Month: August 2018

It’s taken over a year but I finally found a location in Shanghai where you can buy goods – – clothing, shoes, sun or prescription glasses, electronics, handbags, luggage…you name it – – on the cheap. And when I say cheap, I mean “Maui Jim’s” sunglasses for $25, sports jerseys for $20, and the off-brand version of Apple’s ear buds for $15…but you need to bargain good for that last deal.

There’s likely a number of similar locations around Shanghai to this one I went to, but I’m not sure if any would be more convenient. This market is located at the Shanghai Science and Technology museum which happens to be a subway stop for Line 2. If you remember from a previous post, Line 2 is the one that you can take between the two airports, Pudong (PVG) and Hongqiao (SHA). This stop is much closer to the Pudong airport, though you’ll have to cross the “platform of death” and transfer to the other line 2 or take the maglev and transfer to line 2. In any event, once you exit this subway station you’ll be right in the middle of the market!

I didn’t buy too much on this visit but did get a number of ideas for future purchases and gifts, so I’m most likely going to be visiting again soon when I have more time to spend there, especially since the idea of a custom fit, tailored suit with my choice of cloth sounds just like something I need! Just need to arm myself to battle all the shopkeepers who will do their best to lure you into their stores! Trust me, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

This maze of a market is tough to navigate as all these shops look the same and sell many of the same items. Difficult to find your way around and remember which stores you liked or need to return to and pick up some customized goods does add some air of mystery and makes this place that much more fun! Fortunately there is a little relief in sight: each store is labeled with an area marker and a stall number. All the shops are more than willing to give you their 名片 – – business/name card – – to help you find your way back. Personally I don’t like holding onto businesses cards and would rather just snap photos of them and/or the store front, that way I always have them with me as they will be on my cell phone. And in fact, a few of the places I visited on this trip can be found at the bottom of this post!

A lot of the staff members in these shops spoke really good English. In fact, some of the best English I’ve heard since moving to China has been here. All the places I went to accept USD instead of just RMB for currency and the going exchange rate was spot on and didn’t include any additional markup. Just be sure that you know the exchange rate just in case you do find someone less than scrupulous. (The shops also take AliPay or WeChat if you can pay using your phone.)

Whether the goods sold here are authentic and same quality you’d find at normal retail stores is something I’m not sure of, so if that is important to you (it’s not that important to me…) be sure to know your stuff and examine everything carefully. The Jimmy Choo leather wallet I was eying looked like the real thing until I opened it up and saw it had a “Made In Italy” label affixed to its inside. Why a designer leather wallet supposedly made in Europe was being sold at a steep discount in a Chinese market… Doesn’t add up! It was a nice looking wallet, however!

WEI Optical had great prices on eyeglasses and sunglasses for men and women. If you’re in the market and have your prescription ready, they can make your single vision glasses in 20 minutes – – or so their sign says. Lots of choices for frames of all styles, both men’s and women’s. The staff was really friendly and willing to help. If you’re in the need for prescription glasses, bring that prescription with you to China and get your new pair for less than $30! Heck, get seven pairs and wear a different one each day of the week!

Jim Store has an interesting selection of electronics, cell phone covers/cases, and Yetti cups – – or at least I think that’s what they are called. I bought something here that’s similar to an Apple TV or Roku that’ll supposedly let me watch TV from all around the world without a subscription. If it works as advertised I’ll be sure to write up a blog post about that! Something else rather interesting this place sold was mini wifi-enabled projectors. Think of this as a way to watch movies or other content streamed from your TV to any wall, indoors or out!

Above and below are examples of 名片 (business/name card) that shops often give out.

That’s about all I have to say on this topic for now. Do look for a follow-up post at sometime in the future with hopefully a lot more pictures and store write-ups!

Coron is a beautiful place with lots of water, tree covered hills, and very friendly people. Scuba diving is the main reason for tourists to go there as there’s not much of a beach scene to be had, at least not in the downtown proper; you could take a boat ride out to some secluded beaches if so desired.

The town is rustic quaint. Don’t expect much in the way of luxury but do expect friendly and fantastic hospitality. The food, whether it was western dishes or local Filipino fare was beyond comparison and tasted extremely fresh.

Getting around Coron is easy: Just flag down a “tricycle” (a motorcycle with a seating contraption built on to it to carry passengers) and pay 15 Pisos (just under $0.30 USD) to go anywhere. (Technically you pay when you get off so do verify when you get on the cost for the trip.) The one bad thing about the tricycle is that they do let out a lot of fumes, so during rush hour the cramped streets are not so lung-friendly to be on.

Coron became a diving destination for a number of reasons. Chiefly the warm water and sunken ships from the WWII era makes for a great combination. My friends and I booked a boat, dive instructors (for those in our group like me who never went diving before), and dive guides through Fun & Sun Dive & Travel. What a fantastic outfit that place is! Bea was our first time dive instructor and taught three n00bs how to do everything safely and in a manner which I’m unlikely to forget. If you’ve never been diving before and want to try, book some time with her!

I was able to get two dives under my belt the first day and sadly none for the second. But I did enjoy a lot of time swimming and relaxing in the sunshine, breathing clean air. CLEAN AIR! Such a treat from what I’m now used to in China.

We stayed at the Two Seasons Resort, affectionately referred to by the staff as the younger brother of the Four Seasons, was a very nice place. It featured an infinity swimming pool overlooking the water, a nice restaurant where breakfast was provided free everyday, well appointed guest rooms, and extremely friendly staff who spoke both official languages of the Philippines: Tagalog and English. The hotel also provides transportation to and from the airport (at a small cost), which is a nice touch. Best yet, as my flight leaving USU at 8:15am and the restaurant would not be open for breakfast before I had to depart for the airport, they provided a “packed breakfast” of my choosing! Omlettes, pancakes, waffles, some Filipino food, or a fruit platter were all options along with coffee, tea, and fruit juices. Very nice touch!

In short I would definitely come back to Coron for another diving trip, but likely not until I’m dive certified as it will mean I can go deeper in the water, for longer periods of time, and get to see more of the interesting sunken ships, coral reefs, and sea creatures. However, if I head back to the Philippines for another small holiday, I think it’ll be to Cebu as apparently one can go swimming with the gentle giants of the sea — the whale sharks!

The high-speed trains in China are amazing for how many kilometers they cover (25,000km or 16,000mi), how often they run, how fast they travel (300kmph, 185mph), and how inexpensive they are to take (Suzhou to Shanghai is 100km/60mi apart and cost is just under $7).

Unlike the JR lines in Japan, which will apologize profusely if a train leaves a station 20 seconds early, the China ones don’t really seem to care about being punctual. Sure, most the time you’ll leave the station near/at the posted time of departure but lately, two out of my last three trips, they’ve been late.

Today my train is late in arriving at my departure station. I found out about the delay while looking at the big departure board in the main hall.

The board has some English on it to tell you the departure gate (technically 检票口, or “ticket check entrance”) and departure time (开点) which is very helpful. However, when your train is delayed the only information provided is in Chinese… And the text scrolls!

Scrolling text is such a bad design in so many ways. It is difficult to read and nearly impossible to translate if the text is in a language you aren’t very familiar with. Heck, the marquee tag was even removed from the HTML standards a number of years ago along with the blink tag.

It took me a while but I was finally able to write out the Chinese characters that were scrolling on the departure board to determine my train was in fact delayed: 晚点12分钟. A twelve minute delay isn’t too bad, but it is annoying when trains depart Suzhou for Shanghai every ten minutes and you just chose wrong!