Grand Central Hotel and Nanjing Road, Shanghai

Previously:

Turkish Airlines Lounge in Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok

We stayed at a hotel called Grand Central Hotel located in Jiujiang road which is one street behind the main pedestrian shopping street, Nanjing Road.  Location wise, it is superb.  Close to everything.  The hotel itself looks elegant and grand.  The room is so spacious and clean.  The service here is also satisfactory.  We totally enjoyed our stay there.

Upon passing a small alley opposite our hotel, we found ourselves on the brightest, busiest and most renowned road of Shanghai, none other than Nanjing Lu or Nanjing Road.  And from there it takes around 20 minutes' walk to The Bund.  Along the way, we can find mall after mall, shops, and plenty of restaurants.  This is the main shopping district of Shanghai.  At night, when the clock strikes 6, all lights around The Bund area turn on as well as buildings on the other side of the river.  It is so magical.  The town becomes so lively all of sudden. 

Before and after

The Bund

The Bund

Blueberry tanghulu - sugar coated fresh fruits

Beef skewers sprinkled with some spices CNY 35 (about AUD 7.50)

White Rabbit candy store on Nanjing Road

When I was young, this candy has always amused me.  I still remember the first time I tried this candy when my parent told me to eat that paper wrapper.  Not the outer part where it has the brand on it but the inner wrapper, the thin clear paper.  I was confused at first and though that they were just joking with me.  Once I tried that, it was melted in my mouth.  For an innocent little kid like me, I was so excited.  And this candy became very memorable to me.  

I am so glad to find the shop of China National candy and never have known that not only they have that original flavour candy which in white and where their name derived.  They have more than ten other flavours, like coffee, green tea, mango, durian, even wasabi flavour.  In here, you can also find many varieties of Shanghainese snacks and souvenirs.  One stop shop. 

If you are into collectible art toys or blind box toys, you will not miss this flagship Pop Mart store in Shanghai.  The 2-storey store is probably the biggest in the world.  This soft purplish pink colour building so catchy and can be seen from meters away.  However, inside the store was too overcrowded, made it so hard to browsing.  Me personally, prefer smaller stores in other area like the later one we found in Yu Garden.  Although, the other stores do not offer as extensive selections as the main store, I had a way easier time browsing and a total breeze to explore.  I didn't end up buying anything here, but I scored some great finds at the smaller stores.  All in all, it was still a pretty fun experience though.

 

Grand Central Hotel

505 Jiujiang Road, Huangpu, Shanghai

Pop Mart (Main store)

299 Nanjing East Road, Hongyi Plaza, Huangpu, Shanghai

Stay tuned for the next blog still in Shanghai:

Hefu Noodle in Hongyi Plaza, Shanghai

Premium Boat Noodles at Thong Smith

Previously:

The House Lounge by Aspire, Sydney International Airport

The iconic Sawasdee Ronald McDonald

Back last year, when we were in Thailand, we had this grand noodle boat from Thong Smith restaurant.  We fell in love right away with their rich and thick broth as well as the use of premium quality meat.  Although for a bowl of beef noodle boat in Thongs Smith, it could cost $7 while usually out there is only half the price.  And the price for wagyu noodle boat starts from 299 bath or around $14 per bowl.  

Okay, so it's not exactly cheap, but trust me, it's worth every cent!! Normally, when I have a noodle boat, I need to add the four-elements seasoning to balance the broth flavour like sugar, chilli, vinegar, and fish sauce.  But with Thong Smith's noodle boat, I don't have to add anything in.  The taste is already that great, it's spot on. 

I recommend ordering some crispy pork lard as well.  This tiny golden pork fat will lift up your dish to a heavenly level.  If beef is not your thing, not to worry, they also serve pork noodle that comes in dry or soup.   

Sliced Australian wagyu, beef ball, braised shank and tendon 329 THB / AUD 15

Crispy pork lard

Braised shank 89 THB & tendon 89 THB

My next favourite dish here is hands down to this deep-fried wonton.  They were not oily at all, yet it comes with generous amount of meat filling.  They went well together with plum dipping sauce.

