing if they're all now sorted.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What choices for breakfast! Sorry to hear about the credit trouble; that can really cloud you day. Lovely pics of the people in the square!

Thanks! I think the people in the square go there regularly. I had seen a similar group there the morning before from the hotel window and was glad to have been able to capture them on this second morning.

Ok I've finally caught up!
So nice to see a photo of yourself and Aussie Wendy! Another long time favourite DIS member of mine. I think it's wonderful that you're doing this trip together. Nothing like exploring a Disney park with other fans.

Re: zig zag bridges. Yes I too confirm from childhood tv that Chinese ghosts definitely don't have problems overcoming those!

Hey! Thanks for checking in whilst you're on vacay! Hope you're having a great time in Shanghai and enjoying the newest Disney park yourself.

Yes, Aussie Wendy is one of my favourite Aussie Dis members as well. Next time, we should all go together. I know you keep asking us along on your trips!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

PrincessinOz - Great posts, well the ones I've read. We are heading there next month so some of the posts I've breezed over as I want to be surprised.

Thank you.
Congrats on having a vacay countdown looking so exciting and close!
I wish you happy travels and I hope you enjoy Shanghai. Are you going anywhere else?

Yuyuan is something we were hoping to hit up but not sure so I checked out that segment. Looks pretty neat! How long did you spend there?

The Yuyuan area was rather interesting for me. In the end, we probably spent a total of about an hour or so in the Bazaar area. The Gardens was even better. I think we spent about 2 hours in there looking at everything and into every building. The Gardens will be the feature of the next set of posts that I put up so it may provide a bit more intel and help you confirm if this is where you want to go or not.

We are thinking we might be there when the gardens open at 8:30 and then stay until 10:30 and get back to our hotel for check out then head over to Disney. Were the shops open before 8:30 so we could start a little earlier?

I don't know if the shops open before 8.30. I would expect that they may open around the same time. I think Wendy and I arranged to catch up between 9 and 9.30 am; so by the time we meandered through the Bazaar and got to the Gardens, it was close to 10 am.

Are you heading back to the hotel to meet their check-out time?

Perhaps you could consider checking out before you head out and leaving your bags with concierge. That way, you don't have a time restriction to get back to the hotel and if you like the Yuyuan area, then you could stay longer.

I'm glad to see how much you liked the location of your hotel. We are staying right across the street from where you are.

Ooh. I'll be curious to find out what you thought of that hotel....and if they have a better thermostat system for room conditioning!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hello again!

I am back from Beijing, Shanghai and Hog Kong and what an amazing trip its was- thanks in many ways to the advice from you all.

Just caught up on your trip and am reliving many things we did just last week!

Welcome back, Darren.

Glad you had an amazing trip! Are you going to post a report? I'd be interested to see how it all went from your perspective.

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a nice evening with Wendy and her DD!

I'm slowly catching up here!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Looks like a lovely morning, with the exception of the credit card debacle. Glad you were able to find your zen afterwards and not let it ruin your day. Love the photos from the square, especially the guy doing Tai Chi.

Yup. It was a shame about the CC debacle; otherwise it would have been a perfect morning.

That guy was incredibly focussed at his Tai Chi. He didn't ever make eye contact with me and so I didn't want to intrude too much on his morning exercise and aside from taking the 2 shots, I moved on the others in the square. I wish I had made eye contact. I would have been happy to take more pictures of him.

 

[PrincessInOz]

What an intereting buffet breakfast at the hotel! I couod have circled that for hours. Watched what locals ate. Nice they offered both western and eastern.

Oh my re credit card! We hate using our credit cards out of the UK. We find America the worse for credit card fraud. Now we mostly take cash.

We normally do a combination of cash and load cash up on the travel card; plus take CC to the US.
Believe it or not, the time DH CC was scammed.....we only used it in two locations. To pay for the Disney hotel accommodation; and to pay for a dinner in Silicon Valley. Sadly, the charges that landed on our CC (and blocked by the bank) were in the East Coast. I hate to think that Disney Cast Members were involved in the scam.

How annoying re $200. Is this a scam by the hotel?

