I've been to Shanghai countless times but I always fail to blog about them. I wanted to blog on the time which I've been with my buddy Suy (so fun, really!) but chicken mcnuggets, I'm always procrastinating cos I've quite a few pictures to edit. I'll go to Shanghai again end this month -_______- not complaining though because I really prefer it to Beijing for some reasons! Shopping's fab too because I could see some blogshop items in China *winks*
peterpan top and my high waisted shorts for dinner after I've arrived because I was THIS tired. I think I slept a lot recently during my trips.
Milk pudding for the girl who knows milk best :p
Ohhh, the thing I miss in Dubai is FISH. Fish is so damn good in Watami!
I'll love to have this again when I go back to Shanghai end this month (yet again I know, because I love Shanghai!)
Beef bites on stone plate, with black pepper sauce. Yums!
You can see how much a girl can eat when everyone else beside your table is staring at you eat.
Went out the second day to get some light shopping done.
Breakfast with my milk pudding (again) and breadtalk's maple bread :)
my zigzag tank and denim highwaisted again. I can't live without these shorts!
Weather's breezy but sun's strong so don't go out without SPF and sunglasses.
Love my new aviators from Raybans, gift from my brilliant boyfriend (BB) :)
Places I often shop/frequent in Shanghai:
1) 七浦路 (wholesale clothes area, akin to Platinium in BKK?)
2) 新天地 ( malls with brands + french concession area in Shanghai)
3) 正大广场 (shopping mall with the usual common brands ie. h&m, uniqlo)
4) 田子方 (shopping mall + unique street shopping experience)
This is Xintiandi, Shanghai's French Concession. Quoted by the wiki (check out the bold link),
The French Concession is the area of Shanghai once designated for the French, consisting of today's Luwan and Xuhui Districts. Luwan's Huaihai Road is a busy shopping street and is also home to both Xintiandi and Tian Zi Fang, extremely popular shopping and dining spots for tourists. Xuhui is also ever popular for tourists and is home to Shanghai Stadium. The tree-lined avenues and their many Tudor mansions in the area still retain an air of the "Paris of the East".
My favorite restaurant is the Shanghai 新吉士酒楼 which I will blog about next time! My cousin brought me there but I haven't had time to write about that entry...!!
The Din Tai Fung restaurant in Xintiandi is usually busy during lunch/dinner hours. The best part of being alone is I get seats within minutes *grins*
Unsweetened soya bean milk - there's a sugar syrup on each table so you may add as much sugar as you please.
Ordered the fried rice with fried pork chop and I was pleased to say that the pork chop is the best I had in all the Dintaifungs I had! I haven't tried the original Taiwanese store so don't quote me on that if you've been there.
Well marinated (with slight black pepper taste, not too overpowering), and each piece is juicy, unlike the ones in SG which might be a little too dry for my liking.
my 5 piece XLBs which is perfect for a lone ranger like me:)
;)
Dessert - coconut sago with yum dumplings.
Anything with coconut and sago has to be my choice - the coconut paste is good, but the yum dumplings can be quite filling...
and it's a generous portion so I got sick of the dumplings after having like 7 pieces.
Got to TianZiFang, also part of the french concession as mentioned. I like this part of Shanghai because of its line of quirky concept stores, you could get quite a bit of good souvenirs from here! They're not cheap but they're so many that are so pretty to look at :)
I went this time in the evening, but I don't recommend that. I still like going in the morning because I could see everything clearly, the streets are not as well lit so it's easy to get lost within the concourse at night.
That marks my short entry to Shanghai! I will blog about the longer entry within the month where I spent Shanghai with my buddy again!
This is me earlier today, when I was preparing to meet my friends for Iftar.
Iftar is the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Ramandan month.
Fasting means abstaining from eating and drinking, and of course, any sexual related activities. The abstaining from eating and drinking happens from the beginning of dawn to dusk, sunrise to sunset.
Fasting is also named Sawm, and is one of the five pillars of Islam. (click to refer to the wiki link for more details). Muslims usually have 2 meals during Ramadan- namely Iftar (after sunset) and Suhoor (before sunrise).
Being in an Islamic country, we all thought it was a good idea to attend an Iftar during the month of Ramadan. Some of my girls managed to fast for a day or couple of days but I didn't manage to do it heh, should be quite difficult for a food junkie like me >>>
who thinks about food all day long and spends 3/5 of my pay just on food alone :~(
Asateer at Atlantis the Palm, Jumeirah, one of the A-list Iftar places.
It's a beachfront tent at Palm Jumeirah, fully airconditioned and looks pretty spectacular and lavish with all the pretty chandeliers and a beautiful interior.
I think such a place is much preferred by foreigners/visitors than locals really, for a feel of the iftar in a community setting.
Yes, the Palm looks exactly like a palm tree, a digital of what it looks like (cos I don't remember it being so much "blue" and "green")
We were actually in a part of this Palm!
It's expensive to travel there from the city though... Took from my place costing about 60dhs one way, which is S$23, and taxis here which are considerably cheap would have drivers smiling at us when we head to the Jumeirah.
This A-list iftar area is fully booked everyday so we had to get Mike to guarantee with his credit card before we got our seats end last month.
It's expensive to travel there from the city though... Took from my place costing about 60dhs one way, which is S$23, and taxis here which are considerably cheap would have drivers smiling at us when we head to the Jumeirah.
This A-list iftar area is fully booked everyday so we had to get Mike to guarantee with his credit card before we got our seats end last month.
As a gift from our friends Mike and Sarah who wanted us to have an all-rounded Arabic experience, they got us all an Abaya.
An abaya is a simple, loose garment which is robe-like and is often in black. The trendier abayas have designs on them, usually crystals/embroidery that are carefully stitched.
It was hilarious when I first saw Mike and he handed me the entire set of abaya in my lobby area, and I chased him with the abaya and hitting him with it ('cos I was so surprised, went crazy and mad with the thought of us wearing it)
They got us a complete set with the hijab ( the head shawl) so *clap clap* for their efforts hahaa, still can't imagine they really got us to wearing them man!
More on food, which are middle eastern/lebanese influenced.
Lots of meat around of course.. and dates! I've fallen in love with dates ever since I've moved to Dubai, they are sweet but they perk you up when you're really tired, and gives you the energy!
Works like chocolates me thinks and addictive 'cos they're soft and chewy like prunes.
Dessert corner
The dates I was talking about. I think there were about 5-8 types!
Fruit juices, including mint lemonade, and date juice.
If you're in Dubai, you have to try this date milkshake in Amici. I promise, it's damn good and I'll never have some other except this particular date milkshake cos milkshakes are fattening :p
Hajibs are really hard to wear by the way... they keep slipping off my head :(
I will master this well before I leave Dubai!
I love briyani, and the cheese prata-like toast.
That slab of meat is beef with BBQ sauce *grins widely*
Red velvet cakes ought to be the #1 of all cakes!
This ish V, one of my good friends whom I hang out often in Dubai.
She's such a good friend, a worthy one to make - plus she puts in real effort in her friendship :)
And some random pictures of us posing for the camera!
The asian girls in Dubai that formed such a strong bond and community <3
And at 930pm, when Asateer has to turn around their place for Suhoor (the meal consumed before breaking fast, eaten before Dawn).
Finally, some last visuals with my buddy and housemate, Suyanti. The person who hears my cries/rants/complaints and blabla, the best person to live with <3
Enjoy your weekend all :D
