吃上海生煎包和小笼包

排队买‘小杨生煎包’。

We had to take the man to try the famous xiaolongbao in Shanghai. He does like this little bao, if done well. To Huanghe Road (黄河路) it was for the steamed 'JiaJia Tang Bao' (佳家汤包) and the pan-fried 'Xiao Yang Sheng Jian Bao' (小杨生煎包).

I can't go to these places on my own because the quantity is too much for me, and the Chinese bao, being typically pork and meat-based, often there's very little I could eat. But I know at 'JiaJia Tang Bao', they do a pure crab meat version that's absolutely heavenly. So I totally love it. It comes in a basket of 12, and I can only do 6 at one go, even if that number makes up one meal. 

For lunch today, it would be all savory steaming bao and nothing else. By the road outside 'Xiao Yang Sheng Jian Bao' where we chose to stand and eat, the man was grappling with his chopsticks. Ahahahaha. We couldn't stop giggling at him. He couldn't wrestle with both slurping of the soup and holding up the bao. He was the last to finish his one cute bao.

While standing around with a styrofoam box of browned bao, we could see across the street into Jia Jia Tang Bao. There was no queue (Hurrah for Chinese New Year in a city mostly devoid of its inhabitants), but the tables were full. So we simply kept an eye on the shopfront to ensure that no horde of humans rushed in to lengthen the wait. Once done, we hurried over for more eating.

佳家‘鸡鸭血汤’。

At 'JiaJia Tang Bao', they had ran out of stocks for most items. We came at 2.15pm. The friends said they always run out of the popular items (pork and meat-based stuff, and prawns) by 11am. The crab meat based ones are usually still available. We easily got a table and ordered 6 baskets of bao. I LOVE the one with crab meat (纯蟹粉).  Absolutely delicious. The man loved them too. However, being the one with the most adventurous tastebuds at this table, he also had a bowl of soup of chicken and duck blood. He didn't care very much for it after all. Heh.

佳家‘蟹粉‘小笼包。含有猪肉。

We've had good xiaolongbaos, and we've had fabulous ones. These tiny street stores in Shanghai sell out-of-this-world jewels. Or perhaps we've been in the city only during winter, I guess half the yummy-ness came from eating hot stuff in the cold. Always comforting. Hot steaming buns and soup in 3°C. Perfect.

We were ridiculously stuffed from eating so many baskets of bao between 4 humans. We took a long stroll around the streets, going nowhere in particular and just looking at the street sights, random humans, buildings, architecture, and simply soaking up the uncrowded streets and vibes of a historic city.

我喜欢的‘纯蟹粉’小笼包。

人日捞起

Bff 说，”来，咱们 lo hei ！你带一盒过来吧。” 我笨笨的答应。到余仁生看一看，原来一盒这么大！蛮重的。哎哟。 既答应了友人，最后还是买了下来，把密封包装大盒的‘发财鱼生’塞近行李箱，一块儿带到上海。

农历新年‘捞起’平时对我们来说没什么特别的象征。有‘捞起’并不代表一年好运。没‘捞起’也不意识一年倒霉。但bff人在异乡，不想费力煮出一桌新加坡式美味佳肴，搞个‘捞起’也蛮有意思的。(Read the history of 'yusheng' and 'lo hei' on the rather accurate Wiki link.)

到日本超级市场－Fresh Mart 买刺身。我想重造熟悉的口味，想用一种鲱 (yellowtail) 或宝刀鱼 (ikan parang or wolf herring)作为生鱼片。最讨厌用鲑鱼了。家里已有罐头鲍鱼。还得买胡萝卜，萝卜，黄瓜，柚子之类的生菜水果。这超级市场什么都有。真妙！带了两大袋东西回家。

我们挺喜欢鱼生的。有生鱼，有蔬菜，口感很好。不太喜欢酸梅酱，就少放；橄榄油也稍许。备料容易，但得花上两小时洗和切成丝。人家把鱼生当成开胃菜，咱们把鱼生当成主菜。也有通心粉汤做伴。这么个吃法，肚子也开心。前几天真的吃太多了。超饱。感觉似还未消化一餐又来一餐。

我们就随着新加坡习俗，给它捞个年头到年尾‘风声水起，红运当头，金银满屋，五福临门’。

Shopping At 田子坊

Plenty of kitschy and cute shops at Tian Zi Fang (田子坊). Entirely your taste and choice of whether to buy anything from there. Some are an outright rip-off, many sell silly looking useless (relative) souvenirs, silver and beaded jewelry, and there are some gems in handmade items. After brunch, we had quick stroll through the narrow alleys. To us, it was more to have a look than to buy anything. However, it's embarrassing that none of us managed to catch the names of the shops we like. We randomly know where they're located though.

