Shanghai Trip, Week II

Whoaaa, too busy to post my daily activities. Well, here's the summary of week II in Shanghai.

Nov 25, 2008

Dinner with boss and Malaysia Team at an Italian restaurant, La Famiglia, owned by a Korean. It's accross my hotel. I had Sweet Pumpkin Cream Soup and Seafood Pasta with Tomato Sauce (cost RMB 83). Yummy!

Nov 27, 2008
Went to small shopping center at Jin Hui Road to check out the bags and luggage. Want to buy laptop trolley. Ended up by buying two knit blouses (RMB 85) as it's so damn cold here. I plan to buy a coat, and some more knit blouses.

Dinner at a Taiwan restaurant, had Seafood Udon (cost RMB 25). Found a Turkish resto accross the shopping centre. It was windy that day. Imagine this: cold weather with wind, brrrrr.....

Nov 29, 2008

Went to Nan Jing Road. It's like Orchard Road in Singapore. Wow, a lot of people there. We can't even walk slow to enjoy the view.

Dinner at hot pot restaurant near hotel.

Nov 30, 2008

Shopping at Jin Hui Road, lunch at Turkish Restaurant, massage in Fortune Hotel Health Club.

Shanghai trip, Day 8 (Nov 23, 2008)

It's been raining since Friday night. When we went out to downtown, it was still raining. We had lunch at Tang Palace Restaurant, serves Hong Kong Style Dim Sum. This restaurant is located on 6th floor of Super Brand Mall (Pudong area). Taxi cost RMB 55 from our hotel. There were many people waiting to be seated, so were we. Danny and Roland were wondering around while we, girls, waiting inside restaurant. While we were waiting, they served free orange juice.

I didn't imagine that the restaurant will be big, but once you enter the table area, it's large. I asked Linda and Lisa to order something that I can eat (vegetable, seafood). So many things served, even only eating dim sum I can feel so full. Below is the waitress preparing us jasmine tea.

After lunch, we went window shopping. My boss purchased some stuffs. I need to buy moisturizer and body lotion as the cold weather breaks my skin and my hair feels coarse.
We went downstairs to Watson. There I bought Neutrogena face moisturizer for oily skin, Pantene shampoo with milk protein, Pantene conditioner, and Vaseline intensive care for dry skin. Also, bought face mask.

After that, we went to supermarket to buy fruits.

Danny and Roland still wanted to buy something, so I and Lisa decided to hang out at Iceason, gellato parlor, while Linda was in Uniqlo (dept.store). I ordered vanilla gellato with chocolate corn flakes. It cost RMB 35.

It was late afternoon, so we must go back to hotel. We would have a weekly exam on Monday, so we must study and make some summary of our one week material.


Studied from 8.30 PM til 1.30 AM! So tired, phewww........

Shanghai trip, Day 7 (Nov 22, 2008)

We had a class today. It was about sales skills. Good one to refresh my memory after all this time.

There were two classes combined. My own class and other field class.


Malaysian team had a dinner with their surgeon, while I and my Indonesian colleagues decided to go downtown. It was raining.

At first we wanted to go to Shanghai Tower, the ride would take 40 minutes, said hotel's bellboy. But there will be traffic jam at this hour. He suggested us to go to Yu Yuan Garden which would take 30 minutes. It took us about 1 hour to get there. Taxi cost RMB 59. It started to rain.


We ate at McDonald's, I chose Fillet O'Fish package (RMB 20.50). For me, the taste was plain.

At Yu Yuan Garden, we bought souvenirs. Here are my souvenirs:

T-Shirt: from RMB 100 to RMB 40 after bargain

Lady blouse: RMB 50, the lady said original price was RMB 150, and I saw in other shop it was RMB 250

Keychain: from RMB 35, after bargain RMB 15, but in other shop, it was only RMB 15 without bargaining

Laughing Budha: RMB 28

Pouches: RMB 10 each, if buy 10 gets RMB 9 each

Fancy mirror: RMB 28 for my Jakarta colleague

Damn, I spent RMB 210 just for souvenirs. I'll check out later whether there are places I can go to get cheaper stuffs. Around the place, there are some people will approach you and offer you fake branded bags and watch.

