SHANGHAI SO FAR...

So I've been in Shanghai for over two weeks now, and everyday I am amazed by the city. I am lucky enough to have been put up in a lovely apartment in the Jing'an District (named after the Jing'an Temple that is located just one Metro stop away). My view is pretty impressive...

Every morning my journey to work takes about 30 mins. A short 5 minute walk to the Metro Station and then two stops and I'm pretty much at the office. Not quite as quick as my 3 minute commute in Singapore and slightly more crowded but I'm lucky that I'm not further away as I'm not sure how long I could cope being a sardine every morning!

Over the last 14 days I have come to realise that Shanghai is in fact huge! My map is deceiving as the distance of each block can be massive. I forget that this is the largest city by population in the world! And I'm here. Just me. My first week was a bit over-whelming as work is pretty busy and the city is even busier! As well as eating chicken feet and ducks tongues I have had some more incredible cuisine, once again at Lost Heaven, after a night out with the Holmes and Marchant girls. Lily and Catherine took me an incredible roof top bar, at The Peninsula Hotel, where I was literally "wowed" by the view. It was at this moment that Shanghai truly came to life for me.

As I mentioned previously, China is a food mecca! I've managed to try out so many delicious cafes and restaurants since I've been here. Some of my favorites...

DIN TAI FUNG

Din Tai Fung is an award-winning restaurant originating in Taiwan specializing in xiaolongbao (soup dumblings). We actually have branches in Singapore, but I've not yet tried it out. The dumpling skins are wrapped around a juicy pork filling, also containing a shot of really tasty soup/broth. It may very well be a Taiwanese chain, but I had heard that this was the best place to get xiaolongbao. It did not disappoint at all. 

ELEMENT FRESH

This has fast become one of my favorite places to eat! Most famous for great salads, sandwiches, juices and smoothies, they also offer a variety of Asian dishes and a delicious dinner menu.

Element Fresh grew out of Scott Minoie's and Sheldon Habiger's lifelong passion for food. Scott, a Boston-native started his first catering business at the age of 15 from his mom's kitchen, and has been involved with food and restaurants ever since, primarily as a chef and restaurant manager.

Sheldon, combining a strong background in nutrition with business experience in China, in the year 2000 convinced Scott they should start a catering service together, helping to fill the gap in Shanghai's offerings of fresh, international food. In 2001, they added a health food & juice bar in Shanghai's first international health club.

The big break came in 2002: a regular customer working in the leasing department of Shanghai's premier retail, office and hotel complex, the Shanghai Centre/Portman, offered a location in the Shanghai Centre to the young restaurant company. When the word got out, other regular customers decided to provide the required financial support to the founders...and so Element Fresh at The Shanghai Centre opened its doors on July 12, 2002!"

This is where you will find me when I'm craving a salad. Element Fresh is simply great for it ... just look at the size of this Cobb Salad...

GOURMET CAFE

Today I stumbled upon Gourmet Cafe whilst a Shanghai Centre. They serve hand-made, premium hamburgers in a modern cafe setting. 

"All our hamburgers, be it beef, pork, chicken or vegetable are an exercise in culinary perfection fusing imaginative and delicious combinations of ingredients and guarantee to blow your socks off."

LOST HEAVEN

I already prevoisuly wrote about Lost Heaven. Three visits now in a fortnight! I highly recommend!

GREEN AND SAFE ORGANIC

This is a high-end organic supermarket very similar to Whole Foods. It is owned by a Taiwanese company and is both a supermarket and a cafe. There are wooden crates everywhere, filled with bright, very healthy vegetables and fruits! My favorite thing ... free tasters! Check out these chillies outside drying in the sunshine...

So, what else has been happening? Well, I was lucky enough to have Grant come and visit on my first weekend here. I was really grateful to have some company for a couple of days as the city is pretty daunting on my own. Most people stare. And I've had a few people literally stick their iPhones in my face and take pictures. Why? I'm not quite sure. Just something that I will have to get used to I suppose. 

Last Friday night we managed to end up in a bar called Sasha's in the French Concession. An interesting place. The club next door was even more interesting. Greeted by the sign "LADS : no shirt = no drinks LADIES : now shirt = free drinks all night" I swiftly made a quick exit.

Last Saturday was sight seeing day. The easiest way...Big Bus Tours of course! I think it was the best way to enjoy the magnificent views from the top of the double decker bus, all with running commentary bringing Shaghai's 1000 year story to life. From the city we made our way over to Pudong, Shanghai's financial district, located along the east side of the Huangpu River. It was hard to imagine that this area has only been developing since the 1990's. Since then it has become home to many of Shanghai's best known buildings. The Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Building and the Shanghai World Financial Centre ... this one I have to get to the top of!

It is super tall! When it was completed in 2007, it was, at the time, the second tallest building in the world, at 492 meters tall! Grant and I made our way up the 100th floor to the observation deck with views from 474 meters above ground level. Absolutely incredible views. It seems like everything in this city is about height and bright lights as Pudong really comes to life in the evenings. Another favorite part of that side of the river was the incredible roundabout just below the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. So so colorful...

