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There is a fine line between being understanding and rolling with the punches when it comes to going on a “camping adventure to Tantou, Island in Ningbo” and feeling that you were “ripped-off” maybe not intentionally but because of the lack of organization and professionalism from a tour organizing group. Just so you don’t think this is written by a fussy Doll who is used to “5 star hotels and whatnots” (as one of the organizers Chris retorted when a traveler just asked if she could go eat somewhere else) let me tell you the story of our trip to the Island this last October holiday.

Based on their website, they post pictures of this Island to make you think it is so beautiful with white beaches and blue water when you finally get to the place you will see the sand is grey and the water is brown.  (See comparisons below) 

OK, Deal! Club's advertised photoReal life Tantou island (picture by the author)

But that was only the tip of the iceberg. Due to no prior ocular inspection, bus inspections or what not our supposedly 5 hour trip to Tantou Island became 12 hours which left us arriving to a pitch black island and queasy from a rough boat ride.  Also, in the email sent about accommodation pricing for 3 accommodation options (tent, hostel room and hotel with ac and bath) were not followed. In fact, on the island we had to pay more and watch the organizers try and negotiate with the screaming landlords over the price but we still ended up having to pay more than what we agreed on via email.

I used to be very good with writing these blog articles regularly and then like the rest of the people in Shanghai life and work got in the way.  So I kept telling myself I will write again when I have something interesting to say or found a great service that the people using this website could benefit from.  Months went by and finally I have something to write about…

The best agent!

If you have lived in Shanghai for any length of time you will have had to deal with the unfortunate ordeal of finding an apartment.  Personally I can’t stand having to do this and I have done it five times already!  Yep, that works out to be one apartment for each year I have lived in this fun country.

I think the whole process affects me twice as much, because I am an Interior Designer and walking into a dirty, super Chinese ugly apartment feels physically painful!  Bad design hurts!  I have walked into so many apartments over the years then look at the agent in disgust and just turned back around and told them I would wait for them on the street.

One of the main problems I, and probably the rest of the expats in Shanghai, usually face is getting the agent to actually understand what I want.  This equates to me saying “I want a CLEAN, bright, modern apartment that has WESTERN furniture” to which they respond with “yes, yes we have many that will be suitable for you!”  Needless to say when I have walked into the tenth apartment in a row that has a sofa that looks like it has been taking steroids and is in some kind of weird orange, brown colour I am starting to get a little angry!

Believe it or not, you can volunteer at an event and in the end feel… nothing. That’s when you start questioning yourself if you did something wrong or whether the event was unsuccessful. If you’ve gone to a few volunteer events and questioned yourself at the end, then most likely you’re going to all the wrong events. Don’t give up volunteering at this point; just make sure the event is within your interests. Volunteering can be your release valve after a stressful week at work, a week of boredom, or just wanting to be involved in the city. I would say volunteering is probably the greatest contribution an individual can give.  

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve gone to a number of volunteer events back home in Seattle and at times didn’t feel anything. For me, I like to feel an inner peace or happiness at the end so I know I made a difference and the event benefited from my help. For several events I’ve become a regular volunteer because the impact I gave and received was amazing. One event I regularly volunteer at is the yearly Spaghetti Feed event that my drill team helps operate. Located in a small venue in Chinatown, we serve spaghetti and garlic bread to anybody on welfare to have a free lunch. World hunger is a big issue that needs to be solved and doing the Spaghetti Feed event is the start of diminishing world hunger. Cleaning up after the event is usually when I start to feel my inner peace or happiness. With Spaghetti Feed, I feel it every year because I know I’m helping my community members in need. Knowing this, I feel as if I truly have made a big difference in the world.  

