Shanghai Nights

The food at Liquid Laundry; it's good to share since everything
is so amazing!

        Since Songjiang district, the district that I live in, does not have much to offer, I have been venturing out into the heart of the city with some friends! Here's a list of places I have enjoyed during my time in the city both of restaurants and sights to see. So, without further adieu, I'd like to introduce some of my favorite western food places I tried while exploring Shanghai first!

Look at this gorgeous salmon plate;
There's even a runny farm fresh egg
hidden inside

            I've been away from home for a very long time, and I've been craving western food: burgers, burritos, brunch, you name it. So whenever I go into the city, I always indulge in foreign food. One of my favorite spots I find myself returning to again and again is Liquid laundry, a deceivingly swanky brunch place with relatively affordable, very tasty brunch food. I always get the salmon board (I mean, look at it, why would you get anything else). In addition, my friends who know me well know that I don't eat sweet things, let alone sweet breakfast foods, but their waffles are to die for.

I would be happy to get a meal like
this in the states!

     Another restaurant I thoroughly enjoyed was called Cantina Agave. I stopped in on their brunch service on a whim, and was blown away; their salsa bar was extensive and tasty, and they served the best burrito I've ever had in China by far. It cured my hangover and my cravings for western food, which is all I could have asked for.

This place is so small we got a rando
lady lurkin in the back

   

     Lastly, I'd like to introduce Bowl Shakalaka, a small poke place with big flavors. I stopped by this place whenever I was craving something light with lots of veggies and salmon (is it obvious to y'all that I really like salmon or what), and it never left me disappointed.  It's a little spendy, but hey, when you get that craving it's hard to hold back, and since they make such a mean bowl, it's definitely worth it for any poke lover.

   Other good places to eat:

   Saigon Mama
   Simply Thai
   Colca
(This is definitely not an exhaustive list)

The Pearl Tower is hidden behind that
layer of fog I promise 

     Now to induce some of the sights! One popular spot that's high on any tourist's list has got to be the Bund. I did mention that I visited the Bund in an earlier blogpost, so I thought I would highlight some of the things there are to do around the Bund besides taking a classic pic with the Pearl Tower. In general, it's a great place to walk around, soak up the bougie, over the top consumerist culture and see the more "quintessential" parts of Shanghai; In this area, it's impossible to escape the hustle and bustle, as well as the fine shopping and dining Shanghai has to offer. Store after store, mall after mall line the streets in the area, along with examples of impressive architecture, such as ritzy hotels, the Pudong Development Bank, along with the other larger than life buildings that make up the skyline along the Bund. Shanghai, especially the area along the Bund, is truly a testament to what man can create and consume.

Me and my worm friend

     If that little worm in the picture to the left looks familiar, that's because it is! In an earlier blog post, I mentioned the Line Friends Park in Nanjing, and there's another Line Friend's park in Shanghai, full of unique, cute displays to explore and take pictures of! It's always a ton of fun sitting and hanging out among the many Line Friends characters, sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying the afternoon.



        If consumerist culture isn't your cup of tea, then may I suggest taking a walk through Century Park! There are many sections and things to see in this extensive park, from paddle boating to fishing, or even just stopping and smelling the flowers; Visiting Century Park makes for an ideal outing for the even most indecisive of friends (there's something for everyone!).



Other places to visit:
Jing An Temple
Square Enix Cafe
Disney Land
Dongiri Republic

This concludes my blogpost for this week! Please feel free to comment with any questions or observations you have below. Next time, tune in to a post about saying goodbye to Nanjing!

Trip to Shenzhen

One of many hibiscuses spotted on a walk

     This week, Melissa and I snuck away to the beautiful city of Shenzhen! Prior to arriving, I had no idea what to expect, except for good dim sum, which was good enough for me! As soon as we got off the plane, Melissa and I started hunting for dim sum spots. On our way over, however, it was impossible not to notice the fresh air and breathtaking views around the city.
     Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures of my food this trip, even though it was all spectacular; I was too busy taking pictures of the scenery!

We could see across the border to Hong Kong!

     After resting up, Melissa and I decided to take a walk to the beach from our airbnb. It had been such a long time since I'd walked along the coastline! We watched birds fly by and observed crabs and mudskippers root around in the mud on the beach as the sun set. The warm air and the beautiful flowers made for a wonderful break from the dreary winter of Shanghai.

I guess the flora and the fauna
weren't the only sights to see

     Since we were so impressed by what we saw on our walk our first evening in Shenzhen, Melissa and I decided to keep adventuring around the city, especially along the coastline. My favorite park we went to over the span of our five day trip was to Mangrove Park; we were able to get very close to the shoreline! So close in fact, that we could see Hong Kong from across the bay! We considered making the trip to Hong Kong, but we decided against it (Shenzhen is an amazing city, and we wanted to fully enjoy it before we started exploring any part of Hong Kong).
     Of course, it would be hard to visit any major city in China and not end up at at least a mall or two. My favorite by far was Coco Park/OCT Harbor. It was amazingly upscale and HUGE! There is so much to see, from the ocean, to the artwork and the architecture, it would be a shame to visit Shenzhen and not at least stop by!