Some fruity soda drink to wash down the piquancy from the pork blood

Thong Smith Mega Bangna

Open 7 days a week from 10 am - 10 pm

There are many other branches across Bangkok such as in Central Embassy, Siam Paragon, Terminal 21, Central World and a few more.

Stay tuned for the next blog, we went to Shanghai over the New Year:

Turkish Airlines Lounge in Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok

Turkish Airlines Lounge in Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok

Previously:

Premium Boat Noodles at Thong Smith

When you have a Priority Pass membership, of course you want to maximise it, don't you?  Here we're again, enjoying airport lounge benefits before our flight to Shanghai departed.  We randomly picked this Turkish Airlines lounge near gate D in Suvarnabhumi International Airport.  I was delightfully surprised with their food choices though.  I like the fact that they serve traditional Turkish coffee accompanied with some baklava, an authentic Turkish pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with lots of sugar syrup and honey.  It is sweetened my day. 

Spending time in an airport lounge, it makes our waiting time just flies, especially with a glass or two of good cocktail drinks on your hand or each hand.

So ready with our flight to Shanghai which takes approximately four and half hour.  See you all in my next blog where we explored one of the massive cities in China, pack with people and good food.

Noodle with fish - food from China Eastern Airline was surprisingly good

Fried chicken and rice

Turkish Airlines Star Alliance Gold Lounge

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport Concourse D

Stay tuned for the next blog in Shanghai:

Grand Central Hotel and Nanjing Road, Shanghai

Hawkesbury River Oyster Shed in Mooney Mooney and Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary

Lovely day, lovely breeze, perfect excuse to ditch the couch and have some awesome outdoor adventurous.  One weekend when weather forecast said it would be a fantastic day to engage in outdoor activities and soak up the natural beauty around us, we used this chance to do a short-day trip to Mooney Mooney and nearby. 

A brief stop at Beecroft to fuel our tummy with some delicious coffee early in the morning.  To be honest, we've never been to Beecroft before and we randomly entered a coffee shop right at the entrance of Beecroft Place Shopping mall (sorry, can't remember the name was). As this is not our main purpose visiting this suburb, so we didn't wander around too long.  But I noticed that there are many interesting shops and restaurants in this suburb and I'll definitely make our way here again soon.  

Taro latte and lemon tart

Our second stop for the day was this oyster farm along Hawkesbury River.  There are a few oyster farms in the area but we landed in this Hawkesbury River Oyster Shed.  We picked this place purely from Google review.  Once we tried their fresh oyster, we definitely agree with the reviewers.  

There is an open dining space area facing the water.  Their seafood is super super fresh.  Pricing wise is pretty reasonable.  We got ourselves half dozen each, Sydney Rocks $22 for half dozen and Pacific oysters $25 for half dozen.  They were too good until we need to get more of those oysters and we went for something fancy which was oyster cooked in truffle butter.  Although, truffle butter added flavour into the oyster.  I, to be honest still prefer my oyster when they are raw with bouncy texture and simply added a dash of lemon on top. 

 

Lucky, we came early, because right after we left, I saw more cars coming in and lots of them cannot find a car park.  

From fresh superlicious oyster, we then moved on to a small zoo in Central Coast region, named Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary.  This place is quite tiny compared to other zoos, however, my kids had their best time here.  They can get very close to some animals like kangaroos, wallabies, and even pat a koala and rabbits because in here they let those animals freely roaming around in the open area.

Adult price is $38 and $22 for a kid, I suggest you purchase ticket online as the price is cheaper through online. 

Hawkesbury River Oyster Shed

6 Kowan Street, Mooney Mooney

Ph: 0423 285 867

Open: Thursday - Sunday 10am - 4pm

Walkabout Wildlife Sanctuary

1 Darkinjung Road, Calga

Ph: 02 4375 1100

Open: Everyday from 9:30am - 5pm