Shen Zhen

Just an update: the sick student is still feeling sick and has been sleeping pretty much the whole weekend. I didn't think it was a good idea. I thought it'd be better for her to be active so that she could properly digest all that greasy food. Bleck!

Today I went to Shen Zhen with my Aunt #2. We met up with her coworker Jacky who lives in Shen Zhen, apparently loves Siu Long Bao and taking pictures of everything so I also took pictures of everything. This is a very picture heavy post! I really should have stayed the night in Shen Zhen because Aunt wants to take me to more places but since I have to meet with Cousin Louis tomorrow (and he's going on some business trips soon so there's no other time) I couldn't. But we've decided that I will go back next Sunday for some real shopping and massages and Aunt is going to get more of her coworkers to come because it's more fun to eat with more people. Her coworkers are really nice!

I had mentioned that I wanted to go to the Fairy Botanical Garden because it was one of those things listed on the tourist place that seemed interesting. I didn't want to go to that place with the miniature Eiffel Tower and stuff. I also wanted to shop but...it didn't really turn out that way. It was a really hot day so the time we spend at Fairy already depleted a lot of our energy and hydration.

So, the tale begins with yum cha! After passing through the border, we went one stop on the MTR and there was a restaurant at the top that we went to. They asked us what sort of tea we wanted to drink and I went with the typical Puerh tea. Then she asked if which type. Huh? Apparently, the basic type is 18RMB per person. It goes up to like 30RMB per person! Aunt chose the middle one which apparently was 23RMB. The basic tea would consist of a regular teapot and we pour ourselves. This middle-type gave us tea service! They steeped the tea for us on this side table and would come frequently to fill our cups. There really is a difference between basic and better Puerh. 

Jacky and Aunt ordered some dim sum. Apparently this restaurant was known for its chicken feet with abalone sauce. I could see why.

I learned something new. Sometimes, people put vases on your table. Apparently this signifies that you've already paid. Smart! Before we left, I went to the washroom. This is what I saw.

It also does this:

People probably wondered what I was doing in the stall so long. The doors were a little translucent so you could actually see the movement.

After yum cha, we went to Fairy Lake Botanical Garden. This was the only place I requested to go because I saw it in a traveler's guide. The garden is inside this mountain area with an entrance fee of 20RMB. We took the bus up to the top which was a buddhist temple and I asked to look around so that I could take pictures for mom.

People were throwing coins and trying to get it into the different levels. Aunt tried a few times then gave up and made the easy shot into the bottom. I threw too hard the first time and some kid picked up my coin so I picked up someone else's. I made it into the middle level!

This is the standard washroom in most places in Shen Zhen. Not the other one.

Long An Trees! (No long an found)

Umbrella Tree

Giant spider! I also saw an orange centipede but I ran away.

Lots of this in China. Fancy umbrellas and high heels. You can't really tell but that umbrella is iridescent.

Poppin' a squat on a rock...china.

This tree was planted by Deng Xiao Peng.

After that, Jacky and Aunt were quite tired and the heat was getting to all of us. So we went to another plaza and stayed there. We had some shaved ice.

There was an anime convention happening.

Yes. It's a wig shop! There's even a hairdresser!

Afterwards, Jacky said we should have dinner at this Shanghainese restaurant in the plaza but since we were just going to hang around and walk and stuff, he was going to go home and shower and nap. So Aunt and I went to walk around the mall. Nice mall, pretty clothes, not my size. We spent a couple of hours at this place on the lower level that was pretty much Walmart. I picked up some souvenirs (because it's seriously cheaper over there) but I won't post pictures of those because that will ruin the surprise.

Some "only in Asia" sights:

It's the Monkey King!

Instant medicine dispenser

Cute drying cloth

Pretty umbrellas

Free lockers!

Phones for the elderly. Heh...big buttons.

Phones for kids. They don't even have enough buttons to dial out, just the numbers preset in the A, B, C, or D button.

Cool humidifiers

More humidifiers. Then I was told that I wasn't allowed to take pictures.

 Aunt insisted that I take these home to Canada.

From left to right: Italian Red Meat, Cheese Lobster, Fried Prawn, Texas Grilled BBQ

So then we went for dinner. I was pretty starving by that point so I was glad for the early dinner. Jacky likes taking pictures of everything so I felt comfortable doing the same.

The wet nap. It was on the table. I caught on the receipt that they actually listed that we had 3 wet naps and 1 dry nap. We asked about the dry nap since we didn't get one. They subtracted 1 from the tally. Then we realized that they charged for it. We also realized too late that if you didn't use it, you could return it and not be charged. They cost 1 RMB each.

The most delicious looking pages in the menu. Yum.

Free dessert. Every table had a different watermelon carving.

After dinner, Aunt and I went to go get our stuff from the lockers and then we went home.

That's it for now!