Guangzhou-HK Day 3: Guangzhou Cultural Centre & Shangxiajiu Street

We had breakfast at Horizon Club before heading out to explore Guangzhou.

Littlest picking out her favourite cereal every morning

My breakfast

Eggs benedict from the ala carte menu

After breakfast, we took a Premium 6-seater DiDi (CN¥76) to Guangzhou Culture Centre 广州市文化馆, instead of the colleague's recommended Lingan Impression Park. My preferred attraction was located nearer to our hotel and entry was FREE for all visitors!

Took a photo with the beautifully decorated driveway while waiting for our DiDi

Guangzhou Culture Centre
(Address: No.288 Xinjiao Zhong Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong)

Beautifully reconstructed historical buildings 

Great backdrop for photos!

Manmade to resemble actual period architecture to preserve heritage

Exploring various art exhibitions on display

Exploring the pagoda

Incredible view of Guangzhou from the top of the pagoda

Bird's eye view of the park

Great spot for photos!

Exploring the culture of Guangzhou

Interactive screens and other heritage exhibits

We explored the rest of the park grounds after leaving the pagoda. 

My kids became the main characters of my photos! So pretty right! 😍

Enjoying the beauty of the fountain

Man-made rock structure that looked very similar to the real thing

Having an ice cream break!

The Eldest is only just realising that her mother can take really good photos of her!! 😅

There's a photo opportunity in every corner!

Lots of historical C-drama vibes!

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We had so much fun exploring the centre and definitely loved it more than Yu Yan in Shanghai, which was so small and crowded!

When it was time to leave, we took a premium 6-DiDi (CN¥100) to Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street 上下九步行街 for shopping.

In our luxury DiDi

Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street

It was time for lunch and Lim Kee Bing Sutt 康记冰室 on the 2nd floor of a commercial building caught his eye!

There were many restaurants, including a McDonald's, in this building

Taking the escalator up to Lim Kee Bing Sutt, a restaurant serving Hong Kong style food

My favourite Hong Kong milk tea and their signature toast

Ice bear in an iced lemon tea that doesn't melt!

Super yummy pork rice, fried bee hoon and pork belly!

We loved the food and wouldn't mind going back again! 😋 With satisfied stomachs, we continued with shopping along the streets.

Many shops along the pedestrian street

Buying tanghulu 糖葫芦, the Eldest's favourite!

The streets were super crowded by the time we decided to leave and we found it so difficult to get a DiDi! We had to walk to a less crowded road and wait for almost 30 minutes before we finally got a 6-seater DiDi (CN¥178) back to our hotel! Thank God!

We got back in time for our usual evening canapes!

The spread of cooked food

My choice of canapes that day

The Mum and Littlest wanted to rest in the hotel after canapes so the Hubby, two older kids and I headed to Canton Tower at night since it was just 10 minutes away by DiDi. We were hoping to catch the daily night show but we missed it.

Canton Tower at night

Bought bread from Holiland after trying the free bread that they were giving away at the entrance!

Since it was my Boy's birthday, we also brought him to eat his favourite ramen!

Konjiki Hototogisu

The Boy and his ramen

Unfortunately, while the Boy typically ranks ramen at A- or B-tier (with Ichiran at the S-tier, as in S for "super"! 😅), he ranked this tonkotsu ramen at the C-tier! The soup was really terrible and tasted nothing like tonkotsu!!! Maybe the restaurant in Tokyo was Michelin but this outlet certainly was not!! The Boy was so sad 😔

As we shopped around in Canton Tower Plaza, we spotted The King's Clay Sculptor, which sold all kinds of clay figurines!

The Boy wanted these clay figurines for his birthday!

They were part of a large collection of Plant vs. Zombies figurines!
There were so many to choose from!

We returned to our hotel to celebrate the Boy's birthday with a complimentary cake provided by Shangri-La Hotel!

Complimentary cake and rose

I brought my own candles and balloons! 😁

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I can't believe that my only son is 12 years old! How fast time flies! 

HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY MY DARLING BOY!