I’ve been a member of the Shanghai Dolls for a while now, so as soon as the Dolls introduced the membership card, I got one.  Discounts on waxing and restaurants?  Yes, please.  And since then, the card has served me well, though not as well as it served me on St. Patty’s day. In celebration of St. Patrick’s day, I went to O’Malley’s in the French Concession.  It was just me and a few friends, along with every other expat in Shanghai.  I have never seen O’Malley’s as crowded as it was that night—people were wedged into every corner of the pub, both inside and out.  We could barely move, let alone make it to and from the bar.  But it was a fun night—lots of singing and dancing and drinking green beer—basically, what every St. Paddy’s day is about.   It was still quite cold in Shanghai so I was wearing my winter coat, but after a few minutes of being in the bar I had to take it off, despite the fact that there was no coat check and I didn’t want to hold it.  There was great music on, and I wanted to dance!  And I can’t dance while holding my massive coat; it messes with my moves.  So I tossed my coat under a table near where we were standing, on a pile of other coats and bags.  Pretty soon my handbag joined the pile.  I couldn’t let anything get in the way of me, my green beer, and dancing to the Pogues and U2.

The only time I’ve got out of bed before 5.30am before is to catch a flight.  So the idea of this being a regular thing and to go and exercise was really beyond my comprehension.  The day just does not start that early!  I originally signed up for the EVENING Fitness Challenge but then the location switched (how could you!!?) so here I am, part of the MORNING JingAn team!  And actually, the getting up at the crack of dawn is the easy part.

WEEK ONE, SESSION ONE (Big Brother stylee voice, please)

5.45am, Jing’An Park, it’s a bit rainy, it’s hot and very humid.

First up – running.  Ok, I can do this!  I used to go running, well that was about 18 months ago now.  Next - push-ups.  These I can’t do.  I have jelly instead of muscles.  Skipping – I’ve not done this since I was a kid!  Oh, not like a schoolgirl, feet together you say …I hate skipping.

Downstairs is David Laris' new restaurant, and I felt compelled to go check it out because he's Australian. They're all about "smart and sustainable living", with wall made of recycled boat planks, and eco-friendly furniture, etc. The ambience is very Melbourne-style, and I felt like I wasn't in China. It was raining so unfortunately we couldn't sit outside in their lovely bamboo-surrounded patio, but at least we were cool, comfortable and dry indoors and the large floor-to-ceiling glass panels letting in natural light made us still feel like we were outdoors. The menu is limited, but all the dishes looked interesting. We were surprised that the prices were pretty reasonable. However, we soon realised why - the portions are tiny. I would say they're appetizer size, no where near filling enough to be a normal meal. A bit disappointing, as the food was excellent. If the portions were double the size, this place would easily have scored a full 5 star rating.

Beautiful and luxe, the semi-hidden (it's on the 2nd floor after stepping through a nondescript entrance and tiny steep staircase - watch your head!), El Coctel is owned by the famous Willy of El Willy restaurant. It's actually relatively empty early in the evening, until about 10 or 11PM when it really fills up (remember to make a reservation or the bouncer at the door will simply refuse you entry).The staff are absolutely top-notch. Fluent in English, polite, extremely attentive, and prompt. One of the best service experiences I've had in Shanghai. I love the eclectic mix of plush couches and ottomans though it was curious they had some sort of Buddhist(?) offering in the middle of the room against the wall.

We were delighted that they served us complimentary filtered water, not boiled tap water, upon us being seated. We were also treated to a little bowl of fluffy popped corn that was slightly salted and slightly sweet. Very tasty and lovely to nibble on with our cocktails.

This 2009 Argentinean film won this year Oscar award for Best Foreign Picture. The movie is set in 1999 when a retired Argentinean federal justice agent is about to write a novel about one of his old closed murder cases that happened more than 20 years ago. His reason behind writing this novel is not necessary ‘historical’ accuracy but mainly trying to find closure about this case that shook him to the core and changed his life forever.

The story is told as a flashback showing the murder case and the following events that happened in the early 70’s. This movie is not only is a very good drama/ detective film with a small romantic story among the main characters, but in addition shows in a light way some of the events that happened during the infamous 70’s in Argentina during the ‘Dictadura Militar’ (Militar Dictatorship) right after General Peron fled the country and his second wife ‘Isabel’ (AKA ‘Isabelita’ Peron) became President of the country (don’t confuse her with Evita – Don’t cry for me Argentina, who was General Peron’s first wife and died of cancer at age 33) . She was never President rather than beloved/ hated first lady.

