wandernut

Friday night.
Farewell party for a client - dinner and karaoke. There were some saccharin moments between the suits and the said client. All I could do was not roll my eyes and cringe.

Saturday morning.
Lazed in bed till about noon. Chatted on Skype with D. Light lunch at home of veges and frozen dumplings. Watched a DVD. Was planning to go the music shop at Jinling Lu with my sax, but canned the idea cos I realised I lost my bank card. Panic panic panic. Fortunately, I had enough money for the Christmas party that night.

It was out in The Cool Docks, at Stiller’s restaurant. South of the Bund, it’s located in an area of converted warehouses. Lots of restaurants and watering holes, with a pretty good view of the Pudong skyline.

The party was interesting - a cooking class + dinner in one. Free flow wine. And as the chefs prepare the main courses at four different cooking stations, you can observe them and ask questions, while nibbling on some very yummy starters - Tomato and Goats Cheese Terrine, Tuna Tartar, Foie Gras Mousse, Smoked Salmon.

The mains were Mushroom Risotto (so-so only), Grilled Halibut (so-so), Veal Tenderloin (so-so) but the Cod Fish was EXCELLENT, with some creamy spinach on the side.

Dessert was a lovely Espresso Creme Brulee (I love the crispy burnt sugar layer on top), an orange panna cotta, some other berry dessert and an apricot pastry thingy with poppy seed ice cream. Have to refer to the menu again. Hahaha.

After the Christmas party, met up with my usual gang at Anabar, on Xingfu Lu near my place. It’s a small unpretentious place. I didn’t drink at all while I was here, just water, thank you. But the music was fantastic cos our friend KP and her husband Y were spinning that night. They started DJ-ing recently, calling themselves The Rehab. Very cool couple. So we were all dancing around the DJ console like a bunch of groupies. Got home about 3am, went to bed and glad I got SOME form of exercise.

Woke up. Had brunch with MY. Then went to Jinling Dong Lu to drop off my saxophone for a tune up and service. RMB 100 only!! SCORE! In KL, it costs RINGGIT 100. The really friendly folks at Goodway Music Shop said it should be ready in an hour, so I decided to walk to New Heights to collect the New Year’s Eve party tickets. Thinking it was near Fuxing Dong Lu, I took quite a long walk, only to realise 3 on The Bund is very near the music shop. I took a big circle the wrong way, and ended up walking 2 hours. Good thing I had my DSLR with me and managed to take a few pictures.

While taking this one on a pedestrian bridge, I really wished I had wide-angle lens.

When I finally made my way to The Bund, I saw that there was some major construction work going on. Quite a pity cos from the main road one can’t really enjoy the beautiful buildings. But when I was inside New Heights, I was glad that it had a lovely view of The Bund from the balcony, though the view of Pudong was partially blocked . I collected the New Year’s Eve party tickets and walked back to the music shop.

By the time I collected my sax and took a cab home, my feet were killing me. Had a simple meal, watched a DVD and KO-ed early that night.

*All pictures here taken with my DSLR

As much as I claim to be a health freak in my previous post, and as much as I dislike fast food (except for McD Filet O Fish), there is something I crave quite often - Chicken McNuggets. I give in to this craving when I work late, especially if I want to avoid ordering greasy, disgusting tasting wai mai packed rice.

I order the 20pc box, sans fries and drink.
I prefer water. I don’t want the fries cos they ALWAYS turn cold and soggy with delivery. And yes, I can finish all 20 pieces, thank you very much. Yum yum yum.

I nibble them one piece at time, dipped in ketchup or sweet-n-sour sauce. They don’t have the mustard sauce (my fav) here

The nuggets in Shanghai are surprisingly good too! They remain hot, crispy and light, even after delivery in the cold winter night.

When I go shopping in Carrefour, I usually buy their organic or ’select’ produce line, where they claim they monitor chemical levels.

Then I discovered many websites selling organic produce in Shanghai. They even throw in free delivery if you buy more than RMB 100 worth.

Organic produce is more expensive obviously (about 50% to 100% more, depending on what and where you buy), but they are supposedlybetter for you. While I’m yet to try the online organic stores, I think I’ll try it very soon.

Helekang offers a RMB 100 trial pack with a variety of selected fresh produce of the day. I’ll probably go for that.

My mom, the super health freak will have a field day if she were here. But then again, she doesn’t know how to use the Internet. Thank God for small favours.

Other online organics links below, for my own reference in the future.

- Biofarm

- SHorganics

- Organic Shanghai

- Tongchu Organics

Of all the above, I think Helekang is the smartest. They show you what they have to offer right away, where the produce come from, and with prices and promos upfront. No hiding behind philosophies and pretty farm pictures (yes, it’s all very nice but not when it gets in the way of what you really need and want to know). All the info you need is in one page and a website that’s easy to navigate.

Oh no. Since when did I become so aunty and pragmatic?

I’ve emailed the girls an itinerary for their trip here but for their benefit (and yours), here it is again. If you come visit it’ll be more or less your itinerary too. Although in D and Dogma’s case, they’d probably demand for Citta’s hot chocolate every day.

If they had more time, I could plan day trips to Hangzhou and Suzhou. But oh well, some other time then.

