At Tianzifang - drinking out of urinals and watching candy

After class a bunch of us decided to go to Tianzifang and in particular, to a toilet-themed restaurant that a few of them had been to in Taiwan. Tianzifang is full of small boutiques filled with arts and crafts, lots of bars and food stands, all crammed down narrow alleyways which makes it very easy to get lost.

We found Modern Toilet after asking many times for directions. The place has 2 floors, gold and velvet seem to be the theme (beyond the toilet theme).

The menu is on a giant board which was a major pain to read off. For a burger and a drink you are looking at around 80-100RMB. As I had nothing to compare to, my friends told me the food here was much better than the restaurant in Taiwan and that in Shanghai the food is served on regular plates and not toilets (unless you order the ice cream).

 Nice place for a date...!

 Vinegar drinks?

 Giant toilet on the wall and poop cushions...

 Even the plastic food looks yummy!

Later to cool off we found this ice cream place... I quite like the first flavour ;)

Then we passed the Candy Lab where you can stare at guys making rock candy and make them very nervous (aww bless them!).

Enjoying ice cream cookie sandwiches

Yesterday, my friend and I headed to Pudong to an Irish pub near where she used to live to have an English breakfast. The weather was pretty good, it was still hot and humid but at least a little breeze.

 Skies are blue!

My friend told me the skies are much better lately probably due to an introduction of a new law where factories must turn off their lights by a certain time. 

 The plaza area near Century Park

New Hello Kitty store

I'm not too sure what this statue is doing

 "Bra" and restaurant

Inside the Irish pub

Just like home!

After brunch we headed to the Science Technology Museum market place which is located in the metro station. It was a hot trek!

The Science and Technology Museum

I found this label in the clothes...

Gotta laugh at the fake goods!

Our other friend met us out there and we then had such an adventure to find Nomnom Dessert Bar located at Yan'an Xi Lu. We took the metro from Pudong which took about 30 mins and then needed to take a taxi in the right direction. My friend decided to make us cross in the middle of a 10 lane road! I was so scared!

But it was worth it to get to the dessert bar to enjoy an ice cream cookie sandwich!

It's a pretty small place located in the lobby of the Metrobank between Yan'an Xi Lu and Panyu Lu. They offer special deals for the weekdays which include waffles or cookies or ice cream and a drink for about 30RMB. The sandwich is a decent size and tastes good because the ice cream doesn't make the cookie soggy like other ice cream sandwiches I've tried. The cafe also offers wifi and the staff speak English. 

Later in the evening we headed to Geisha Bar at Shanxi Nan Lu and chilled out. It started off quiet but picked up later on.

First week back in Shanghai and what a long one it's been!

The week has been intense with jet lag and starting classes. I'm in the intermediate class (中级) which requires us to study 3 chapters a week over a 5 week period. I'm enjoying the intensity of the classes, it keeps me on my toes, but it is pretty exhausting. Classes at Jiao Tong run at 90 minutes with a 20 minute break between so it is quite challenging to stay focused for that long. On the plus, the coffee "shop" (it's a tiny room) is right next to my classroom so makes it easy to get in line quickly! They also sell snacks like "sandwish"...

You know things get serious when there is no pinyin...

I managed to take a trip to West Nanjing Road and found the cutest cake at Cafe 85.

And later at Mannings to get some mosquito repellent patches...

If these don't keep the mosquitoes away then I've lost hope in the power of the panda!

A trip to Xiantiandi on Thursday and found more changes. It still takes time to come to terms with how quick shops and restaurants can open and close. But a cute new shop opened that create "Mini Me's" where they take photos and make little dolls (much like that Big Bang Theory episode!).

On Friday I managed to finally get my temporary resident permit from the police station so afterwards I went for my favourite omelette rice at Manabe when I got a pretty major shock when a car reversed and knocked the glass so the waitress had to go out and tell the driver to move.

 I wasn't sure if soup should have so many bubbles?

Beef curry omelette rice

In the evening my friends took me to Din Tai Fung for some xiaolongbao to celebrate finally getting my permit sorted.

After dinner we tried to go to Brown Sugar in Xintiandi but it was closed but next door at Luna Bar was a Filipino band playing so we went there instead. It was a 100RMB cover charge so a minimum spend of that per person we spend on drinks. The band was called Fast Track and it was a great atmosphere with the band so close singing a mixture of English, Mandarin, Cantonese even, and during some classic songs the bar turned more into karaoke with everyone joining in. The band even took requests where the waiters were passing out tissues for you to scribble on as they handed them to the band. 

Meilan Lake and Qibao

This morning I met Jorge at Zhenping Lu Station and together we took line 7 to Meilan Lake. It took about 40 minutes and is the very last stop where many people seemed to be headed.

On arrival we were bombarded by the companies trying to sell tours and taxi drivers trying to get us to use their cars. At one point saying "bu yao" (don't want) resulted in quite a bit of aggression from them that it seemed wise to not look back and keep walking.

The weather was really good with blue skies but it was still a little humid. The lake was easy enough to find but cars and motorbikes quite annoying to keep hitting their horns trying to attract people to take their transportation.

The buildings here were very European, much like Thames Town and quite a few couples doing wedding photographs. There are backdrops and props around for these purposes too. Reading the history of this area it seemed to be based around a Nordic town.

After walking around and taking some photos we stopped into Macao Dolar which is a chain of hot pot restaurants. The service wasn't so good and they were very pushy and they spoke no English nor did their menu have any English so with my limited Chinese skills I managed to work out some food for us. I really enjoy hot pot and in total came to about 150RMB for 2 of us.

We then headed to Berlinda's place to chill for a bit before we took the metro to Qibao to look for the night markets. On arrival I was surprised it wasn't the water town I'd been told about but it was full of lights and restaurants and shopping malls. Berlinda asked several people for directions to the market but nobody seemed to know until a man on a motorcab pointed us the right way.

This was the water town and we headed over the bridge through narrow alleys filled with stalls selling souvenirs and some selling food. It was very busy and noisy but definately an experience. There were even fireworks! There were so many types of food I'd never seen before, and at times the strong smelly tofu.

After we headed back towards the metro and went to the food part of a mall and found Cloud 9 which is a Taiwanese restaurant chain that I quite like because I find the food very comforting and reminds me of home (especially happy smiley potato waffles!). Also Cloud 9 offers free wifi which is a bonus when you are out and about.

 

Snoozing in a hammock

 

Yes, show your mercy!

 

Backdrops for wedding photos

 

I think the "u" has been put in upside down!

 

At Qibao

 

Sooooo many people!

 

Some kind of small bird??