The pretty Flying Pigeon bicycle with its rustic woven basket caught our eye. In we went to the shop to have a look at their wares. They sell craft items made of felt. Many cute animals and sea creatures! Loved the colors and the vibe of the shop. And the music! Not ching-chong-dong-dong-chiang Chinese New Year music. After browsing around in the shop for a while, we realized the stereo was playing the soundtrack from 'Juno'.

I lingered long in the leather shop where they sell handmade leatherbound books. While I may not have been very nimble in notabilia's bookmaking classes, I've at least learnt (without googling) to recognize what's a coptic bind, a Japanese side stitch, long stitch, using beewax, etc, to make gorgeous handbound books. The ones I picked up are just as beautiful as those I've seen in other countries where leather bound notebooks are abundant. But, the paper used in the leatherbound journals in this shop is not nice. It's thin, almost like tracing paper. Certainly not acid free paper. I was so tempted to buy a couple of notebooks, but for the low grade paper used. What a shame.

A good spot of seeing some old buildings, ancient architecture and its adopted new forms to breathe life into the area. We finished up at Tian Zi Fang and ran off to the indoor gym where it was much more interesting to exercise the limbs and gain some muscles.

Kommune at 田子坊

While some of the friends' regular breakfast/brunch cafes are closed for the week, others remain open. We've come down to simply eating two meals a day and no more. Although we've a habit of walking everywhere, it's still too much food at every meal, and we never learn to stop stuffing ourselves to the brim.

After a lazy morning of boardgames, we went to Tian Zi Fang (田子坊) for a browse and brunch at Kommune. The Tian Zi Fang area is like a wind tunnel. Always so cold with the wind whipping through as we browsed the tiny streets. Surprise, surprise! Many of the shops and eateries were opened for business! The area was bustling with tourists and locals.

Apparently Kommune is packed out on normal weekends. Usually it takes about 45 minutes to get a table in the cramped space. You gotta love the lunar new year. It was crowded when we got there, but within 5 minutes, we got a table. The food was pretty decent. Although it's nothing we couldn't have cooked at home. We got our bacon and egg fry-ups, and I got my tiny vegetable dips and hummus, and a falafel wrap. In fact, the boys ate, and the bff and I shared their food. We really couldn't eat this much for every meal. The tomato soup came in a quaint Chinese thermos flask and honestly tasted very good, and that wasn't because it was hot. They made it from scratch and peppered it well. Unexpectedly lovely.

We got healthy doses of vitamins too, in the form of fresh juices. Had to request and emphasize for no sugar or honey to be placed in them. While there's flat white and piccolo latte on the menu, the beans and barista at this Australian owned cafe are disappointing. Perhaps it's because the owner is away. But the flat white, is nowhere near the rich beauty of the Oz flat whites I love. The milk was rather horrible tasting. I don't know about its usual coffee standard, but I'd take my chances with Starbucks or Costa over today's cuppa. The Japanese Cafe Dan a few doors down would have been a better choice for coffee.

Fireworks For The Fortune God

The fireworks have been insane. The Chinese set off firecrackers and fireworks anytime, anywhere, anyhow. I understand that there're certain main roads and highways where people aren't allowed to do so, but the streets and alleys are ripe for picking.

Ear plugs. Totally necessary. The fireworks reached a fevered pitch on the night of the fourth day of the lunar new year and all of the next day. It's even more heated than those to signal the start of the year of the Dragon. Every friggin' corner, rooftop had blasts and light reverberating through the city. We were super glad to be indoors and not standing amidst the rain of debris and smoke which sent Shanghai's air pollution index soaring. The friends said that Beijing would be five times worse. Right, and Beijing's air quality is already worse than Shanghai's on a good day. They've got a permanent haze shrouding the city.

At 11.45pm on the fourth night (初四), as we moved into the fifth day (初五), the city went nuts. Fireworks were let off from the streets, from rooftops and out of balconies and window sills. It was mad. The horizon on both sides was lit up from end to end with flare, light and a red glow. The continuous blasts were so loud that we abandoned the music and television to look at just how crazy the fireworks were. It's their first time spending the festive season in Shanghai too. Other years, they simply went off for a vacation.