It was still 08.30 PM but the area was quiet and not many taxis. We finally rode taxi without using meter.

The souvenirs

Shanghai trip, Day 6 (November 21, 2008)

Today we had animal lab class. There's nothing I can say except I was sad seeing the animal. I got over the sad feeling, but something has made it worse!

I've got an Indian colleague which was very very very annoying, like he knew everything, but all he did and said was crap! Sorry, but that was the reality. His other Indian colleague even couldn't stand him.

I got through the day, eventually. I expressed my frustration to my boss who is in other group.

Shanghai trip, Day 5 (Nov 20, 2008)

Today we have surgeons coming for 8th AETF event (Nov 21-22, 2008) held in our CCI building. There will be around 50 surgeons, from Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan.
My boss arranges a dinner for surgeons from Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Too bad my surgeon was stuck in traffic jam on his way back to Shanghai from sightseeing.

It was a nice dinner. A Shanghai culinary. My boss ordered vegetable and seafood so I can also enjoy the meal.

I must say that the dishes are interesting. There were Peking Duck, Fried Rice, Braised Pork (which I can't eat, of course), and some more other that I don't know the name. Total cost for 12 person meal was around USD 200. I'll get the name and address of restaurant later.

This afternoon, we went to animal lab on 4th floor to see how our senior staffs performing laparoscopy and open surgery so we have a sight about our task tomorrow.

Shanghai trip, Day 4 (Nov 19, 2008)

a. Dinner at Turkey restaurant. I thought my friend told me it's a Turkish restaurant, that why I was excited to go there to try. But when she said it's not halal, I asked why because most of Turkey people is musli. It turned out that the restaurant is a chinese food restaurant which serves Turkey meat.

b. Downtown of Shanghai is 30 minutes far. So I don't think I can go there until Sunday when we are off (but still need to study for Monday quiz). My hotel is located at Min Hangg District.

c. If in Jakarta we can find so many Indo Maret or Alfa Mart (type of mini mart), in Bangkok we can find 7-Eleven in every corner, and here we can find Lawson.

d. I don't understand Shanghai's traffic here. The steering wheel is at left side, they drive at right side, but the most annoying thing is that the traffic light doesn't work. Even when it's red, so many vehicles keep going on, making us the street walker to have extreme precautious when crossing the street.

The way taxi driver drives, uughhhh.....so scarry. I may suggest you to close your eyes when you are in taxi.

e. Note for myself: next time if I go overseas for training and business meeting, must bring formal clothing, e.g. suit or blazer. I couldn't bring those because it will take up space in my luggage. I have brought sweaters and other clothes for winter.
My room mate brought a lot of clothes and shoes, I think my boss did too.

Shanghai trip, Day 3 (Nov 18, 2008)

Planned to wake up at 5 AM, but ended up woke up at 6.30 AM. I went to the gym. Used treadmill and lifted some weight, 45 minutes of working out.

This will be my morning routine:
- Fajr prayer at 5 AM
- One hour exercise 6-7 AM
- Take a shower and get dressed, 30 minutes
- Have breakfast, 30 minutes
- Go for training 8.20 AM
If possible, another exercise in the evening.

Better study in the morning because we are still fresh.

The hotel staff bought me China Mobil SIM card, cost RMB 150. Unfortunately, the instruction is in Chinese.

Today's class ended early, 4 PM! Whoaa, thank you Dick. I had a chance to go to buy a pair of new shoes. Yeah...my shoes' front sole tore up due to long storage. I didn't realize the effect, otherwise I'd bring another shoes.

Lisa accompanied me to the shopping mall. Went to Trust-Mart supermarket. It's like Carrefour in my country. Found a simple model with my size (yippie...!), price RMB 119.

