New Year in Shanghai!

29 Dec 2011 - 2 Jan 2012 ~ Work + Travel in Shanghai

As I mentioned before, I'm definitely very blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to travel overseas for work within my first year of work. #countmyblessings We do travel for our work every now and then but mostly within Malaysia coz we're a regional office...it's very rare for this kinda opportunity to come by. So this is one of the few good things about being in this team. :p Anyway, the 'work' that I'm referring to for this trip is stock count. Honestly, I've never attended any stock count before since I started work last January, and 'lucky' me my first stock count is in Shanghai and I'm doing it alone. :p

If Shenzhen doesn't count, then this would have been my first time travelling to China. Since I've never been to Shanghai, I decided to take this opportunity to do some sightseeing. Went to almost all the touristy attractions in Shanghai that I wanted to go...mission accomplished! #leggo Good thing about having to work on New Year's Day...we had the chance to countdown for 2012 in Shanghai. =)

28 Dec 2011 (Wed): Penang - KL - Shanghai

Took the night flight coz we wanted to arrive SH early the next morning and waste no time. My window seat wasn't comfortable but had a cool night view of KL from the sky. 

29 Dec 2011 (Thurs): People's Square - Nanjing Road - YuYuan Garden - XinTianDi

Arrived Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 7am...hello winter!! =)

Our hotel for 4 nights...Renaissance Zhongshan Park hotel...very nice hotel. =) My room was at the 49th floor...awesome view of the city! =)

Tried something 'local' for breakfast...煎蛋饼...sorta like  pancake but with 油条 in it.

First stop: People's Square Park...a park in the middle of the city. Love the autumn colours around the park...even though it was winter already, the trees weren't bald yet. :p

This park is definitely a place for elderly people...taichi, play poker cards, fishing...haha!! 

Time to camwhore! :p

Some landmarks around People's Square - Tomorrow Square, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai Grand Theatre.

Walked from People's Square to Nanjing Road pedestrian street...Shanghai's main shopping street but I didn't buy anything here. :p

Took the subway from Nanjing East Road (南京东路) to YuYuan Garden (豫园). Shanghai Old Street (上海老街) was filled with lotsa ancient architecture. All of the sudden I felt like I was REALLY in China...hahaha!

Lunch time! Had Xiao Long Bao at one of the famous restaurants in Shanghai...Nanxiang ManTou Dian. The queue for take-out was so long so we decided to eat-in and take a break. The price for eat-in was at least double the price of take-out...what a ripoff but we needed a break after all the walking since morning so it was fine. Honestly, I think the 'xiao long bao' was just ok...not fantastic...a bit overrated lo. :p 

The whole area felt so 'ancient'...it was kinda weird to see Starbucks in such an 'ancient' exterior...lol!

We wanted to have more 'China' feel so paid 30 yuan to visit YuYuan Garden. 

The surrounding of the garden was pretty and it was quite huge we almost got lost in the garden. :p

Thanks to Manrou for being my photographer. =)

  

The streets were already filled with Chinese New Year mood! Let's usher into the dragon year!!

Last stop for our first day...Xin Tian Di (新天地)...more high-end shopping, eating, and entertainment district. The unique thing about this place is that all the buildings are 'Shikumen' 石库门 style.

We were both too tired and our legs were aching after walking for an entire day. Went into 'Shikumen' style Coffee Bean for a break. :p

Dinner at one of the many restaurants in Cloud 9 mall next to our hotel.

30 Dec 2011 (Fri): Qibao Ancient Town - Oriental Pearl TV Tower - The Bund

Continued our sightseeing on the 2nd day. The metro was our main mode of transport to travel all around Shanghai...very convenient and cheap. =) 

First stop for the 2nd day...Qibao ancient town (七宝古镇). Took us about 45 minutes to get here from the city by metro.  

Narrow alleys...ancient buildings...plenty of 'local' snacks.

More street snacks!! I'm not an adventurous foodie so all these doesn't attract me...lol!

Tried some huge 'Tang Yuan'.

Picture time!!

Nice scenery of the canal. =)

Seeing the vibrant part of Shanghai was not enough...we wanted to explore more...

One side of the town was bustling with tourists...another side of the town was a quiet old neighbourhood...what a contrast! We also saw an old man sitting by the streets selling popcorns...the 'old-school' way.

Few more pics before we left Qibao ancient town.

Took the metro back to the vibrant part of the city filled with skyscrapers...Pudong (浦东)...home to many of Shanghai's best-known buildings - Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, Jin Mao Building, etc.

And of course I've gotta be in these pictures...lol!

Had our dinner at Din Tai Fung with a view of the Bund...we took our own sweet time to eat till the sky turns black. :p 

Xiao Long Bao again...hahaha!! This Xiao Long Bao was better than the one in Nanxiang. 

After bumming in the restaurant for hours and trying out Osim's leg massager in the mall, we continued our sightseeing. Took a ferry for 2 yuan across the Huangpu river to Puxi (浦西). It's easy to pronounce Puxi wrongly and it will sound totally wrong...haha!!

