If you are a chocolate lover and in need of some “treat yourself time”after work or dinner, HoF is the place to be. It’s a little shop in the former french concession with a nice chill crowd and the finest chocolate sweets that your heart desires! My favorite is the Mudpie cake with orange coating. In addition, they have champagne, cocktail and a delicious hot chocolate with baileys…YUM!!! Fair prices and high quality desserts, what else can you ask for!
A month ago, I moved out of my apartment into a more affordable place so after hiring Century 21, (a well reputable real estate agency from America) I found an apartment in Huangpu district for 4000rmb. “What a find!!!” I thought but then nothing comes cheap these days… So I hired a moving truck and moved all my things into my new home. It was a spacious place that was just renovated by the landlord. The building was older and very Chinese style(no lights in hallways and security was pretty much non existent) but then after the renovation, everything inside was new, brilliant and clean! I liked it ALOT! After a week of settling in and one day relaxing on my couch while watching chinese cable, needless to say a China experience happened to me.
“BOOOM!!!” There was a loud noise from the ceiling and I didn’t realized what was going on at the moment until heavy pieces of sheet rock fell from my ceiling missing my head by inches. A large part of the ceiling had fallen and there was a huge hole on my ceiling! Being in quite a shock, I called my real estate agency and landlord to come over. I told them that I would not stay there because of safety reason and needed to stay in a hotel while they fix and inspect the ceiling. My landlord agreed.
The next day became another story, I got a phone call from my landlord saying that I had to move out immediately and they were going to break the lease. 
They also said that they would not reimburse me with the hotel and would only pay the minimun of 4000rmb for breaking the lease!!!
I ended up having to pay for my hefty hotel bill and have no home for my landlord’s poor renovation.
“A new Shanghai apartment turned into a war zone.” Luckily, I was ok.
Have you experience something like this?
One of the best street foods I’ve found in Shanghai are the infamous potsticker like buns named Shengjianbaos (生煎包)! These fried buns with stuffed pork inside are mainly popular in Shanghai and are the most delicious, might I warn you not too healthy, treats in Shanghai! The best part of it is when you bite into these buns, they have this soupy like consistency similar to that of a Xiao Long Biao but even better with the crispy outside! I’ve heard that Yang’s fried dumpling is a must try. If not, 1221 is a popular Shanghainese restaurant that serves great ones too! If you visit Shanghai, don’t hesitate to pump up your day with a few of these decadent Shanghai favorites!
***Warning: Eat with Moderation!
Picture above is taken from 1221 Restaurant.
I apologized for the lack in blogging as this past month l’ve been busy checking out apartments for my move. I have finally found an apartment a little less pricey about 15 minutes walk from Xintiandi and will be moving in on March 10th! Lots of exciting things happening and haven’t had much time for blogging but I PROMISE to my readers I will blog more once I’ve moved in!
♥mydearshanghai♥
Happy Valentine’s Day to Everyone! This day is not only for lovers in love or people in relationships but I truly believe this day is for everyone who is loved. This includes by family members, good friends and people in your lives. They may not send you roses or buy you heart shaped chocolates but knowing that you are loved and cared for by these people is to be appreciated, and out of all the 365 days in a year, today is the one day that you need to remember those people most dearest to you and cherish that feeling!
Happy Valentine’s Day to my Family and Friends! I am so grateful to have such loving and good hearted people in my life to support and love me!!! Who and what are YOU most grateful for on this day?
Image via Wikipedia
Over the weekend, I attended an adoption day for Jaiya Animal Rescue in Shanghai at the Cool Docks at Zhongshan Nan Lu. As you can probably tell from my profile pic, I’ve always been very much fond of animals, in particular dogs and while I was living in San Francisco, I was part of the Samoyed Rescue in helping them rehome and foster dogs. Dogs have always been a huge part of my life, as my whole family loves them and I have been brought up with these furry bundles of joy my whole life! They give you unconditional love and can bring you so much joy and happiness if welcome them into your lives. As being part of the rescue back home, it always warmed my heart to see these stray, helpless animals go to their new forever home where they are loved, given healthy nutrition and given the treatment they deserve. This is one of the greatest joys in my life!
To be at Jaiya’s adoption day, and having the pleasure to speak with Marvin, the founder of Jaiya’s Animal Rescue and meeting some pups over there, it was really nice to see that they are really trying to bring more awareness and information to help the many animals in need here. In Shanghai, there are always so many strays around streets and local restaurants that are skinny as bones scavenging for food or used as DOG MEAT(something that is really hard to me to say and personally angers me!), nevetheless I am so grateful for rescues like Jaiya in Shanghai.
For more info about JAR RESCUE, below are their sites:
Website: http://jargroup.doodlekit.com
Blog: http://jarshanghai.wordpress.com
Wagas, Wagas, Wagas! I’ve heard of many of my expat friends say that this place was one of their go to sandwich places but till now my work and life has solely been in the Xinitandi proximity. Needless to say, this place is not really that far off from Xintiandi, really only 5 minutes walk:)
At first glance this place reminds me of home, a loungy, sandwich cafe with upbeat music and free WIFI. Now I know why this is such a well known place amongst expats and tourists alike. They serve a variety of delicious homemade sandwiches, salads, soups, and juices and all of their ingredients are fresh! Something that is sometimes hard to find in Shanghai. Even their desserts are homemade and I also saw a sign saying that their pastas are only “41rmb” after 6pm. What a deal!! I had the curry chicken spinach wrap and today’s special carrot soup. Both were very good and price was decent. We got 2 sandwiches, 1 bowl of soup and 1 large mocha and it was about 150rmb. This is a great place to have a casual business lunch or go with friends for a catch up chat, highly recommended!!!I love Wagas! If you have some other good places that you recommend to try with decent prices, please share… I am still a rookie in Shanghai:)
They have many locations and their Xintiandi location is at:
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~mydearshanghai <3
San Francisco, being a city of many sports, activities and daily healthy regimens never made exercising a boring task. Amongst these many activities, sailing, hiking, camping and yoga were my top choices and activities in San Fran to refresh my body and mind.
However, after living here in Shanghai for these past few months and getting rusty in my downward dogs, I decided to go out and take a look at what’s around. I asked people for good hiking spots and no one seemed to know where to go. So, I took a stroll around my local neighborhoods and came across Haihai Gong Yuan(Haihai park), and found this! A-ha! This is where they all are! It’s definitely not hiking in a forest and feeling the clean crisp air, but it’s definitely a start:)
Just for some expats/tourists who happen to be in Shanghai and love dumplings!
I’ve came across the best Xiao Long Bao Shop in town today!!! Don’t expect too much from the shop itself, it is sort of a hole in the wall and the size of a closet but they have these perfect sized, handmade juicy dumplings, that are to die for!
If you happen to be in Luwan district, this is a MUST TRY!!! For 5 rmb, you get 8 dumplings!
Here’s a picture of the store front(on the bottom with 5 characters) located on Hefei Lu between Shunchang Lu and Ji’ An Lu.
Welcome to my world!
I am a 31 year old school teacher who just recently moved to Shanghai, China. On this blog, you will be able to travel with me and be able to read about all my adventures in China. Please enjoy and feel free to leave comments!
