I am the Dumpling King!!!

I walk past Dumpling King in Box Hill every day on my way home from work, and it is almost always packed. There is also an article on the window about how it was in the Good Food Guide and has won awards for its cuisine, so I figured it must be good.

Tonight, Chris and I decided to head there for dinner. The menu was extensive, with authentic Shanghai and Beijing dishes along with the usual suspects like Sweet Corn and Chicken Soup and Singapore Fried Noodles.

We started with the Lantern Dumplings, which were seafood dumplings wrapped with spinach and cornflower flavoured wheat flour wrappers. I loved these. The seafood was sweet and fresh and went well with the vinegar dipping sauce that came with it.

Next, we had the Tea Smoked Chicken. It was a generous serve of what looked like baked chicken with a sweet sauce poured over it. It was quite tasty but not smoky enough, in my opinion. Chris thought it would have been better if the waiter hadn't poured all that sauce over it, as it drowned out the other flavours.

Lastly, we had the Egg White with Crabmeat and Scallop. This was an interesting dish - I'd never tasted anything like it before. It was basically egg whites scrambled with crab and scallop, and came served with vinegar poured over it, and an egg yolk, and the waiter mixed it all together. It was really tasty, and the egg yolk added a nice rich flavour. The mushy texture may not be for everyone, but I like mushy food, so it appealed to me :)

All in all, the food was pretty good, but I don't really see what the hype is all about. It was completely packed tonight, and the manager had to keep turning people away at the door. Altogether, our meal came up to $50, including 2 soft drinks and a glass of wine. So, it was reasonably priced. The service was 3/5... the last dish arrived really late - I think the kitchen forgot about it.

Chris has booked a B&B for tomorrow night, so it will be a big w/end! I can't wait :) The pics look really nice.

So how about this weather, then?

I sometimes have the tv on in the background when I'm cooking or doing odd chores around the house. Tonight, I saw an ad on tv for a show called 'Our World: The Weather' or something like that. They're showing a full-length tv program about the weather?! I know it's about the weather all over the world, but come on! Are we really running out of interesting programs to show on tv? I think we need more wacky gameshows, like the ones in Japan. I saw this crazy one where they got people to wear huge sumo suits, and these little Japanese women were whacking them with mallets. That must be great for destressing.

On a slightly different note, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of a bridal boutique just down the road from where I live. In a perfect world, I will walk in there one afternoon, instantly find my perfect gown, and it will cost under $300. I did find my dream wedding dress on the weekend Mel was here. It was a Linda Gorringe dress in blush thai silk. Yes, it's pink. But so pale pink that you can't really tell unless it's next to a white dress. Sigh.. my 'Strapless Poppy' that I can never wear because it's $2500.

Chris offered to put his tax return towards it, which I thought was very sweet. But I cannot justify spending so much money for a dress I will only wear twice (once in Australia and once in Singapore). He also offered to fly Mel (who will be one of my bridesmaids) back to Melbourne again so we can do a proper 'find the wedding dress' session. Awww! And he's going to ask one of his clients (who is the owner of a hairdressing chain) if they can do hairstyles for me and all of my bridesmaids! I think he should be the bride ;)

One of my friends at work just got married, and it's reminded me that our wedding date is looming close, and other than deciding on our reception venue in Australia, we have done nothing else. I'm starting to get excited at the thought of embarking on this new stage of our lives together, but it's also frightening how permanent the whole thing is. I wonder if everyone feels this way.

Oh well.. time to take a shower and then cuddle up with Mika in bed :)

Shanghai Pt 2 and Melbourne City Weekend!