Directed by Juan Jose Campanella - who also co-wrote the story - this film has a couple of the finest actors of my home country.

I was surprised with how authentic La Creperie was. OK, it's not a very valid statement for me to make, since I've never actually lived in Brittany, France (where the cafe owner hails from). But I say this because the food was totally different in taste and ingredients to anything else I've eaten in my life.

It's primarily a crepe place, serving up a staggering selection of savory and sweet crepes. The cafe is cosy and bustling with diners, and is modelled after the seaside and lighthouse - which is what Brittany is like, I presume. Sometimes, themed cafes are pretty tacky, but La Creperie definitely isn't. It's a laid back, casual cafe that makes for a fabulous weekend brunch. Our waitress spoke fluent English and all the staff were very attentive and polite, with food coming out quickly from the open kitchen.

Save for my previous TAEBO exercise tapes, Physical Education Arnis classes back in college, I have never tried or taken a boxing class. When I told my husband back in Manila about wanting to get back into shape and exercise out (more like annihilate!) the annoying pressure point in my shoulder trap, he suggested martial arts. I thought to myself? Me? Martial arts? Never. I mean the thought of “kicking ass” like Scarlette Johannson as BlackWidow in Iron Man 2 so rocked but my pain tolerance wasn't exactly up to par. Even just threading my eyebrows could be such an accomplishment at times.

(Sissy alert!) But after listening to my dear hubby go on about how my background in dancing would really give me an edge with coordination and it would definitely get me fit quicker and also stronger. An added bonus it would allow me to release any pent up anger or frustration. (Come on, we all have them whether from our childhood, a tyrant boss or even sometimes a rude stranger bumping you on the back with her grocery cart!)

So I finally decided to give it a go. I tried a free trial with Ramsey Dewey at Tiger Muay Thai Kung Fu Club and then did a 100 RMB trial at Oz Body Fit gym. The first one was a semi-private class with two great Dolls Selvi and Karlijn (who are always ready to spar and kick ass and are very forgiving when my arms were not strong enough to hold up the brick-like pads at Muai Thai) and the second one with a group class at Oz Bodyf Fit. Both I would have to say got me sweating and aching (in a good way)!

The Shanghai Dolls book club has been going since May 2009, when about eight of us held the inaugural meeting at Julia’s apartment.  This was the first time I met the Dolls.  Many books were suggested and we eventually decided on the first three (one book per month), the main influencing factor being their availability, what with this being China!  Since then the Dolls Book Club has been held every month at different venues around Shanghai. 

From now on, I’ll post a monthly review of the book that we’ve just read.  I guess this means that I’ll have to take notes form now on…  The usual way of things is lots of chat, catching up, drinking of wine and then “oh, we should talk about the book!”.  All pretty informal.

There’s a wide range of literary tastes in the Dolls Book Club, so it’s a great way to try out a genre that you might not normally go for.  There’s a few of us sci-fi fans in there so July’s book is “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick.  The film “Blade Runner” is based on the book and it’s being screened at Dada bar on Tuesday 27July and listed on Dolls Events Page. 

Home improvement need not always drain your bank account. Having moved into my apartment just last July 2 and was having a headache with the DHL delivery (our box was a month and a half delayed) I needed to make an unexpected shopping run to buy some basics for our apartment. I needed just enough to survive till our much awaited linens, cutlery and utensils from the Philippines (all of which were divine quality since they were all practically gifts from our wedding). I was already on my way to Walmart at Wanda Plaza Wujiaochang (given they were famous for bargains) when I discovered a hidden gem right below called Enjoy Easy.

It was thrilling to find “IKEA-looking finds” at very budget-friendly prices (take a look at the pictures for some examples. You can literally spend hours just looking through their different things for the home that are literally almost all below 30RMB. Mugs, plates, cute coasters, jars, buckets, storage boxes, cooking utensils hooks... You name it, they probably have it.

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I've heard SO much about Azul Viva's "fantastic brunch" so we finally managed to make our way there on a rainy Sunday. I've been there twice before but for their tapas dinner, which was generally pretty good. I like their crisp yet relaxed ambience and the polite, English-speaking staff, and was keen to see what they were like during the day for brunch.I'm really glad we booked, because they were a full house! I suppose it's the expat brunch haven in Shanghai ;) At 130元 for 2-courses or 150元 for 3-courses, they're also touted to be fantastic value. So, is that true? Well, yes and no.