Clearly, neither of us knew why the fireworks were so major tonight. I only had a vague impression that the Chinese 'prayed' to different gods on different days of the fifteen days of the lunar new year. Fireworks this major, had to be the God of Fortune. So we googled. Ahhhh. We were kinda right! The fifth day is when the southerners, i.e. Shanghai, 'send away poverty' (送穷), welcome and pay tribute to the Fortune God (祭财神，接财神). There we go. Fortune God. Need I say more?

The fireworks, both legal and illegal, shot up to a height of 20-something floors of many buildings. They really take the Fortune God seriously. There's been plenty of money going up in flames across the city this week. I'm not even thinking of how pretty these are. I've no love for fireworks. Mouths agape, we stared at the major fireworks going off, flanking a gas station. Win lor. Safety? What safety?

The Man Likes Cooking In Winter

The best time to cook in the kitchen is winter. The man loves the cool air coming into the kitchen while the stove is on and pots are bubbling with gravy and whatnots. There isn't a need to turn on the heater in the kitchen at all. In fact, it's the only time he doesn't perspire while bustling about.

He had insisted on cooking many meals over 2 winters in London at home and at the aunts'. In Shanghai, he can't resist whipping up a couple of meals as well. The kitchen draws him like a magnet, especially when he discovered the rather exciting but pricey range of products at the both the local and so-called 'expatriate' supermarkets. There's plenty of stuff available in Shanghai that isn't available at home, and vice versa. The bff is rather nonchalant about it. She has no issues with handing him the kitchen as long as he doesn't burn it down. Ha.

Also, we didn't expect so many restaurants to remain open for business during this week. So we ate out a fair bit. We had a shiteload of good food everywhere till we're like...no more mega meals please! Each meal will mean either 7-8 dishes on the table or a 5-6 course degustation meal. I absolutely rejected the 12-course at Pelham's. Homecooked 1-dish meals are wonderful for the soul and stomach. And let's face it, eating out in Shanghai is an oily business. We don't have the stomach for it.

One meal, the man set about doing an easy aglio olio with capellini. The friends had a stash of fabulous frozen German sausages and anchovies bought from Frankfurt and Madrid. That went onto the menu too. He couldn't resist topping it with a light tomato vegetable stew. The ingredients randomly complemented one another. The result was quite yummy.

Yes, you're not seeing things. I can help in the kitchen by chopping up a couple of zucchini. No sweat.

Up In The Sky

During the last visit, I didn't go up to the top of the Shanghai World Financial Centre (SWFC, 上海环球金融中心). It's kinda known as the 'can opener'. The story behind the 494.4m tall building by a Japanese conglomerate is juicier than its statistics and numbers as SWFC surpasses the pride of the city that's the 421m tall Jin Mao Tower (金茂大夏). Well, the Shanghai Tower (上海中心大厦) is currently under construction, right next to these 2 urban monoliths. When completed in 2014, its spire will hit 632m. This visit, the bff and I decided to take the man to SWFC.

One reason why we like Shanghai so much during Chinese New Year is because it's so empty. It makes the city so much more pleasant. At SWFC, The man experienced the full shoving and pushing of the Chinese (domestic) tourists who were loud, obnoxious and wouldn't hesitate to push us.  I always believe that 'kiasu-ism' probably originated from China where many Chinese Singaporeans' ancestors come from. (And that's not to say that Singaporeans are well-behaved. We're not.)

There were long queues of tourists clogging up the entry points and long waits for the lift. At the security gantry where there was only space for one, one annoying idiot pushed my shoulder to try to get past me. Hey! I'm way thinner and still, there isn't space. You think you can get through? I said firmly, “别推啊！”  He had the audacity to retort, “我就是推，怎么样？” Before I could decide whether to expend energy to scold him, the security guards came round to tell him to get behind me and queue in line. HA! None of us took it lying down. We shoved back as good as it got and told off a number of humans who tried to elbow us in the lift. HALLO, we're IN the lift; not going anywhere till we hit the 97th floor. The ushers at SWFC were soooo good. They were authoritative and firm; refused to allow the humans to skip the queue or overpack the lift. Many actually didn't think it was a problem to push more than the permitted 20 humans into one lift.

We took the man up 100 storeys to the Sky Walk and let him merrily skip across the glass. Since he's the newbie to China, it was one way of showing him the city from another point of view. It was a sunny day, but it was so close to sunset when we finally went up.  We probably caught the last 15 minutes of daylight before it turned dark. Wheww.

