A Big Adventure

(this happened on 15^th November 2010, in Shanghai, China)

We arose around 9am and slowly got ready.

Today is our last our last day in Shanghai and all we really had on our minds was to buy some silk and an additional bag, which was now required due to all the additional overpriced tourist stuff we had accumulated.

Once again the Bus was used to take us to HuaiHai Road, were we found that there were many more small restaurants than in the district we were staying. It was nearly lunch time and we had already skipped breakfast so we decieded to try one of these very local looking eating houses. We found one with an English menu and pitures of the food and chose:-

-       Spicy Cucumber Salad

-       Beef in Black Pepper Sauce

-       Potatoes and Green beans in a sauce

-       Sea bass with saukraut (pickled cabbage)

-       White rice

Washed down with beer and tea

This meal was the biggest surprise so far, being almost the cheapest yet amongst the best. The fish was probably at the top, it was actually more of a soup, but had a whole sea bass in it. It was rather like a more subtle version of Filipino Sinigang; there was nothing subtle about the cucumber salad, it was explosively hot with Chilies which Tes agreed were not duds. The beef was excitement too, quite subtle and tender with a nice sauce, perhaps a little bland for our taste, but great, none the less. The green beans and potatoes were almost on a par with the fish, it’s hard to explain how such a simple dish can be so delightful, but the combinations of textures and sauce just worked. The only disappointment was the white rice, which was really below the standard of the rice we had been used to until this point.

When we entered this restaurant it was almost empty, by the time we departed it was full of patrons. I noticed that most of them had ordered a set meal, rice, meat, veg, soup, tea. I can imagine this was very cheap as our sumptuous meal with beer and tea had only come to 120 Yeun, a bargain indeed.

We walked around the streets a bit, looking in vain  for the delicious dried fruits we had found in Beijing, but to no avail. It seems that when they say “Beijing Spatiality” they mean you can only get it in Beijing.

We found a Silk King and made several purchases. Tes found a nice jacket and some brocade to make some clothes back home. I chose a truly Kingly Blue Silk with Dark Blue Dragons on it… my plan being to make a male kimono as a dressing gown.

Onwards and upwards we stopped for several coffees and agreed that Costa was the best, we walked and walked almost back to Nanking road.

We were now looking for an additional bag; something you’d think was easy in this shopping mad town, but such is their desire for designer labels that it’s all Luis Vuitton and D&G. Finally we found a North Face, my thinking was that if we had to buy some designer bag then it may as well be something of strength and quality.

Back to the Hotel, to write up my log and let Tes have a snooze… We need to pack and get ready for our flight to Hong Kong tomorrow. So this is our last night in Shanghai.

My final impressions are that Shanghai is a truly great City with much on offer. It has become a big shopping mall, perhaps too big. There were some more innovative and unusual shops around, but must were the usual designer brands we all know and hate; worse still, there were no cheaper than anywhere else, unless you are willing to follow the touts and go buy ripped off goods; morally I have no problem with this, since I know how over priced the designer stuff is, but I hate all this designer label stuff so much I don’t even want a copy.

As for the people, well the younger generation seem fine, but the over 30’s need some manners; it’s really not as tourist friendly here as it should be, they say it’s Paris of the east, how true, in style and nature too, I often wonder how nice Paris would be without the French.