..It's a journey after all.. : Food and Travel Blog based in Jakarta: Shanghai Trip.. PART 2

Here we go again..

Before I start typing, I just wanna tell you guys how lucky I am to be close to my siblings.. They're like my best friends and to them, I wanna say thank you for coping up and for being my personal tour guides when we were in China. As I have mentioned in my previous entry, I couldn't speak or listen to mandarin. I just know the stupid basics that elementary students know (I think they are smarter than me) : ni hao, wo ai ni, zhe ge, na ge, shen me and so on.. I know, it's quite embarrassing and very frustrating not to be able to talk to the locals.. English is just useless there.. Only a very few people might understand you.. Once I opened my mouth and said something in mandarin, the people will know in an instant that I am an outsider, and believe me, they will rip the hell off of you (when it comes to bargaining). So, my effective tactic is just to keep quiet and nod along because after all, I look exactly just like one of them ;p

The next day... Gloomy Shanghai, it was raining.. Well, it's no cats and dogs, fortunately. Just drizzly enough to make your hair damp. We only brought one umbrella from Jakarta. It's quite funny actually, try to picture this, the three of us, my big sis wearing a light tosca maxi dress, my brother wearing just casual shorts and myself wearing yesterday's blue dress, squeezed together under one tiny umbrella and pacing quickly to find a grab to bite.. If that's not eye catchy, then I don't know what is..

Breakfast..
We started early in the morning to have our breakfast. The day before this, we have spotted a cafe called Wagas, just a few blocks away from our hotel. We decided to grab a bite in there before we continue our tourist journey. It was located in the ground floor of an office building and you can easily spot it from the street..

If we were in Indonesia, I would consider their price normal, but since generally everything in China is relatively cheap, so I considered the food in here is quite pricey. But on the other hand, they come in this huge western portion so I guess it's worth it..

This is our fusilli with bacon, chicken, onion, cream and Parmesan (52 yuan). It may looked small but trust me, they really serve plenty of it. The three of us were gobbling for it and the meal survived! There was still left overs when my sister and I decided to give up gobbling.. It's very rich. At first, I thought it needed more salt, but as the cheese started to melt, I think the taste was perfect

This is the Roast beef, gherkin, tomato, onion, gouda, rocket and mustard mayo sandwich wrap (52 yuan).. With Chinese style pickles at the side. lol. It was so huge! And thick. It's a challenge for me to take a bite from this sandwich.

The best cappuccino I have ever drank in my entire trip. Yes, hands down! They have great coffee! My big sis is a cappuccino lover. Pretty much any place that we went to, she'll order a cup of cappuccino and this one was definitely one of the best!

The whole area.. They have plenty of cakes as well..

In the afternoon, we were making a few stops for a snack. My sister was obsessed in finding a very specific egg tart in a specific road. But when we went there, it was closed. They moved into a new place near an underground train station.. After walking and walking and walking, not forgetting the rain, my feet was drenched in water. I didn't care about them anymore. My sandals were completely soaked. WE FOUND IT

Just a small shop. They are from Macao and they serve you with the most yummy egg tart EVER! Actually, Lillian Bakery has several branches, we just didn't know..

Original egg tart and cheese egg tart. My sister didn't go for the cheese ones, she's too much in love with the original flavor

Cute packaging..

SUPER YUMMY. It's soft yet you can feel the outer crust crunch, combined with the mushy egg sweet oh so heavenly sweet bright and fragrant filling in the middle.. PURE HEAVEN I LOVE IT. No wonder my sister was crazy about it

I decided to go for some takoyaki that I found randomly in the middle of a cafeteria..

They made it all at once..

A cute little lounge/cafe to eat sweet bites and enjoy good wine.. hoF. It stands for house of flour. One of my sister's friends who used to study in Shanghai recommended this place to us. Along the streets, you can find many cute bars, cafes, restaurants.

I ordered the one on the right.. The chocolate one..

I didn't even know what these all were, but damn, it tempted me enough to make me press my face to the glass and drool.. (okay I think that's a little bit over dramatic)

Of course, cappuccino again..

It's cozy. It's intimate. Only a few were there. I always think this kinda place is somehow romantic for a secret rendezvous.

hoF
30-1 Sinan Road, Shanghai 200020
(Near Middle Huaihai Road)
Phone : (86-21) 60932058
Website : www.houseofflour.com

Actually, before going to hoF, we dropped by into this Hongkong restaurant called CHA's Restaurant. It's only a few metres away from hoF, but the place was so packed! We decided to wait at hoF and had our dessert first while waiting for the lunch hour to pass.. It was a HUGE NO NO! The place was still packed. We got number 80 something and they were still calling number 50 something. So we waited.. waited.. and waited..

