A week of food, drinks, shopping and live music

Last week had been rather busy, mostly seeing my Indonesian friend before she left back to her home country. It feels rather sad that in Shanghai people come and go so quickly but I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to have met so many different people.

We went to have dim sum on Sunday after my HSK 4 exam. We went to Lynn's on Xikang Lu which is a modern Shanghainese restaurant and does an 88RMB dim sum buffet. It is quite reasonable price and food. Afterwards we slowly walked up to the indoor market on Nanjing Xi Lu which is the plaza where you can find all the fake brands.

I had been before last time I was here but I was on my own and rather scared so to be here with my confident friends was a completly different experience. We were led through one shop's hidden back door to a "cupboard" where they sell glasses and fake Ray Bans etc, then further in a "cupboard" is full of fake rolex watches and LV handbags, Prada etc. The amount of foreigners they brought into here was crazy.

After we finished shopping we went to have chicken in a clay hot pot in a very small restaurant near where I live. For 5 of us we paid only 30RMB each (£3!). The food was good and the service lovely, run by a husband and wife who are very kind.

 

I'm not sure why but the weather got really strange last week and the pollution got so bad that I'd read news online that we were being advised to not even go outside. For a while I couldn't even see outside my window! Luckily it cleared up after a day and things went back to normal.

 

On Tuesday night my friends and I went to Hai Di Lao on Beijing Lu. I didn't know but apparently you can ask for a free apron (one per group). The service is great as always and you can get your nails done, shoes polished, play cards, board games, make origami birds and stars etc as you wait. 

 

I went back to Nana's Green Tea for some lunch after class one day and thought to try something new. The Hokkaido noodles in carbonara sauce was really nice, like carbonara soup!

On Friday night my classmates invited me out to the House of Blues and Jazz located near The Bund on Fuzhou Lu. It was 50RMB cover charge to enter and was soon packed and the band started playing at 10pm. Drinks are expensive here but service isn't as bad as the reviews I'd read are. The bar felt very American/Irish and I quite enjoyed listening to jazz. I was so tired though so afterwards I didn't stay too long.

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??

 

A family visit

I was very anxious in class to get out and meet Sami and Richie. I dropped my things off and headed to their hotel at the Bund. After meeting up we took a taxi to Yongfu Lu where there is an Elite club we were going to try to have tea there. I had walked past this place before and didn't know it was a bar/restaurant so it was interesting to walk in. They are very strict about no photos! However, we didn't find the tea menu and so we got a taxi and went to Xujiahui where I got to show them my favourite place which is in the basement of Metro City where there are many things to eat.

We went to the Udon restaurant which was nice and cheap for a big bowl of noodles. After lunch we took a taxi to People's Square to wait in Celina's hotel. We then went to Dapu Bridge station where there is a big hot pot restaurant. I had never seen something like this before where downstairs there are many small tables with games to play whilst waiting for a table and even places set up for manicures!

The service here was amazing and food was really good. You can mix your own sauces too.

The next day we had some small bao like xiaolongbao but made with bread it was really tasty. Then we took the sight-seeing bus and got off at Yu Gardens.

We made our way straight for the xiaolongbao restaurant and sat in the VIP section so we didn't need to wait. The minimum spend per person there is 150RMB. I had to quickly rush off to my class and then later met up with everyone at Xintiandi. I actually didn't know the Olympic torch was on display there so that was cool to see! We then walked through People's Square back to Celina's hotel and took a rest.

For dinner we went to Raffles City, upstairs is a big food court. I shared a roasted fish with Celina which was ok but not as nice as the fish I have more locally.  Then I had to say bye to Celina as she was heading back to Hong Kong the next day.