This is a picture of 'The Haunted Bookshop' taken in Melbourne city. Unfortunately, it was closed so we couldn't go in for a closer look, but it appeared to sell books about the supernatural and the occult. It was hidden away in one of the laneways... I must go back and have a look! But more about Melbourne city later...
Here are the final pictures from the Shanghai holiday. The picture below was taken at Xin Tian Di, an attraction famous for its unique architecture. Xin Tian Di retains its antique walls, tiles and cobblestones of the old Shikumen housing from which it was built. The interior, however, has been thoroughly modernised to include French and European bistros and cafes. Pretty cobblestone alleys!
Jacky Chan owns this restaurant. The food sounded very suspect: Meatloaf burgers, Sausages and relish... hideously overpriced pubgrub.

I was very lucky that one of my friends, Zhenni, has been to Shanghai several times, and her brohter and mother live there, so she could recommend some good eating places. One of them was Xiao Nan Guo. It's a chain restaurant, and we couldn't successfully tell the taxi driver which branch to take us to, so he ended up taking us to some place we hadn't been before. I think it was in the "food section" of Huai Hai Lu. This street is just like Chinatown in Singapore. It's filled with restaurants and roadside eateries, and obviously where the locals go for dinner.

Xiao Nan Guo itself was a really grand, elaborate restaurant with chandeliers on the ceiling and upholstered walls. There was even a chambermaid outside the ladies room to assist you with drying your hands! We ordered the Shanghai specialties Wine Chicken and Xiao Long Bao (Little Dragon Bun), abalone in soybean oil with vermicelli, vegetables with 3 types of mushrooms, and lobster sashimi.

The food was superb. Every other place we had eaten at in Shanghai had very oily and salty food, but here, the seasonings didn't overwhelm the food at all. The wine chicken was delicately flavoured and unlike other versions we had tried, not tough or chewy at all. The lobster sashimi was beautifully served on a boat, however this blogger was too excited to dig in with her chopsticks to take any pictures. It was delicious and so fresh, you expected the lobster flesh to start squirming in your mouth! The waiter suggested that we cook lobster porridge with the lobster head, and he rolled out a wagon and began to lovingly cook the porridge in front of us, adding eggs, cabbage, assorted other vegetables, and mushrooms. The result was absolutely delicious, and we happily packed some home for my sister, who was still sick with food poisoning and could only stomach porridge.

The abalone came much more well-presented than this, but I only remembered to take a picture after half the dish had been demolished. THe baby abalone was tender but firm to the bite, and very tasty. THe vermicelli soaked up the tasty sauce beautifully.
And here is the famous Xiao Long Bao. We tried this dish at many restaurants, but I think the one at Xiao Nan Guo was the best. Xiao Long Bao is basically a dumpling filled with pork and broth, and the trick to eating it is to be VERY careful, because the scalding broth will shoot out and burn your tongue if you're not. The Xiao Long Baos at this restaurant were innovatively steamed with a 'vent' at the top so that steam could escape, and you could safely eat your Xiao Long Bao without hurting yourself too much! They were also very tasty and not too greasy or 'piggy' tasting.

Melbourne!

Thus ends my post about Shanghai. THe weekend after I got back, my friend Melissa came to visit from Sydney. We had been planning this visit for ages, so I was really excited. Chris and I decided to stay Friday night in the city at the Grand Medina. The rooms were comfortable and they gave us a free upgrade from a studio to a 1-bedroom apartment, but somehow, it lacked a certain something. It looked like 'just a hotel room' to me. I did appreciate the fully equipped kitchen though. You can also order food from the cafe downstairs, and I was sorely tempted to just order our dinner in as the menu looked so good.

This is our lounge room. Pretty spacious.

Our bedroom. Chris complained that the bed was too soft, but he fell asleep pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow. I didn't mind the soft mattress myself.
This was a picture taken at the celebrity photograph exhibition they had at Crown. It's a picture of Andrew Denton. I love how sad the little kitten looks!
I am pointedly ignoring Chris as we walked along the Crown promenade, trying to work off our dinner and dessert. We had planned to eat at Number 7, but it was fully booked. They have a terrific pre-theatre 2-course menu for $32. We ended up going to Automatic instead, where Chris and Mel each ordered steaks and I ordered mussels. We had turkish bread with 2 dips as entrees. The bread was a bit dry, but the dips tasted fresh and homemade. There was a creamy olive dip that I loved, and a smoked salmon one, which was pretty good too. The steaks arrived without any side vegetables or potatoes - a bit disappointing for the price. My mussels were delicious - a generous helping of mussels steamed with wine, basil and tomatoes, with a breadstick to dip into the tasty sauce.

