Trip to the Fish Market

I had heard about the fish market for a couple of years now (we have been in Shanghai for 2 years and 4 months) and have been quite curious to go visit and perhaps even purchase some fish.  The thing is every time I buy fish other than salmon or frozen tilapia I end up with something very fishy tasting and I don't like it.  Is it the waters of China? The fish farms? I have been told most of the good tasting fish is imported.  There are a few species that are seemingly mild in flavor I am told, or are they?  Since I usually end up eating them covered in some sort of soy sauce or spicy sauce I can't be sure.  So instead of worrying about getting a nice piece of fish to cook at home, I now only eat fish out at restaurants.  Well except for salmon, that I still buy, at $15.00 a pound, to cook at home. Here are a few pictures of the fish at the fish market.

I thought these guys were pretty interesting with their mouths wide open.

All kinds of mollusks, including giant clams.

 Imported Shrimp from the USA.

The fish are displayed beautifully.

Eels.  I had them once about 2 years ago, without realizing it until the second bite and then I took one more bite to be sure. They were cooked in a dark sauce and resembled cut up eggplant.  I was excited, at the time, to try the unknown dish as it looked good, and the first bite was really good, except after I swallowed I thought, hmmm that's not eggplant texture.  So I tried another bite and got a bit of fishy taste, fortunately the sauce was stronger to cover that taste.  And of course just to confirm I shoveled one more mouthful in and decided I did not care for the flavor, no more tastes.

Imported salmon from Norway we were told. The salmon heads are in the basket under the counter, which are for sale, no extra charge for the dirt.

Here is the inside of the market, I am pretty sure you don't want to go there in the summer, I think the smell would completely put you off fish forever.  It was a cold rainy March day so not too smelly. Do you see the windows in the top of the picture?

Now notice the ladder in the back of this picture.

And the ladder here.

And here.

We think that there are apartments are above the stalls.  What a place to live. Wow. I like to think it's just storage but my friends insisted that there were living quarters above. 

Fish delivery guy.  I suppose the styrofoam and ice are good insulation.

This is the fella we bought our lunch from, the Chinese always give you the two finger wave when they get their pictures taken.  What you can do at these markets is pick your fish pay and then take it to the local restaurant and they will cook it for you for a small fee.

Here we are discussing how we want our seafood cooked.  Which of course got lost in translation or perhaps they just decided they knew best how to prepare our various selections.   Doesn't matter as every dish was cooked to perfection and we enjoyed it immensely.

Sauteed clams in a spicy sauce, sauteed fish in a light soy and vinegar sauce, lightly fried shrimps with black pepper and salt, some sauteed vegetable that we could not identify.

The remains of the meal.  The salt and pepper shrimp were quite tasty, but then most things fried are good! The fish was excellent, I wish I knew how to cook it like that!!!

I will probably never go back as I can buy my salmon nearby my apartment but it certainly was a fun and interesting experience with my friends.

As an added bonus I captured one of the waitresses cleaning........her teeth!

Success!

Smoothies and fresh watermelon juice, I just can't get enough!

Another weekend has past us by and we were out and about trying out restaurants that have outdoor seating.  And I am also drinking my way through Shanghai trying out all the refreshing smoothies and freshly squeezed fruit juices.  My favorite being watermelon juice!!  This was first discovered at Malone's Bar and Grill, the joint around the corner from our apartment back in July of 2009.  With Lisa(who was visiting) in tow we headed out for a cocktail before dinner and there is where we first drank a watermelon martini.  Now this was not really a martini. This was watermelon juice with vodka in a martini glass....yummmm.  They went down easily and realized this could be a dangerous combination.  Shortly thereafter I noticed on almost every menu in Shanghai, Chinese and western restaurants alike, watermelon juice is a staple!  So no need to drink it with vodka, just a straight juice please!!  And I do, often.

 Here we are at Mesa on Saturday morning having our mango smoothie and breakfast.  While it looks pretty good on the plate it was not very tasty at all.  Two COLD poached eggs with a pumpkin hollendaise sauce, a gratin of broccoli and potato. The gratin was not very good as it was swimming in a bland cream sauce and the potatoes were shredded but looked and tasted uncooked.  The bread was wonderbread in texture, no crust or crunch but the grilled tomatoes were excellent!

 Tony seemed to fare better, a small greek salad and poach eggs with spinach on one and smoked salmon on the other.  The outside deck was pleasant but we will not be going back as the food was miss-able. Although I liked the mango smoothie.