We were both busy snapping pics of both Puxi and Pudong throughout the ferry ride. :p

Finally we're at The Bund (外滩)!!! Beautiful skyline of Pudong at night!!

Night view of The Bund. Whole stretch of nice colonial-style buildings.

Lucky us we saw some beautiful lightings as we were walking along the Bund coz they were rehearsing for the New Year's Eve countdown 3D light show. =) That's the HSBC Building and the Customs House.

31 Dec 2011 (Sat): Nanjing West Road - New Year's Eve Countdown @The Bund

The 'homework' for sightseeing that I did before coming to Shanghai...worked out very well. =)

Chillax day...strolled along Nanjing West Road and passed by Jing'An Temple (静安寺) along the way.

Lunch with the team at 鸭王.

It was New Year's Eve and Nanjing Road was super crowded...total contrast with the day before...really 'people mountain people sky'. There were soooo many people in the Apple store as if everything was FOC. =.=

Initially we wanted to wait for the countdown along the Bund but after sitting for 20 minutes, the others were freezing already and couldn't stand waiting in the cold for 2 more hours so we decided to find somewhere else to countdown. 

We stumbled upon this place as we were walking along the Bund...The House of Roosevelt. Good job to Ali and Manrou...the very confident duos...we just walked into this posh place as if we've made reservations and went straight up to the 9F rooftop lounge...lol!!  

If you compare to other bars...this price may be a lil' steep but for the view and ambience on New Year's Eve...I think it was actually quite reasonable. Best of all, we had a heater to help us survive the chilly night...lol!! =)

Fantastic view of Pudong & The Bund...what a great way to end 2011 and welcome 2012!! #blessed The only disappointing thing was that there were no fireworks at all in Shanghai for countdown!! =.= No fireworks...in CHINA...seriously?!?! 

1 Jan 2012 (Sun): Stockcount at Songjiang

What a great way to start-off the new year...first stock-count ever on the first day of the year. :p No complaints at all...at least I got to travel this far for my first stock count. =) Definitely wasn't easy getting out of bed early in the morning after staying up late to countdown the night before...haha! Our driver picked us up at our hotel at 8am in an Audi (that doesn't look like an Audi at all)...took us about 45 minutes to get to Songjiang. I didn't take any pictures coz I was afraid that people will think I'm very 'sam pat'...haha! But in fact, I really thought about taking some pics but paiseh la! Honestly, it was quite an eye-opening experience to see manufacturing facilities in such big scale...the warehouse that I went was located in the compound of Quanta Shanghai Manufacturing City. The word 'city' is no joke...the entire plant was as big as a university campus with living campus for the staff. Sorry la I've never been to China so a bit 'sam pat'. :p 

Dinner with the team at Spice Spirit. 

2 Jan 2012 (Mon): Shanghai-KL-Penang

Time to go home...checking out from our hotel...goodbye Shanghai!

Lunch before heading to the airport.

Shanghai Pudong International Airport 

Beautiful clouds & sunset.

Thank You 2011, Hello 2012!

Happy New Year 2012!! Time flies...another year just flew by! It's the time of the year again to do a recap of the past year. I'm a lil' behind schedule coz I was in Shanghai for New Year and blogspot is blocked in China. =.= Will update more about my Shanghai trip in the next post. Anyway, I'm really blessed and grateful for a great ending of 2011 and a great start for 2012.

2011 NYE's countdown in Singapore. 2012 NYE's countdown in Shanghai. =) #blessed

Well, 2011 turned out to be better than I expected...was expecting work life as an auditor to be dull but I realized it's really up to ourselves to make our life more interesting. Took me about half year to settle in but second half of the year was pretty awesome. :)

Graduated and started work right at the beginning of the peak period. Having back-to-back engagements for almost 5 months was pretty exhausting but learned quite a lot. Also glad to have a bunch of great comrades/batch-mates/friends. =) 

Started off the second half of the year with a blast!! =) Peak was over and I was finally done with my exam so decided to do something fun. Teamed up with bro to take part in the AXN Big Challenge and surprisingly won the grand prize...amazing experience! 

As part of my resolution to keep life interesting, I took some time off work and travelled to Hanoi, Vietnam. Very grateful to be hosted by my lovely Vietnamese friends, VietAnh & Hang. =)

Also had the chance to travel to Sabah with my whole family and hiked Mt Kinabalu. :)

Second half of the year, I was recruited into the Dell regional team. This is a long-term engagement that not many people wanna work on but as I mentioned before, to be happy or sad, it's all about your own perspective and how you choose to look at a situation. Honestly, I think being in this team ain't too bad after all...another way of putting it...it's a blessing in disguise. :p Had the chance to travel to Singapore for training, seniors are very helpful, manager is pretty cool, work load is manageable, and also had the chance to travel to Shanghai for stock count. Things may get a lil' tensed and stressful as we start our peak period but I'll try my best to stay positive . =)

Work-life had been pretty balance as there were more activities in the firm. Took part in inter-firm games, organized a dayout for our firm, and went to Phuket for our annual trip.