After our dinner, we headed off in search of dessert and found ourselves perched at the tapas bar at Cafe Grecos. Chris ordered a hot chocolate, Mel had an afagato, and I had some nougat. The waiter there was a little strange. He kept insisting I ordered a drink. Chris thought he might have been on commission; Mel thought he was flirting with me. The nougat was delicious, the hot chocolate was pretty good, and the afagato was yummy.

Our stomaches filled with something savoury and something sweet, we decided to take a stroll along Southbank and look at the other restaurants that stretched along the bay. I was delighted to find a Trampoline gelati store along the way and ordered a scoop of lychee and lime. Mmmm.. there's always room for gelati! By the time we had finished our circuit, we were exhausted and headed off to our respective beds.

The next morning, Mel texted to say she was having a slow start that morning, so Chris and I headed across the road to a Vietnamese bakery for breakfast, after checking out of the Medina. The concierge told us we could park the car at their carpark for as long as we wanted, which I thought was very nice of them!

The bakery did hot breakfasts too, so Chris ordered a bacon and egg sandwich while I had raisin toast. Chris's sandwich was pretty good, not too greasy at all. My toast, on the other hand, was slightly burnt and tasted like the type of raisin bread you get at the supermarket - ie. nothing special.

This is a random picture of coffee named after me! We saw it at a coffee shop at Sassafras. Apparently I'm $45 per kg! Pretty expensive, huh? Ok.. more about Sassafras and the Dandenong Mountains later...
Mel and I took a slow stroll around Melbourne city, admiring the beautiful old buildings and exploring the arcades and laneways that Melbourne is famous for. The longer I live here, the more I am charmed by this city. It's so civilised, the people are quiet and they respect your personal space, but are always happy to politely chat if you strike up conversation with them. People in Melbourne respect their history, and their city. It's always relatively clean, I don't think I saw any graffiti, and the sidewalks are so wide that you never feel rushed or claustrophobic, even during the busy Christmas season.

I always thought I was a Sydney girl at heart, but having lived in Melbourne for the past few years, I've slowly given in to its slow pace. People in Melbourne like to sit and soak it all in over a perfect cup of coffee. It's very hard to find bad coffee here, or indeed, a bad meal. Even the worst ones are just average.

And the shopping! Even if you don't have a cent in your pocket, you can fill up on gazing longingly at the beautiful shopwindows in the arcades. Mel and I wandered into an antique jewellery store, where the shop assistants asked us if we required any help. Mel said, "Maybe if you can offer assistance in the monetary sense!" They laughed and were very happy to answer our questions about the history of the pieces and educating us on all the exotic gems, even though they knew we couldn't afford to buy anything.

A gorgeous clocktower in the city. After walking around and trying on clothes for a few hours, we decided to stop and take a break at Koko Black, in one of the arcades. Koko Black is famous for its handmade chocolates and hot chocolate. Everything is made with pure cocoa butter and the finest ingredients. You can definitely taste the difference.
We're such good mates, we even blink in unison!
And smile! We were relieved to finally collapse into the plush, comfy chairs at Koko Black. They had all sorts of magazines there too, so you were basically invited to relax and kick back there. The nice people sitting opposite us and sharing our table took these pictures for us :)
My mocha. It was delicious. Koko Black uses real chocolate to make their hot chocolate, instead of cocoa powder, so it's like drinking pure liquid chocolate. I don't normally like full cream milk (it tastes too much like cow) but the chocolate balanced it out beautifully, and blended nicely with the slightly sharp bitterness of the coffee. MMmm heavenly. I wish I had some churros to dip into the mocha.

