Fellow expats, I have to say… and I know there are a ton of you who email me and ask me where I get my groceries from. I was ordering online from here and there but never really found a place that I felt 100% happy about. Sometimes I would receive veggies or fruit that was half spoiled… sometimes I would just plain be disappointment just because I couldn’t find things I wanted to find.

I had lunch with a fellow expat friend, who is COMPLETELY awesome so you should go check her blog out right now: Donuts to Dumplings. And she recommended Gusto’s Fine Foods who have recently partnered with Kate & Kimi. Kristin was telling me how the quality of their produce is excellent and all the top hotels and restaurants on the Bund use their products!

I placed my first order to be delivered on Monday, ordering some meat and a veggie/fruit box for 2-3 people.

I am… BLOWN AWAY. (See above picture, that’s everything from our box!)

The quality of the fruits and veggies were out of this world. Tomatoes with no bruising? Salad greens without mold??? I know these are silly things as I should expect it but honestly nearly every delivery place I’ve ordered greens or tomatoes from have been horrendous. The variety and quantity of things in my veggie and fruit box were amazing, I am more than satisfied with it and will be ordering this weekly. Did I mention that they even threw in herbs for free with my box? *swoons*

I also know that once Boram is born and he’s old enough for baby food, I’ll be making my own baby food for him using their Baby & Toddler box. I’ll be posting recipes of what I make once I do!

I can’t wait to order their other products and do another review on them. If you’re looking for high quality produce, meats and much more… give Kate & Kimi a try! Let them know that I sent you because I’m always looking to help other expats out! While you’re at it, take a look at their FAQs, that is really what sold me on them!

I took this picture at the bund right before I was about to meet my friends for brunch. Last year, I met our friends Kin and Alina for brunch at Shook! It’s definitely one of my favorite places to eat in Shanghai and I have to say that the price is excellent, considering that it’s on the bund!

This new year’s day, I met with them again. It was so nice to do this two years in a row and Alina’s parents joined us this time. It was a joyous time to celebrate 2013 and the fact that Alina is also pregnant! She’s about 6 weeks behind me so it’s fun to compare and rub each other’s bellies. 

This year Shook didn’t have a new year’s menu. But they did have their standard 88RMB business lunch and it was EXCELLENT. I had the beet salad, black pig sausage and a fruit cobbler for dessert. Everyone else’s lunch also looked and tasted amazing. I had a bite of everyone’s but Alina’s dad. He had delicious steak that was really rare, oh how I miss rare steak and sushi. 

I see this as a New Year’s tradition for us, next year with our babies. Sadly the hubby had to work both years but it was nice to spend new year’s day with people. 

I think about how different 2013 will be. We will be parents and our lives have been changed forever. 2013 is the year that my wishes came true. 

The only resolution I have this year is to better myself (emotionally, physically, mentally) everyday for my son. I want him to see that even at 33, (or 60) we can always be a better us. I hope that he knows how much we love him, I can’t wait to meet him in May.

__________________
Shook! 
The Swatch Art Peace Hotel
23, East Nanjing Road
(Bund 19)

The last day that Qing was here, I was really sad to see her go. It was nice to have a good friend here and was fun for me since I really miss my friends from home. 

Since she was flying out of Pudong, we took her to Super Brand Mall and ate at Watami on the top floor. Watami is a casual (but nice) Japanese restaurant, thought I wouldn’t say authentic, but inspired! 

The prices are excellent, it’s not expensive and the portions are really nice. We decided to get the two person set that included all the food in the picture (except the dessert) and two drinks. Don’t let the two person set fool you, it’s a LOT of food.

The hubs, Qing and I were stuffed beyond belief and the service was pretty good! 

If you’re looking for a place to eat that isn’t too pricey but filling…. Watami is your place! 

—–
Watami 和民居食屋
8/F, Super Brand Mall, 168 Lujiazui Xi Lu (Line 2/Lujiazui)

Watami also has many other locations including Infinity Plaza.

We like to take dates together on the hubby’s off days and one of my favorite places he took me was the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. We went on a weekday and thought we would avoid the crowds. Wrong! It’s always packed with people and I can see why, the aquarium is absolutely beautiful!