     Here were some other places we visited during our stay:

• Shenzhen 22 Art District
• New Sea World Plaza (there's a giant cruise ship in the middle of this mall!)
• Luohu Commercial City (this place has a lot of cheap food and clothing, but is definitely a little sketchy)
• We went to quite a few parks, but I forgot the names of all of them :(

Seen at the old town!

     For our last day in Shenzhen, however, Melissa and I decided we needed a change of pace; I found an "old town" by the sea outside of Shenzhen that I thought would be fun to explore. So, we took a Didi (the Chinese equivalent to Uber) out there to see what was going on! When we finally arrived after what felt like a ridiculously long car ride, we were quite underwhelmed; the old town was pretty small, and the surrounding areas, including the shops didn't appear to be well kept, a far departure from what we had seen in the city of Shenzhen. Still, we tried to make the most of our last day. It was nice to walk along the coast, feel the sand in between my toes, and people watch. 

Good bye Shenzhen! Until next time.

     As our short vacation came to a close, I felt refreshed, but also like I was missing out; I wish my internship was in Shenzhen! The food, the scenery, the weather, and the culture, among other attractions quickly made Shenzhen my most favorite major city in China. I wish I could have stayed longer, and I will most definitely be back!

     That concludes my post for this week, stay tuned for my next blogpost about hanging around Shanghai!

Updates on my Internship!

     Thus far, I have been very busy at my internship; I have been tirelessly researching everything to do with green finance:the Chinese government's past, present, and future involvement with green finance, popular green finance firms around the globe, and examples of good green investment just to name a few. For more information about my projects, please click on the link below:

https://sites.google.com/view/shawnasullivanmostimportantpro/home

     Besides writing reports at my desk, I have also had the opportunity to check out a few fashion shows at work! All of the looks in the fashion show were created by the seniors at SIVA college. Here are a few of my favorite looks:

     Well, that concludes my blogpost from today, and as always, thank you for reading! Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question down below. Stay tuned next time to hear about my trip to Shenzhen!

Meet Ups with Old Friends

     This week has been such a whirlwind; One of my friends from school ventured all the way out from Qinhai Province, China (one of the most western parts of China) to Shanghai (which is on the east coast), in part to visit me, and I was also able to meet with a friend I knew from my study abroad trip to Taiwan in 2016!

Some much needed guac and bean dip

     My story starts off with Melissa coming from Nanjing to pick up Sam, our friend from Taiwan, at the Shanghai airport. However, before we made our way over by subway, we decided to indulge in some western food first. Maya, a hard to find Mexican place with amazing brunch and great margaritas, became one of our favorite spots to eat whenever we found ourselves in the heart of Shanghai (Prior to dining at Maya for the first time, I hadn't had guac in over 6 months! A travesty!).
     After taking a walk around the city, we picked up Sam and caught up over some much needed hot pot.

Melissa eyeing that mushroom
bouquet

Hot pot round #2!

     The next day, Yeshe, my friend from Western China, came to hang out! Sam, Melissa, and a few other friends suggested that we go get hot pot (again). The array of food we ordered was nothing short of incredible; even the mushrooms were fresh cut in front of us! After we gobbled everything up, we
sat in our private dining room, digesting, and savoring the last bit of weekend that was left.

Xiaolongbao and some other dishes

     After the weekend ended, Melissa returned to Nanjing to be with Sam, and Yeshe stayed in Shanghai, so I was able to visit her periodically throughout the week. One night, I met up with Yeshe and some of her friends to eat a luxurious Shanghai style meal! I tried all sorts of delicious, somewhat daunting dishes such as jelly fish and crab roe tofu. And, of course, tried and true Shanghai style banquet wouldn't be complete without some xiaolongbao!
     As you can see, in the photo pictured to the right,  the xiaolongbao came in all different colors! This was to indicate which xiaolongbao was which flavor. It should be noted that, even for xiaolongbao connoisseurs, this is an extremely rare sight;  xiaolongbao are usually filled with soup, meat and maybe a hint of mushroom, but rarely are they seen filled with flavors such as "cheese", "loofah", and "foie gras". Needless to say, some flavors were better than others, but they were all gone by the end of the meal.

    My favorite moment of this week was when I was able to get a drink with just Yeshe. As we reminisced about old times, I realized that, even when I return home, nothing will be the same. This means that I won't be able to return to life how it was when I was in school; after I leave China, I will graduate, move to a new city, and I won't be able to hang out with my old friends like Yeshe, for they will have moved on as well. It was an ironically sobering moment for me. However, I realized that my college experience is not yet over, and I am determined to "live it up" until it finally does come to an end.

Me n Yeshe having a good time
 

     As always, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any comments or questions, and stay tuned for next week's blog post about the fashion show at my internship!