Jessica's Thought Spot: Shanghai Grand Prize Win

Ahh... yes, the long-postponed write-up on the long-awaited trip-of-a-lifetime that I won back in November 2007 and experienced in April 2008.

The sole reason for the trip: To catch Céline Dion - Taking Chances Live in Shanghai concert
The participants: Mom and myself
Length of trip: 4 days, 3 nights

The prize itself is a round trip from KL to Shanghai and back, so, being Penangites, we had to first make our way to KL by bus.

Here's Mom texting her way on the bus to KL.

We stayed at a friend's house for the remainder of the day before heading to KLIA via taxi at 10.30pm. We had a flight to catch, 1.40am flight, to be exact. It was a smooth flight to Shanghai. We reached at around 7am and was greeted by a lady holding a sign with our names on it. I didn't manage to grab a picture of that, though.

Leaving on a jet plane. At KLIA Terminal.

We hopped into the car that was provided for us and was driven to our hotel, which was about an hour's drive away from the Pudong International Airport.

They drive on the left side of the car, right side of the road. Ahh...

The ride was pretty quiet for most of the duration seeing as we had a bit (if not, a lot) of difficulties communicating with the lady and the driver. We managed to ask about a day tour and got ourselves signed up on the spot.

We checked in to our hotel first, the New Asia Hotel, dropped our luggages and practically ran out again as the tour has already started.

New Asia Hotel - night view. Didn't take a morning picture. D'oh!

We were rushed to meet with the rest of the tour group at the Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower. What it basically offers is a panoramic view of Shanghai from way up high. It was nice, but it was a bit hazy, so the pictures didn't turn out so well.

Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Immediately after the Tower, we were whisked away to a wax museum, of some sort, of The Shanghai Bund - old and new. It was a fascinating insight to how Shanghai came to be, from its humble Chinese beginnings to its Western influence.

Entrance to the Shanghai Bund Museum

After the museum tour, we went on a cruise down Huangpu River, where the famous Shanghai Bund is situated.

Cruisin' along...

After all that, we went for lunch, and walked around Nanjing Road, which is a famous shopping haven, apparently. I went there by chance at night, alone. I wasn't aware that I'm not supposed to be walking alone at night in China. Hmm... I'm still here!