Shanghai | A day in Disneyland

We have never been to any Disneyland so this was our very first. Shanghai Disneyland! The biggest in the world, Shanghai Disneyland was opened in 2016!!

The much anticipated programme  in our travel itinerary, the kids as much as the adults were looking forward to that morning when we were to visit Disneyland.

After breakfast, we reached Disneyland around 10am. It was a long walk from the entrance (where our bus dropped us) to the entrance of the park. Once we reached the entrance of the park, we were to queue up, had security check on our bags and face and ticket recognition scanning before we were allowed to enter. But it worths all the hassle and crowded queue once we entered Disneyland!

From far away, we could see the picturesque Enchanted Storybook Castle. It was so surreal to see the castle right in front of me!! This castle is Disney's biggest and tallest of all!!

Thank you, Mr Walt Disney for creating Mickey Mouse and many iconic cartoon characters. 

It may be winter but the park was still looked beautiful with flowers and green landscapes. Thank God it wasn't so cold that morning as the sun was shining on us.

We played few rides and our first ride together was in Pirates of the Caribbean. About 20 to 30 minutes wait but we patiently waiting for our turn. 

It was a fun water ride with smoke, sound effect and water splash in the dark tunnels.

Then we had a short tour in the pirate ship.

Together with Jan and Jay, I went to challenge my strenght in Adventure Isle. Jamie could not play as he was too short so hubby stayed behind with him while the 3 of us went to queue and play.

In the video, I (in white jacket) was urging Jay to move along the loose, hanging planks.  And miraculously he moved swiftly than me while I was still on one of the planks. I shouldn't worry too much about him. Lol.

By then everyone was hungry and it was almost 2pm. We ate in one of the Western restaurants in Disneytown, Wolfgang Puck Kitchen & Bar.

Pizza!! So so good. Other dishes included seafood carbonara and chicken sandwiches. Of course the food was good, a renowned international chef restaurant chain.

Then we checked in again and went to Tomorrowland to play the Tron. And again Jamie couldn't play as hasn't reach the height limit so the other 3 went for the ride. 45 minutes wait according to the app.

While waiting for them, Jamie and I went to see tge Avengers show. A new recruit training as it was called, there was special appearance of Captain Marvel and Black Panther. 

Even after we finished the show and went for toilet break, the others haven't finished their Tron ride.

330pm was the time that everyone was waiting for every day. The Disneyland parade called Mickey Storybook Express features most of the Disney cartoon characters. More than 10 minutes street parade. 

After that we went for few family rides such as Buzzlight planet rescue ride, Stitch Encounter and Toy Story's Slinky Dog ride.

It was getting dark soon and we settled our dinner in the food court in Tomorrowland. We were having burgers for dinner.

Then it was almost 8pm to catch the firework display so we walked pretty fast and headed back to the castle. 

Many crowds were already standing or sitting, patiently waiting for the show to start. We watched the firework and light show for a while and before it finished, we decided to head back to the car park. A long walk back. Worry of big crowds and jam so we went back earlier to the car park for our bus.

Hope you enjoy my photos of Disneyland snippets. As tomorrow is New Year, I would like to wish my friends and readers a 'Happy 2020!' Wishing you all a blessed, wonderful and happy New Year!!! See you guys in 2020! 

Shanghai | one big table

I am back to the first day in Shanghai. The very first morning after we landed.

I didn't wrote much on our first morning then. Basically we landed after 1am, then waited for a friend to retrieve his phone on the plane and by the time we reached and checked into the hotel, it was after 4am.

We took our bath and slept. Alarm set at 9am. First thing first, breakfast. The breakfast in the hotel wasn't appetizing. Pretty oily and not much choice. After we took our food, there wasn't any refill and much left for next guests.

What I liked throughout the holiday, I got to drink fresh, warm soya milk. Lol.

So we packed our luggage and left the hotel around 1030am. We headed straight to our lunch venue which took more than an hour drive. Luckily for that as we didn't eat much and enjoy our breakfast. 

Our lunch menu was this cafe. 2 floors and we were seated in a room upstairs.

We were served with 16 courses lunch. The most courses we had in China. Other places served more or less the same dishes but not as many as 16. Definitely 10 or more plates per table. 

For our first lunch in Shanghai, we were seated at one big table. 19 of us, including 4 infants. Slowly our food was served by waiter and waitress. Everyone took out their phones to capture the photos of each dish. 

I know, a delicious spread of Shanghainese cuisine, really fit for a king!!! Impressive for our first lunch in China!

Let's dig in!! 

Stir fried eggplants

Stir fried clams

Vegetarian dish

Sweet sour chicken

Peppery and sweet pork

I don't know what this was, but type of gourd, my guess

Stir fried cabbages

Steamed egg

Stir fried sweet potato leaves

Fried noodle

Potato cubes 

Another vegetable dish

Steamed fish

Pork rib soup

Xiao long bao

Black version of xiao long bao

Shanghai | Lights & Starbucks

After more than 4 hours bus ride from Hangzhou, we reached Shanghai in the evening. We rushed to the jetty to catch our 2nd boat ride of the day!!

We went to the upper deck to take some photos and videos before we went down to the seating area. It wasn't that cold up at the viewing deck before the boat started to go. At exactly 645pm the boat started to move along the HuangPu river.

The buildings at The Bund (or Waitan in Chinese) lighted up every nights, brighten up the Shanghai sky. 

The best feature (to me) was this Oriental Pearl tv tower (below). The lights changed colours every now and then. 

After our ride, we went for our late dinner. After that we proceed to Starbucks Reserve Roastery, the biggest Starbucks in the world. 

It was around 930pm when we reached Starbucks but the place was not lacked of patrons at the coffee bars. 2 floors with most activities at the ground floor. 

The smell of coffee beans filled up the place especially this storing area where a large copper cast with a 'R' labelled on it. 

We were still full from our dinner, so we did not get to buy anything. The pastries and confectioneries looked tempting but we gave them a pass. 

But hubby and I did tried something new in Starbucks. Coffee-infused alcoholic drinks. 98 RMB for these 3 drinks. 

One was fruity based (left), the middle was coffee based while the black drink was very strong black coffee infused. The fruity alcoholic was nice and acceptable for my standard. I sipped a little on the other 2 since I don't drink coffee.

Overall, very interesting flavours. At least I gave them a try. Don't know when I get to taste them again. ^^

Of course we didn't leave Starbucks empty-handed. Thermal pots as a souvenir and remembrance of Shanghai Starbucks.