After we'd had enough of shopping, Mel and I decided to take a tram to Lygon Street to meet Chris there for dinner. I'd never taken a tram before, and Mel wasn't sure how to get there either, so we ended up getting seriously lost. We trudged along Brunswick Road until, finally, admitting defeat and smelling Italian food but not seeing any in sight, rang Chris for help. We sat outside a dodgy looking motel and tried to ignore the dodgy men who kept eyeballing us as they drove past. Finally, our knight in a dusty white Pulsar came to rescue us. He had got lost himself, so it took about 45 minutes for him to find us. It was about 9 when we finally got to Lygon Street, and we were starving.

Most of the restaurants were still pretty packed even though it was late. We decided to try Il Gumbo - I was swayed because there was a big prawn on the sign. I ordered the risotto marinara, Mel ordered one of the specials of the day, pumpkin risotto, and Chris ordered calamari. Mine was delicious - the risotto was al dente, the sauce was perfect, and it was proportionately half seafood and half risotto, so you got yummy fresh seafood with every bite. Mel's was also very tasty, with the sweet pumpkin mingling with a light cream sauce. Chris, unfortunately, was disappointed with his. It was a pretty small serve, and the calamari was nothing special. Still, I will go back to Il Gumbo again. The prices were really reasonable for such good food.

After our tummys were satisfied, I insisted that we went to Brunettis. It was packed to the brim, but she loved seeing the handmade cookies, chocolates and cakes. We ordered gelati to go and took a stroll eating it. My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I had to get Chris to finish mine. After such a big day, I collapsed into bed and fell asleep almost immediately that night.

On Sunday, Mel took a train to Box Hill, where we had a quick sushi meal at my apartment and we picked up some meat and veg for a roast meal that CHris was going to cook for us that night. Then Chris drove us all up to the Dandenong Mountains for Devonshire tea.

There was a shop in Sassafras called The Oracle. It was fascinating, filled with crystals and candles and 'white magic' items. There was also a cat who lived there named Oracle. He was very friendly and came up to rub up against me and say hello. He even let Chris pick him up for a cuddle. I think Oracle owns the shop.
This is a little parlour room where people wait to go in for tarot readings. Oracle was very interested in what was behind the door. I think the person who feeds him was there!
Friar John's Wedding Chapel. They also serve devonshire tea and hot meals. The day we were there, shepherds pie was on the menu.
Our Devonshire tea at Miss Marples. They have HUGE scones that come with delicious berry jam and fresh cream. Unfortunately, this picture was taken after most of the scones had been demolished, but they were mmm good.

We got home too late for Chris to cook the roast, so we ended up getting Chinese takeout from Box Hill and relaxing in front of the tv with Mika. It was a great weekend and I hope Mel enjoyed it as much as I did!

The picture below is a cute card Chris and Mika made for me when I was away in Shanghai. I came home to a spotless apartment, fresh sheets, and this card and a pressie on the bed! I love my little diamond huggies :)

Aww, they look so sad!
And here is my birthday hamper from Chris! It had: a Gremlin (because I said I wanted one), a real Venetian handmade mask, a fluffly pink blanket, a bag of marshmallows, a box of tia maria chocolates, scented candles, an earring and necklace set, a Neil Gaiman graphic novel, Breakfast at Tiffanys DVD (because I am currently reading the book and tried hard to find the dvd), The Breakfast Club dvd, and a Terry Prachett book. There was also a voucher for a photoshoot at Glamour Shots, but getting glammed up and having my picture taken really isn't my thing :( Hopefully they will give us a refund. This was Part 1 of my present. Wonder what's in Part 2?!

Chris has been really sweet the past few weeks, especially when Mel was here. He made her feel really welcome and was happy to drive her back to St Kilda, where she was staying, every night. He also cleaned up the apartment so Mel wouldn't think I was a grot! Top marks for being a good fiance! :)

Shanghai-ed!!