New Shoes

Bad Shoes

Tonight I had dinner at the same restaurant. This time I had transparent noodle, with Tom Yum Gong like broth, with vegetables too. Cost only RMB 5.
I asked hotel staff to help me on using the new mobile number. It took me 30 minutes !
I tested outgoing call by calling my baby (in Texas, USA) and my sister in Jakarta.

I took shower, did my prayer and go upstair to meeting room because our instructor came. Entry exam result was distributed. I passed! Yeaaaaa.........

We reviewed some of today's material, then I continued studying in my room with Lisa (colleague from Malaysia) and Baron (Philippines).
I'm using the internet connection from Lisa.

Now I'm going to bed. It's late here.

Shanghai trip, day 2 (Nov 17, 2008)

After Fajr prayer, I studied again, because there will be entry exam and we have to get 90% otherwise we must retake the test.

Had breakfast at the restaurant on the 1st floor then I went back to my room to get my stuffs. Met all friends in the lobby as we were waiting for the bus which will take us to training location. It was only 15 minutes to get there.

Went to auditorium on 3rd floor. The opening session was done my Training Director who's a Chinese. Then we took our entry exam, coffee break and first session of the class started. We were separated based on the focus of products we are handling. My class room is on 3rd floor.
After that exam, I was relieved. Didn't want to try to review it because I was so stressfull.

I realized that this training is very different to those which I have attended. It's very intensive, I won't have much free time to go online or go to explore the area. The training period has been reduced from 5 weeks to 4 weeks, even on Saturday we'll have class. Sunday will only have few free time because must study for weekly test.
I won't have time to think of other things beside work and training.

First day was tiring. We finished at 6 PM, it's already evening. Arrived in the hotel, I put my things in room and went with my Indonesian colleague for dinner. There's muslim restaurant across the hotel. None of us speaks Chinese, so we only pointed the dish pictures on the wall. I chose noodle with sweet and sour sauce with vegetable. The noodle is similar to Japanese Udon. It cost RMB 7 only but the restaurant didn't provide drinks, awww.....

The taxi from training location to hotel cost RMB 15.

I had 2 hours before our group study session, so I took shower and did my prayer. I decided to go to business meeting room early and read there instead of waiting til 9 PM.
At 10 PM I went back to my room.

I must get local mobile phone number, the hotel staff suggested to buy China Mobile SIM card. I had difficulty with my Indonesian mobile number. I wasn't able to send message to my sister when the night before I was able to do that.

Shanghai trip, Day 1

I woke up at 4.30 AM. I did my fajr prayer and took a shower. Checked things to bring. I didn’t want to miss them out. My taxi arrived at 6 AM. Arrived at Soekarno Hatta Airport at 6.30 AM. I checked in and relaxed at executive lounge at 7 AM. I’ve got my boarding pass for the next flight in Hong Kong, so it would save time.
Wow, everything was fast. I called my baby at 7.30 AM as promised and we talked for awhile. While waiting, I used my time to read training materials. Gosh, can I remember all medical terminology in the book?

My flight was CX 718 Cathay Pacific, destination Hong Kong. We departed at 9.15 AM. I was seated by the window. Food was nice, I picked Beef Rice for lunch. I watched “Get Smart” for flight entertainment. Fell asleep for sometime and read again. Hong Kong Airport is surrounded by mountains and it has sea at the other side.
We landed at 3 PM local time, flight took around four hours. I didn’t have much time to enjoy the airport because my flight to Shanghai was at 4 PM. Alas! When I headed to transfer area, the queue line was long. Suddenly an officer asked some passengers to go to other transfer area. I went there, but I was lost!
The place was far and when I asked an officer, she told me to go back again. I‘ve lost 30 minutes of my time! Thank God, the first transfer area (at E2) had shorter queue line. Still took time for me to pass the inspection gate. When I got near to the boarding gate, an officer was in a hurry and called the passenger for Shanghai. I arrived at the gate on time. I went on the bus.

