When in Shanghai, eat as the Shanghainese eat!

Seafood galore!

2 months of living in Shanghai and encountering various 'shocks', I think I was ready to step into their local wet market. (We cannot possibly be living on imported goods throughout our stay here) After garnering all the courage I have, I walked right into a wet market... I was blown away by what I saw.


Inside the wet market...it was drier than some of our wet makets.

Shanghai is famous for its hairy crabs and the best ones are from Yang Chen Hu.


Choosing the crabs, I had Zhou xian sheng to give me some tips on how to choose. The lady was very honest, every crab's weight was shown to me, I didn't feel it was necessary but she insisted. I told her I was going to take her picture, she was so shy about it...


Each crab was then given a good scrub and lastly, skilfully tied up. You and I would probably take half an hour to tie each crab. She did it in seconds!


There you have it. Great job!


You won't believe how much the abalone cost...............S$2/-(about the size of a Chinese pear) and bamboo clams only S$2 for this lot.

And now, presenting the delicious and mouth-watering Shanghainese hairy crabs....



Yes, yes...high cholesterol. But we cannot go through life fearing everything we put into our mouths...eat in moderation

You decide how you want to lead your life

Now for all of you out there who think that it is such a wonderful thing to be an expat. Everything provided for...house, car, school, helper etc... While your kids are in school, husbands at work, expat wives would gather together for high-tea, manicure, pedicure, facial, shopping...all the pleasures of life. Well, let me give you the reality of it all. Life is not always what you think it is.

I was reading a magazine on expat wives and one of the "illnesses" which expat wives suffer from is agoraphobia. It is a condition of anxiety disorder brought about by the fear of being in a situation from which a person has little or no means of removing themselves. Afraid of panic attacks in public settings, sufferers often avoid public places and in extreme cases, prefers being trapped in the discomfort of their comfort zone. (Cityweekend - Parents & Kids Aug 6 to Oct 7)

In one case, one wife actually kept herself in her home once her kids and her husband have left for school and work respectively. For the time she was in Shanghai, life was very much like that. The tough ones, went throught it, the weaker ones would crumble in. Her relief came about only when her husband was posted out of Shanghai and to...SINGAPORE!

Being able to speak both Chinese and English is really to my advantage. I had no problem with communication in the States and now here in Shanghai. The only problem was to gather enough courage to put my toes into the life of a Shanghainese...and I finally did!

These were what I did at my class this week...


Steamed chocolate bun and spring onion bun. One sweet and one savory


Rice wine rice ball dumplings

...and on my own, using what I have learned, I made char siew bao for Kai. One of his favourite dim sum.


Not bad for a beginner

Are you sure this is Shanghai, China?



Yes, this is indeed Shanghai, China. This place is called Xintiandi. Direct translation - A new place. A pretty commercialised place but it has its charm and character.

Found this beautiful poster in Xintiandi...


God was right...right from the beginning He said..."it is no good for man to be alone"

World's smallest water melon?


Even wee little Ann could hold it up!

I cycle, you cycle, they all cycle

One of the most popular mode of transportation in Shanghai is cycling. In fact, I find it quite a beautiful sight to see many cyclists on the streets. Bicycles or motorcycles, many like to ride on it. In fact, it is commom to see even three people on a motorbike. Many foreigners have also picked up the habit. I have seen an English woman cycling two of her kids to their nearby school.

In America, I had to brush up my driving skills and here...my cycling skills.



A sea of cyclists


When in Rome, do as the Romans do!

250rmb, never again

One thing about living in another country is that we must always approach eveything with an open mind. Try to understand how others live, try to understand what a small deal to us can be a big deal to others.

Just the other day, we went to a shop to get some things done. The owner was a nice man and he gave us a price for the things which we wanted. Like all prudent buyers, we always try to get a good price. We tried to bargain with him and offered 250rmb for the item. He immediately rejected the price and asked us to settle for 260rmb. He said that he wasn't concerned with the extra 10rmb it was just for the good of his business, you know, like an auspicious number. We agreed thinking that perhaps, 260rmb was a good number for him.

Later when we checked with our friend who helped us get around, he told us that 250rmb was referring to someone stupid!

Gosh...we were surprised but it taught us that in every country, there are different values, different cultures and different beliefs. We do not have to follow everything they do but we sure have to respect them.

All about dim sum again

I am on a dim sum course currently, so you will be expecting to see nothing but dim sum and more dim sum.

This is my fourth lesson and my shifu (teacher) has commented that I am getting better at kneading and rolling my dough. She has attempted to 'transfer' more kungfu to me but...I wasn't quite ready for it.


This is not a pair of chopsticks.
This is the ultimate weapon for rolling out dim sum dough. Not easy to handle


It helps to roll and turn the dough at the same time.
Of course, that's not me doing it but I must master it before the end of my course

When I was doing these two dishes, I knew I would be feeding two very happy men at home. Dh and Kai simply adore these dishes.

Guo-tie (pot sticker) and lou-bo-kao carrot cake.

Each time dh and I talk abut Kai loving carrot cake, we are always reminded of this story.

When Kai was about to turn three, we went on a vacation to New Zealand. Beside our hotel was a Chinese restaurant. One day, we decided to hop over to have dim sum. As usual, when we order dim sum, we never fail to order Kai's favourite carrot cake. So, we told the owner that we wanted carrot cake. The owner apologised and said that they have ran out of carrot cake for that day. They only had the frozen ones that needed time to thaw, steam and then fried. When Kai heard that, he burst out crying...with his red eyes, red nose and stream of tears flowing down his cheeks, he did look pretty pityful. The owner was very amused by him and actually went back to the kitchen to whip out a plate of carrot cake for Kai.


Ingredients for the carrot cake and the steamed version


The fried version. Look at the generous fillings in it. During Chinese New Year, I always ordered from Crystal Jade and it cost a bomb. Now, I know how to save some money!


My pot stickers. Not too bad looking. The secret of frying the dumplings...the bottom fried but the top steamed


Ta-dah...Shanghai gua-tie made by Singaporean


Look at the soup inside the dumplings. What we eat back home usually doesn't come with the soup

Farm visit

Yipee...farm visit.

When we were in the States, one of our favourite past-time was driving to farms and of course buying farm fresh fruits, vegetables and meat. Meeting and talking to the farmers was really interesting and often, an eye opener.

Here in Shanghai China, we are told that there are farms too. We decided to visit one...not quite the American kind of farm but it was a time I enjoyed too.

We drove to this hydroponics farm. Basically, it is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil.



On our way there. Nice serene farmland. Somehow, such journey often gives me a sense of joy. I do believe that I belong very much to a countryside


Looks like a scene taken out from an old Chinese movie


This is how the plants are being grown


Orchids and catus with flowers


This is luffa or loofah. Yes, you pay alot at the Body Shop for a small piece to polish your skin. Here, it's in abundance


Kai and the giant pickle...Ann and the sleeping chilli


Road for the courageous...



It's a obstacle course meant for kids


Finally, we spotted this at the farm.