Today was a really really really good day! Well actually the first half of it was a really great day. I woke up this morning and went to this watch shop. Now this is no ordinary watch shop. The brand of this watch shop is actually called Shanghai, and everything is manufactured in Shanghai. The store doesn’t even look like a store – it’s in this really rundown but local Shanghai area with tons of construction going on. On the drive to the watch shop, you see row after row of houses that are in the midst of being knocked down. There goes a piece of old shanghai. Now more about this watch shop. It doesn’t even look like a watch shop from the outside. It’s this really rundown rustic looking watchshop and all the furniture and interior design evoke the old vintage Shanghai. I don’t even think they have any security system in place, you could just walk out with a watch I kid you not. The store is run by these two middle ages man who are amazingly nice and funny but you know, they don’t look anything like watch sellers. And in this special watch shop, you can bargain with the guys. Yes, you read correctly. BARGAIN. Literally a dream come true. Generally you can bargain up to 20% off so that’s always a perk. The guys are so ‘terrible’ at bargaining too. There was a watch for 1700RMB so I asked “what’s the lowest price?”. He immediately replied with “1100RMB”. Well that was ridiculously easy, a little too easy if you ask me. Not that I’m complaining or anything.
Let me show you guys a few of the watches. The watches all have this vintage-y look to them which I absolutely adore and love. Sometimes I think society is going back to where it came from, in a sense that vintage things are becoming increasingly ‘popular’.
My parents bought me the watch above! Actually they bought me two, but this is one of them. I’m head over heels for this watch. The rose gold ring aroung the watch? Love. The leather vintage-y brown leather straps? It’s calling for my name. The roman numerals? Done deal. Everything about this watch is all I’ve ever wanted in a watch. It’s also expensive enough that I’m going to treat it right and wear if often, but not TOO expensive that I’ll never wear it due a permanent fear of ruining/losing/anything it. Isn’t it just beautiful? Here are a few more watches just to show you guys! I just want to buy them all. Please excuse all the chinese words though, they don’t actually have a website so I had to go through another site (TAOBAO!) to find these images.
So there you go! A bombardment of Shanghai watches! #sorrynotsorry. After the watch shop, my dad and I went for brunch at La Cocina! We had never actually been before, but I had a buy one get one free brunch voucher so why not. See a recurring pattern? I love vouchers and bargaining. A true asian at heart really, not to be stereotypical or anything. La cocina is a cute little restaurant with a Mediterranean style interior that serves a mix of Italian/Spanish cuisine in the former French Concession area. The images below are all mine!
There weren’t many options for brunch, but they all sounded scrumptious. I was debating between the vegetarian “Huevos Rancheros” or the Eggs Benedict, but since I had a buy one get one free voucher and the Eggs Benedict was more expensive, I had the Eggs Benedict instead. I ordered it with salmon because I honestly dislike bacon (please don’t hate me, I know it’s weird) and I love mushrooms but dislike asparagus. Oh and salmon is amazeballs. Yeaaa I use the word amazeballs.
I’m a big fan of spinach and eggs and salmon, so all three combined was heaven on a plate. Nomnomnomnom I’m a foodie. The salmon was really fresh and cooked just to perfection, and the eggs benedict was perfect too. The yolk was just a little bit runny but not all runny, just the way I like it. Sort of like a poached egg. And well, it’s really hard to get spinach wrong, but paired with the hollandaise sauce, it was x12831u023 better. However, I wasn’t a fan of the top piece of the bread. The bottom piece was fine since the juices soaked through thus it was softer, but I found that the bread on the right lied. Looks soft right? WRONG. It’s stone hard. So I just gave it to my dad instead. My dad then ordered the Fried eggs, also with the Salmon. I think it runs in the family, or maybe he was just trying to be healthy
Although if you ask me, they pretty much look the same. Apart from the sauce and the way the egg is made…Nevermind it’s different. I love dessert, so incredibly much. I can be so full from the meal that I think I’m about to throw up, but I will still eat dessert. What can I say, I have a sweet tooth. Behold the dessert menu
Of course I ordered the Lapis Chocolate Nemesis. I almost always order the chocolate lava cake because I’m a big fan of it and it’s probably my no. 1 favourite dessert (unless something else sounds better of course). And it had the Best Chocolate Ever title next to it’s name, although I don’t think it deserves it.
