Onboard the China Eastern plane:
My first time taking a night flight and it was so cool to be able to star gaze from the window. It’s like a universe out there! Totally STAR-STRUCKED! Luckily, Huiyi and I got a window seat and we need not suffer the inconvenience of those cramped middle seats. Had our breakfast 15 minutes after we boarded the plane. It was my first time having breakfast at 1:15am! The food was alright but their serving was big… Eggs, sausages, fruits, bread, yogurt all at one go. We were quite stunned by how fast the other passengers (whom I shall not name) gobbled down their food.
Arrival in Shanghai:
Reached the airport at around 6am. The moment we alighted from the plane we were trembling like hell. From Singapore 28 degree Celsius to -4 degree Celsius, we braved through the custom and arrival hall before changing into our winter clothing. Well, the day of arrival was spent aimlessly waiting at the GIP office for the rest of the GIP participants who had their flights delayed. From 9am we waited till 1pm before the agent sent us to our apartments.
For my group, we were the most unlucky ones. Initially we approached the 1st housing agent recommended by NTU yet they took a very long time to respond to our emails and only replied after we sent a series of emails. Despite us rushing them for more choices of housing, they had failed to reply us and had left us hanging there. Even till now, we received no acknowledgements from them that they are unable to find us an accommodation. Should we continue to wait for their reply, we would have not been able to secure housing by now.
Hence, we turned to the other agent JS Bridges at the very last minute. Although eventually we did get an accommodation, it was not one of the better choices. On the Friday before our arrival in Shanghai, the agent did confirm with us an accommodation in Zhong Shan Gong Yu. However, it was after the confirmation that they backed out and told us that the landlord was not agreeable to renting it to us for half a year. The trust that we had in their professionalism had been thwarted as a result. But we were still glad they brought us around to seek out the housing they had on hand on the day of our arrival. In the end after viewing a total of 6 apartments in Wang Bang area, we managed to settle for a 3 room apartment with a common toilet at RMB 4800 per month. Although the location is way off our work place(requires a train ride of half an hour), the rent is really much cheaper than the RMB 6500 that we initially need to pay for the counterpart in Zhong Shan Gong Yu. This is a plus point. Furthermore, there’s around 5-6 households of NTU GIP students living in the wan bang area too so this makes future gatherings more accessible. What a blessing in disguise. =)
After settling down in the apartment, we were so busy unpacking, cleaning up and getting the internet connection done that we only had MAC for dinner at 10pm. All of us were deadbeat.
Right after dinner, we headed to the nearby super market (Metro) to get our basic necessities like pillow, bed sheets etc. The worst thing was that they didn’t provide any plastic bags for us to put our items when we have 2 trolleys full of items and we couldn’t push them back home. GG! We were left with no choice but to grab every item and walked for a journey of 10 minutes back home in the frigging cold weather. Despite wearing gloves, our fingers were so numb from carrying so many items that it seemed like they were going to drop off anytime. =X
It was tougher than the Ultimate Challenge because of the extreme coldness that barred us from progressing further. However, with sheer perseverance, we finally made it home! The string of unlucky events had not come to a standstill yet. To worsen our day, the heater in the living room wasn’t working. Instead of hot air, it was generating cold air and that affected our state of well-being. It was a struggle to bath as the bathroom heater could turn cold anytime. The whole episode lasted till 3am and we did not have a good sleep at all due to our inability to adapt to the cold temperature. Huiyi and I were shivering all the way to sleep till the following morning.
What an unforgettable 1st day I had on my adventure! =X
Forgot what we did but we spent almost the whole afternoon waiting for the agent and repairmen to come. Remembered combining lunch and dinner together and we had our first proper meal at Nanjing Dong Lu. Went to a shanghainese restaurant but the food totally cannot make it! Only the xiao long bao was alright. The fried rice that I ordered was very oily and salty. We were kind of disappointed with the first meal we had. Went on to shop around the vicinity and the guys brought themselves scarf and jacket while we girls just window-shopped. Had a try of shaved ice cream (like the ones sold in Can 2) in the chilly weather.
The living room
