Today, I visited Tianzifang and Taikang Lu in the French Concession where the indie people are, or so I was told. I guess with so many people, it's hard to keep a place really secret. It ended up being very commercialized and full of tourists.
Shanghai Metro line 9 to Dapuqiao
Grabbed some "breakfast" and a Earl Grey Milk Tea (it's my new Green Tea Latte!).
It might not be a great place to shop (for guys) but it's great for photos!
It so happened that Inez text came in, reminding me to get the shoes. I thought I should do it, you know, to get something out of the way... So I don't have to think about it again. So off I was to Loushangong Lu.
It was a very, very warm day - the day the heat wave struck most of Northeast Asia causing about a hundred deaths or so. Besides, my stomach was starting to growl again, and I texted Inez for clearer directions. Wonder around in this heat too long and I could fall seriously ill - something I didn't wanna do. So, I had lunch at some Chinese fast food restaurant.
It might look repulsive but this is noodles in chicken broth with some vegetables, chicken liver and coagulated chicken blood. I didn't eat the blood though. I'll admit I've had fantasies of being a gay vampire but I'm no Edward. When I take blood, I'd like them from humans.
Also, I ordered some chicken "on the side". For the portion, it was sooo cheap. Altogether, my meal plus a Pepsi (unseen) costed only SGD 5!
Maybe it's a regional thing but so far, the food I've been eating in Shanghai isn't spicy or oily, and the dipping sauce for the chicken was just simple soya sauce with a little sesame oil and scallions.
With clearer directions, I found the shop.
Once that was done, I went back to the hostel. Seriously, it was wayyy too hot. On the bright side, I chatted one of my roomies up, Erik and we subsequently had dinner together and checked out the nightlife in Shanghai. It was a Monday, I guess you can't expect too much.
We had dinner at Simon Kitchen. Apparently some Din Tai Fung chefs didn't agree that the restaurant should charge SGD 9 for xiao long bao so they took off and set up their own restaurant. Now, they charge about SGD 7 for xiao long bao - still high considering the "regular" price of xiao long bao is about SGD 1 to SGD 2.
For some reason, I didn't really take pictures of where we went... Strange.