I didn't think so. They were genuinely trying to refund the money. Hence why we ended up with 3 people trying to help and they did use both machines at the check-in. The second machine had just been used and the transaction had successfully completed by another staff member. They came over to help....and then the manager came on by to try and resolve it as well.

The old city sounds great lovely to meet up with Aussie Wendy and DD. I love the lions being yin and yan. I will watch out for those.

Lovely photos of Tai Chi and fans etc. Plus old town.

There's a bit more to come about our day in the old town area.

Lol re ZigZag bridges. It's like a lot of this folk law. Irish says keep holy water by the door. Keep the spirits out. The amount of spirits the Irish drink..

I think we could write a book on all the folklore stuff around the world! LOL

 

[PrincessInOz]

I would not have expected this. I like the kumquats we can get here, but they are a mix of bitter and tangy.

Corinna

I know, right? I didn't expect it either and if I had realised that they were sweet, skin and all, I would have grabbed some on the first morning. We saw someone else in the room having them for breakfast and they just popped the whole lot in their mouths. That's when we realised we should try it!

That is a new one on me and an absolute pain.

I think they were also surprised at the hotel!

That is how it should be. After all, nobody is going to do you any harm by putting money into your account.

And if anyone out there wants to deposit money into my account, feel free to PM me!!

My multi-quote is playing up again. I loved the photos of the people on the square and also the one with the tea house.

Corinna

It was a short time wth the people in the square; but very enjoyable!
Thanks.

 

[franandaj]

OK, caught up on breakfast and Yuyuan Bazaar. I would be all over those noodles again! At least I'd eaten this time when you showed them. Last time I ended up with some, or did I already mention that?

What a pain with the credit card issue. I'm glad you were able to find your zen again!

The Bazaar looks interesting and I'm glad the shopkeepers weren't too pushy. That's always my fear in foreign countries. People are so much pushier, kind of like cruise ports!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I enjoyed the story about the Father and Son, I'm sure they were wary because they thought you were "fan girls" when in reality you just wanted to cling on to someone as a lifeline.

I think they were as sorry as we were to part company when we got out of the garden.

I think you made a good choice to bail on the tour, why bother go to something where they are selling you stuff, although I might have been enthralled with a silk factory as to how they made stuff.

There is a silk museum in Suzhou.

On a different day and with more time, I wouldn't have minded heading to the silk factory. But we didn't tick it on our list of things we wanted to do and that was what rankled more than anything else. Why take us there when we didn't ask for it?

But that guide was absolutely rude.

If anything, he helped my mother stop feeling guilty about bailing out on the tour. I had no issues with it and moving on; but I think my mother was a little guilty about doing so until that guide spoke so rudely to her.

Well that Nomad Asian Bistro has a pretty good "Chicken Noodle Soup" that I picked up that morning. It did the trick.

I remember the NAB! Glad you got something.

You mean like the holes in the ground like they have in Europe?

I think I have a picture of a Chinese squat toilet somewhere in my collection. I'll see if I can dig it up and post it somewhere in the storyline.

We don't want to be on a bus, so we would probably book a guide that would accommodate Fran's scooter.

That would be best!

Well I would walk, and we would just take it slow. I don't need a scooter as long as we don't cover too much ground in one day. You'll see that at the end of my current TR. However they have no brakes, just that they stop once you release the throttle.

I think your scooter was the one that would slow down with a bit of inertia movement after you released the throttle. I remember you telling me that in one of our trips together. It could have been on that night outside the HM at MNSSHP in Orlando. Some of the people in the crowd just walked in front of you without thinking about whether you would stop for them or not.

Fran is pretty good negotiating crowds. It's just whether or not she can make it up curbs or not, so the curb cuts are important.

In Shanghai, the curbs have all got appropriate cuts at the intersections. The motorbikes will use them to get on the curb. They were a bit of a safety menace as the motorbike riders would just get on the curb even if you were standing right there. They just expected you to move. After experiencing this once or twice, I just kept a safe distance away from the kerbs when I was waiting for the traffic lights to change.

Sounds like a nice evening with Wendy and her DD!

I'm slowly catching up here!

I think you're nearly there!
Thanks for persevering.

 

[PrincessInOz]

See? I knew it wouldn't take you long.

