SZ-HK Day 2: Lao Jie Shopping & Seafood (SZ)

I didn't sleep well last night as Girlee kept tossing and turning in her sleep. I guess she's probably not very used to the new environment yet. So since we're up earlier, we decided to head downstairs to the 2nd floor for our Dim Sum breakfast.

Breakfast at our hotel's restaurant

There are generally no baby chairs in China, only propped-up stools that they attach to the regular chairs (as seen in above picture top left). Thankfully Girlee is old enough to sit on it pretty well. We usually feed her porridge and Char Siew Bao (barbeque pork buns) without the meat in the mornings for breakfast.

We also brought our own coffee (above picture bottom left) as the coffee in China is generally not suited to our taste. If you're a die-hard coffee fanatic, it's better to bring your own coffee from Singapore (alternatively there's always the more expensive option of Starbucks right around the corner).

A breakfast at the hotel, which includes the above plus Siew Mai (pork dumplings), Har Kau (prawn pastry) and many other dishes, costs only 70-140RMB (S$14-28) depending on the amount you order. You will never get dim sum at this price in Singapore! Plus the incredients are much fresher and the taste more authentic. My mum-in-law and brother-in-law were blown away by how cheap and good the dim sum was. And this is only the beginning of more good food to come! =)

After breakfast, we bathe Girlee in the sink of the toilet in our room.

Bathing baby girl in the sink

She used to hate bathing in the sink but she has since gotten used to it.

Then it was shopping time!

Shopping at Dong Men Shenzhen

There are many kinds of shopping that you could do here. There's the more upper-middle class shopping at the Sun Plaza and also the dirt-cheap wholesale shopping at Bai Ma Wholesale Center just round the corner. There're so many shops here you might even get lost if you don't know the place well.

Here are some of my top shopping tips when buying stuff in Shenzhen:
1) Always bargain! (unless there's a price tag, which then means that the price is fixed)
2) Always bargain at least half of the asking price.
3) Don't believe them when they say they don't make a profit (cos they will not even sell it to you if they don't)
4) When all else fails, just walk away. If they call you back, you buy. If they don't, then perhaps the price you set is really too low. Then at least you know what price to negotiate with the next seller.

I learnt this from the Master Bargainer, my very own dad. He can even bargain one fifth of the initial asking price! Something which I myself have yet to master! Haha.

At the supermarket with bags and bags of shopping

Wondering what we bought? Here are my top must-buys when you're shopping at Shenzhen:
1) Undergarments and socks (bought in bulk)
2) Crocs-inspired footwear (only S$5-6 a pair for adults and S$3 a pair for kids)
3) iPhone/iPad accessories (i.e. screen protector = S$2, cover = S$6, etc)

All really cheap and good quality stuff. Trust me. I know a good buy when I see it =)

There's even a store that sold everything at 2RMB! Yes, RMB. One item is only S$0.40.

Hairclip for Girlee from the 2 RMB Store

So we got this hairclip for baby girl at just 2RMB for two! My mum-in-law was literally in heaven *laughs*

We paused our shopping spree with a stop at Li Wan Restaurant for lunch.

Favourite Wanton Noodle Restaurant ever!

My dad brought us here for the first time in 2007 and we were hooked! Their Wanton Noodles is the best and only cost 20RMB (S$4) for a set with a drink. Order the Yuan Yang (coffee mixed with tea) as it's my favourite. My mum-in-law on the other hand prefers their Milk Tea. Yummy =)

We continued our shopping spree and then had dinner at our hotel (the same place that we had our breakfast).

Dinner with 'big fish and big meat'

The hubby ordered Peking Duck (as seen in above picture) which costs only 48RMB (S$10)! They wrapped it for us and I love the taste! A dinner of 'big fish and big meat' (direct translation from the Chinese phrase) as seen above only costs approximately 300RMB (S$60)! Every seafood dish is freshly caught from their tanks (they were alive just minutes before they were served!) and the taste is just fantastic. You can't even get seafood at this price in Singapore, let alone fresh seafood!

You can now begin to see why we love Shenzhen can't you? *laughs*


Continue to >> SZ-HK Day 3: Peak, Mong Kok & Symphony of Lights (HK)
<< Back to SZ-HK Day 1: Departure to Shenzhen China

~~~~~~

Check out our full list of kid-friendly attractions in Hong Kong

OR

Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Hong Kong & Shen Zhen, China 

as well as other travel itineraries!

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)