Another delicious meal at Lost Heave and a casual stroll along the Bund that evening, where once again people come pounding up to us to have their photos taken. So bizarre! We covered a lot of ground that day! 

I'm really glad that Grant suggested getting out of the city on Sunday. I know for sure that had he not been here I would probably have spent the day wandering about aimlessly! So, we decide to head for Suzhou (pronouced Sue-Joe). A major city located adjacent to Shanghai. The train station was an experience in itself. After being dropped off my the taxi driver, literally in the middle of the road, we made our way to the ticket office and your tickets quite easily. Not so easy to figure out which platform we needed to be on though! Once we did we were on our way. Shanghai to Suzhou in 25 minutes.

Whilst I've been here I have also discovered Green Massage. A sanctuary to escape the daily stress for sure! I have visited twice now and both times I have come away feeling completely tranquil.

Green Massage is my favorite weekend "treat". At 370RNB for a 120 minute full body massage, it may  be on the more expensive side but it totally worth it. At both the Shanghai Centre and the Shanghai World Financial Centre branches I have been made to feel extremely welcome. The interiors although very dark, provide the perfect lull into relaxation with mature sounds and soothing music. They brew their own flower tea too! Chinese massage can be quite hard and at times I find myself blinking back tears of pain, but it is a rewarding experience in the end. I feel calm, relaxed and rejuvenated, ready to take on next weeks challenges! 

A mini highlight for me has been seeing the Chinese Magnum packs that we worked on in 2010. Never thought I'd see these in reality...

...and then of course it's a great feeling to be able to see some of Chinese packaging on shelf here. Chips Ahoy was one of the Chinese projects I worked on and here it is. In all it's glory! 

I arrived in China two weeks ago yesterday, and it has literally flown by. It's a completely different experience to living in Singapore, which I know consider "Asia for beginners". Watch this space for more pictures from our trip to Suzhou! 

CONGRATULATIONS...

...to Carley, Laura and Lauren for completing the 2012 Lloyds TSB Cardiff Half Marathon last weekend! What an achievement girls. Well done! 

TRY ANYTHING ONCE...

My first impression of China was most definitely via my taste buds after our delicious dinner on my first night. I have realised over the last week that China is obsessed with food! And that food plays a very big role in society and family life so (in the same way I did when I first arrived in Singapore) I have tried to keep an open mind about what I try and taste. After all, I am here not only to work, but to embrace the culture.

I often sit at my desk in work thinking “what shall I have for lunch today?” Today Lily had asked me to join her for lunch. I had jumped at the chance. What better way to learn more about the culture and cuisine than by joining a local who could a) read the menu and b) introduce me to foods that I have never even heard of before let alone seen! I found myself in an amazing restaurant situated in The Ding Xiang Garden. Originally built for the concubine of a Qing dynasty mandarin, it is not reserved for retired Communist Party cadres. The only way you can get to see the grounds are to eat in the restaurant. 

Lily orders a feast. Our table is literally covered in dishes. I am in for a culinary delight. The first dish to arrive “ducks tongue”. Yes, you read that right. The tongue of a duck. But not just one. About ten! I literally do not hold back and get stuck in straight away. I was sure if I thought about it for too long I’d be put off.

How would I describe a ducks tongue. Surprisingly nice. Approximately two inches in length, they look pretty insubstantial. But it’s flavor was intensely duck like. I can’t quite figure out if it’s the coating that is enhancing the flavor though. Chewy with a slightly fatty interior that kind of melts in the mouth. They have a bone that runs through the middle. Edible of course. I couldn’t help but wonder whilst eating them (yes I ate more than one!) if the tongue is what makes a duck quack. Apparently not, it aids in manipulating the food in the ducks mouth rather than producing the signature quack! Interesting! 

Chickens feet. I could only manage two! I wasn’t brave enough to literally munch through the bone. Again, the sauce pretty much disguises what you are eating and they were hot and spicy. Chickeny-tasting. Hard work to control with chopsticks but I kind of enjoyed the gelatinous flesh. Very similar to a chicken wing really, except much harder to put in your mouth knowing that is in fact a foot! 

Apart from those local delicacies the remainder of the food seemed pretty normal. Delicious vegetables. A pumpkin carved out and filled with multiple mushroom soup. Durian dim sum (although not a big fan) plenty of shrimp dim sum, rice cake, and sweet fruit cake (almost jelly like)...

What an experience that was. So grateful to Lily for taking me out and introducing me to these local dishes. All part of the China experience and most definitely a story to tell when I return to the UK in November. I do think that tomorrow I might have to seek out a sandwich for my lunch...just to maintain the balance between wacky and normal! 

SO HERE I AM IN SHANGHAI...

Work recently asked me if I would head up to China to spend some time designing out of the office based in Shanghai. I jumped at the chance. I have been itching to get here since Holmes and Marchant opened the office so this was a perfect opportunity for me to do so, and here I am writing this whilst sat on the balcony of my apartment overlooking the city. Amazing.