Window Shopping - Guitars & Gear

The man heard that in Shanghai, Jin Ling Road, East (金陵东路), is the place to go to check out electric guitars and gear. He didn't have anything to buy from the stores. But he would like to take a look at the prices, the feel, the brands they carry and the sorts. We didn't know what shops would be open during this season. Easy googling and a number of calls confirmed what we thought- the shops selling traditional Chinese instruments, pianos and acoustic guitars are closed for the week. The shops carrying imported electric guitars, drums and gear, as well as the bigger chains, are open.

To Jin Ling Road, East then. We went browsing for Chinese-made guitars, brands, colors, prices of imported Mesa amps, Fender guitars and everything else. I probably didn't surf comprehensively enough for the names of the shops till I got there, and am not in the scene to know enough of Shanghai's increasingly vibrant indie music scene.

I don't know how true the comments in the forums are about the fakes sold on this street, and how rude the sales staff are. I really don't want to simply assume the worst of the city, even though the stories of fake milk and fake whatever. I just want to keep an open mind and take a look at what the city offers without thinking through too much. However, we took care not to try out the guitars unless we intended to buy one. Likewise, the man feels the same. He can definitely tell a real Mesa amp from a fake. He spent quite a fair amount of time looking at the Wharfedale amps.

Anyway, here's a list of what we went round to. These shops are located on the same side of the street; an easy stroll down.

1. Best Friend Music (知音琴行)
2. 五度乐器 (上海市黄浦区金陵东路445号，近浙江路)
3. Parsons Music (new branch, 柏斯琴行)
4. 通韵琴行 (上海市黄浦区金陵东路449号)
5. 世音琴行

Bar Constellation No.1

Most of our favored bars are running at full capacity this season. We've to call and reserve seats wherever we go. While Shanghai streets are relatively uncrowded in the day, the bars reveal a different scene and set of party-goers.

We walked in to an empty Bar Constellation No.1 (86, Xinle Road/新乐路，近襄阳北路。) at 9pm. Within 45 minutes, the tiny casual, cosy bar was chockful of humans. WIEEEEE. They've beefed up their menu of cocktails. Good for the others in our midst who prefer non-whisky based drinks.

Ahhh...whisky. Flipping through the menu, I realized the bar has raised their prices by 10 to 20 yuan for their drinks. I've been dreaming about the Edradour 2003 Port Cask Matured 10y.o. I haven't bothered to find it elsewhere and only thought about having it in Shanghai. The man loves the idea of the bars and wants to go to all 3 bars in the city. Sure! We don't mind it at all. So for tonight, it's No.1 for a start since it's the first bar that the owner 金-san (Jin-san) opened. He was there and we said hello. A merry night we had. Apparently, there'll be 2 more bars (with hopefully different concepts and decor) coming up in other areas.

Of course the thing about bars here, if you're not a smoker, you need to be able to tahan the second-hand smoke (and cigar smells) and febreeze the hell out of your clothes when you get home. So glad it's winter. Also, bring eyedrops. It'll help when your eyes begin to smart after an hour or so.

Not Allowed To Wash Rice

It's nice to be able to cook at home and control the amount of oil, salt and whatnots that go into the food that's flavored to our preferences. Chinese was on the menu for dinner. The pack of baby bok choi was rinsed, soaked and ready. The itty bits of ingredients were chopped up and readied to be poured into the rather brilliantly-made Midea (Chinese brand) cooker as well. Rice grains was scooped out and poured into the pot. I was going to take it for a rinse when bff stopped me. "You. Out of the way. I'll wash the rice."

She hasn't forgotten how...a long time ago, I washed rice using detergent for a couple of times before I remembered that it shouldn't be done. I protested vehemently. "I know how to wash rice now!" I do know! I really do. At most I'll use a few drops of detergent specially for vegetables to do it.

Bff shook her head, muttered something rude under her breath and refused to allow me near the pot of grains or the sink. WHAT IS THIS? I'M NOT ALLOWED TO WASH RICE?! WHAT NONSENSE. I strode out of the kitchen in a huff. I went to the sitting room to talk to the bottle of Glenfiddich 18 y.o which was definitely a more agreeable companion.

到老吉士吃开年饭

Again, a traditional Shanghainese meal isn't what I can have with just another friend or two. Too many varieties, too much food and too many things I don't eat. We needed a full table to spread the love around. Many friends in Shanghai didn't leave town for a vacation this lunar new year. We've got plenty of company.

We went to the original Jesse's (老吉士) at Tian Ping Lu (天平路) for a dependable taste of sweet and savory authentic Shanghainese food. There's a newer outlet (新吉士) at Xintiandi (新天地), but the friends swear by the original.