I must have taken at least a couple hundred pictures and the hubs probably the same. I just can’t fit all the pictures on this blog and can’t find a slideshow plug in that I like (or isn’t blocked). So I picked a few of my favorites!

There was a moving walkway going through a tunnel full of water life! It was so eye opening and fun, we saw fish, turtles, sharks and it was gorgeous! 

All in all, it took maybe an hour or two for us to see everything. It was around 160RMB per person, one of the more expensive touristy things we have done in Shanghai but we enjoyed it. If you find yourself in Pudong, especially the Lujiazui… stop by the SOA!

And a side note: I want to give a huge shout out to my little niece Aerin! Happy birthday little girl!!! Auntie and Uncle love and miss you!

—-
Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
No.1388 Lujiazui Ring Road, Pudong (Line 2, Lujiazui) 

This post is way over due since we went to Shari for restaurant week on September 9th. It was the hubs birthday and he absolutely loves sushi and Japanese food. So I surprised him with a reservation at Shari and read some incredible reviews online for this place.

Overall, it was disappointing. I can’t tell if it’s because we are a bit picky when it comes to Japanese food (my grandmother was born and raised in Japan) or if it’s because the things they gave us wasn’t quite the same as what the menu stated. Either way, it wasn’t horrible but wasn’t the greatest. The sushi rice was cold and tasted like grocery sushi, the beef was salty and tough. The other items were good but not a “wow” for us.

For that price point, it wasn’t worth it to us. Sad face. Maybe their regular menu is better? 

I had made a special request on my reservation to do something special for the hubs and they made this cute little number. I did appreciate it a lot. I have to say the dessert was the best part! Hubs was still happy though!!

Just the day before I had a horrible reaction to something I ate and broke out in hives all over my face. I went to the ER and they gave me some allergy pills with some calamine lotion. Then the day of the 9th, the hives became swollen and my face was HUGE. Not only were the hives on my neck and face but now all over my body. We went to the ER two more times, they gave me a shots and steroids and after a day I got back to my normal self. 

It was kind of crappy to have my skin feel so hot, have red itchy bumps everywhere but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from celebrating my hubby’s birthday! So I was a good sport and went out with him (even though he wanted me to rest) and although the food wasn’t great, we had a GREAT time. Haha, then we went to the ER. 

I took him to a proper sushi place the next day on his actual birthday and he was SO HAPPY. Ha. I should have just taken him to our usual spot. This will be a birthday to remember since I looked like the monster from The Goonies.

Oh man, I miss that movie!!!!! “hey you guyyyyyssssssssssss”! 

——
Shari Sushi Bar
630 Yongjia Lu, (永嘉路630号) 

Right off the metro line 2 at Nanjing East road is a mall I like to frequent. It has lots of food and drinks plus the apple store.

Right across the street is a Forever 21 and it’s massive. It reminded me of the one in NYC at Union Square. Except… A MILLION TIMES BIGGER.

Whoa.

So if you’re a f21 fan, go over there and buy stuff! The prices are the same as American prices so it’s not unreasonable. I didn’t buy anything there this time because it was filled with people and made me dizzy.

My friend Qing is visiting from NYC at the end of the week and I can’t wait to show her around!

One of my favorite places to eat in New York City is the famous ramen house: Ippudo! We really missed Ippudo while when we moved and were surprised to see that Ippudo had just opened up in the IFC Mall in Pudong. Naturally, we had to check it out! 

It’s not as crowded or as busy as the New York branch, which was nice. We found a seat right away and the staff are friendly and extremely efficient.

They have pork belly buns for each city they have a restaurant. This is the Shanghai spicy pork belly bun. It was a delicious glaze of spicy and the pork melts in your mouth. I’m a huge fan of the bun and I’m a bit sad that I shared this with the hubs! 

The ramen selection was the exact same as their NY branch and tasted exactly the same too! The portions seem smaller but was plenty filling for me.

The hubs on the other hand got extra noodles! They brought out the extra noodle when he finished his bowl so it doesn’t get soggy. I don’t remember if we could pick how firm we wanted the noodle in NY but you can in Shanghai! We got ours al dente and loved it. 

The price is less than New York, that means we’ll probably be visiting frequently! Plus I love the mall there, it’s so beautiful and glamourous. So if you find yourself in Pudong and need a yummy dinner (or lunch) break, head on over to Ippudo!