Still kept myself active in the UGRAD alumni and volunteered at least once this year. :p

That's all for now...hope that 2012 will be another GREAT year ahead!! Who cares if 2012 will be the end of the world...just live life to the fullest everyday!! Cheers!!

Quote to share: Another fresh new year is here...another year to live!! To banish worry, doubt, and fear; to love and laugh and give.

Dayout At the 'Peak' Before the 'Peak'

3 Dec 2011 (Sat): Teambuilding dayout at the 'Peak' before the 'Peak'

Our firm organized a dayout at Penang Hill before the super peak begins in January. Ironically, we managed to link these two 'peaks' together...lol! It's been ages since the last time I went up to Penang Hill...I could only vaguely remember that I was just a kiddo back then and the weather used to be chilly up there. :p Even though I keep emphasising that auditors aren't boring bunch of people, I can't deny the fact that quite a lot of people in our office are not big fan of outdoor activities, so it definitely ain't easy getting everyone to join us for this dayout. We were glad that almost half of them attended, better still almost all the bosses came, leading by example huh...hehe! :p Credits to XinYi for being our photographer of the day. Thanks for capturing these golden moments! =)

The first batch of committees and participants who arrived early took the 8am train uphill. The journey was supposed to take only 5 minutes but there were several stops along the way. 

Thanks to some participants who arrived earlier and helped us carry our 'props'. :p The 'healthy' group of guys (including both our partners) started their 2km walk from the train station to the bungalow. 

While the rest of us 'lazy bums' took the buggies instead...hahaha! :p 

Finally arrived at the bungalow...Nature Lodge.

There's reason why we 'committees' had to arrive earlier and take the buggies instead of walking...coz we had to prepare for the first teambuilding activity la. :p

First things first...group picture for all 5 teams and the committees. =) They were asked to come up with their own team name and guess what we had...Team Apple, Team Shake Shake Shake, Team Pau Nya, Team Pau Ka Liao, and Team Warriors.

Getting creative and coming up with team cheers. :p

 

Game 1: Minefield. This game was supposed to be more challenging but our blindfold weren't good. :p The next time we have blindfold game...imma use goggles instead...haha! 

Game 2: Put Yourself in Others' Shoes. Haha...literally yes...we actually put everyone in others' shoes! =) Each person will have to take turns to find another team members' shoe.

Looks like they were buying shoes from Lorong Kulit...lol!!

Next game...guess what were they trying to do with all those raffias? Hmm...fishing? :p 

Answer is...Game 3: Toxic Waste. The task is to get the pail filled with water out from the toxic zone using just raffia and a hook. It was my idea to put all the pails in the same area just to make it tougher and messier...haha!!

At first, we were worried that we would overrun but we finished the third game well ahead of time. We took a short break after being out in the sun for quite some time.

Game 4: Hands, Legs, Butts. Time for MORE 'bonding'...haha!! Everyone else was having a good time watching other teams perform their 'stunt'.

Game 5: Face Your Food. I'm sure many people have seen this game from TV...this game was purely for laughters...hahaha!! Lucky us committees who didn't have to play this and avoided having our 'face-cramps' pictures captured. :p

Time to head back indoor for lunch and rest some before continuing our activities. 

One of the managers brought her son along. He was a busy kid that day coz everyone of us took turns to play with him...haha!

Game 6: Break the Code. After all the physical games, it was time for some brain-game. This was a numbers + alphabets game...very suitable for auditors...lol! Proud of myself for coming up with this game...thanks to all the committees for helping to coordinate as well. =) Here's an example of one of the questions: Mississippi = 9, Morocco = 15, Alaska = 1, Alabama = ?

Game 7: Pass the Message. The message was funny and it was about bananas...lol! 

The original message was totally 'distorted' by the time it was passed to the last person. Was hilarious listening to each versions of the 'banana' message...you can see it from the expressions of all the participants...priceless!! =)

Game 8: Build Your Shelter. Last game of the day to unleash the creativity of auditors. Time for us to sit back and relax while the participants to work on their 'projects'. =)

Tadaa...mission accomplished!!

And last but not least...the winner for this Penang Hill teambuilding dayout is....Pau Nya!!!

"I see countless happy faces while taking the photos! We, SRC members, are really grateful for the support given by everyone. Although some were unable to join us, we hope you can next round. Thanks! XD" - XinYi Lee

Million thanks to all the committees for all your support, hard work, and effort for making this event possible. Ain't easy planning and pulling everything off within 3 weeks. Awesome job guys!! 

Bird's-eye view of Penang Island from the peak of Penang Hill.

Sincere thanks to everyone for making our first event a success. =)

26 Nov 2011 (Sat): MICPASS Dinner @ Parkroyal Hotel

This dinner marked the closing of 2011 MICPASS inter-firm games. 

Receiving my Best Female Hiker trophy. =)

Thanks to all you awesome peeps for all the fun and excitement throughout the MICPASS games. =)

By the way, I've got a brand new lappie for work...one of the few good things about being in Dell team...haha! :p