Shanghai, and a few friends.

i'm behind, obviously.

i haven't posted pictures from december or january, or february, and now it's march!

i have to admit, i've been counting down to march.

to june, actually. march is just one step closer.

only 8 more weeks of formal grad school courses.

spring is almost here.

june -- meaning family, freedom, paris... all within reach.

but i don't want to forget about these last few months either.

i've wished for the days to go by faster, but i still want to remember them.

having my college roommates come visit...

it's like i didn't know what i was missing until they came.

it was a vacation with friends who know you.

who you can spend hours drinking with by a fireplace while it snows outside.

who don't mind stopping in a random cafe or having italian food in a chinese city.

and it was strange, too, in a cool way, like parallel universes colliding.

i loved it.

and i'm working to get caught up, i really am.

p.s. that makeshift jewelry tree is made of coral I snagged from the beaches of the Philippines. way cooler than anything I could have bought.

and the painting of Winston? my (dave's) momma painted it from a picture. she's so talented... captured him perfectly. her etsy shop is in the works, but she does custom paintings, so contact me if interested!

Guyi Gardens.

Take line 11 north to Nanxiang, follow the brown signs, walk 15 minutes, and you'll come to this place on your right: Guyi Gardens.

It's a little oasis set in the Shanghai suburbs and the town where xiao long bao originated.

The greenery is lush, most of the garden is shaded, and it was surprisingly uncrowded.

We didn't know that soup dumplings were available at the tea house on the garden grounds, so we headed to the restaurant next door. For just 25 kuai, we ate enough dumplings to fill us both up.

I wouldn't go out of my way to come back here when there's so much more to see in China, but for a Saturday afternoon excursion that's reachable via metro, these gardens made for a great city escape.

Barbarossa.

This Moroccan-themed restaurant/lounge has been our go-to place for weekend drinks and a rooftop happy hour. We first came here for Dave's birthday dinner. Set in the middle of People's Park, the ambiance is perfect. Add a hookah and half-priced drinks, and we're sold. Not to mention the banana liqueur, Bailey's, and cream layered shooter (my new favorite). Barbarossa does it best.

Shanghai, lately.

Sometimes I wake up, and for a second, I forget that I'm in Shanghai.

That I live in

China

.

The place where men on bikes come down the alleyway at 6am ringing bells to collect cardboard.

The place with notoriously uncomfortable beds.

The place where you can get McDonald's delivered to your door in eight minutes.

The place where a tiny bag of candy corn costs 7 USD.

The place of easy breezy public transportation and awesome happy hours (complimentary filet mignon sandwiches,

yes please!

).

Sometimes, I wonder,

what the heck am I doing here?

I have never before lived somewhere where, in all this newness and confusion and soul-searching and God-seeking, I am so thankful for the little things.

For the one bagel shop in the city.

For the person who points out that I dropped my metro card.

For the Chinese teacher who chats with me at lunch.

For all the places I get to visit with my best friend.

For the sunshine that isn't quite like California sunshine but still manages to make the day brighter.

Shanghai is a place of

gratefulness

.

Lately:

Lao Di Fang.

Now that we're Shanghai residents, we're on the hunt to find the city's best noodles and xiao long bao (soup dumplings). After some googling, I am across

this site

operated by a company that offers walking food tours of Shanghai. One stop on their noodle tour, Lao Di Fang, turned out to be a short walking distance away. There are plenty of hole-in-the-wall restaurants in Shanghai, but the good ones have lines out the door and menu items in Chinese characters only. This was no exception. We waited our turn to sit at one of the two dining tables in the restaurant, only to realize that webpage that I had loaded before I left listing the Chinese characters of the best dishes wouldn't open. After some pointing and a few helpful suggestions from the owner, we settled on a scallion and pork noodle dish, one with celery and eel, and a side of baby bok choy. I savored every flavorful bite, and the best part? Our entire meal was less than the cost of a latte at the local Starbucks, just over $4.