A short(ish) 5 hour flight from Singapore I arrived to a very "cool" Shanghai. The first thing I notice different to Singapore is the temperature that hits you when you step outdoors. The humidity is so much less here! A very pleasant temperature. The taxi queue goes by quite quickly and I find myself in the back of a cab, having given the taxi driver a piece of paper with the address on. They speak very little English so I don't even attempt to tell him the address myself as I know he won't understand me. As we hit the motorway and the cab picks up speed I scramble looking for my seatbelt. There isn't one. I literally just hold on tight and don't look out of the front of the cab the entire journey. The views to either side are much better anyways!

On arrival at my apartment I am greeted by Catherine (China MD) and her husband Martin who took me out for a very "hot" dinner. They had asked if I liked spice. And I do. But this was super spicy to say the least! Pin Chuan is a Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant. Let there be spice...

http://www.simplylife-sh.com/pc/

"Sichuan cuisine is marked by its rich traditional flavors which stem from a culture of hundreds of years and in part, shaped by climatic influences. Authentic Sichuan cuisine offers a unique dining experience full of adventurous and creative sensations. Hot, spicy, numbing and sheer exhilaration as our taste buds are given a true workout!"

Catherine and Martin visit Pin Chuan often and I leave it up to Martin to choose our dishes. We end up with a wonderful selection. Mouth Watering Chicken (spicy sliced chicken and bamboo shoots marinated in soy sauce with chill and black pepper)...

Chinese lettuce salad (with peanut sauce) which was the only non spicy dish...

Pork Spare Ribs (with minced green and red peppers and cumin)...

Baby tiger prawns (stir fried with dried chilli)...

Mandarin fish (poached whole with preserved vegetables and glass vermicelli), and served in an amazing bowl...

Green beans (dry-fried with mildly marinated pork, bean sprouts and red chilli), and the highlight of the night for me. Frog. You guessed it. With chilli!

After dinner we head to a bar for few glasses of wine at a bar called Abbey Road. I can tell instantly that I am most certainly in an "expat" part of town!

In the lead up to Shanghai I've literally been rushed off my feet and today is the first Sunday in a long time I've been able to have a lie in. I fully embrace it! Towards mid afternoon I decide to take a walk along the stretch of road that my apartment is on. It leads me to Nanjang West. I have stumbled across Shanghai's answer to Oxford Street or Orchard Road. I'm really hungry but literally everything is in Chinese. I have no clue what most stuff is. And then I see it. The big "M". Can't go wrong. Even that's spicy...

When I first moved to Singapore I was lucky enough to meet Carine, who recently moved to live in Shanghai. This evening she took me out for a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Lost Heaven, again in the French Concession. 

"The cuisine of Yunnan Province isn't usually found outside of China, unlike Cantonese and Sichuanese dishes which are known all over the world. However, Shanghai has some great Yunnanese restaurants where you can sample the regional foods of the ethnic minorities who live in the "land of the clouds" down south. Yunnan Province borders Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Tibet and its food has taken influences from all four countries. Over nearly half of China's 56 ethnic groups are found in Yunnan, so it's cuisine also reflects this diversity.

Lost Heaven in the heart of the French Concession is arguably Shanghai's best Yunnanese eatery. It was founded by a man from Yunnan who was exiled to Taiwan with the Kuomintang. On returning to China, he vowed to spread the word about the food of his beloved home province, so opened up a restaurant in Shanghai.

Lost Heaven is certainly no hole in the wall; rather, its' an opulently furnished space with dark wood walls, low lighting, and Buddha statues dotted around. Waitresses wear ethnic outfits and the food is authentic and incredibly tasty!" *

Lost Heaven did not disappoint and it was a perfect end to the weekend and a great evening catching up with Carine. I think I'm going to enjoy my time here! 

* WOW Shanghai mobile application 

WELCOME JENNIE...

I was so lucky to recently welcome Jennie over from the UK for her first trip to Singapore. A short but very very sweet visit. We managed to cram quite a few things in! After a fun Friday afternoon out on the Sightseeing bus (a great way to see the whole city) we spent the night on Club Street catching up with everyone. Followed by a very hectic flat move on the next day we spent the evening chilling and mooching around the new apartment...

Jennie and I have always spoken about going to Raffles for Singapore Slings so we decided to splash out and go to the Bar & Billiard Room there for Brunch on the Sunday. What an experience. All the brunches I've experienced in Singapore have been out of this world, but it was the little touches of the Raffles brunch that made me enjoy this one so much. Golden eggs desserts. Free flow Singapore Slings. A chair just for my handbag. Fab! 

Whilst Jennie was here it was Singapore Restaurant Week and I had booked us and Betsy a table at Stellar (1-Altitude) where we had a delicious lunch...

Spicy Unago Kimchee Roll with cucumber and chill flakes

Oven roasted corn-fed chicken, foie gras pilaf and chicken jus

Coconut mousse, rhum jelly, pineapple rum sorbet

After finishing our food we were lucky enough to be asked by the restaurant manager if we would like to go up to 1-Altitude. Usually a $25 cover charge and full of people on this occasion it was free, and there was only the three of us up there! A (very hot) great view for Jennie to see before her trip came to an end. I loved every minute of having Jennie with me in Singapore and I really hope that she'll come back to visit again some day.