Don’t let how attractive the cake is fool you. When the cake first landed in the table I was all OMG THIS LOOKS GREAT I CANT WAIT TO DIG IN I BET IT TASTES INCREDIBLE. And it did taste incredible, except the texture was… You know how lava cake is cake-y on the side and the center bit is liquid chocolate? This whole entire thing was pretty much liquid chocolate, apart from a teeny little bit of cake. The ice cream was also too hard so it took ages to melt, and it didn’t have much taste (although maybe that’s because the chocolate was too powering). Wouldn’t have ordered this again. I want to try the creme brulee though!
On to the interior design of the restaurant. Boy did they have the freshest flowers I’ve seen since spring came around the corner. I’m so excited to see a plethora of flowers everywhere I go.
Just look at the flowers! Can someone please tell me what they’re called though? Let’s just say I love flowers, but I don’t really know the names of many. I generally go by “you know the ones with lots of petals and that big center and is pink?”. I could stare at them forever, which I did because there’s a jar on each table.
The restaurant had this really Mediterranean laid back vibe which was great for a casual sunday brunch. They also had all the windows open on the top floor so it was like you were sitting outside, just minus the glaring sun (which I actually enjoy). French windows are just downright brilliant.
They then had this little hut which was separate from the main dining area and it looked too adorable for words. It looked really cosy and there was only one couple in there, so I guess they had a really good date. Or at least I hope they did; I mean what’s not to love. It was really awkward walking in to try and take photos so I just stood outside and took these photos. I mean I didn’t want to make it seem like I was taking a creepy stalker photo of them…
Apart from the 2 restaurant sections, they also have this outdoor bar that’s on the sidewalk. I think it’s an ingenious idea. Not only are you attracting attention to your restaurant so people are enticed, you’re also saving space and allowing fresh air to enter your restaurant. And you can sit at the bar and people watch the whole afternoon while drinking a beer/tea/fresh oj/anything really.
They also have a Daily Salad Bar on the weekdays which I want to go try out sometime!
It really was a delightful brunch, and I got to spend time with my Dad. Mmmmhm life’s goood, I’m so incredibly lucky. After lunch we walked around to kill a little bit of time before my dad headed off to a message and I went back home to study (although I did make a slight detour to the lomo store to pick up my photos!) Here are a few shots I took along the way
If you’ve never been to Shanghai/China, there’s something you should know about something magical and truly wonderful. They don’t actually have a name, but normally their name is Whatever-they-sell man/woman. It’s basically people who stock things in a tricycle/cart of some sort, and sell it along the streets E.g. if you want to go buy a DVD, you say “let me go check if DvD guy has it!” I’ve seen everything ranging from accessories to flowers to DVDs to books to skateboards to clothes to notebooks, but this was the first time I saw someone selling bowls. I guess that’s what you get when you visit the French Concession.
Only in China can you walk around and see little kids having photoshoots in groups. There were 4-5 other kids and it was hilarious to watch them. The guy kept throwing the stuff toy in the floor in the dirt. Aaaawks
Anyways, WordPress/Flickr/Tumblr is being a bitch and won’t let me upload any photos, although I think that might have to do with the fact that I live in Shanghai… Goddamn Chinese internet. I promise to finish this post off tomorrow! Fingers crossed my internet works better. [Update: I’ve uploaded everything!]
Hope you had a great weekend!
Jin x
Question of the Day: Do you like bacon/asparagus? What food don’t you like that ‘society generally likes’?
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