Smoky Oven Spareribs with Dill and Bacon Smashed Potatoes

The Amateur Gourmet inspired me to make these ribs!  My version took about two hours instead of six and I substituted all spice for the cloves.  The next day, I deboned the leftover rib meat and made a pasta sauce.  Yum!

Fun with art

Adam and I went to Red Town last weekend and it was a lot of fun!  An old industrial site turned art space, Red Town consists of a public green space in the middle with art galleries, shops, and an art museum along the periphery. We stopped at Beca for some lunch, then wandered around taking pictures and checked out the new Minsheng Art Museum. The current exhibition "Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979 - 2009" runs until July 18 and is definitely worth a look. Admission is RMB20 and the museum is closed on Mondays. I liked the painting of a face (above), a fisheye effect makes it look like a head (sort of)! More pics from Red Town to come...

Hongqiao Bird and Flower Market

The inside of the flower market smelled so fresh! There are lots of plants (indoor and outdoor) and flowers. We were on a plant mission, so didn't make it to the bird part of the market, which is in a separate building.

Our new indoor plant (should be) low maintenance, needs watering about once a week. The outdoor guy needs water every other day, daily in the summer.

Hongqiao Bird and Flower Market
718 Hongjing Lu, near Hongsong Lu, Changning district
(长宁区虹井路718号，近红松路)

Cowboy Haibao

Hi-yo!

World Financial Center

RIP

While Google has already left the .cn space, remnants of their massive marketing campaign can still be seen in the Shanghai subway system. I snapped this a week ago - just for memories!

Jean leggings, or affectionately known as...

For those of you who think this world is already too full of combowords (spork, Brangelina to name a few), I give you jeggings. I've seen the word used on websites, blogs, and fashion magazines, but this was the first product label I've seen! Good on ya, Marks and Sparks.

Qing Fang Fabric Market

Having checked out IKEA a few times for household items, I thought it would be nice to branch out a little, see something a bit more local. Qing Fang Fabric Market (轻纺市场) in Putuo district made a perfect adventure. It's public transportation friendly - my particular route was Metro Line 3/4 to Cao Yang Lu, then transfer to bus 717 or 860. A taxi is obviously less tedious.

The market follows the standard "cram lots of stalls into a huge building" format. There are three floors: ground floor has rugs/carpets, bed linens, towels and curtains; second floor is clothing; and the third floor has a mishmash of home decor stuff such as paintings and fake flowers. I spent most of the time on the ground floor, looking at decorative cushions and rugs. Most things can be made to order (pick the fabric, tell them the measurements) and I assume turnaround time is fast because there are sewing machines on site.

While there is a lot to choose from, nothing really struck my fancy. Don't expect anything too high end or trendy. I did end up buying a RMB 30 mat for the kitchen, but probably over-paid because I couldn't be bothered to negotiate! It's worth the trip to Qing Fang Fabric Market if you're looking for a one-stop shop for all your home textiles (and don't want to buy from IKEA). Since I'm still looking for the right cushions, next step is to check out the small fabric stores closer to home...there's one across the street...

Banana Cake with Chocolate Chips

Whenever I have ripe bananas lying around, I'm always tempted to make banana bread. I wanted a simple recipe, so I looked in the Joy of Cooking. Sure enough, there's a recipe for banana bread (interestly named "Banana Bread Cockaigne") with a list of simple ingredients, all of which I had available at home! I added some leftover chocolate chips for good measure and within an hour, I had hot banana cake! Delish! I call it banana cake because it has a fluffier consistency, less dense than the usual banana bread.

And just in case you were wondering what the "Cockaigne" means, from Wikipedia:
In the popular cookbook The Joy of Cooking, the author's favorite recipes include "Cockaigne" in the name, (e.g., "Fruit Cake Cockaigne"), explained in the foreword to the 1975 edition as after the name of the Becker country home in Anderson Township, near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Note: after a day, the cake was pretty dry. I recommend adding an extra quarter stick of butter (1/8 cup) and extra banana for good measure. I also omitted the lemon zest, since I didn't have any. Here's the modified recipe:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a "normal size" loaf pan.
Whisk together:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat in a separate large bowl:
2/3 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
Add the dry ingredients in about 3 to 4 parts. The batter should be thick and fluffy. Add optional ingredients such as chocolate chips or nuts. Scrape the batter into the greased pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Original recipe calls for 1 hour in the oven, but in my oven, it takes only 30 minutes.

Obvious, but true: fake Uggs are not made for walking

Nine out of ten girls in Shanghai (or so it seems) wear Ugg-like boots during the winter. And when I say Ugg-like boots, I mean fake Uggs. This article made me think of them schlepping around:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1258073/How-cheap-imitation-Ugg-boots-crippling-generation-fashion-victim-women.html

Real or fake, Uggs are not for me - there are boots out there that are warm, comfortable...and better looking.

