Ura was one of the people that I met the previous weekend
and who had invited me to the club.
She barely speaks a lick of English but she had told me that the
following weekend she would be again visiting Shanghai on business and would
like to hang out again. We texted
off and on throughout the week (her using a translation app) to just say hi and
to make sure we were still on to hang out when she came back to town. So Friday
night after she got off work I met her and two of her co-workers in Pu
Dong. They told me that they had a
lot to show me of the city and off we went to the metro and onto a whirlwind
evening of shopping and dining.
Ura (her English name) and her colleagues Fancy and Messi (again,
English names) first took me Tianzifang, an old Shikumen neighborhood of brick
walls, small alleys and traditional Chinese apartments. Tianzifang however is quite different
from most Shikumen neighborhoods because it has been developed into a high-end
boutique area, full of fancy restaurants, art dealers, jewelry sellers, and
other sorts of expensive retailers.
The streets are very narrow and it is a pedestrian only area. It was a
great place to stroll through and had many nice shops to duck inside and
visit. There are open-air cafes
and bars throughout the neighborhood, and it had a decidedly European vibe to
it. It really did not feel like
China at all.
After we spent some time wandering, the four of us hopped
back on the Metro and took it to the Shaanxi Rd station. From there we got up to street level
and walked a few blocks before heading into what appeared to be a department
store. However immediately to the
right was an elevator with a sign next to it in Chinese that apparently
indicated that there was a restaurant at the top of the store.
The restaurant itself had some very outdated and what some
might consider to be tacky décor.
It had weird crystal columns around the tables and some strange looking
light fixtures. The restaurant
itself was also quite dark and was just oddly laid out. Despite the odd décor it was clear by
looking at the wait-staff uniforms as well as the clientele that the restaurant
was going to be relatively fancy and probably decently expensive. They asked me to decide on the food and
handed me the menu. I looked over
the menu and saw all sorts of things on it that I had never had. Anything from pigeon to bullfrog to
snail was on the menu. I told them that I hadn’t ever had much of what was on
the menu and that I’d prefer if they ordered. I also don’t exactly know the customs and wasn’t sure how
much to order so it was kind of imperative that they order the food. It turns out I was happy that they did,
because they chose four amazing dishes, as well as some great appetizers and
drinks.
The drink came first.
It was a dark purple drink and quite thick. I asked Ura what it was and she did not know the name so she
looked it up. In English the
translation was “Sour Plum Soup.”
Whatever it was, it wasn’t exactly sour, and it wasn’t exactly soup, but
it was very good.
For starters we were given small dishes of corn in some kind
of mildly spicy sauce, as well as some chips of some sort. We were also given a cold soup
(which has been very common here so far) that was slightly sweet. The liquid was clear and inside the
soup were some dates, as well as some jelly like things. When I asked Ura what it was she could
not come up with the name in English.
She typed it in her iPhone in Chinese and what came out in English
(latin?) was “Tremella Fuciformis”… ok.
It tasted fine so I ate it.
Next came the meal.
Easily the best meal that I have eaten so far in China, and the first
meal that claimed to be spicy and actually was. The first dish was “Spicy Cabbage and Beef.” It was only mildly spicy but extremely
flavorful and delicious. Next came
an Asparagus dish that was mixed with garlic and peppers and again was
ridiculuously good. Third came
Calimari and Onions in a tangy bbq type sauce. Also very delicious.
Finally came a bowl of
“Spicy Fragrant Beef.” This
was amazing. It was so spicy but
also so flavorful and wonderful.
One of the best things I have ever eaten. There were peppers, mushrooms and other vegetables and
“things” in the bowl and all of it was incredible.
I of course attempted to repay Ura for the previous weekend
by paying for the dinner. I gave
the waiter the money but Ura and her friends said something in Chinese and he
gave it back to me, then her friend paid.
I tried to pay them but they insisted I was their guest and again
refused to let me pay. They then
asked the waiter for a “Fa Piao” which is essentially an “official receipt”
that most people ask for when they need to be reimbursed by their company. I asked her if her company was covering
the meal and she just kind of laughed.
I certainly hope so because if not I feel kind of bad for her and her
friends paying again.
After dinner we parted ways and she said reminded me that I
need to visit Tianjin so she can show me around. It was another very fun night. Her and her friends (and all of the Chinese people that I
have met) were wonderfully generous and kind. I hope to hang out with her and her friends in Tianjin some
time in the near future because they are very cool people despite a pretty
significant language barrier.
Unfortunately again I didn’t really get any pictures with them. I took some of the food with my iPod,
but I accidentally left my SD card for my camera at the hotel so the pictures I
took with my camera didn’t save.
She and her friends took a few pictures so hopefully I can get a hold of
them sometime.
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