Shanghai

So, here I sit at the desk in front of the window, with this magnificent view.....far better than the bathtub, with an equally magnificent view I guess. It's pouring rain, as I write and being here, right at the window, allows me to see the lightning bolts as they strike the buildings just across the river and a few right next to me, so close, that you don't have time to do the 1-1000, 2-1000 count before the thunder clap and when I say clap, I mean C-L-A-P!!!

Shanghai, has shown us even more contrasts than the ones we've seen during our travels, these past few weeks. A city of two sides, literally, the Pudong side being the 'new' skyscraper side and the Bund side, being the 'old' Shanghai, which includes Ya Yuang and its gardens, where 'Mission Impossible 3' was filmed.

I've rattled on about the steamed dumplings, well this is where you can find 'THE BEST' XiaolongBao(Shiowlongbaow, phonetically!!!) anywhere. We've visited a few restaurants whilst here and the one best we found, was with the longest line outside(go figure) and it consisted of three floors, each having its own kitchen, complete with chefs, doing nothing more then producing a myriad of these delectable delights. Here are a few, truly different ones that we had:- Sweet Cashew w/Black Sesame Seed, Sweet Rice w/Salt Pork, Spicy Soup w/Crabmeat, Sweet Pea and a Curried Beef. The Curried Beef were amazing, like the Sweet Cashew, were baked, not steamed and the dough, was the lightest, flakiest pastry dough I have ever had in my entire life(My Granny Waddy, used to make unbelievably flaky pie pastry, but this took the cake!!!).

The Sweet Rice and Salt Pork, were these little thread bound, leaf wrapped 'bundles of joy', the rice, so sweet and sticky that it didn't want to leave the leaf; and the Spicy Soup w/Crabmeat ones, had no fish flavour whatsoever, to where my Family never realized there was any fish at all!

Anyhooo, we're off to Hong Kong tomorrow evening, on the train would you believe; a 20 hour trip from here to Kowloon, mostly overnight alas, as I would have liked to have seen a little more of the Chinese Countryside! I will have time on my hands though, to write in a lot more depth, about the things we've done and seen during our stay in another beautiful City, of many millions!!!

Until then, Ciao,

Ades