2.5.09

dexter in the cottage sipping soup and smelling flowers

Ok time to move my ass and update this blog. I have been busy in the office and lazy juicing out creativity out of myself that if there are still left or really everything inside me are garbage and don’t have the right to even called them art.


Anyways, I am recently watching DEXTER, focused on the guy named Dexter Morgan that works for the police as forensic blood expert but has a dark side as a serial killer. Last night I finished season 1 with conclusion that the story’s twists were not bad at all. On the average, I watched 2 episodes every night given my brain would not force me to sleep.




After reading Shanghaiist article, I went to this cozy café bar in Tongjiang Road near Hengshan Road called The Cottage. From my place it’s like 15 minutes walk so I dropped by and viola! I found another new and exciting place to hang out during weekends the other one being Taikang Lu which I only have known and been to last month and have not written about it since discovery.




Nestled along the street which possesses a collection of some of Shanghai old bourgoisie residences, the two-storey building in noticeable green and yellow façade has treasures inside. Hanging on it’s old wooden planks roughly painted white wall are many mementos such us match boxes, photographs, ads, books and cd’s collected by owner Lao Ming through the years of his travels around the world. Occupying the space also are small antique furniture while in use are up for grab for a price. The place is wi-fi and there are pc to get you connected and write in your blog about this artsy café bar and tell about a view of a courtyard garden from the window while you sip your cup of cappuccino and pipe out your personally made cigar on a lazy afternoon.


Oh I am crossing out Crossroad, the Singaporean restaurant in Parkson in HuaiHai Road as my favorite eats because the one I regularly order lamb chops were not available at the time I got there and more so because I got LBM after eating satay for replacement. I was taking pictures of my meal then the waitress asked me not to, probably they want to keep a secret the meal that would make your digestive system exploding.


In Luoyang, a former ancient capital and small city in Henan Sheng, the traditional way of eating is imperial. The way the people eat in the restaurant, or I bet at homes also, was influenced by how the emperors and empress during the Tang dynasty. You’ be given different kind of soup which actually numbers like 24 soups, vegetable soup, chicken soup, beef soup, pork soup, noodles soup you name it they have it. Then at the center of the table there will be a big porcelain bowl, were you can throw away in your sipped soup because you won’t finish them all so you’d to avoid being full and try the other soup in line for you to experience. Lavish isn’t ? So for just an hour I felt like a Tang emperor. Louyang food tastes great and considered that as my favorite Chinese cuisine along with spicy Hunan.


Also in Louyang, personally I met the most famous flower in China called Mudan (牡丹花).