 Next up was Sunday breakfast, after Tony's 2 hour and 10 minute run outside in Shanghai - he went at 5am to avoid the crowds.  We headed down to Element Fresh, Tony's favorite restaurant, he eats lunch here almost everyday.  We like this outside deck and this location as it is on the second floor of our building.  Not too far to go.  And if you are super lazy or super busy.....like me!!....you can actually order a Watermelon juice or raspberry rage smoothie and they will deliver it!! No charge!! You don't have to have a minimum $$ order, you can just order one juice! It's unfortunate that I cannot go down, in the elevator, 28 floors and pick up my own juice, but I do enjoy the service and it makes me smile. 

The day it all came to an end....almost.

 I was innocently taking pictures the other day and took one of this couple carting wood and cardboard to the recycling center.  This is one of Tony's favorite sights as it's usually the woman who is pulling the cart and the man walking along side.  He thinks, FINALLY someone pulling their weight! 

 Well, things didn't go well for me, the lead dog on this cart did not want me taking pictures of her and her business.  She waved me off.  And then when I snapped yet another shot........

 She turned and grabbed a short 2x4, took a step toward me and brandished it in the air as if to say, "I'm going to knock your block off if you take one more picture!"

Why?Why does she care if I take a picture?  Here are some of the reasons.  She perhaps has been told that foreigners like to take pictures of the poor to show that China is not modern or developed. True, this rumor abounds as I learned from my students.  Or perhaps she just doesn't like her picture taken since she didn't get a chance to wash her hair last night?  And then perhaps I just irritated her.  What ever the reason she was mad!

I gave her a big smile, a wave and tucked my camera into my bag and walked away.  Hey she wasn't THAT pretty anyway!

The largest Morton's Steakhouse in the world, and of course it's in China.

Yes, the largest Morton's Steakhouse is in China, Pudong to be exact.  Pudong is across the river from downtown Shanghai.  Pudong is considered a suburb of Shanghai, sort of like Brooklyn or the Bronx.  

I belong to the American Women's Club of Shanghai, the largest American Women's Club in the world with 800 members. Doesn't it seem that everything in China is the biggest or largest?  I am part of the Luncheon Committee which is what I consider one of the best and most enjoyable positions of the club.  The work is not too difficult and as there are 3 of us on the committee the work is divided and you never feel you have a lot to do.  We are tasked with finding great restaurants and getting a good deal on the luncheon for the ladies.  Actually we, Martina, Gaby and myself think that the luncheons of past were quite dear and decided that getting a good deal should be one of the criteria in selecting the restaurant.  The luncheons now are no more than 150RMB ($23.00) which includes: appetizer, main, dessert and one glass of red or white wine, coffee and tea.  Previously it was of no consequence if the cost was 200RMB ($30.76) or 250RMB($38.50) for the lunch, which we thought was an outrageous cost for a mere lunch! We hope to figure out how to get the price down to 100RMB ($14.00) one day.  But that is a personal and private goal of the committee, not a need or interest of the club overall.

And part of the process....having to go and try out the venue.  An opportunity to have lunch with my pals! No the club does not subsidize our meals, it's on us, but it's so much fun and we would go out to lunch anyway so it's not a big deal!  We decided to try Mortons as we had been hearing such good things about it from out friends.  A beautiful restaurant!

Apparently this Morton's seats more than 250 persons and they are booked to capacity on Friday and Saturdays! The view are considered great, but for me it's just a view of the city.  That sounds jaded, but I have realized a great view for me includes water.  This restaurant does not have a view of the Bund or main river running through Shanghai, therefore not a great view in my opinion.

 There is an open kitchen and everything looks wonderful, clean and so organized.  And the smells emanating from the grill are luscious!

 These are not the menu boards that you order from, I think they are just a listing of options from the kitchen.  As they are located near the open kitchen it's just something to read and reference as you are considering your meal. In Chinese as well, of course!

I went with Martina, Gaby is home with her new grandbaby ( a girl!) and we choose the Business Lunch as it seemed like the best value. You choose: Hamburger with French Fries, Grilled Salmon and green beans, or Grilled Shrimp and Scallop over sauteed spinach and grilled veggies.  Includes cup of soup or salad: Lobster bisque or French onion soup or Caesar or mixed field greens.

 The lunch set was 188RMB = $28.90, Yikes! But it was all in the name of research!

 We ordered a sparkling water to drink and they brought out this lovely hot onion loaf with creamy salty butter on the side.  Yummmmmm!

 Martina ordered the Lobster Bisque soup which had large chunks of lobster, as many as you can fit in a small cup.  She said it was delicious. And here is her Grilled Shrimp and Scallop meal.  Looks incredible. It was served with a side of butter sauce which you can see peeking out on the left hand side of the picture.

