Shanghai Babymoon!

Last December, we were supposed to go on a family trip for my parents 36th wedding anniversary but since I was only 10 weeks pregnant then, my doctor did not allow me to go and advised us to rebook our tickets until I reached my 5th or 6th month.

So just before I reached my 25th week, Vince and I went on a "babymoon" on my birthday weekend! It was going to be our last out-of-the-country trip before Vivienne comes. Promised my doctor I was going to listen to my body and do everything in moderation. Being pregnant while traveling had its perks: special treatment in the airport, seat accommodations, etc! I decided to take advantage of all the benefits since this would probably be the first and last time anyway.

We had a stop over in Hong Kong and the first order of business was to eat roast goose and pork! And we did just that...
  

Brekkie at the HKG airport!

In Shanghai, we stayed at Diamond Court, my Tito Noel's serviced apartment in the Pudong area which was about 20-30 minutes away from the metro. Too bad he wasn't there during our stay but he made it so comfortable for us - airport pick up service, room accommodation, instructional guides, etc! One of Vince's batch mates from La Salle Greenhills, Cholo Neri, also made time to take us around and be our official photog! You'll see him a little later. :)

From the very start, I knew it wasn't going to be a shopping trip, but an eating trip! So for our very first meal, we ate in Quanjude at the Purple Mountain Hotel, a world-renowned peking duck restaurant! Aside from half a duck, we had hot and sour soup, sauteed veggies and crabs with radish. We highly recommend this restaurant for their quality and price! :)

Crablets with radish. The sauce was soooo good!

Half a duck all to ourselves!

The next day we went to Xintiandi, an area for shopping, eating and entertainment! We had lunch at Din Tai Fung, where we also spotted NBA retiree,Yao Ming. The xiao long bao's did not disappoint! We had it with porkchop over rice and sauteed spinach :)

freshly steamed pork xiao long bao's

Yao Ming at Din Tai Fung

After lunch, we walked around Huaihai Road and shopped at H&M and Sephora! Across the street we found Happy Lemon and got a cup of hot chocolate which was perfect for the cold weather. By about 5pm, my preggy body was too tired so we decided to head back to Diamond Court.

After my afternoon nap, we got ready to have dinner at The Lost Heaven which was highly recommended to us by contacts from Shanghai :) Lost Heaven was a nice resto with enchanting decors and delicious Yunnan Cuisine. My fave dishes from this meal include the Yunnan Wild Vegetable Cakes and the Yi-tribe Stir-fry Spicy Beef.

Vegetable Cakes and Prawns

Dali-style Chicken with Chives and Yi-tribe stir fry Spicy Beef

 After dinner, we went to the lounge of Lost Heaven on the 3rd floor with our friend Cholo. We didn't feel like we were in China at all! He also took us to another bar, Barbarossa which was situated in the middle of a lake in a park! It was so beautiful!

At Lost Heaven's cozy lounge!

Barbarossa

 

On our last full day, we started with lunch at One Dragon - a Japanese-Korean restaurant in Diamond Court. Food was good but nothing spectacular. We have way better Jap-Korean restos in Manila with have the price! After lunch, we did a bit more shopping and sight seeing in the city: Science and Technology Museum which had a tiangge of some sort in the basement and Metro which is like their version of S&R. Before dinner, we headed to one of Shanghai's historical sights, the Yuyuan Garden. This extensive garden existed since 1559 during the Ming Dynasty. Today, it remains as a tourist spot with the old traditional ponds, and "Halls" in rockeries. Around it are commercial stores, restaurants and cafes.

Yuyuan Garden

After Yuyuan Garden, we took a stroll along The Bund - which so reminded me of Europe.. The lights, architecture, skyline.. It was so pretty! After taking a few pics, Cholo took us to Dong Bei, a hole-in-the-wall resto which served Manchurian cuisine. We had chicken, veggies and a different kind of sweet and sour pork! :) We always had happy tummy's! :) The guys had a few drinks after at another bar which reminded me of Draft at the Fort then Cholo showed us his apartment. Later on it was time to go to pack our things and to get our must needed rest for next day's travel.

Shanghai's Skyline with the TV Tower and the 2nd tallest building in the world, Shanghai World Financial Center

The Bund

Overall, we had a very relaxing trip! Only problem about traveling to this place while pregnant is cigarette smoking everywhere.. but other than that, I truly enjoyed Shanghai's cold weather (from 1-7 degrees!!!), food, sights and maybe even their crazy taxi drivers... Thanks to Daddy and Mommy dearest for making it happen. :)