I decided to stroll around to the restroom while looking at what people were having on their table. Not forgetting to snap photos.. I think they thought I was some kind of a random weirdo, taking picture here and there.. I just didn't care.. LOL

See that Black&White Milk, when I was in Hongkong, the restaurant there used that brand as well.. Oh and that blue can called Horlicks, I LOVE IT! You can order horlicks at Ah Mei Cafe in Indonesia.. It's like cereal water with just the right sweetness..

Fresh pastries..

Finally...

Deep Fried Chicken Wing (14yuan) It smells so good! It's really hot and crunchy..

Deep Fried Pork Chop with Mayonnaise (39yuan). The name itself is intriguing already! Trust me, it's super yummy! It's sweet and sour sauce is so perfect combined with the mayo. I LOVE IT SO MUCH I PRACTICALLY MOAN WHILE TAKING THE FIRST BITE.. There, I confessed.. -_-

Scrambled Egg with Shrimp (38yuan). It's quite pricey, yes. But the shrimps are plenty and very fresh indeed. It still has that crunch in every bite. I don't know how they cook the egg, but it's still soft and gooey on the inside.. SUPER LOVE. Almost every table ordered this dish and we were curious. Worth every penny.

We ordered the milk tea, it has milk tea ice cubes, so when it melts, it wouldn't affect the taste. Clever.

"We were not that hungry, we just couldn't help it", straight quotation from my siblings..

I think going to CHA'S Restaurant was definitely worth it. Even though we had to wait for so long, the food itself proved that this restaurant is definitely a TOP NOTCH! They have won awards and it's a NO WONDER.. Seriously, you should drop by to this place if you were in Shanghai. I know they serve Hongkong style food, but I have always been in love with Hongkong anyway. All the time we were eating, the three of us were like, "OMG, THIS IS SO DELICIOUS" or "OMG, I WISH MUM AND DAD ARE HERE TO TASTE THIS" or "OMG I AM IN HEAVEN".

CHA'S Restaurant
Sinan Road Shop : 30 Sinan Road, Luwan District
Phone : 6093 2062

NEXT STOP, TIAN ZI FANG~
Tian Zi Fang is another tourist spot in Shanghai. It was a French Concession area which has been renovated and turned into a labyrinth some sorts of alley ways of Tai Kang Road. It has several entries and the shops varies from food to arts and crafts. I have always loved ancient concession areas like these. Inside, you may find different bars, cute cafes, and souvenir shops. It's just the perfect tourist spot to spend your day. If I had more time, I'll definitely try the cafe one by one, but since we got only one day, we chose the Teddy Bear Cafe..

Before that, let me just show you pictures of us in Tian Zi Fang..

You can tell this place is really old just from the building

My favorite milk tea in Indonesia is COME BUY. I took a picture in front of it because Jessica Alba has been in here as well. LOL

THE TEDDY BEAR CAFE

The place is really packed with LOTS of teddy bears of different sizes, shapes, and colours.. A true teddy bear lover should be thrilled to go in here

This is the wall where you can put notes.. It's so full that it almost reached to the ceiling

We didn't order any food because we were completely FULL. Another addiction, cappuccino. LOOK HOW CUTE IT WAS. Everything is Teddy Bear..

Our table has 4 seats, so this big Teddy volunteered itself to sit by my side.. How sweet of him..

The first floor of this cafe is really cozy but you were not allowed to take any pictures. They really do have so many teddy bear decorations. It's like Teddy Bear museum. The second floor of this cafe is actually where they make their own teddy bears. We were also not allowed to take any pictures there. The weird thing about this place is they serve Thai Food, which I think is a little bit out of the context. It's definitely our sweet escape to be in this place because the weather outside was SUPER SUNNY. Sitting here for a while gave us time to chill in an air conditioned room was really a sweet bliss.. Thank God for AC.

Teddy Bear Cafe
Tian Zi Fang, 248 3 Taikang Road, near Jianguo Road, Shanghai, China

We spent the rest of the day in THE BUND
There, the three of us, tummy full, aching feet.. But somehow we managed to be excited to go to the Bund. It is located in Central Shanghai. We can see the waterfront area and also some of the French Concession buildings..