It’s serendipitous when you stumble upon some place good to eat in Shanghai. It’ s extra special when it’s a place you don’t worry about ordering the wrong thing (because it doesn’t live up to your expectations or because you’re not quite sure what you are ordering) or be anxious about breaking the bank. That’s exactly what happened when I discovered Goody’s Sandwich Shop in a hidden nook in Pudong near Century Park. I wouldn’t even have discovered it if I hadn’t skipped lunch to try and make it on time to my appointment with Douglas King. He had treated me to a sandwich and his favorite Pomelo tea. The salsa beef on ciabatta bread and pomelo tea not only hit the spot that winter afternoon, it got me curious about making a visit to the shop when I came back for a treatment with Douglas the following week.

10 of us girls decided to organise a cooking night, held by the Chinese Cooking Workshop. It's a large industrial kitchen with bilingual chefs and assistants - basically catered for expats to get together and learn how to cook Chinese food. IT'S HELLA FUN!Chef Huang was our star of the evening - a very very sweet guy that joked along with the rest of us. He handled 10 women wanting to marry him for his culinary skills very well ;) Man, the guy can cook! He makes it all look so easy, though we were struggling and looking so uncoordinated. It made me realise that Chinese cooking isn't so hard, but it's all in the preparation - which takes ages chop chop chopping stuff. Other than that, it's all actually quite straightforward.

We whipped up 10 courses (!!!!) and got to sample our hard work. The food was all, surprisingly, delicious! Impressive considering we were first-timers, but I chalk it up to Chef Huang's great instructions and patience.. especially since we were all drinking wine and laughing whilst trying to cook.