I would say first of all that the ingredients are not super-high quality, expensive ingredients, like our flat-out impressive brunch at Cristal. However, Azul's brunch set is cheaper (though only very slightly) so you could argue it's fair. Also, I wouldn't say they're extremely filling - rather, yes, you'll be sufficiently full if you order all the carb meals, but only semi-full if you don't.

I've been to Cristal only once before, and clearly they have massively improved this time round in terms of service and quality of food. It's more of a "nice-dining" restaurant. As in, it's not as exorbitantly priced as fine-dining, but certainly not a cheap cafe. It sits nicely in between and is actually really close to where we live, but we hadn't yet found an occasion to go again. Located on the 4th floor of a shopping mall at Nanjing West station, it's easy to miss and relatively unknown unless you've heard about the restaurant and are specifically going there for a meal. What a hidden treasure :) Last weekend 8 of us decided to try out Cristal's Brunch set menu, which at 178 RMB (3-course) or 198 RMB (4-course) turned out to be ONE AMAZING DEAL that had all of us surprised and delighted. The quality of the ingredients was superb, the presentation was fine-dining style, the service was polite and attentive, and the menu actually underplayed the variety and quantity of food that we would be served. It was flat-out impressive and all of us were raving about the value of the brunch. I am most definitely going back and recommending visitors to go there for a relaxed, sunlit weekend brunch.

It was Julia's birthday and we decided to celebrate it with a small dinner in Anna Maya, since she is vegetarian. I've been keen to try Anna Maya out after she told me she loved it - they are (obviously) vegetarian, but also do a lot of vegan, and also macrobiotic food. To be frank, except for another Aussie girl friend's birthday last year (which we celebrated in a vegetarian restaurant in Singapore), I've never been to a vegetarian place before. In fact, I don't even eat vegetarian meals. So it was with great novelty to me to go to Anna Maya. It's a little cozy cafe that looks like a living room, with wood antique furniture, lamps, and just a few tables squeezed in. It's very chill, and has a definite bohemian, laid back vibe. Their food is all about whole foods, and all unprocessed, with the daily menu simply scribbled on a sheet of brown paper.

There are two types of people in this world, the ones that like the challenge that doing fitness and being fit brings you and others (like me) who are ‘fitness challenged’.

When I arrived to Shanghai 9 months ago, I was in really bad shape (I’m sure you know the symptoms), luckily for me I met Julia Taylor (the original doll) who opposite to me really enjoys her daily doses of fitness. Long story short Julia had the great idea of starting a fitness program in the format of a ‘challenge’ to bring some of the Dolls together and help us to get in good shape for the summer.

The program is designed under the format that there are 2 competing teams (due to the location of the ‘challengers’ we had a JingAn and a Xujiahui teams) training twice a week at our local neighborhoods parks with a different trainer (10 people per team). After a period of 6 weeks both teams get together for a fun picnic day and to compete against each other (as a team) to declare a winning team of the Fitness Challenge. This fun event ends giving prices to the winning team (thanks to our generous sponsors). In addition because we truly believe that is not only important to win but also is important the effort you have put during the 6 weeks of training we gave awards to the people (in both teams) that showed the ‘most improvement’ since they started training. I’m proud to say that together with my friend Mirna we won the award for most improved for the JingAn team, I cannot tell you how much it means to a ‘fitness challenged’ person to get this kind of award. We also gave prizes in recognition to our team leaders because all the time they spent coordinating our teams, from scheduling to making sure we all got the materials we needed to work out. Our teams in addition to having the goal of getting in good shape, also had the goal of having a good time and laugh among friends that is why we decided to give the award to the laziest person in each team (by democratic vote), because you should never loose your sense of humor the winners of the ‘laziest’ person on each team received the prize of (1) one on one training session with our trainers.

As women, we all know the important role that shoes play in a lady’s life. Shanghai can definitely be a heaven for shoes shoppers IF you got little Cinderella feet.