The airline was DragonAir flight number KA 896, a Cathay Pacific group too. The plane is small. I was sitting by the window again. I don’t know why, but my seats were at the wing, so I couldn’t see the view. So much for window seat. Flight entertainment was a short program about practical joke. For dinner, I chose fish and potato. The other option is Chinese Dim Sum, but I doubt if it’s halal. Dessert was Haagen Dasz ice cream, strawberry flavor. The flight took around 2.5 hours. I arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport at 6.30 PM.

After immigration check, I took my baggage and queued for taxi. I showed the hotel map and hotel address in Chinese. It was all toll roads, and it’s so wide. The steering wheel of the car is at the left side. It cost RMB 154 from airport to my hotel (Dijon Hotel). When I arrived at my room, I was amazed. It has spacious living room. Then I found out there are two bed rooms, and one of them has been occupied by my colleague from Malaysia.

I took sometime to unpack and get myself used to the situation. I checked the map to find hotel location. It’s not located in the heart of the city. I may need time to find some places and some stuff I need here. Lisa, my colleague, showed up. We haven’t met before. She told me that she’s having study group at the other room. There are four persons from Malaysia and two from Philippines. I went there with her. Introduced myself then start studying. Wow, these people are serious. All silence when studying, only chit chat for five minutes when I got there.
I was a bit dizzy, so I decided to go back to my room. Maybe it’s not my style, studying together with many people. It was better for me to freshen up, take a shower, do my pray, get relaxed, and study by myself. I’m going to read for awhile, go to bed early and study more after Fajr pray. Oh, I really need the luck I can get.

Hope I can hit the 95% score tomorrow.

Shanghai trip preparation

The day before I went to Shanghai (Nov 15, 2008), I had to complete several personal things. I wasn’t able to do them because my boss was in Jakarta during the week and we had a guest speaker from Singapore. On Friday I went to Bandung for the lecture.

1. Cleaned up the house, don’t want thick dust when I arrive next month. Asked my house assistant to come by twice a week.
2. Exchanged the money to get USD and CNY.
3. Bought Chinese dictionary, in case I’m lost and need directions in Shanghai.
4. Printed information regarding muslim restaurant and prayer times in Shanghai
5. Took some stuffs at my sister’s place: clothes and make up.
6. Discussed family matters with my sister, things to do while I’m away.

So much to do, so little time. Not to mention that I still need to study. I’m going to miss my niece and my little nephew. I asked my sister to call me once or twice a week using her cell number because it’s cheaper than me calling her. Her cell phone operator has a special code for international call so it will get lower rate.

I searched the internet to find Shanghai weather information. I must prepare for cold weather.

Here are the stuffs I bring for this trip:
1. Clothes: I only bring 6 blouses with matching hijab, 4 trousers, 2 t-shirts and shorts, 4 long sleeve shirts, 2 training pants
2. Shoes: one pair of work out shoes, one pair of pumps
3. Make up: foundation, sunblock cream, powder, eye shadows, lipstick, mascara, cleansing milk, facial soap, night cream, eye cream, eye make up remover, face tonic.
4. Toiletries: body shower gel, body lotion, hair tonic.
5. Medicines and vitamins: for cold and stomach problem, Tahitian Noni Juice
6. Instant food: noodles and porridge, in case I’m bored with the local food or to save some money.
7. All kinds of charger for my cell phones and camera.
8. Al-Qur’an
9. Study materials
10. Laptop

The airline allows only 20 kg of baggage, so I weighed my luggage, it was 18kg something. The lady in the check-in counter said they still allow up to 25 kg.
I didn’t have the chance to study today. Decided to go to sleep early (11.30 PM was not early, lol)

My travel updates

It's been awhile since I posted my travel journal. I have some more stories about my previous trips but I haven't got a chance to write it.

My next trip will begin soon. With my new work, I believe I'd be traveling frequently again.
Next week, November 16, 2008, I'll fly to Shanghai and stay there for one month for Laparoscopy training. I'm gonna study hard and pass with flying color, but I'm also gonna enjoy my time there.

Stay tune, guys.

Shanghai, I'm coming!