I flew over to Shanghai to spend Christmas this year with J. I don't know how we started the tradition of staying in a nice hotel for Christmas every year. I think I started it by surprising him with 1929 back in 2009. This year is probably the best Christmas ever. The company, celebrating it overseas, the hotels, the FOOD. I wanna stay in Christmas mode forever.
Surprise Hotel #1 - Ruijin Hotel for Christmas Eve.
They were booked by Jesse this year and I had no idea what I was in for so I was literally blindly following him. This hotel was so huge, they had to buggy you to your destination. The service was impeccable. I must say my luggage and the baggage I came with was not light and little. Pity them cos they had to carry it a long flight of stairs for me to get to our room cos there wasn't a lift. Technically, there was a lift but it was at a far end further away from our room so it probably wasn't convenient for them as well.
This was our super huge suite. They were very nice and upgraded us to this room. There was a front porch that had an exercising machine and a dart board. The room on the left leads to a walk-in closet where the safe was. It was quite pointless for us to make use of the walk-in since we were only going to stay there for a night. The room on the left opens up into the bathroom. I swear the moment we saw the bathroom, we were so thrilled cos.. it was just too huge to be true.
There were steps leading up to the jacuzzi bath but you can't see it in this photo and the bath mirror was very wide and the counter had antique cabinets filled with our complimentary toiletries.
Crazily shiny taps. I am not certain but I have a hunch that they are made out of silver and gold.
The exercising machine which I was on for 5 minutes max. haha. I think it was suited for someone very tall or something. I felt like I had to take a very large stride when I was using the machine.
A super antique gramaphone
So apparently, we learnt that Chairman Mao used to stay in this resort. (#whatintheworld?) They later renovated and refurbished it into its state today. I like that they retain old buildings and restore them instead of just tearing them down.
We went out for a while and came back to find this on our bed. It was the breakfast set menu for the next day, weather report, cookies and a PILLOW MENU. I am not kidding. You get to choose what kind of pillow you want to sleep on for the night.
Hahaha. Seriously, too service-oriented for words.
Lazed around for a while before we went for dinner at Tian Zi Fang.
Tian Zi Fang was really near our hotel. We spotted it on the cab ride to the hotel. So we took a leisurely stroll there.
Tian Zi Fang is like Singapore's version of Haji Lane combined with Dempsey, except much cooler. They have many kitsch shops there selling art, jewellery, loads of nicely decorated cafes and restaurants.
We decided to have thai food that night so we settled for this quaint restaurant Oasis Thai Restaurant. Their interior is seriously awesome.
J looking very intently at the menu
Gang Keaw Wan Gai
Chicken in creamy green curry with eggplants and basil
58 yuan
That is about SGD$12 which I find not bad at all! Really like the texture of the curry
Goong ob woon sen
Baked prawn with glass noodle
188 yuan
I think the menu stated 4 pieces of prawn but we got more in our pot of tang hoon. Love the prawns! They were so juicy and yummy. I'm not a big fan of glass noodles but this was quite tasty.
Stir fried pork with basil and a pineapple mango smoothie
58yuan / 38yuan per glass
The mango smoothie was totally not worth it, also due to the fact that I was having a mild flu at that point of time.
Such pretty Christmas decorations! I mean, you wouldn't expect to find Christmas semblance in China - Shanghai but Tian Zi Fang is so atmospheric and everyone greets you with a Merry Christmas. Such a great experience.
An artist palette most likely for painting portraits considering the color spectrum on it
There was even a teddy bear cafe. So cute! We bumped into Singaporeans there I think. They were trying to grab a photo with this huge-ass bear in the display. It's so typical of Singaporeans to go, "Omg I want to take a photo with the bear! Help me take!" Amazing how you can recognize a Singaporean when you hear one speak.
See everyone on the left taking a photo with the huge teddy bear
We went to a cat-themed cafe later to have a cup of coffee. Actually, we passed by this cafe before we had dinner and I told Jesse that I HAD to go back there after dinner. There was a lot of commotion going on at their entrance because they had 2 very ADORABLE AND BEYOND CUTE CATS!
I can't remember what breed of cats they are but they are so cute! I want one! ): The cutest part about them is that THEY ARE MARRIED! Omgosh
By the way, the whole cafe was filled with photos of them, postcards and letters with their images on it so much so I think the whole cafe sparked off cos of these two cats that they own. I mean after all, they are really the ones pulling in their customers. No one can really resist that much amount of cuteness.
I mean, c'mon. haha
I like the black one more cos I find it more adorable. There was a lady standing beside their basket to ensure no one abuses them so I asked her if I could pick them up. They were seriously very lazy and 'nua' cats. It woke up when I picked it up and when I put it back into the basket, it curled up into a ball and started sleeping again. Super chillax. Please also notice that they are wearing a santarina and a chinese new year outfit. <3
Rose Latte which Jesse ordered. It looks so much like a girly drink haha. Very pretty frothing of the whipped cream though
Went back to the hotel afterwards and soaked myself in the tub for ages. I used the bath bomb from Lush (the one on the left). It wasn't a bubble bomb but it made your water turn pink! and there were miraculously little hearts at the bottom of your tub. Have always wanted to try Lush products cos I keep hearing great reviews about them. Guess it's just not very practical in my house cos we don't have a tub. -_-
Caught Sex and the City 2 before going to bed that night.
I'm doing a minor operation tomorrow and I need to wake up early to eat before 9am. I feel very relaxed surprisingly and I have no idea if I'm consciously trying to suppress my fear. I pray that the after-effects aren't that painful and there is no surface damage.
No comments:
Post a Comment