Osaka - Day 7 - History Museum of Housing

Osaka - Day 5 - Nara

Osaka - Day 4 - Umeda, HEP5

Osaka - Day 3 - Museum of History, Osaka Castle, Dotombori

Osaka - Day 2 - Shinsaibashi Street, Dotombori, Kuromon Market

Osaka - Day 1 - Rinku Premiun Outlets, Kuromon Market

Shanghai - October 2011

I visited Shanghai for 4 days. While I did write a detailed itinerary I'm not going to share it because Shanghai is relatively easy to get around in. A 25 RMB (US$ 4) taxi ride will get you half-way across the city, although if you don't speak any Mandarin / Shanghainese you will get along fine with the Metro trains. All the stations have English signage.

Also note, when using Google Maps, the road map and the satellite imagery are misaligned (as will be your placemarks) due to Chinese government restrictions. For English translations "Road" and "Lu" are equivalent, and so are "People's" and "Renmin", also "Nanjing", "NJ" and "Nanking", and "Zhong" means "Middle". You will find many inconsistencies between phonetic, literal, and popular translations of place names.

Here is a rundown of the places I visited (prices in RMB):

People's (Renmin) Park area

The park itself is not spectacular, and for those looking for fresh air, you will find lots of smokers. Around the park edges are the Shanghai Art Museum 上海美術舘 and Shanghai Museum. Both close at about 4 or 5pm.

When we went to the Shanghai Art Museum it was free entry but most of the museum was closed. I don't know if this was due to a lack of funds or some renovation. A small room showcased works by Chinese artists, and an upper gallery had an exhibition of some contemporary foreign artists.

To the South of the park is People's Square and the Shanghai Museum which is more modern and extensive. It has several floors divided into several themes, as well as a visiting exhibition. You will find calligraphy, paintings, furniture, ceramics, fabrics, sculpture, reconstructed scenes, and antiques among other things.

Also in the area is MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Shanghai which we didn't visit because it was showing an exhibition of Pixar Animation.

East of People's Park is a shopping area.

Raffles City 來福士廣場 is a modern style mall. In fact, there are many of the same chains stores for fashion you will find in Hong Kong. It strikes me that Shanghai people don't really need to go to Hong Kong for shopping.

Nanjing East Road area

NJ East Road is quite long, but the pedestrian only section starts from the East side of People's park on Xizang Zhong Lu.

Yong’an (Wing On) Department Store has a long history of operation and sells some traditional retail products and food stuffs.

The Double Happiness shop 紅雙喜 sells some Chinese sporting goods as well as the competition standard ping pong balls and badminton shuttle cocks.

There is a dwindling Expo souvenir shop selling items leftover from the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

The Scissors Shop 張小泉刀剪總店 sells locally produced traditional scissors and knives. Perhaps interesting only for a look unless you want to spend some serious cash.

Yes, there is an Apple Store.

Additionally you will find some fashion chain stores such as GAP, GAP Kids, ZARA, Uniqlo, and the local chain called 'Me & City'.

The Bund Area

The Bund is the famous waterfront area with historic buildings using Western architecture. This area is mostly for sightseeing although I guess you can get some fine dining and fancy drinks.

If you continue East from Nanjing East Road you will reach The Bund. You will pass the Peace Hotel, which is where Christian Bale sent morse code by torch light which 'started' the Japanese invasion of Shanghai in the Spielberg 80's movie classic "Empire of the Sun".

It is now 2013 October: I was going the write about the different areas in Shanghai but now two years have passed and it has escaped my memory how to organize this post.

The album is here.

Hung Lau (Red House)

I visited Hung Lau in Tuen Mun district where Dr. Sun Yat-sen made his base of operations in Hong Kong and plotted the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and creation of Taiwan.

According to Wikipedia:

"In 1901, a Hong Kong merchant, who met Dr. Sun Yat-sen and joined Revive China Society in 1895, provided his farm to the Society as the seret base. The farm then provided secrecy and sustainance due to its large size and the location. Here coups in Guangzhou and Wuhan were planned."

See gallery Hung Lau - Red House

The area is a little off the beaten track and littered with debris. While of some significance to historians, it doesn't seem too much attention has been paid to this site by Hong Kong.

Tun Mun Park and Reptile House

Tuen Mun Park came into a bit of controversy when the government tried to stop people from singing to crowds with amplifiers. After a fight the government gave in a setup designated 'Self Entertainment Areas' around the park for people to sing their hearts out.

Also inside the park is the Reptile House which is free entry to visitors.

See gallery Tuen Mun Park and Reptile House

Asian Flower Exhibition 2011

Again this year I did some rapid camera clicking at the Asian Flower Exhibition in Taikoo Shing. I think they should stop using those yellow lights and having hard right angle table edges in the background. A big curved piece of white cardboard for the base and background will do wonders for amateur photographers. The pro's probably went the creative route and did closeups with shallow DoF. I went the documentary route.

From Asian Flower Exhibition 2011

Lego Exhibition - Figurines

I went to the Lego exhibition at Taikoo Shing Cityplaza. The photography conditions were not good as there were waist high glass barriers with corner seams and large crowds on all sides of the models. I tried some tilt-shift processing on my photos but they still looked unattractive. So here, I have just posted some photos of the figurines.

From Lego Exhibition Figurines

Lamma Island 2011

Lamma Island is a short 30 minute ferry ride from Central or Wanchai in Hong Kong. It seems to be a little haven for Westerners looking for an alternative lifestyle. You can see several houses sporting gardens and backyards where children can play, the kind of thing that is common in the West but rare in Hong Kong.

See gallery Lamma Island 2011

The island is also home to a coal powered power station and one wind turbine. We used much of our energy hiking up and down a dead end path so did not make it to see the wind turbine.

I feel this island is a nice getaway but it seems to suffer from the pressures of development and illegal waste dumping. There are also many grave sites all over the place.

Hong Kong Ocean Park 2011

New developments are underway at Ocean Park and it seems part of the park is closed. The front entrance (Ocean Square) has been re-designed with a new water feature after you enter (Aqua City Lagoon).

One new attraction is the Grand Aquarium which features a very large central tank with a very tall and wide viewport. Additionally you can go into a section where the ceiling is the viewport.

The second new attraction is actually transport. A train (the Ocean Express) gives you an alternative to the cable car for those wishing to avoid long queues or vertigo. The train is setup to feel like a submarine and offers light entertainment as it shakes a little and goes into red alert when a giant octopus attacks it enroute.

Still remaining is the Giant Panda Habitat, Jellyfish Display, Ocean Theatre (Dolphins and Seals), Seal stage performance (Whiskers Theatre) and Chinese Sturgeon Aquarium. New to me is an Asian Animals exhibit which includes Goldfish, Red Pandas, Giants Pandas, Gators, and Otters. We didn't make it to the Amazing Bird Theatre. Also we skipped the mechanical rides, children's rides, and carnival games. The Tai Shue Wan side of the park is currently closed.

See gallery Ocean Park 2011

Hong Kong Flower Show 2011

We arrived after sunset and towards the close of the show so the lighting conditions and the state of the flowers were not perfect, but it was still nice to see.

See gallery Hong Kong Flower Show 2011

Emily's Sydney

As I have lived in Sydney for a long time, for this trip I let Emily take hold of the camera most of the time to get a fresh perspective.

See gallery Emily's Sydney 2011