It's been a really busy month for me, mainly because it was my mother's 60th birthday a few weeks ago and she requested a family holiday as a birthday present, so we all decided to go to Shanghai.

I spent 2 days in Singapore before taking a flight from there to Shanghai. I had to squeeze a lot into those 2 days and they went by in a blur. I had to: get a haircut (and spa perm! see my curly hair?), catch up with old friends, visit relatives, fix a chipped tooth, and attend a birthday lunch for my mother. This is us in the picture below, very, very full from an ala-carte buffet lunch at Kippo Restaurant at Keppel Club, Singapore. Kippo has a range of gourmet Chinese and Japanese food. The highlights of our lunch were salmon sashimi, codfish marinated with miso paste (mmm the fish melted in your mouth), double-boiled sharkfin soup, and a range of delicious dim sum dishes. The cake was chocolate mud - yum yum! Unfortunately, I could only manage a mouthful or two as I'd filled up on herbal jelly dessert (it's hard to find it in Melbourne. I would appreciate if someone could tell me where I can get it here.)

We took a midnight flight to Shanghai, and as I'd spent most of the evening with my friends, I had to pretty much rush to the airport without a shower. I don't think I arrived smelling like roses! We flew with China Eastern (I think) and the flight was terrible. The other passengers were loud and creepy (I exchanged seats with my dad because they were getting drunk and making me uncomfortable). I slept through breakfast but was told that they had served fried beehoon on board.

Stepping off the plane, we had to maneouvre our stiff legs down a steep flight of aluminium steps to a waiting shuttle bus that would take us to the airport. It was summer and the heat and smog hit us like a tidal wave. I thought the heat in Singapore was bad, but in Shanghai, the smog hangs about the air, making the heat feel ten times more oppressive. I started to perspire a few seconds after I got off the plane. By the way, I strongly recommend Nivea compact spray - it saved me from becoming a smelly, drippy mess in Shanghai!

At the airport, we went through customs relatively quickly and waited for about half an hour for my sister to arrive. She had flown with Singapore Airlines, and it sounded like she had had a more comfortable flight than we did!

Once we collected all of our baggage, we met our tour guide who ushered us into a surprisingly clean and air-conditioned (phew!) bus. He was nice and friendly, with a good sense of humour, but the funniest part was watching my father try to communicate with him in his extremely bad Mandarin. My spoken Mandarin isn't the best either, but I can understand most of it, if it isn't spoken too quickly.

