i am so exhausted. my feet feel like how i imagine airplane tires look after landing. i didn’t sleep very well last night. because of the paper-thin walls, i could hear and even feel every word and move.

it is way too hot in this cafe. i feel a nosebleed coming on.

it’s been oppressively humid in shanghai. there’ve been times where i felt like passing out in the middle of a swamped sidewalk. pardon my crassness (boys, you may want to turn away), but i don’t know how the ladies can wear what they wear — leggings, tights, synthetic materials that don’t breathe — without getting afflicted with yeast infections. maybe it’s built into their hearty motherland genotype.

and while i’m on the topic of the gals here, everyone wears heels! on erroded sidewalks! in what is essentially an urban jungle! lots of girls dress all fem, flirty, and fresh. i already feel like a tomboy back home, but here i’m like elephantman on a bad day.

also, have i mentioned how prevalent couples are?! everywhere i look, there they are, boy and girl canoodling the crap out of each other.

tonight, determined to try hairy crab, i took the subway out to an area called xinjiahui specifically to dine at “ye olde station restaurant,” only to be turned away at the door. mid-autumn moon, so of course they’d be fully booked. i was dumb.

but that’s okay, for lunch i treated myself to a sublime first-rate shanghaiese meal. that requires a separate post.

here are photos from my outing to yu yuan garden & bazaar, one of shanghai’s top destinations. it was immensely packed, unbelievably so. that’s what i get for going on a saturday. it was here that i tried xiao long bao (“small dragon buns”) at a landmark restaurant renown for them. the takeout line was unbelievable. why would anyone even bother when they could just go upstairs and eat in one of their three large dining rooms?

despite the crowds, i spent an enjoyable chunk of time at yu yuan garden and bazaar. wandering the actual garden was pleasant and worked up an appetite.

here’s an example of xiao long bao, but jumbo sized. these are, obviously, made with crab (hairy) meat. the straws emphasize this: xiao long bao are steamed meaty satchels containing boiling broth that you need to sip before chewing the rest of the contents

my first taste (this is not the famous restaurant xiao long bao, but one bought from a vendor)

another friend i made

as you can see, yu yuan garden is gorgeous, sooo lush and pretty. there are countless exquisite details, and that’s just from cursory glance!

YEAH!!! hey everyone, LET’S GO to the hall of…mildness…..*zzzzz*

outside the garden and back in the bewildering “outside world,” i try my first actual authentic xiao long bao. it didn’t disappoint. though small, it’s a filling (and cheap) meal. the only condiments you need are strawfuls of ginger and vinegar

afterwards, i went across the zigzagging footbridge and relaxed at another famous joint – the huxingting teahouse. with a great view below, i had some fancy-ass-flower-that-blossoms-in-boiling-water tea, which came with tea snacks like sweetened preserved plums, tofu, quail eggs, and a green tea mochi

pretty content, i’d say

that wraps up my time at yu yuan garden.

i’ll bring this long-winded post to a close with some more photos.

(this was an awesome “antiques” market in a lowkey residential neighborhood)

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