Shanghai escapades

Lilin has travelled with me for a few of my overseas performances, and she had always mothered me so much!!! Takin such good care of me I feel like a little child :p

The haze was pretty crazy, hitting an all time high of 500 the few days we were there!

Can hardly see the 明珠大厦！

This was Lilin's first time in Shanghai so we checked off all the touristy spots!

城隍庙的南翔小笼包！

It's much less crowded than I remember it to be..

We went up to the top floor restaurant,

(First floor was cheap takeaway,

Second was cafe style dimsum,

But we wanted to try the atas version at the restaurant)

Other than the pretty good 小笼包，nothing spectacular though. 

You could try 佳家汤包（丽园路店）,

which was a recommendation,

But we didnt manage to get there. :)

Literally hole in the wall ticket booth

For 城隍庙！

前往南京路步行街！

There was loud piped in music on the streets,

A saxophonist was playing on the balcony,

Old couples were ballroom dancing on the street. 

Curiously lovely :)

We had a feast of local food at a perfectly local place called 小白桦, 宛平路297弄3号！

Earlier i asked on Facebook if anyone could bring me around Shanghai, and someone offered to bring me to some jazz bars. I was sold. 

This stranger - Jenkin,  turned out to be a great friend in those couple of days we hung out! It was a beautiful, serendipitous encounter to have met a friend from across the shores... 

And he brought me to the places that I had hoped a local would bring me :)

We had piping hot 咸蛋黄南瓜条，蒜香蟶子(shellfish），raw醉虾steeped in a special vinegar sauce, and many more that I can't recall their names of. 

Unfortunately this dessert comes in one large soup bowl regardless of the number of guests. 

But it's my favorite 黑芝麻汤圆！！in蛋花羹！！loved this to bits. 

Next day the smog hit 500 and the sun was a golden speck amidst the dust. 

I brought my under-utilized n95 masks to shanghai, from our local haze scare earlier. 

We had a huge hotpot lunch at 田子坊， which is pretty quaint but way too commercialised unfortunately. 

Jump to dinner - we had the most innovative dishes at an old friend's restaurant! 

It's called 串门子， 虹梅路3215号.

臭豆腐配kimchi串烧！

泰式鸡翅stuffed with mentaiko 明太子 my fav!!!!!

炸麻糬 that isn't fried muah chee. 

Tastes so much like it though, with a gooey filling, crispy layer and 花生粉！

Apparently it's not fried muah chee, but it's made of toast steeped in milk and other things, and cooked in a top secret way. 

Listening to an old jazz band at the historic Long Bar at the Waldorf Astoria along the Bund, it felt so surreal... 

Loved the vibe of the classic hotel!

With Jenkin and Lilin! 

1am stroll along the Bund 外滩 to check out Peace Hotel 和平饭店 just to see what the fuss is all about. 

Shanghai is strangely beautiful like that, almost European on one side of the bund, and all NYC on the opposite side. 

Lovely wall sculpture in the hotel,

Accented by lights and shadows 

Next day we decided we had our full of Shanghainese food,

Xiaolongbao and 

Hairy crab,

So we headed to a French brunch/wine joint Burdigala

Wall lamps redefined. 

Brunch set!

Poached eggs in red wine sauce!

What is going on at the 人民公园？！

Old people are hawking their children in the love/marriage market. 

Win-win Transactions in process. 

If your parents like each other, 

Good for you!

Throngs of people checking out descriptions of their daughters/sons - 

Height, weight, education, career, salary. 

Their ideal mate's qualities: 

Filial, kind, decent. 

This is www.dating.com in the real physical world. 

Some with pictures,

Most without. 

You could ask to view them if you're interested.

I didn't find anyone suitable :(

Autumn leaves galore. 

Checked out the Bund's romantic night scene one last time...

Hope to be back soon :)