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! :)