OK, caught up on breakfast and Yuyuan Bazaar. I would be all over those noodles again! At least I'd eaten this time when you showed them. Last time I ended up with some, or did I already mention that?

What a pain with the credit card issue. I'm glad you were able to find your zen again!

The Bazaar looks interesting and I'm glad the shopkeepers weren't too pushy. That's always my fear in foreign countries. People are so much pushier, kind of like cruise ports!

I know we are reading and hearing about the cultural differences and how pushy/rude people are in China. We got there on a Thursday and started to interact with the locals mid-week. I actually thought that the people that lived in Shanghai weren't that bad. It is a city with a large expat community and a large number of tourists. I think that has helped the Shanghai locals work out how to deal with Westerners.

 

[PrincessInOz]

More great updates. It's so nice to read about your catch-ups with Wendy so I'm looking forward to the upcoming posts about Old Shanghai.

Sorry about you cc issues. Looking forward to hearing if they're all now sorted.

Thank you.

We had a great time with Wendy in Shanghai.

 

[Fairy Floss]

Yeah. I really don't know why the guides tell you that. I've watched enough Chinese ghost stories in my youth to know that this one doesn't make sense. All the ghosts in those Chinese movies were very capable of floating through walls and chasing people in straight lines. And we all know that movies always portray the truth!

LOL!!

 

[shushh]

Hey! Thanks for checking in whilst you're on vacay! Hope you're having a great time in Shanghai and enjoying the newest Disney park yourself.

Yes, Aussie Wendy is one of my favourite Aussie Dis members as well. Next time, we should all go together. I know you keep asking us along on your trips!!

My pleasure! We had some down time and you know how I love reading your TRs! We're having a good time but we feel shattered with so many early starts and long days. We really enjoyed our days at Shanghai Disney.

We should definitely go together! Just think of the all the photos that I don't have to take anymore if you're around!!!

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Ok I've finally caught up!
So nice to see a photo of yourself and Aussie Wendy! Another long time favourite DIS member of mine. I think it's wonderful that you're doing this trip together. Nothing like exploring a Disney park with other fans.

Re: zig zag bridges. Yes I too confirm from childhood tv that Chinese ghosts definitely don't have problems overcoming those!

Ah you are so sweet shushh. I haven't dropped in on your blog for some time. Hope you and the children are all doing well. It was lovely travelling with all the Disgirls. It would have been fun to have had their company in Beijing too. I am glad you have been enjoying your trip too.

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Thank you.
Congrats on having a vacay countdown looking so exciting and close!
I wish you happy travels and I hope you enjoy Shanghai. Are you going anywhere else?

The Yuyuan area was rather interesting for me. In the end, we probably spent a total of about an hour or so in the Bazaar area. The Gardens was even better. I think we spent about 2 hours in there looking at everything and into every building. The Gardens will be the feature of the next set of posts that I put up so it may provide a bit more intel and help you confirm if this is where you want to go or not.

I don't know if the shops open before 8.30. I would expect that they may open around the same time. I think Wendy and I arranged to catch up between 9 and 9.30 am; so by the time we meandered through the Bazaar and got to the Gardens, it was close to 10 am.

Are you heading back to the hotel to meet their check-out time?

Perhaps you could consider checking out before you head out and leaving your bags with concierge. That way, you don't have a time restriction to get back to the hotel and if you like the Yuyuan area, then you could stay longer.

Ooh. I'll be curious to find out what you thought of that hotel....and if they have a better thermostat system for room conditioning!

We (DH & I) are headed to Beijing first, then train down to Shanghai. In Shanghai we are doing a night food tour, a 20km bike ride tour through the city, a day out in Zhujiajiao (on our own), Bund and Yuyuan. Not sure what else we'll add in. I'm looking forward to your post on the gardens.

Thank you for the idea of checking out before heading to Yuyuan and storing our bags. That day is transition to Disney (no tickets), our plan will be to see Toy Story & Disneyland hotel, Wishing Star Park and Disneytown before we spend a couple days dedicated to the park. Depending on how the gardens look in your upcoming post, we might try to dedicate more time there and spend the morning before heading over to Disney just wandering around taking last minute pictures.