We got into Zhu Hai via a ferry ride from Hong Kong. The ferry ride took us approximately an hour and 10 minutes. We arrived at Jiu Zhou Ferry Terminal and this was when our new adventure began. Once we stepped out of the airport, hordes of touts would clamour to give us a taxi ride. We ignored them and went to queue for the licensed taxis. They were actually in fact, cheaper than the private taxis. And yes, taxi rides are much cheaper in Zhu Hai as compared to Hong Kong!
The taxi driver struggled a bit with understanding our Singaporean Chinese accent but thankfully I had print screened the Google map location of our hotel. Within 10 minutes, we were whisked to our hotel. We stayed at Leisure Hotel which is located in a quiet neighbourhood and directly opposite a modern shopping mall.
The hotel room was clean, had ample walking space and provided hot water when showering. There was free wifi in the room but the connection was really slow. But thanks to my awesome friend who shared with me her VPN Express app, I was able to get a faster surfing speed and also log into facebook. More details about the app here.
We decided to spend our afternoon checking out the shopping mall opposite our hotel. Called Yang Ming Plaza Phase 2, the mall boasts of both international brands such as Sephora, H&M and local Chinese brands. The thing about shopping in an international shopping mall in Zhu Hai is, the prices are equivalent to what you get in Singapore or even more expensive. So there's hardly any thrill from shopping at such places. I personally get a better kick from the shopping at Lotus Street or at the underground mall.
For dinner, we headed to the Wan Zai Seafood Street for fresh seafood. They have a very interesting way of selling. On my left, were the stalls selling the fresh seafood, and on my right the restaurants. After bargaining hard for what you wanted, you will have to pay the stall owner for the seafood bought. After which, you will need to select a restaurant and once again, pay the cook to cook your fresh seafood. There will be a lot of haggling going on, from both the stall owners and the waiters, but that's just the whole fun of it.
M got really excited upon seeing all the exotic sea creatures. He said, "Lets whack everything." But Me, being the wet blanket, had to tell him that my appetite could only take so much of food. We ended up settling for the below.
From the top left hand corner - We had prawns, sea mantises (which was very difficult to eat), oysters, an entire eel and sea urchin cooked with fried rice.
After satisfying his belly, my man needed to satisfy his sore muscles. So off we went to get a massage for ourselves. We tried out Zhu Hai Guang Ao Health Club which was a 15 minutes walk from the seafood street. For a 2 hour body oil massage and foot reflexology, we paid SGD $33 per person. An extremely reasonable price, considering we not only had a 2 hour body massage, but also our own private room with a tv.
In case you need to show your taxi driver, here's the name card with the address of the Zhu Hai Guang Ao Health Club.
Day #2
After getting my beauty sleep, I finally woke up at the ungodly hour of 12 noon. We took a cab to the shopping street called Lotus Street or Lian Hua Lu.
We had to satisfy our bellies before embarking on our shopping mission. Lunch was at a steamboat placed that served Zhu Hai's famous pig stomach chicken soup. Oh my, it was my first time try pig stomach chicken soup and the soup was so addictive! I kept on drinking spoonful after spoonful.
After getting my beauty sleep, I finally woke up at the ungodly hour of 12 noon. We took a cab to the shopping street called Lotus Street or Lian Hua Lu.
We had to satisfy our bellies before embarking on our shopping mission. Lunch was at a steamboat placed that served Zhu Hai's famous pig stomach chicken soup. Oh my, it was my first time try pig stomach chicken soup and the soup was so addictive! I kept on drinking spoonful after spoonful.
Address of the Pig Stomach Chicken Soup restaurant near Lotus Street
Lotus Street in the day
Lotus Street sells clothing similar to Singapore's Far East Plaza and Bangkok's Platinum Mall.
Bargaining is a must here.
There were also a handful of manicure shops here. My man opted to polish both his finger and toe nails while I opted for a manicure. My manicure cost me about SGD $6.50 which included filing, cleaning and a painted coat of nail polish.
After shopping at Lotus Street, I accompanied the man for some sports shopping. My man enjoys looking at sports goods and I have to let him have his man time too. We shopped at China sports brands such as 361 and Li Ning. And when you make your man happy, he will happily walk with you to the next shopping mall.
Our shopping adventure continued and we walked to the famous Gong Bei Underground Mall. This mall is situated at the border of Macau and is a shopping heaven for the shopaholics. The mall is filled with two storeys of shops selling tons of stuff from woman's apparel to IT gadgets. I was amazed at the quality of the inspired bags and shoes. They looked so similar to real ones.
Dinner was at this famous Xiao Long Bao restaurant back at Lotus Street. The Xiao Long Baos here were huge and bigger than what I normally get back home. The skin was thicker and there was more meat and juice.
On the way back to our hotel, we met with a handful of part time drivers. These drivers droved without a meter and would charge you a flat fee. We hopped into one because it was extremely difficult to find a metered cab in the touristic area which we were in. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck with our taxi ride again. Halfway through the ride, the driver commented that our destination was actually further than what he had thought it to be. Hence, he sneakily raised our fee from 40 Yuan to 50 Yuan. As we were already in his cab, we had to willingly oblige.
Day #3
The sleepy head in me woke up at 12 noon again. By the time we headed out to eat our lunch, it was already close to 2pm. We had a Dim Sum lunch at Jin Yue Xuan Seafood and Hotpot Restaurant. Despite it being 2pm, the place was packed to the max and they had a lovely view of the sea for those who sat next to the window. The restaurant also had a very large aquarium of seafood and the sea creatures were huge!
After lunch, we headed to the Lover's Road and rented a double bicycle for cycling along the coast. The rental cost us 30 Yuan for one hour. The cycling was a good work out for the both of us and that made my man happy. It was quite romantic too cause you get to be next to your partner while enjoying the quiet sea coast while on your own private bicycle.
Panoramic view of Lover's Road. The buildings on the far left belong to Macau.
Dinner was at a hot pot restaurant called Huang Ji Huang Three Sauce Simmer Pot at Zhu Hai Shopping Mall. You pick the type of food you would like to eat and the waiter will do his magic and cook the food in-front of you.
From top right down in a clockwise fashion - The different stages of cooking the entire pot of food.
It being our last night, we wanted to end the night with a good massage. Our taxi driver brought us to Palm Springs Hotel. The place had a very luxurious feel and M felt like he was being treated like a King. We had our own private room with fruits being served to us and a TV to watch programmes while being massaged. The entire massage and spa building is 6 stories tall and they have other services such as facials and jacuzzis. It was a great way to end our holiday in Zhu Hai and both of us went back home with well massaged bodies.
Address of Palm Spring Hotel's Massage Centre
To sum it up, Zhu Hai was an eye opener. I ate seafood which I had never eaten before and for the first time, rode on a double bicycle along a Lover's Road. I'm glad that along with the help of M, I managed to experience new things during this holiday and more importantly, had the courage to be open to these new experiences.