Handsome Furs Asia Tour video series on CNN

I thought it was pretty cool when Handsome Furs played Shanghai late last year (hot, sweaty, and fabulous show), but what's even cooler is they documented their tour through Asia and turned it into a video series on CNN. Check it out:

Indie Asia: on tour with Handsome Furs
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/indie.asia/index.html

St. Patrick's Day Parade

Friends, families, performers, volunteers, and general onlookers gathered at the entrance of Fuxing Park this morning for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Flags, stickers, and chocolate were handed out to the crowd to complement the already festive atmosphere. Joseph, Frank and I milled about looking for a good viewing spot. The parade was short, led by a bagpiper, followed by the Irish community, students, clowns, a green dragon, and rounded out by a marching band from a local international school.

The crowd followed the procession down the street to the stage area, where there were eats (meat pies), booze (Murphy's beer), t-shirts, and info on the Irish Pavilion at the World Expo. After the requisite and somewhat lengthy speeches by the organizers, entertainment included singing, dancing, and musical performance. One of the highlights was the "Chinese Riverdance" group - apparently fans of Riverdance started a group and studied the steps by watching the DVD!

All in all, a fun event and definitely recommended for families!

Photos and video (from top):
- Clowns, regular and on stilts
- Green dragon (note the guy in the front holding his beer showing Irish spirit)
- Student marching band
- Frank all decked out with his Murphy's Irish top hat, Irish flag and nomming a meat pie

Pixel art + World Expo = Love it!

I saw this great postcard on the interwebs today - love it!

The original location is here: http://edge.neocha.com/pixel-art/pixel-art-rendition-of-shanghai-expo-by-booktalk/

Sophia

Her dark fur contrasts nicely with the bathroom tiles. I found her hiding in the shelf one day...

Chinese Fashion Labels

Ever since moving to China, I've been interested in up and coming Chinese clothing brands. If I'm going to live here, eat here, I might as well figure out what there is to shop here. Most of the international brands that I'm used to are available here, but the import taxes on foreign goods makes buying them less fun.

One of the Chinese brands that has caught my eye is JNBY. The name can be interpreted as an acronym for "Just Naturally Be Yourself" in English, or in Chinese as "江南布衣" (Jiang Nan Bu Yi). I like the neutral color palette, the modern cuts, and drapey silhouettes. Started by a few fashion designers, they've been expanding into North America and seem to be doing pretty well.

Another Chinese brand that has been on the radar is Me & City. I haven't checked out their stores yet, but they've been making big news (in the fashion industry, at least) by hiring Agyness Deyn, of Burberry ad fame, and Orlando Bloom for a big ad campaign. The reaction from North America hasn't been great, as the photos for the ad seem so awkward! I agree. My personal opinion on their clothing to come in a later post.

Expo Countdown

World Expo preparations in Shanghai have been in high gear for a while now. Posters are up everywhere and I particularly liked this recent one, a quirky take on environmentally-friendly transportation choices (taxicabs with Fred Flintstone-esque legs, unicycles) and a slogan of "Love the Earth, Let's go!"

Weird, but fun.

Welcome Sophia!

We have a cat! Her name is Sophia.

We adopted Sophia from our friend Mara, who relocated to the Netherlands. Sophia is about 2 years old and is very sweet. She's exploring our apartment and is getting more and more comfortable in her new surroundings. The first night, she hid under the sofa and would not come out until we went to bed. By the fourth night, she was sleeping in our bed and open to affection.

She does have one weird trait - an attraction to the inner part of the elbow where she will lick your shirt and knead her paws. We think it's a nursing urge that she never fulfilled when she was a kitten, as she was a stray in a park.

We are enamoured with her presence and she is definitely part of the family!

Farewell for now, PhoKing

PhoKing has always been a trusty neighbourhood restaurant for us, offering a simple selection of comforting Vietnamese noodles at a reasonable price. Every time we have a visitor, we always end up there for at least one meal. Alas, we walked by the restaurant last weekend, to find it closed and the note at the door said they were shutting up shop because of problems with the management company of the building in which they are located. Apparently, there were cleanliness issues and the owner of PhoKing is clearly disappointed and frustrated with the lack of response and action.

Interestingly, the Chinese note adjacent to the English one was brief and only said that changes were in progress (duh). I bet the management company would not have allowed such a candid note in Chinese. Ah well, we'll be on the lookout for the next restaurant in this location, but hope that it will be clean.

First things first

Happy New Year!

Our new year's eve festivities weren't much different to what it would have been back home - venture to a bar/club with loud music, alcohol of some sort, then a long wait for a cab back home...am I being a bit Scrooge-ish here? The highlight of my night was seeing the sky filled with lanterns, like fireflies floating above the buildings along the Huangpu River. It made the night seem a bit magical!