I’m a 1.77 meter tall girl with US10 size shoes and soon after arriving to Shanghai I discovered that buying shoes was not going to be an easy task for me. My first encounter with the ‘shoes problem’ was in a little shoe store in Shaanxi Rd., where before even asking an employee looked at me and said: ‘No, we don’t have size 40’. The response got repeated over and over again in Parksons Mall: ‘No we don’t have that size’.

I cannot tell you how discouraged and inadequate I felt that day. Obviously there is always the solution of ordering shoes from the US, but this option didn’t attracted me that much not only because I will end up paying a lot in shipping, plus the waiting time plus the fact that you should try your shoes before buying them because they can ‘seriously hurt’.

I was committed to get my shoes and I decided to not give up, so after doing some research in different expat sites in the net, I discovered about the ‘custom made’ shoes option.

Coming from the US, a highly industrialized country, getting ‘custom made’ shoes has never been an option for a ‘working girl’ like me because of the extremely high price tag. In Shanghai the story is quite different and getting ‘custom made’ shoes although not an extremely cheap solution is definitely in the ‘affordable’ section.

I am one of those people who is very protective of her hair.  When I say that I mean the cut, colour, the hairdresser I use, etc.  You could probably go so far as to call me slightly obsessive (only slightly, okay maybe no slightly!).  If I could I would pay for my hairdresser in Australia to come to China every 6-8 weeks to do my hair, but the budget really doesn’t cover that!

When I arrived in China 3.5 years ago I was Blonde!  Yes I know hard to believe with my current colour hair…  I attempted to go to a few different places to get this kept up, but I was originally living  Guangzhou and they are lacking good, western hairdressers who have a good supply of Blonde colours.  So Brunette I went and I love it!

In my attempt to find a hairdresser that I could trust in Shanghai I did the usual technique of asking as many women as I know who they go to and who they think are good.  At first I thought the only way I would get a good result was to pay through the roof for it…  I went to one of the famous places in the French Concession and was not only left with an empty wallet, but was really disappointed with both the cut and the colour.  I had got into the habit of leaving my hair for a very long time in between visits, because I really didn’t want to pay for what they did.  I also would try to wait for the last part of the year so that when I went back to Australia for my yearly trip I could get it fixed there!

The interior of Mythos is such a delight - all in white and Grecian blues, and split into a multi-level restaurant complete with fireplace and a roof-top dining area. It's modelled to be classically Aegean and you could say it's kitschy, but I find it quite adorable. The staff are polite and attentive and the tables are spaced well-apart so you're not interrupted by other loud diners. I like how our seats are large white lounges, so you can curl up whilst you eat. You can see a wonderful all-round view of the Mythos here.The food was good but not outstanding. We weren't reeling with gastronomic delight or anything, but the food was decent and it's a fantastic place to chill out with friends. We had a double date there with friends and it's the perfect place to lounge back on the sofas and have a natter. Other time we took Mom and Dad to Mythos. It was a stunnigly sunny day and instead of cosying up on the plush lounges indoors at night, we went up to the rooftop and ate under the blue sky. It's pretty amazing up there. Views spanning the Huangpu river and across to the huge buildings of the Bund, and just soaking in the sunshine after an incredibly long winter in Shanghai.

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A few friends have been telling me to check out La Strada for months, but we never had a chance to go because it's a little out of our usual hangout areas and we kept getting side-tracked. Boy, am I glad we finally found ourselves there! Owned by Craig Willis (of Mr Willis restaurant above La Strada), the restaurant is casual and bustling with diners when we arrive for dinner. We're lucky to score a corner table by the window despite not making a reservation, and happily settle down to peruse the menu with a glass of wine in hand. The menu is not huge, but since it's our first time, we were happy with the selections available. We are particularly impressed with our pizza, whose base is thin and crispy and isn't at all soggy (so many thin crust pizzas in Shanghai fall prey to the soggy factor). The ingredients are fairly generous though I wish they'd put the ingredients on the outer edge of the pizza too so I'm not left with a large piece of plain crust at the end. The spicy salami and mushrooms are fabulous on the pizza and we merrily devour it.