 ——–
Ippudo 
IFC Mall
8 Century Avenue (Line 2, Lujiazui)

No, the title of the post isn’t how I’ve been feeling. I’m being extremely literal. We decided that yesterday (since it was a day off for the hubs) we would stay home. Then out of nowhere, we can’t see out our windows and guess what? BOOM – LIGHTNING. Right outside our window! It was like that for hours and once the cloud passed, I took a picture. I was too much of a wimp to take it during the storm. It was kind of exciting to watch the storm from windows, lightning is so pretty and thunder is nature’s percussion. 

I have a huge, HUGE—– love for ribbons and pins. I have some sort of clip, pin, ribbon, or comb in my hair all the time. Usually because I hate having my bangs in my face, which is funny because I always get my bangs trimmed. (Only to pull them back) These are the pins I bought while we have been living in Shanghai. There is a store called yiboyo that sells Korean accessories. I’m linking their taobao (which is like Chinese amazon/ebay) but I usually buy it in person from their stores. (They have two under the Science and Technology museum, aka the fake market) 

I thought they might speak Korean since they have Korean writing everywhere, play Korean music and have Korean celeb pictures everywhere. Haha, nope… but they like to call me 언니 (older sister) and use the words they learned from Korean drama. They are SO cute.

We’ve been eating healthy at home, getting our produce and meat from Helekang. Overall, I like them a lot and their prices are excellent compared to going to the (organic) supermarket. The only problem I have is when they deliver, I don’t know how to tell them something is missing, since the drivers speak Chinese. And if something is sold out or out of stock, I don’t find out until the delivery guy comes, but then I have no idea what they are saying… so it makes it a bit difficult unless the husband is home with me. But I do have to say that I like everything that I’ve ordered, with the exception of one rotten onion. If anything was missing from my package, I just gave them a call and they had the delivery guy bring it back for me. I definitely like that. I’ll do a proper post on Helekang another time.

As if this post couldn’t get any more random…. Kin brought back the most delicious butter cookies from Hong Kong for us. I’ve heard a lot about Jenny Bakery butter cookies. I’ve heard they are the BEST, I also heard that they are over hyped. The last time we were in Hong Kong, I tried to go every single day but they were closed. (Ugh, typhoon!!!) 

I was so excited to give these a try and they are the most amazing cookies I have ever had. They are not over hyped at all. My favorite ones of the bunch were the original butter cookies, they MELT in your mouth and have the greatest buttery taste. I didn’t like the round brown ones, they were crunchy… I don’t really like crunchy cookies. When I think back to eating butter cookies, I think of those blue tins, with an assortment of butter cookies and I remember them all being super dry and crunchy. I liked them but I don’t really fancy crunchy cookies.

But these cookies… whoa. It is heavenly. 

If you find yourself in Hong Kong, give it a try. If you don’t like it… you can mail it to me. I’ll gladly take it from you.

–

I’m slowly planning the hubs birthday, I already reserved a place (he has no idea where) and I have some ideas for birthday gifts.

I don’t like to buy expensive gifts for him because:

1. he’s picky 

2. he works in fashion (see no. 1)

Plus, it’s always so much fun to see him open gifts because he usually has absolutely no idea what to expect. 

I still want a few more gifts for him to open. I wish I could share what I have so far but I think he reads my blog every now and then. Don’t want him to see!  

Do you have any suggestions? Something funny or quirky… (or something I can make?)

Yesterday was a full day for us. We made plans to hang out in Pudong (east of the river) and have lunch with our friends Kin and Alina. It was a perfect day…. beautiful skies, super sunny and………

SUPER HOT.

I’ve been seriously melting here in Shanghai, some days are over 100 degrees. We’ve been lazy and taking taxis because we don’t want to be a hot mess when we get on the subway. And even the taxis are hot at times. *cries*

Anyway, the food…

Charme is a favorite for dim sum here in Shanghai. However, we did not order dim sum, we ordered delicious Cantonese dishes! My favorite dishes was the cream of mushrooms casserole, spinach and the mayo shrimp. Kin told us that this location (address on the bottom of my post) is the best because it’s not too busy and they have different dishes than their IFC location. 

And I can’t forget my favorite part of any meal… the dessert!