Split into 2 units, our 8.30pm timing meant we avoided the first crush of diners. It was a cold night, but we were snug and warm in the tiny restaurant. It got so hot that we asked to turn off some of the heaters. We've also began to appreciate the light bubbly Tsingtao beer. Not so much for the flavors, but literally as a thirst quencher or an appetizer. Many product lines available. We like their pale lager, known as 'Chun Sheng' (纯生).

The meal began with 'Kao Fu' (五香烤麸). It's a wheat gluten based dish marinated in dark soy. At restaurants like this one, it could include Chinese fungus and strings of gluten, also known as '功德烤麸'. Wheat gluten, basically. Pretty appetizer. Am sure many have eaten this in its canned form. I'm more familiar with the Japanese macrobiotic dry version 'yakifu' or raw 'namafu' since that was what the grandmother fed me as a kid.

上海‘烤麸’，又名’功德烤麸‘。

There was vegetable rice and steamed white rice for the accompanying carbs to the meal. We also had bowls of noodles. I love this restaurant's scallion noodles (上海葱油拌面). Before I breezed into town, of all venues, I had eaten at a Shanghainese restaurant in Singapore. Their version of the noodles is horrible. YUCKY. Bad sauce, badly made noodles which aren't at all fragrant. The first bite of those noodles proved heavenly satisfaction. I threw aside the no-carbs preference and finished a bowl!

Unfortunately, the smelly beancurd (臭豆腐) didn't waft up a stink. It was rather mild, and horrors, almost delicate. Half the table wrinkled their noses and said they could smell it! It was either my sinus acting or something, but I really didn't think it stank at all. There was a dish of steamed cold chicken. Of course I avoided it. I could smell that chicken! Methinks cold chicken stinks more than smelly beancurd. Arrrrrgh. Dunno how the friends ate it. Ermmm...there were a number of visible hairs left on the skin.

老吉士酒家的版本：不是很’臭‘的‘虎皮臭豆腐’。

The star dish at the restaurant is the famous Shanghai style braised pork belly (红烧肉). Our table loved it. We had pots of that. I don't know how it's possible for people to eat so much of it. But I guess the sweet dark gravy goes great with steamed white  rice. Bloody unhealthy, but the friends loved it. It amused me to see them and the man picking out the fatty top parts and eating the bottom. People! If you want to eat this dish like for the rare few times in your life, eat the fatty portions! It's pork belly. My grandparents told me the fats are the best. Heh.

Bellies full and warm, we declined dessert. Actually, I don't know if the restaurant serves dessert. I never had any at their outlets. Too full! However, there was space for liquid dessert! We continued the evening with very good fruity cocktails at Cvrve. Absolutely fabulous conversation peppered with alot of wit, laughter and insight about the city.

红烧肉。

Portable Fireworks!

I'm not a fan of fireworks to begin with. But of course I was curious about it. So last February, I had my induction. This year, the man got his, in a double dose, since we got in before Chinese New Year's Eve. I think I've had quite enough of fireworks, be it seeing it or setting it off. I'm especially perturbed by those boxes bigger than I am, or half my size.

The man struggled to sleep through the continuous boom of fireworks that began last Friday and lasted all the way to Monday. I was able to block out the noise and continued snoozing. The crazy humans didn't stop the fireworks till 3am or so, and started again at 7am. Arrrrrgh. Luckily the man had earplugs and noise canceling headsets. Not exactly the most comfortable things to sleep with, but better than having loud blasts intrude upon his consciousness.

We went to the stall selling a ton of fireworks at the street corner, and bought many boxes. We threw it out on the balcony where the cold would ensure no accidents happen. There was so much intense light and sound on 除夕. A small box of fireworks that cost about RMB670 could shoot up to 7-storeys high. Many people went up to rooftops and maximize that height and to the joy of the many other viewers.

After our reunion dinner on Sunday, at 11.45pm, we grabbed the earplugs, hauled the boxes and hopped out to the street to set off fireworks and firecrackers for the next hour. High, low, flat, twirling, jumping, useless ones that only made sounds and gave out no light...all manner of badaboomboomboom. WOOOHOOO! Wear goggles if you intend to look up at the fireworks you set off. Otherwise, watch from the comfort of a building. Debris. No fun.

We saw so many different variations of fireworks and firecrackers. Was a little amusing watching the friends and others too, especially those who ran away pronto after setting it alight. After we were done, the others weren't. When we took a peek much later, the aftermath was well...very festive. The streets were littered with red bits and cardboxes. Poor cleaners had to work really hard to clean it up by sunrise.