World Expo Through My eyes

Have you read my previous post on World Expo?You can find it here. 

I'm not going to brag about the expo. Perhaps I should just let the pictures to tell you the story. =)

 

Gonna feature one of my favourite pavillion-Venezuela! I really like this pavillion because it really portray the theme of World Expo and they really convey a differerent message from the other pavillion. From the top.

The entrance.

Ciao! 

Next, will show you videolog of China Pavillion 

I can bring you to expo for free ! 

=)

Shanghai Expo 10- Home country

Next, I'm going to show you what's is inside the Malaysia Pavillion.

We ran to the Malaysia Pavillion after visiting the China Pavillion. It meant a lot to me because I was away from Malaysia for 2 months and I miss Malaysia very very much. Going to Malaysia Pavillion is like heading back home except the fact that we are going to get a visa. ^^

This is the front view of Malaysia Pavillion. Can see the 1 Malaysia sign at the side ?It looks way better at night I would say. And they said that they will recycle all the material used for the pavillon for the environment sake. *That's what we told the primary school students*

At the entrance of the Malaysia Pavillion. Oh. If you are a Malaysia citizen, you just need to show your passport and you can skip the queue. The only benefit of being a Malaysian at Shanghai Expo.

There's no suprise in the pavillion I would say. Everything is very normal. It could be better if they put more effort in it.

Baba Nyonya was featured at the pavillion.

The batik surf board ? haha

They even have a fake rainforest inside the pavillion. The visitors loved it a lot as I saw many people took pictures there.

More batik :)

How can we forget the petronas twin tower?

Since the theme of the expo was 'better city, better life'. Malaysia pavillion had some exhibition about going green and etc.

They displayed our national mascott too. But, in a cuter version.

Our n0t-so-traditional National Costume. I would prefer the normal baju kurung/kebaya and the guys in sampin. Or maybe the traditional costume of our bumiputra. That will be nice, right?

Not forgetting the 1 Malaysia sign. I wonder if the rest understand what is the meaning of '1'.

The food menu. Before we went to the cafe behind the Malaysia Pavillion, we were craving for Malaysian food so much. Any curry/sambal will do. But when we looked at the menu, our excjaw dropped. Will you pay RM 15 for a cup of teh tarik ? Or RM25 for a plate of nasi lemak or a bowl of laksa? Trust me, the portion was very small. crazy ke?

Story from the Pavillion.
There was the guy who is the exhibitor there. He was making kerongsang for exhibition. My travel buddy asked me what was he making at that time. We were talking in cantonese language to make sure our identity remained as foreigners. haha. I told her that it was kerongsang and the guy was suprised. hahaha. His facial expression was priceless when he heard of the malay word. Then, every exhibitor knew that we were Malaysian and they dont bother to promote their product to us. boo. But, when we went to the second floor, we told the guy that we are Malaysian because we got interested into this made-in-sabah-chocolate-drink. He gave both of us 2 cup of sample and told us "Orang sendiri bagi cawan penuh, orang lain saya bagi separuh je". It meant 'I'm giving you one whole cup since we are Malaysian and I only give the others half cup for testing'. So nice of them. Sherrie and I were so so glad because we met nice people at the pavillion and we felt like home. =)

The end of Malaysia Pavillion and stay tune for more expo sharing. :)

My journey at Shanghai World Expo 2010

I was at Shanghai for 3 days 2 night. Or I should say 2 days 2 night in total for the Shanghai Expo. Will talk about the sights at Shanghai later. Now, I'm going to present Shanghai World Expo 2010 to all of you ! =D

A brief info about the Expo.
It is held 5 years once and the theme of this expo is 'Better City, Better Life'. Hence, their focus is more on the environment, green power and etc. This is also the most expensive expo compared to the past. Haha..Education by grandpa not wasted.

I bought the Student ticket at RMB 100.(RM 50) You need a valid student ID and the student ticket when you enter the expo area. Ticket for a normal adult is RMB 160 (RM 80) for a one day pass.

Going to this expo is really an eye opening experience. We went there around 7am and what we saw is a huge crowd right infront of us.

Here's some tips for people who wants to visit the Expo.

1. We chose to go in via gate 8 instead of other gates after doing research and hearing reviews from the locals. Gate 8 can be reached via metro line 7. (Stop at 'Wai Tan' Station). Gate 8 is nearer to the European countries' pavillion.