If you have ever been to Hong Kong, you know their buttered-condensed milk- toast is to die for. Well, they definitely made it fancier by using half a loaf of break, cut up pieces (neatly) with the milk and ice cream. Yes, we even ate the bread wall, it was THAT good. Yum. 

We also ordered the peanut butter shaved ice, which happen to have chocolate shavings and condensed milk too. I think I have found my new favorite (Cantonese) dessert! I absolutely love peanut butter (and chocolate) so it was perfect on a day where I was so hot. It’s so funny because the hubs and Alina don’t like sweets but Kin and I do! 

Actually come to think of it… Kin and I really love ketchup (Heinz) and other American things that the hubs and Ailna don’t like. I won’t lie, Kin and I have bonded over peanut butter, pizza and hamburgers. Makes me laugh whenever he and I talk about the things we miss in America. 

We wandered around (well, hubs had to go to work) Pudong and then K & A dropped me off at IFC so I can meet the hubs there. I love the IFC mall, it’s a high-end mall but it’s just so pretty. I walked around, took pictures of window displays, saw some ceiling art and listened to live jazz. Yes, you heard me right… they had live jazz in the mall. 

The last song they played and sang was “Moon River”. How appropriate, I walked past Tiffany’s as I heard the melody fill the air. Which made my window shopping more enjoyable. 

If you ever go to IFC, make sure you check out their food/snack court in the basement. I often get a Happy Lemon drink (usually only 6RMB/1 USD) and pick up a snack from different vendors while I’m there. They also have free wifi in the mall, which is awesome if you end up finding a seat and just want to rest a bit.

I had a pretty great weekend, I’m so happy it ended so lovely. 

How was your weekend?

——

Charme (Cantonese, Dimsum)
3/F, Rm.319, 999 Pudong Nan Lu (Pudong)

IFC Mall (High End Designers + Food, Grocery)
8 Century Avenue (Pudong) 

We were watching an episode of “How I met your mother” and they were all eating at a diner after a massive hangover. So naturally the hubs and I were in the mood for diner food. We can get a lot of foods here in Shanghai but there are a few things they haven’t done completely right. Those two things are: New York pizza (how I miss you) and diner style breakfast. 

Nothing beats Jersey diners, it’s seriously the best and sometimes… it’s exactly what you need. 

I went into massive research mode and saw that a lot of people recommended a place in Tianzifang (a little side street) called Kommune. 

Kommune seems like it’s always packed and if you are searching for a place that has AC, this isn’t the place. Though the AC is running, the doors are always opening and closing from all the people going in and out. Their menu is small and simple but their servings are HUGE. 

The decor was nice, they had a lot of wall art and framed photos. The seating is a bit crunched but not uncomfortable. We ordered the iced coffee and their standard breakfast meal. The meal overall was good but I really dislike canned mushrooms. If it were made of fresh mushrooms, I probably would have liked it better. I wonder if it was canned or fresh… if it was fresh, it was really not impressive.

Will we go there again? Eh, maybe? Not my favorite brunch spot in the city but definitely not a bad place if you happen to be in Tianzifang. 

Oh yes, we went to House of Flour again. I am such a sucker for delicious chocolate! We got the frozen hot chocolate again but decided to get something other than their famous “Death by chocolate” cake. 

We ordered the salted caramel mud pie. It was a dense, deliciously chocolate fudge like cake with a perfect caramel sauce that had hints of saltiness. My mouth is salivating from thinking about this cake! We shared it and I was actually tempted to get the death by chocolate cake but decided against it. Mostly because I was full and also I felt like I was being a little piggy that day.

If you only have time to go to HoF once… I strongly suggest their signature “death by chocolate” cake. It’s really my favorite one out of all the desserts that I tried there. And if you’re feeling really indulgent, take their truffles home… it’s truly the best truffles I’ve had in Shanghai!

Can you guys tell me what is a specialty (food wise) where you live? 

NYC is pizza and Shanghai is soup dumplings. Mmmm Yum.

Let me know so I can drool over my computer screen while I look at your comments.

___________
Kommune 
No. 7, Lane 210 Taikang Lu (Tianzifang) 

House of Flour
Chocolate cafe/Boutique: 30 Sinan Lu
To pick up truffles: Shanghai Center next to Element Fresh