A picture of the Shanghai skyline, made blurry by the perpetual smog that hangs over the city.
A view of the skyscrapers rising like glaciers among the old French-colonial buildings that have been preserved with great care by the Chinese government. I wonder if this is out of respect for the incredible architecture or out of sentiment for the yesteryear. In either case, the contrast is quite striking. Indeed, Shanghai is a melting pot of old and new, and everything appears to coexisit in harmony. Our tour guide told us that the city is divided into 'dong' and 'xi' (east and west), with the older generation living on one side and the younger generation migrating to the other in search of their future.
Another family shot! This was taken in a commemorative garden, however I can't really remember what it was for! Hopefully my sister does, and she can englighten me :) By the way, I must apologise that my pictures aren't in chronological order. I resized them in photoshop and saved them into a folder and the stupid computer arranged them in alphabetical order. Because I give my photos silly names, I had a hard time remembering what was what...
Wow! A Haagen Dazs in "Shanghai Old Street" on Fangband Road. This huge area has buildings designed to look like residences of the late Qing dynasty. It's filled with little teahouses, dessert shops, clothing retailers, souvenir and curio shops and literally everything you could want - including Haagen Dazs ice-cream! We escaped the heat and ducked into a dessert shop that sold icy-fruity desserts like frozen mango with sago, or watermelon and honeydew pulp. I was amazed at how hygenic it was. The waitress used a napkin to take a spoon out of a box for me! The service was also impeccable here. They refunded me part of the cost of my dessert because strawberries were out of season.
This was the meal I had at a Japanese restaurant we found at one of the big shopping malls. It was quite late when we went in, and by the time we finished, it was around 11pm, but the staff were very polite and didn't rush us through our meal. I ordered Korean style seafood rice. It was basically Japanese rice topped with spicy Korean broth and seafood. A bit too spicy for my tastes, but very tasty, with bits of mussels, fish and calamari.
This picture was actually taken in Singapore, before we left for Shanghai. My sis had kindly taken us to a fancy Japanese restaurant at Great World City. They did nouveau Japanese food. She ordered some sort of mille feuille, I think. It was delicious, with the flavours of fish and potato mingling with the salsa on the side. I had ordered king prawn with sea urchin roe. MMm.. can't get enough of sea urchin roe.
This is the famous Nanjing Road, one of the most important commercial and tourist streets in Shanghai. It reminded me of a cross between New York and Hongkong.
My first meal in Shanghai. It was awful. It was chicken and mushroom noodles, but it tasted like the chicken and mushroom had come out of a tin, and even though the noodles were hot, the chicken was cold. Very bland and unappetising, but it only cost about S$1.
Huahai Road. This part definitely reminds me of Orchard Road in Singapore. I spied a beautiful pair of handmade leather kitten heels here, but unfortunately, the budget didn't stretch to accommodate it. Sob!
THe Oriental Pearl TV tower. It's 468m high and consists of 15 spheres of different sizes. It's supposed to resemble pearls dropping onto a jade plate. Hahahaha. Sorry, but with all the multi-coloured lights, it looks more like a Star Trek prop. Now, China has the biggest population in the world. (I think... or is it India?) And of course, every single person in China had to congregate at the Pearl tower the night we decided to go there!! Either that, or it's a common outing for Shanghainese families. "What are we going to do this weekend, ma?" "Go to the Pearl tower, of course!" "Awww, again?!"

It was so crowded, we had to stand in line every step of the way, that by the time we got to the highest part (the "space module"- see what I mean about Star Trek?) I was too annoyed to enjoy the view. It *was* amazing to see the megawatts of lights twinkling on the bay, though.

A picture of the lobby of our hotel. I don't know why I took it. I think I was delirious from dire need to take a shower.
As I was getting dressed, I noticed that this was the brand name of my skirt. 'Anemia'. I guess you have to be anaemic to get into Singapore clothing sizes.
A picture of a roadside snack shop. I wasn't brave enough to try any of the food though.
A picture of the memorial thingy mentioned below our family picture. I think it was erected (teeheehee) to commemorate the deaths that fell to communism... I could be entirely wrong, though. I named this picture 'spike', so it doesn't tell me a whole lot.
Another picture of the 'spike'. Extremely phallic, no?
A picture of a nice looking tea house in one of the gardens.
Another picture of some of the buildings in "Shanghai Old Street".
Yet another picture of a building in "Shanghai Old Street". The girl in blue looks really bored.
And yet another picture of "Shanghai Old Street". I was fascinated by all the new-old buildings. I found some nice souvenirs here - some watercolour paintings, a silk-embroidery cat that reminds me of Kez, a silk bag, some painted fabric fans.
The view from the Pearl tower.



More pictures of the view from Pearl tower, and pictures of wax figures in the Old SHanghai museum on the ground floor of the Pearl tower.

Unfortunately, on our second-last night in Shanghai, my sister got a very serious case of food poisoning. We think it was from a dessert shop we went to that night. It was a very scary strain of food poisoning because it attacks the lining of your intestines. Anyway, thank goodness she's feeling much better now.

Thus concludes Shanghai Part 1. I still have a few random food and scenery shots to put up, but may skip them and put up pictures from my weekend in Melbourne city instead :)