31 DEC - WEDNESDAY

0700:    Arrive at Pudong. Take the Maglev to Long Yang Station (RMB 40 if show air ticket). From there take the Metro to Jingan Temple (RMB 4). Take cab from Jingan Temple to Yongfu Lu, Fuxing Xi Lu. 永福路近复兴西路(RMB 11). Try  to get a light blue大众. They have better drivers. This way you spend only RMB 50 per person. Taking the cab direct from the airport will cost DOUBLE.

0800:     Unpack, shower, and rest at my place. Explore my neighbourhood, or nap while I go to work. There’s a cheap massage near my place called Yu Massage on Wuyuan Lu. RMB 78 (RM 40) for one hour body massage. Very good.

1230:     Meet me for lunch at Pin Chuan, Taojiang Lu. Great Szechuan cuisine. My treat.

1400:     Go to Dongping Lu. Visit the Zen Store and other little shops. Have coffee and pastry at Paul. Explore French Concession area. Check out Wukang Lu and Ferguson Lane. Can refer to my Lonely Planet (LP) walking tour.

1900:     Dinner at Dong Bei Ren, Shaanxi Nan Lu, Yan’an Lu. Northeastern cuisine.

2100:     Vue Bar, Hyatt at the Bund for New Year’s Eve countdown. AW and gang will be here as well. This place has Shanghai’s best view of The Bund and Pudong. RMB 688 (RM 350) FREE FLOW Moet & Chandon Champagne and finger food.

Another cheaper option we’re looking at is New Heights’ Apres–Ski New Year’s Eve Party. Great views of the Bund and Pudong as well. And only RMB 300 with FREE FLOW wine, beer and vodka. Much easier on the pocket too.

Which view is better you think? Hahaha

1 JAN - THURSDAY

1000:    Go to Taikang Lu, arts district in old lane house area, where shops, artists and old families are neighbours. Brunch at Kommune. Best coffee in Shanghai. Walk around. Take pictures.

1300:     Take a little walk to Shaanxi Lu / Huaihai Lu. Do LP walking tour. Shop?

1500:    Go to Wujiang Lu for streetfood, if they are still around. Sheng jian bao at Yang’s Fried Dumplings is a must.

1700:    Xintiandi. Walk around lepak. Enjoy freezing cold and Christmas lights. Hope for snow.

1900:     Dinner at Di Shui Dong, Hunan food. Followed by kick ass hot chocolate at Citta’s nearby.

2200:    Bulldog, my usual hang out for buy one free one booze. It’s QUIZ NIGHT

2400:    JZ Club, opposite  my place. Have a drink, listen to good jazz.

2 JAN - FRIDAY

1000:    Walk my daily route to work. See lane houses.

1015:    Take cab from my office building  to Yuyuan Bazaar. Have xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung.

1400:     Go to Pudong. View ‘landmarks’ and look across to the Bund area. Take pictures.

1600:     Back to Puxi. Walk down Nanjing Lu until People’s Square area. Look at beautiful old buildings.

1800:     Hotpot dinner at Xiao Fei Yang (famous for their kambing) or Lai Fu Lou (Hot Pot King – many branches around Shanghai).

2000:    Go to the Bund. Take a cruise? Bar hopping (pretentious bars here are full of gwailo known here as laowai) - Bar Rouge. Lounge 18. Etc. Expensive booze and beautiful people. Check out the old fogeys at the old jazz bar at Peace Hotel.

2400:     The Shelter – Final party in this unpretentious night spot very near my house (just 50m down the road). Drunk oredi can crawl home. This place used  to be a bomb shelter during the war days. It’s underground in a ‘tunnel’ like environment. CHEAP booze and very good music.

3 JAN - SATURDAY

1000:    Walk out for ‘street’ breakfast near my place. If you can wake up earlier, we can also walk to those small shops near my place for soya bean milk and  yao char koay, Shanghai style breakfast. Or brunch somewhere nice. Play by ear. Then adios and see you in KL.

It’s just like the hot chocolate I had in Adelaide a few years ago. D took me to Cibo, a little Italian cafe for their chioccolata italiana. It was almost as thick as pudding, delicious, and so chocolatey it’s REALLY hot chocolate, and not hot chocolate milk that some places pass off their hot chocs for.

Now I’ve had quite a few hot chocolates in Shanghai. I love hot chocolate as well, and in the name of research for D’ sake (as well as Dogma’s and LY’s, my other chocolate loving buddies), I tried hot chocolate every where I went.

My first was at Charmant, a Taiwanese restaurant I frequent near my office and home. They had very good hot chocolate. Thick, topped with marshmallows, but of late, not quite there in chocolatey flavour. They must have been skimping on their Belgian chocolate.

Another I had was at Whisk, which was nice as well, but a tad too milky - it’s more milk than chocolate, though it does come in a very pretty egg shaped mug.

Like wise, the hot chocolate at Cocoa Island at Xintiandi, though theirs was just a wee bit more chocolatey than Whisk’s. Pity they closed down within 3 months. Xintiandi rent must be hell.

Paul’s hot chocolate was good, flavour-wise, but not quite there in terms of mouth feel.

And after reading some hot chocolate reviews in a Shanghai magazine recently, Citta’s hot chocolate sounded most promising. I started to crave for it.

So I went to Huaihai Lu near Maoming Lu two Saturdays ago and it was love at first sip. Thick. So chocolatey. I was in heaven. And it’s really close to what I remember D’s favourite hot chocolate to be.

I had 2 cups at one go. My friends said I was nuts.
Ah well