上海南翔小笼包

I'm losing track of how many days I've been here already. LOL! Very little free time to blog and stuff now since work has started.

Dinners are always good which always results in late nights and therefore, I don't have time to edit photos and blog. Not forgetting project reports...haha

Anyway, this is our adventure in Shanghai day 3 :D We went in search of the famous 南翔小笼包 which is located at 豫园 station :D

It's a short 10 minute walk from the metro. On the way, what we saw really resembled Chinatown in Singapore. I shall let the pictures take you on that journey :D

On the way to 南翔小笼包

The funny-awesome thing about these 2 pictures (above and beneath), is that it's taken at the road crossing. That's not all, the thing is, a couple asked us to help them take picture of them at the exact same spot we were posing at...Immediately after we took for them, we asked them to take for us. LOL!

This is quite a dangerous shot because we're at the edge of the road crossing. The really sucky thing about  China is that their vehicles HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY.

The pedestrian crossing can have the green man shining as brightly for all you care, but the cars will just continue zooming pass you. Some of them even HORN at you to tell you to stop walking while they continue on their selfish journey.

So, every road crossing we make is really by faith. Usually they'll slow down and come really near you until you fear for your toe's safety...and usually, there'll be a lot of other locals crossing the road with you. So when the bunch of them cross, just cross with them, the car can't bulldoze through more than a dozen people...HAHA!

Take 2 :D

Yup, this is one of the most chinatown shots we could get around this area. It's really nice and people are all taking photos all over the shop...haha

豫园 area...really looks like Singapore's Chinatown doncha think? Haha

ME! :D LOL!

The restaurant is located directly beside some pond...haha. Really nice serene setting. The thing about this 南翔小笼包 restaurant is that, the moment we entered, they asked us "你们个人是要要花50或80元? 50元会坐这边，80元会坐在那边"...something like that..haha

Basically, we tell them how much we want to spend before going in. From your indicated amount, they'll determine where you guys sit. There's the high-class section for 80元, the middle-class section for 50元 and the low-class section for those spending less than 50元. HAHA! 好现实喔!"

Yup, we went for the 80元 per pax option and were given the "VIP" seats :D Haha! Here's the best part...There are 5 of us, this means our bill must hit at least 400元.

We under-ordered and only hit 380+元 and the waitress was like "Your order must be above 400元 if not we can't complete your order." In other words, you'll be kicked out. HAHA!

So, being forced to live up to our words, we met their criteria to be able to sit in the atas section of the restaurant. Haha!

Next up is the food porn part...LOL! So wear a bib to absorb the saliva that'll be dripping outta your longing mouths...HAHA!

小笼包!!

Their 小笼包 is HEAVENLY!! I ate Singapore's Din Tai Fung one and thought it was good. Wait till you come and try this version!

小笼包's filling! :D

Firstly, they have A LOT OF 小笼包 flavours...I can't remember their exact names but some are curry 小笼包, crab roe 小笼包, CHILLI 小笼包, etc...

The chilli 小笼包 is DA BEST!!! It totally had the "WOW" factor when you bite into it. The hot chili oil with the soup in the 小笼包 coupled with the steaming hot meat and it's thin and tender bun skin packed a real good punch. Haha!

It's that good. It's really oily though but the oil really brings out the flavour of the type of 小笼包 you chose. It's really better than Singapore's version. Haha.

Anyway, their specialty is the SUPER BIG 小笼包 that's filled with soup. It's soooo big that you can't just bite it...here's how you're supposed to tackle this tricky 包...

Soup bao!

YES, THAT'S A STRAW! LOL! The MASSIVE bun is filled with soup!! So biting it while holding it in your hand would prove disastrous and will test the quality of your clothe-washing powder...HAHA!

Soon Hwee & I sucking our massive 包...haha

Our verdict is, the massive soup bao is a waste of money. LOL! It's like 60元 for ONE! And it hardly has any meat...It's just filled with crab soup...with a pathetic pinch of crab meat inside. HAHA!

It's really expensive compared to the normal 小笼包 which consists of 6 MEAT-STUFFED 小笼包 which only costs about 30元...haha. Twice the price for less the value! :(

So I guess we're paying for the originality of the idea...haha...the soup wasn't any big deal either...The concept of using a straw to drink from a pau is what we're paying for I guess. HAHA!

Yup, after a hearty meal, we headed to the surrounding area which is filled with shop-houses and spammed the 小吃 :D

Me, Soon Hwee & Chor Seng by the pond just outside the restaurant :D

Chor Seng with his 冰糖葫芦

This is one diabetes-causing snack that will drive your sweet tooth crazy. Haha! It's called the 冰糖葫芦 :D It's just a stick of fruits that's coated with a layer of solidified sugar or syrup...The fruits is already sweet enough...now it's further sugar-coated!

Zhi Sheng with another variant of the 冰糖葫芦 :D

Me with the 臭豆腐...haha

Evil Soon Hwee gobbling down 麻雀!!

Yes, those are BIRDS!! It's 麻雀!! Soon Hwee bought it cos he thinks it exotic...I think it's kinda yucky to eat sparrows for a snack. HAHA!

The thing is, the WHOLE BODY is intact!! And it's simply pierced with a satay stick and BBQ-ed!! This means it's beak and legs are all intact!! Because of that, I didn't try it...HAHA!

My alternative to the 麻雀 dish was something similar to Singapore's chicken satay...If I remembered correctly, it's called 烤鸡串 or something like that. HAHA!

Me with my chicken satay, Soon Hwee with his sparrows and Zhi Sheng with spring roll in one hand and sparrow in another...LOL!

The next interesting and nice dish we tried was the 生煎包. It was superrr niceeee...and also SUPER OILYYYY!! HAHAHA!

It's basically a pau that's fried. It's crispy and tasty skin mixed with the piping hot meat inside is a rewarding bite.

Me with the 生煎包 :D

This is not the best 生煎包...This is just street-standard 生煎包. Will talk about restaurant standard 生煎包 later...It's EVEN MORE AWESOME!! HAHA!

After all the walking around and spamming street food, we took shelter in some small shopping mall...we went up all the way and what we discovered was a whole new world...

Me & Chor Seng :D

HAHA! Yeah, interesting interior design eh? LOL! We had a lil' china-style pulu hitam there before we moved off...haha

Our next stop was...the Shanghai Bund...AGAIN. LOL! But this time, we didn't take train and alight and 南京东路站 and walk there...

We walked from WHERE WE WERE (豫园站) to the Bund!! LOL! It wasn't too far...and besides, the 5 of us have a covered a lot of distance by foot while hopping around in search of good buys and good food :D Haha!

On the way to 外滩...waiting for the green man at the pedestrian crossing...haha

YEASH, we're at the Bund (外滩) again! But previously, we went at night, this time we went in the day. LOL!

The difference? In the day, it's much warmer...and the sights are not as pretty. Haha! At night it was around 2 degrees Celsius but in the day, it's a decent 8 to 10 degrees Celsius...so it wasn't that torturous. HAHA!

At the bund in the day :D

Practising my 太极拳 on the heaviest roomy we have...HAHAHA! :D

Big-Ben :D

Me & Soon Hwee with Zhi Sheng & Chor Seng in the background...haha

Yeap, that's more or less my late night or early morning (It's 2am now!!) recount of what happened last week...haha.

Will blog more juicy and informative stuff about our 生活方式 in Shanghai in my later posts...IF I HAVE THE TIME. LOL!! :D

Many, many more posts to come...so stay tuned! (Another post is in my drafts already...HAHA!)