Air-conditioning Shanghai Style

So now you have seen it all! Yes, this grandmother is fanning her grandson in the 100 degree heat as they walk to the bus stop. It seems as they are waiting for the bus the three onlookers on the left side of the last picture are watching to make sure she is doing it correctly. I wonder if they will give her pointers on how to do it better?! Perhaps there is a penalty if done incorrectly, are these the fanning police?

In case you haven't had enough of the strange foods....

Here are some live baby eels. I accidentally ate some of these once. When they are cut into small pieces and cooked it looks a bit like thinly sliced pork. Our driver Jason took me to lunch about a year ago and of course I had to try everything he ordered. He took me to a local restaurant and the menu did not have English translation or pictures. Jason knows I like sea food......... I took a small bite, not knowing what it was, and thought it was OK, not great but OK, the sauce was the first thing I noticed in terms of flavor not the 'meat' part. It was soy sauce and maybe some sugar and chilies. The second bite I started to notice the texture of the 'meat', sort of strange and I began to taste the 'meat', can't explain it, it was just weird and definitely not meat. I only took a third bite to seem enthusiastic and to show I really liked all the food. Fortunately Jason also ordered eggs and tomatoes - just some scrambled eggs with big chunks of tomato cooked together. Easy to eat.

Oh, they sell the eels to you live and squirming in a bag.

If the eels are not for you there is a fish tank where you can point to the fish you want and they will take it out, kill it and clean it for you.
Of course there is always beef, it's what's for dinner. Not sure why they leave the bones of a small dinosaur on top of the fridge case. I suppose for your viewing pleasure......oh right it's the cows bones. You can buy a piece to make soup. Just tell them how many bones you want and they will hack off a piece for you, weigh it and wrap it up for you to take home.

If beef is not for you how about some salt pork foot?
Or do you prefer fresh pork foot?
Not interesting in cooking? Head over to the deli counter and see what looks good in the prepared section. Another nice boiled chicken? This one looks like a male.
His feet are also intact, in case you have a hankering for foot of chicken, instead of pork. Ah, did you notice that you can also have some pig snout? It's in the back of the case. Now where is the squeal? Oh right that's the only part of the pig you can't eat.
Should you decide that boiled chicken foot is not tempting your palate, you can buy up a pound or two of chicken feet and cook them to your liking.

The making of a Bing Jiang or Chinese Breakfast Burrito

Here I am eating a "Bing" or Chinese breakfast burrito. It's quite a treat, very very authentic and what the Chinese eat for breakfast. It's street food, you can't find it in a restaurant or on any menu. The steps to making it are simple and the food is cheap as I mentioned in a previous post.

First a spoonful of dough is dropped onto the top of a hot plate that looks like the top of a garbage can with a burner underneath.

It's spread out to make a thin crepe and one egg is broken on top and and scrambled/spread out over the crepe. Fresh chopped scallions and cilantro are thrown on top and then the crepe is folded over.
A smear of Chinese BBQ sauce, it's a mild flavor, is spread on ....

A large fried wonton is added for crunch and then folded over again.
35 cents later and Yum a hot breakfast fast!

Another walk in Shanghai

Look how beautiful they try and make the city. They even plant flowers on the ledge of the walkway that goes over the highway.



I found this little guy with his pet bunny on the street. He lives in a Styrofoam box, the bunny I mean.

My favorite park in Shanghai about 15 minute walk from our house. There is a concrete city all around this little piece of green.

Pineapple and other produce issues.

I am sorry I did not take a picture of the whole pineapple but I had no idea that this pineapple experience of mine was going end up being a post and that I was going to hit a wall........and start screaming in my head.

Fruits and veg here are a challenge for me, maybe for many westerners here in China for all I know. It is a fact (according to me) that we, in the US,have the best produce on the face of the earth. Perhaps I just mean to say it's better then China. In the US you can find any fruit and veg at anytime of the year - or so it seems. Yes, you may pay more for blueberries in a month when both South America and North America are not producing a lot of blueberries, or the fact you have pay a premium because they are being flown 3,000 miles to your local grocery store, ok, I can handle that but at least the produce is cared for and spoiled fruit is discarded or not sold in the 'premium' section of the fruit area. I have wonderful experiences with fruits stands in Rome, Italy and in many places in Europe. The fruit vendor sells you the undamaged, un-dented, unbruised fruit and will sometimes throw in a free piece that doesn't quite meet up to the standards of the fruit you have paid money for, you know the dented pieces. I have a fruit and veg lady here who will give me some fresh herbs or a few stalks of scallions or a couple of red hot spicy chilies if she is feeling generous or perhaps it's when I spend more than $15.00 at her stand. So it's not all bad here but........I just can't stand it, believe or understand how in the world when I go to the big hypermart - TESCO or Carrefour that they sell rotten fruit.

