Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Look What I Got ...

... in Miranda's Giveaway! A set of five blank cards, a skein of LadyShuttleMaker's "Pear Glace" HDT in size 50, another skein of Yarnplayer's "Leafy" HDT in size 40, a gift certificate to Handy Hands and a 2 1/2 inch David Reed Smith's post-shuttle in East Indian rosewood!!
Miranda also included a box of these cinnamon-favoured state cookies of New Mexico! Thank you, Miranda!! Received them just before I went on my trip ...

... to Shanghai! I have been to China only once, to Kunming in Yunnan, almost 10 years back. Although I would prefer Yunnan to Shanghai for the colorful ethnic minorities, Shanghai, as the largest centre of commerce and finance in China, boosts a rich collection of buildings and structures of various architectural styles. The Oriental Pearl Tower (468 m tall, supported by three enormous columns that start underground) was the most unique building. There is also a roller-coaster inside, a short ride though!

The outdoor observation deck at 259 m high, built in May 2009, with a glass floor drew much excitment from every visitors, and of course, a number of legs also went jelly (my DH's too)!
Yuyuan, where the City God Temple is located, is the best place to go in our opinion, we went there 3 times over separate days! Can you believe that?

In the Metro station, on the platform, waiting for the train.

On one of the streets, there were lots of tourists and locals alike

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Part of the Yuyuan Garden.

Here's where you can find a lot of things - food, crafts and souvenirs.

冰糖葫芦 - China's traditional candid fruits on a stick.

Here we were having 蟹黄灌汤包 (king-size crab roe soup bun) at this original 南翔馒头店 (Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant) inYuyuan.

And there is a branch of this famous restaurant in Singapore; we coincidently sat right in front of this banner! And guess what, I also coincidently found the restaurant without searching for it when I'm back in Singapore, and my verdict is that the food here (the branch in City Square Mall) is even much better than that in Shanghai itself, in term of quality and taste! The other 2 branches are in Bugis Junction and Plaza Singapura, if anyone wants to check them out.


And of course, we couldn't miss the acrobat performance. We did have a hard time finding the place on our own.


Couldn't get much of my craft works done in the past week as I was too tired from all the walking. I brought along my shuttles and threads to Shanghai, but I didn't even have time to take them out until the last hour when we waited at the airport for our flight back. I finished these "E is for Elephant" ATCs just before I went off. Hope to be able to get back to my crafting mood soon, in between the renovation of my new house.
The fabric Zodiac Sign ATCs started coming in: Saggitariuis from Pauline Mackenzie (Australia), Leo from Norma Riehm (USA), Taurus from Jan Ziebol (USA). Also a "Lace" ATC from Elizabeth Peters (Australia) on the bottom right. Thank you, gals!!!

7 comments:

BSOTF said...

Singtatter,
Thankyou very much for sharing your lovely pictures with all of us. I love seeing buildings in other counties & places. I can see why so many including your husband's knees getting jelly ( mine would be too more than likely) Congrats on the winnings! You will make lovely use of them. I couldn't see your "E" letters for elephant. But you know those letters & cards can be used to teach little ones their letters & other things too. I do enjoy your blog alot. Have a wonderful day!
Blessings,
bostf

Sumire Craft - すみれ手芸 said...

Congrats...lucky winner of the giveaway.
You must hv enjoyed yr holiday in China too.

Suztats said...

You won! Yay! What a great giveaway--I am drooling over that HDT! Love your Elephants and your ATC's.

Valerie said...

hey ellen, it's good to see your ATCs, as usual. wish i knew how to make some. do u know someone who would teach me how?

your shanghai trip bought back fond memories of my own trip, some 9 yrs back. wow, the places look much the same! and the wonderful food... beng hai looks as youthful as i remember him. send him my regds.

Singtatter said...

Hi BSOTF, I think you could try clicking on the right button of your mouse to "Show Picture" for those photos not showing up. Just don't understand why the photos don't show up occassionally :( Hope to complete a set of the alphabets, but that will still take a few more months!

Hello Angeline, I can't say it was exactly an enjoyable one, nothing really interesting, really like Singapore, tall buildings everywhere. But it was an experience, going around on our own.

Thanks, Suz, Val!

Val, if you are interested in ATCs, do drop by Bishan Library. We'll always meet at the Activity Room on the 2nd floor every 2nd Thu of the month, from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. There will be an art activity in the first part of the night, introducing some techniques which we could use on the cards, though the group are working on paper usually. We'll trade in the second part of the night, though some just come in as observers.

We may look the same, but white hairs are showing up more:)

Valerie said...

ellen, the idea sounds cool. i would love to pop by to see what's going on @ bishan if i can get off work on time. when's the next meeting?

Singtatter said...

The next ATC session is on 9 Dec (Thu). People will start gathering at 6.30 pm, but I'll usually reach only around 6.45 to 7pm, as it is about 40 min MRT journey from Redhill to Bishan. Anyone can come in any time throughout the session until 8.30 pm.

I'm usually there with 1 or both my girls. Hope you can join us!