Roast Chicken

I was thinking of having a good roast chicken and had been seeing fennel being sold in the supermarkets in Shanghai.  As fennel isn't really an Asian vegetable, but I'd seen it being used pretty often by Jamie Oliver, I decided to look for a recipe to try.  Found this one fm Ina Garten, adapted it by adding some squash and zucchini, and it was soooo good!!!

Baked French Toast/Bread Pudding

I had some leftover homemade bread (cranberry and almond), and was thinking it'd be a waste to throw it away when I saw a post by Joythebaker on a Banana Bourbon Bread Pudding.  Everything suddenly clicked and I was in my kitchen whipping this up ...

This was simply uh-maze-ing!!!!  I substituted with rum and didn't use any bananas and it was still delicious!

Sun With Aqua, The Bund, Shanghai

Some time back, we had been longing for the wonderful Japanese food in Taipei, and lamenting the lack of reasonably priced good authentic Japanese food in Shanghai.  So when some friends recommended Sun With Aqua, a Japanese restaurant on the Bund, we eagerly went off to try this out, hoping it would have the kind of Japanese food we were looking for.  We were not disappointed :)

A glimpse of the counter seating ...

As their set lunch was pretty popular, we opted for the Tokyo set, which effectively had almost everything one could desire in Japanese cuisine ... suffice to say it was definitely filling ... just look at this sumptuous spread ...

A closer look ...

 Tempura ...

Udon noodles ... (I had a tempura set which came with soba noodles, but unfortunately my camera skills were somewhat lacking and it was too blur to post ... but they were yummy!)

An overview of my tempura set ... it came with sushi ... dee-lish!!!!

A closer look ...

Our friends ordered a teppanyaki set with beef, prawns and crab ...

After a satisfying meal, we decided we would definitely be making a return visit to Sun With Aqua.

Stalls on Bikes, China

I'm gradually getting used to seeing all kinds of things being peddled on the streets of Shanghai.  But just when I think I've seen everything, I see something that makes my jaw drop ... like this peddler (literally!) ... 

It was raining and this man parked his bike just outside our window seat in La Creperie so we had a good view of his merchandise.  Yup!  Those are baby bunnies and guinea pigs in the blue cage.  

I think those are squirrels in the pink cage.  Below that are bright yellow fluffy baby ducks.  And in the brown weave baskets are crickets.  Fascinating!

La Creperie, Taojiang Rd, Shanghai

I actually stumbled upon La Creperie while shopping for kitchenware next door at Lemon Zest.  As I thought the area looked very charming, and they had the French style brittany crepes I loved after first trying them in Paris, I promised myself to return with Hubby in tow to try La Creperie.

We ordered these appetisers - rolled crepes with minced pork ... (after trying these appetisers during another visit, we thought the spicy minced chicken was our fav)

 We had their Daily Special set ... I believe this was La Complete ... basically brittany crepes with egg, ham, sausage, lettuce, mushrooms and tomatoes ... yum-my!!!

The set came with dessert, which happened to be a banana caramel crepe ... dee-lish!!!!

Zen Lifestyle, Shanghai

I fell in love with this shop, Zen Lifestyle, when I first walked into their branch in Xintiandi, Shanghai. The problem with Zen is making a choice of what to get cos everything is sooooo beautiful!  I eventually decided that I wanted to get a teapot in this floral design .... but sadly it was all sold out (their  products seem to fly off the shelves!).  To console myself, I got a dish in the same floral design :) ... I love the pink trimming around the edges ...

I also wanted a small dish to place the jewelry I wore daily, and chose this design ...

Antique Indian Perfume Box

I got a surprise the other day when Hubby came back with this gift from our kind New York friend.  She knew I was decorating my apartment, and sent this antique Indian box to us.

It contains these bottles which used to hold perfume ... fascinating!

Thanks D & K!