Shanghai: Cruller to Crook, Pastry to Paper Cutter

It was my job to retrieve breakfast. Basically, my sole duty in this domestic partnership of ours is to gather and prepare food for my wife two or three times a day. I don't mind this all that much because she takes care of nearly all of the additional household duties- dishes, laundry etc. So even though I wasn't thrilled about venturing out unaccompanied to order unfamiliar items in an unfamiliar language, it was only fair.

A fellow teacher friend of ours here in Korea recommended a certain type of fried dough sold at the KFC's in Shanghai. She is Chinese-American and has spent a considerable amount of time in Shanghai visiting family, so we quickly deemed her an expert of the local culinary scene. If she said KFC was bomb, who were we to question. We had hoped to find the fried tasties at the World Expo, but had no luck.

On my way to KFC I walked past a small number of people, kids mostly, dressed in bright silk pajamas and a larger number of people, elder folk mainly, practicing thai-chi.

I successfully ordered the crullers (five, if you must know) and bounded back to the hotel. Inside Sami had already started the coffee. Truthfully, the phrase "started the coffee" is a bit of a misnomer. You see, in Korea, the only real coffee option available to the home consumer is the instant variety. It really isn't that bad. One serving comes in a long, tubular package. The coffee crystals are concentrated near the top third on the pack, closest to the opening and the sugar and cream dust follows. I like to regulate the amount of sugar and cream and only pour in the top half of the package's contents. Sami pours the whole thing. We each prefer a double.

The cruller was hot, crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. It was covered in cinnamon and sugar and when you chewed, the pastry would release delicious grease that would coat your mouth with flavor. They reminded me of Native American fry bread. I remember once in my old job we had a conference at Kah-Nee-Ta Resort and Casino. They served fry bread and blackberry jam for breakfast and I could not get enough. I ate so much that I nearly damaged the inside of my mouth with happiness. I was much heavier in those days.

 Fried dough. Instant coffee.

Our plan for the day was to walk along the river and see as much of Old Town as we could during the day, and the French Concession at night. Typically, my number one goal was to try the famous soup dumplings at Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, while Sami's main objective was to visit the home of the First National Congress of the Communist Party of China in an entirely different part of the city.

It was an unusually clear day with mid-level altocumulus clouds draped across the morning blue sky. The walkway along the river had only been open for a month after an extensive re-model in preparation for the World Expo. As a result, there were a fair amount of tourists out posing for pictures alongside famous landmarks such as the TV Tower.

 That crazy spaceship looking thing is the TV Tower. The one that looks like a bottle opener to the far right is the second largest building in the world.

Sami consulting the guidebook. Little Ben in the background.

 

I was excited to see the outside of the Astor House Hotel, which served as the location of a crucial scene in "Man's Fate" a novel by Malreaux about the failed communist revolution. I read the book in college when I really couldn't have cared less, and now wish that I would have brought it along with me. Astor of course was the famous American who was the first to import furs (really the only thing from North America that the Chinese cared to import) to China. Outside of the hotel, a woman in a vibrant yellow dressed posed for photographers.

 In front of the Astor House

We found a place to sit and pulled out our guidebook. There were a few gardens we knew were nearby and worth checking out. As we sat, we were approached by a friendly man in a dark blazer and khaki baseball cap. He told us he was an artist, a paper cutter, and told us a few familiar factoids regarding the area. He was nice enough and we obliged him by smiling, nodding and allowing him to accompany us to the nearby gardens. We had successfully avoided an attempted scam our first trip in Shanghai, and were hoping to keep our streak alive. However, we were unprepared when he whipped out his scissors and began to cut my profile. When he finished he said that he wanted 60 yuan for it. You've got to be kidding me. Because we are nice and gullible, we ended up paying 15 yuan- about the cost of our cruller breakfast.

 The paper cutter.

Doesn't even look like me.

 

Dejected, we turned toward the gardens and then to Old Town for the soup dumplings. After all, Sami was getting hungry and it was time for me to live up to my end of the deal and find food.