Continue to >> Guangzhou-Hong Kong Day 4: Canton Tower
<< Back to Guangzhou-Hong Kong Day 2: Guangdong Museum & Canton Tower Plaza

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on 

Guangzhou & Hong Kong, China as well as other travel itineraries!

Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!

Guangzhou-HK Day 2: Guangdong Museum & Canton Tower Plaza

We woke up and headed to the Horizon Club for our breakfast.

View of the river in the morning

There wasn't a table big enough for our family so we had to split up;
the Littlest and I took the table by the window.

Bread and hot food

Fruits

Interesting honey dispenser and juicer for fresh orange juice every morning!

My choice of breakfast, which included beef noodles and omelette from the ala carte menu

Wanton noodles from the ala carte menu

I had yogurt everyday because it was so good! (left);
Pancakes from the ala carte menu (right).

We definitely over-ordered but we couldn't resist trying everything on the menu as they all looked so good! 😅

After breakfast, we hailed a 6-seater DiDi (CN¥66) to Guangdong Museum 广东省博物馆, which was just 15 minutes away. 

Waiting for our DiDi at the lobby

Entry to the museum was FREE for all visitors but you'd need to scan a QR code with your WeChat App to book a slot before entering (closed on Monday)!

We have arrived at Guangdong Museum

The building was designed to look like an ancient, metallic treasure chest or jewellery box

Huge central entry area

3D map of Guangdong

Exploring the exhibits

Learning about Guangdong's nature environments

Crystal and other precious stones found in Guangdong

Beautiful stone sculpture that caught my eye

We found out that the Jade Chicken was a highlight of the Guangdong Museum;
The jade carving was incredibly realistic!

Marine animal hall

Felt like the natural history museums we've visited
(the most recent being Manila)

Dinosaur bones

Traditional Chinese interior

Interactive screens

More exhibits

We spent about 1.5 hours exploring the museum! It was really educational for the kids! When we left we saw the Canton Tower 广州塔 in the distance and took pictures with it.

View of the Canton Tower from Guangdong Museum

Since it was nearby, we hailed a 6-seater DiDi (CN¥48) to the tower, and decided to spend time shopping at Canton Tower Plaza before buying tickets for the tower.

Canton Tower Plaza

Sanrio Gift Gate and Pop Mart

We initially planned to have lunch at Shang Dian Dim Sum restaurant but it was no longer in operation! The Hubby decided on Chua Lam's Dim Sum 蔡澜点心 instead.

Menu of authentic Cantonese cuisine

Restaurant was quiet because it was past the lunch hours

Roast pigeon was one of their signature dishes

Beef and prawn claypot

Barbeque pork buns were also the highlight and my favourite food! (left);
Mango pudding for the Eldest (right).

After a satisfying lunch, we continued our shopping!

Bought a cute luggage at OCE

Shopped at our favourite shop, TopToy!

The Eldest got the biggest keychain from a blind box 😅

Bought winter clothes for the kids from Xiong Mao as they were having a big sale!

Free gifts with minimum spend

We had spent so much time shopping that by the time we wanted to buy tickets for the bubble tram, they were sold out until 8pm! We decided to return another day instead and took a 6-seater Didi (CN¥58) to our hotel for evening canapes.

Got a sofa table by the window

My plate of colourful snacks

After our canapes, we brought the kids to the indoor pool for a swim.

Entrance to the pool

Small bathrobes for little kids (left);
Lounging by the pool (right).

The pool was a good size!

Jacuzzi was super cold! Not warm at all!

After our swim, the Boy was feeling hungry so the Hubby, Boy and I walked to the nearest McDonald's to buy food just before it closed at 10pm! Super lucky! 😅

Photo with the Shangri-La Guangzhou signboard

Crossing the bridge to Element 6 Mall

McDonald's at Element 6

The walk was about 2.5km so I managed to clock 20k steps for the day and hit all my fitness goals! 😄

Continue to >> Guangzhou-Hong Kong Day 3: Guangzhou Cultural Centre & Shangxiajiu Street
<< Back to Guangzhou-Hong Kong Day 1: Shangri-La Guangzhou Horizon Club & Tianhe City

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on 

Guangzhou & Hong Kong, China as well as other travel itineraries!

Please also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels!