China: Shanghai 上海

The 1st 2 days in Shanghai (上海) had been a TOTAL Culture Shock for me. :(

The locals were Ultra RUDE! Manipulative. Cunning. Lousy and Terrible service. Only interested in Monies. :( Still having difficulty reconciling this bad experience in the chinese city. If you want decent service, you gotta go to upmarket restaurants, and big department stores. Actually, the McDonald's, KFC's and Starbucks service are pretty good and consistent.

Prior my visit to Shanghai, I've always had very good impression of the modern, cosmopolitan city. My interaction with my Chinese classmates in school, and colleagues from our China offices, has mostly been pleasant. They are always frenly, gracious, helpful, polite, and professional.

Despite being warned by frens and the travelguide beforehand about the taxi fares from Airport to City, we still managed to get CONNED Big Time by the taxi driver. Ended up paying RMB380 when the normal rate was about RMB180!! Not a pleasant start... :(

Wanted to try the local cuisine at those small local eateries. But the waitress was not particularly helpful when asked to share what's the chef's recommendation. Lousy 1st nite, my perception and respect of the shanghai people is slipping... :(

The stall vendors @ xiangyang and yuyuan type of street markets would give you the dirty, disgusted look when you asked the prices, and then decided not to buy. One of the guys even raised his voice when he quoted a ridiculous price for the golf gloves and I rolled my eyes and informed that another stall offered me at half the price even before I bargained. Was so Damn Pissed... as they were the ones pestering me to see the wares they were hawking, and I was being polite but ended up being shouted at. :(

@#$&!#*%... Next time, I won't give face liao. Must be thick skin, and demand your rights as well. I'm a guest to your country, and yet I hafta endure verbal abuse and bullied by the locals??! *sulkz*

The only saving grace were my Gracious Hosts in Shanghai:
Ben treated us to a sumptuous shanghainese lunch; Yvonne helped recommend the VCDs from her regular supplier; and they also helped arranged the train tixs + Hotel bookings in Hangzhou. : )
Bumped into LiGang, and his colleague (YiWen) on the same flight. They played host by bringing us to sample a sumptuous shanghainese dinner, followed by a nite out @ Shanghai's version of Mohd Sultan.

Over the 2 jugs of beer, the guys were sharing with us their share of lessons they encountered in Shanghai. We were surprised that even though they are mainland chinese (one from Xiamen, the other's hometown is Dalian), they were not spared the same rude treatment. Despite having been a student in one of the top uni in shanghai, YiWen still get conned and bullied on biz trips back here. Hmmm... after hearing their stories, putting everything in perspective, gave us a better understanding why the locals are like that... we felt slightly better... hehe.. :P

淮海路 Shanghai's version of the Orchard Road vs 南京西路 where the expensive, exclusive boutiques are. We ended up shopping and buying from those small, quaint local boutiques selling interesting clothes and accessories with tasteful, unique designs. The only catch is that you gotta pay in cash, as they can't take int'l credit cards. Some of the owners of these boutiques are very creative and entrepreneurial. Cool! : )

和平饭店 Peace Hotel. Dunno what's so special about this hotel. Probably because it has been a witness through Shanghai's tumultous history... but got this eerie feeling when we were wandering thru' the halls, checking out the dining places in the different levels *shudderz*

新天地 Shanghai's version of CHIJMES. Quite happening place, but their 'Mohd Sultan' (HuaShan Road, i think) even more happening. : )

外滩 The Bund. Very unique with the western colonial buildings on one side, and the ultra-modern buildings in the Pudong biz district across the other side of HuangPu river.

When asked how i feel about Shanghai...
LiGang gleefully summed it well for me: 又爱又恨
The city is so cosmopolitan and yet with contradictions. So old and backward in certain aspects, yet you can feel the excitement and pace of moving forward. It's like the people in Shanghai are in a hurry making up for lost time to 'conquer' the world. The sheltered S'poreans who grew up having everything planned by the govt for them... Can't survive the competition when the Mainland Chinese catch-up and bring the game in the global market to the next level of sophistication and aggressiveness.