2. The china people will be there as early as 6am although the gate only opens at 9am. Hence, when you get out of the station, you will see people walking to the Expo compound. The bus service only starts at 730am if I'm not mistaken. If you wait for the bus, you will be way behind the queue. Hence, it is better for you to walk. Just follow the sign board and you will not get lost.

3. While you are waiting, you will see people selling foldable stool. Well, if you are that kind of person who can't stand for long, you can get it from the vendor on the spot. Some people brought the stool from their hometown.

4. The volunteers will give out maps for the Expo compound. Well, normally the people will start fighting for the map when the volunteers starts to give out the map. All you need to do is remain calm and wait because the volunteer will make sure everyone gets the map. You just need to wait for the rest to finish and you can grab as many as you want.

5. Bring food, biscuits and snack with you. Trust me, you need to queue again in the restaurant inside the Expo compound. Bring some bread with you so that you can eat them when you are hungry. We can't afford to waste any time. Bring a empty bottle with you so that you can refill the water inside the expo compound. You are not allowed to bring water inside though.

6. They sells pirated world expo passport outside. It's cheaper compared to the original one. But, the colour quality is not that good. And I heard one uncle saying that he can't find the country page in his pirated passport. lol. They only feature 46 countries and Malaysia is one of them! I got the original passport from the souvenir shop inside. It cost me RMB30 (RM15). And they have 4 design if I'm not mistaken. We choose the version with Hai Bao on it. Yeah, you will have passport number too.
The page on your left gives you a brief intro about the Expo and the page on your right shows the China Pavillion.

Most pavillion gives out 'visa' or 'stamp' when you visit their pavillion. Most of them are the major pavillions and some of the minor one doesnt offer stamping service. And some of them only stamp on passports. You wont be suprised to see people holding their own notebook/a piece of paper asking for stamping.

Part of my visa collection.

7. When the gate opens at 9am, you will see people rushing into the expo compound. No, running will be a more appropriate word. That was the first time I saw thousand of people running together just to see the pavillions. It reminds me about the documentary I watched on National Geographic Channel. People will go to the famous pavillion first. Eg, Germany, Denmark, England, Brazil and etc. If you die die also want to visit those pavillion, be there early and run as fast as you can to those pavillion. If not, you need to wait at least 4 hours just to get into a single pavillion. Ohh.to get into Saudi Arabia's pavillion, you need to wait for 8-10 hours according to the people we met at Shanghai. *swt*

As I mentioned earlier, gate 8 is the nearest gate to the Europe countries' pavillon. The first pavillion I saw is The Netherlands. Not many people visit the pavillion. It is a huge one and they have lots of interesting display. I guess most people dont know that The Netherlands=Holland in China. Hence, it explains the empty pavillion.

This pavillion is quite useful in the sense that we get to take pictures with other pavillion. lol.

UK pavillion.

Italy pavillion.

Romania pavillion which is just infront of Holland Pavillion. Once you get out of The Netherlands, it says welcome to Romania. Nothing much to see at Romania unless you want to see their cultural show which is not bad. Cultural show is definately a must see in all the pavillion as it potrays the cultural of the countries.

UK, Finland, Italy, Sweden, Latvia, Denmark and etc is very near to each other. So, choose wisely and know which pavillion that you want to go beforehand. Hence, you must do your research before going there unless you are planning to spend a few days there.

Sweden pavillion.

Latvia pavillion which is very beautiful at night.

Denmark pavillion. You have to cycle up the pavillion and walk down later. Must queue up as they have limited bike.

The picture below was taken at Estonia Pavillion. It is a very small pavillion but filled with pigs like the one in the picture. They are not normal pigs. They have words written on it and all of them is about message on how to protect the environment. To agree/disagree, you can get a paper and write your opinion and then put your paper into the pig. They had a competition earlier if I'm not mistakne.

Monaco pavillion.

Serbia pavillion which is very colourful.

Spain.

Germany. Well, the organiser did a good job as they will announce the pavillion which has long queue. They will tell you how long do you need to wait in order to get into the pavillion. For example: Germany pavillion estimated queue time is 4 hours. Hence, you can avoid the pavillions with the highest human traffic.

Croatia. I did went to this one if I remember correctly. Sherrie and I had the same mission which is 'see more pavillion and never enter pavillion which need us to wait for a very long time.' All pavillion will limit their visitor at one time. For example, big pavillion will accomodate 150 people

or more depending on their size at once. The rest have to wait for around 15 minutes or more. We only have one day and we can afford to waste it. =)

Last but not least, Russia !

I need to go now. Will post up more picture next time.

Stay tune.