Last week I went into Carrefour, a 2 level shopping extravaganza, a bit like Walmart.  On one floor they sell TV's, teaspoons, toilet paper, tobacco, furniture, bicycles and other hardware and the other floor is a grocery store. You pay more for the food products then out at the street stalls but one assumes that they have a better supplier and they take better care of the produce. Why one would think that, I have no idea. As I was walking toward the fruit section, the smell of rotten fruit was overwhelming. Disgusting really. I looked around and immediately saw a large pile of pineapples. I walked over ( gagging slightly in my mouth, it was that bad) and looked at the fruit. The sharp leafy tops were soft, wet, mushy and the fruit was very yellow and over ripe creating the smell. I then walked over to the mango section and saw soft fruit with small fruit flies flapping around. Yuck. I just walked out of the store.

Two days later I saw another large grocery store - TESCO, went in and headed right for the fruit. Pineapples looked nice - coming from the Philippines? Firm fruit, nice leafy top, I picked one that looked a little under ripe, hoping for a bit of a tart taste. I took a small one paid for it and walked home. I was hungry for fruit and set about washing the outside and then cutting it open. You can see what I encountered once the fruit was cut open. A rotten piece of fruit.

Here are some other things you can buy at the grocery store.

Turtles for soup = long life in China, not for the turtle.
Look at the little frog looking right at me.

Everyone loves frogs legs.....or is that in France? Bull Frog stew is very popular here. Tastes like chicken, right?!

These are dried fish, although it kind of looks like dried bats from this distance. Really dried fish.
Cooked chicken, toe nails and all! This is the prepared food section of the deli counter. No cooked frogs or turtles but this very nice boiled chicken was for sale, I like the parsley blanket, very tasteful. Cost of the various items in the case 2 to 3 dollars per kilo = 2.2 pounds.

I can't wait to come home to an American style grocery store.

Old and New

Here is the new Shanghai in Pudong, the building that looks like a bottle opener,on the right hand side of the picture, is the Shanghai Financial Building.

Old Shanghai, nice contrast to the above picture.

Lunch at New Heights

Here we are eating a light lunch at New Heights restaurant down by The Bund. Bund means muddy embankment in Hindi (as in India) language. Most people think it's a German word but it's not. 100 years ago the riverfront was a muddy embankment, hence Bund. Now the muddy embankment is a nice large concrete pedestrian walkway which is usually packed with what seems like a million people on a nice weekend day. Great view of the skyline in Pudong, that's the name of the area across the river, although it is still part of Shanghai. The strange looking building with the 2 spheres is called the Pearl Tower and was built in 1995.

Ducks ducks ducks

Duck is so inexpensive here it's incredible. 6 whole duck breasts for $3.00 or 21.88 RMB the conversion is 7RMB for every $1 USD. Every time I cook duck I think of my cousin Pete and one of the first times I had dinner with him and his new bride in their apartment. I suppose it was shortly after they had gotten married. I was so impressed with his mahogany colored duck with crisp skin. I asked him how he did it and he said his mom told him what to do and it was really easy. Duck has been a dish I never seem to get enough of and there are plenty of ducks here in China. Unfortunately I usually don't like how they season the duck here unless it's Peking style duck so I always cook 'em up myself. Recently I made Duck Rillettes and that was a huge success. Duck thighs slowly roasted with 15 cloves of garlic and delicate seasonings of cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, garlic and onion, just magical. The thighs are cooked in their own fat, sort of a braise in fat. The meat is meltingly tender and moist. Today I celebrate my cousin Kristine's 40th B-day and cooked up 2 of the breasts in the pan. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the final plating as I made a red wine reduction sauce to go with the duck. But you can just use your imagination.



They kind of look lonely here in the pan but they were super yummy! Happy Birthday cousin Kris!

Breakfast Burrito

Here I am enjoying a nice Chinese breakfast burrito on the back streets of Shanghai. It's basically a large thin crepe; folded inside is a long thin fried wonton then some dark chinese bbq sauce, chopped pickled onions, fresh chopped scallions and cilantro and if you ask a little bit of chiles. This is the basic breakfast burrito for 2 Yuan or 30 cents. The crepe is about 16 inches across, very big but very thin. If you would like to add a bit of chicken and lettuce then the cost increases to 50 cents. I really like adding the lettuce for the crunch, I can skip the chicken. You just never know where that chicken has been or even where it came from. Then they stick it in a plastic bag - tres elegante! You can't find these in any mall, they are on small back streets where the locals live and you have to know where to go to get one. Wanna Bite?

Migrant school visit

Learning how to draw.


This week I participated with a group to visit a school that is set up for the migrant workers children. Our group gave some resources toward an after school art program. It was wonderful to see the children in class and some children sang for us. The new buildings that are being constructed in Shanghai are being built by migrant workers. These workers come from the countryside to work in the city because they can make more money then working on a farm. They bring their families and the government provides a special school for the children of these workers. It was a lovely experience.

Langkawi Malaysia

The resort grounds were beautiful!
The room spectacular!Even an outdoor shower!




Our favorite waiter.

Downtown Langkawi seafood restaurant.

Best sunset in the world! Finally a sunset that is better then a Sarasota sunset.




The magical pool.


We had a wonderful time at the Four Season resort in Langkawi, Malaysia. 5 nights 6 days of sun, surf and relaxation.