 I had the Caesar salad and the grilled salmon.  Fantastic.  The salad was too big and I could not finish it and so was the salmon, I ended up taking half of my meal home.  As Tony is away I don't like to cook too much for myself lately so this was going to make a perfect dinner for me.  The meal, including the sparkling water and much to our surprise a 10% included gratuity came to 510RMB or 255RMB each = $39.23 - WOW! Glad it was two meals for me.  Shanghai is expensive and this is a top tier restaurant serving high quality food and fantastic service! 

It is a great place for a business lunch.  These guys must have a really large expense account because lobster isn't cheap any where but these are flown in from America so you know it had to cost a pretty penny.

After our meal we met with the manager and told them our requirements. Fortunately they did not laugh at us but actually said they would consider putting on a special menu for the group.  We are waiting to hear from them. It was great afternoon with a special friend!

Disney breaks ground on Shanghai park

By Zhang Fengming
2011-April 8
ONLINE EDITION - Shanghai Daily
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Disneyland plan unveiled

THE Walt Disney Co and its Chinese partner held a ground-breaking ceremony this morning for its Shanghai Disneyland theme park, the first on China's mainland.

Disney has agreed to take a 43 percent stake in the project while Shanghai Shendi Group, representing companies under the local government, would own the remaining 57 percent, the United States entertainment giant said in a statement today.

The Shanghai Disney Resort will be located on a 963 acre (3.9 square kilometer) site in Pudong, Shanghai, with additional room to expand in the future, the statement said.

At opening, the resort will include Shanghai Disneyland, two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue, recreational facilities, a lake and associated parking and transportation hubs, it added.

The initial investments in the project are about 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) to build the theme park and an additional 4.5 billion yuan to build the other aspects of the resort, including the hotels and the retail, dining and entertainment area, the statement said.

A joint venture management company will be formed with Disney having a 70 percent stake and Shendi Group owning a 30 percent stake. The management company will be responsible for creating, developing and operating the resort.

The United States entertainment giant and Shanghai Shendi Group will host a press conference late in the morning to disclose more details of the local Disneyland project, according to the two companies.

Shanghai Disneyland will be the third Disney theme park in Asia, following those in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Disney has long sought to make presence in Shanghai, an affluent city of more than 22 million people that is ringed by the Yangtze River Delta region, home to tens of millions more potential visitors.

The Shanghai government also regards the project as a vital element in its bid to make the city a world-class tourist destination within five years. The first phase of the Shanghai project is expected to attract 7.3 million visitors a year when it opens in 2015, according to the local government.

The Shanghai theme park, in the southeast of the city, is about 21 kilometers from People's Square, 18km from Lujiazui, 12km from Pudong International Airport and 30km from the Hongqiao transport hub.

Negotiations began in the late 1990s, and momentum increased in 2009 when California-based Disney and the Shanghai government reached an initial framework agreement.

Some market observers said that the Shanghai Disney park may siphon visitors from the Hong Kong resort. Although Hong Kong Disneyland launched to great fanfare, the Hong Kong park has been struggling to lure as many visitors as hoped.

Shanghai men and handbags! ?

Shanghai men are an interesting bunch.  Most are metro-sexual in dress but it's hard to tell who are dressing metrosexually and who are just carrying their ladies' handbags. Here is a series of pictures that I took, most taken on one day in a period of one hour.  I was standing on the corner of Nanjing Lu and Maoming Lu on a lovely Saturday morning. In the above picture you can see he is holding her hand and her handbag. Below, he is on the phone and carrying her bag.

Even in their old age he carrys her bag, it's a Shanghai thing.

Lovely, no?

I can't help but notice that most of the time the bag is a better 'fashion match' with the gentleman's clothing.

Nice yellow bag!

See her multi-colored jacket and his black jacket and bag.  Tres elegant!

Oh, there he is again with his yellow bag.

He is holding her bag and her hand and she is clutching the arm of her mom.  Close family!

The bag matches his scarf in such a nice subtle way.

This guy is just carrying his own bag, as many Shanghinese men do.

More man bags!

Lovely white bag, her bag.

That one looks quite heavy.  It is said in Shanghai, the men hand over their pay checks to their wives and then the wives manage the finances.  Perhaps the men are just guarding the money by means of carrying the handbags.

Sweet.

Another great fashion choice ......for him!

White bag.

 Both men are carrying man bags, no girlfriend/wife in sight.

Man bag!

Red bag is her bag!

This guy should be carrying a bag don't you think?

And this guy probably just had enough of carrying bags!!