Dinner anyone?

Sunday was a busy day. After knock-off shopping, we went to the unfeasibly busy cloth market to pick up our new stuff from Ken's tailoring shop. Ken's stuff was first class so we decided to go for a beer in Xintiandi to celebrate and then on for dinner.

Xintiandi is very nice - a couple of renovated blocks of old Shanghai. It's cool, upscale and expensive too. Because it is full of expats, I want to dislike it because I am a snob and very dull and predictable in that way. However, I secretly think it's really cool and has a really nice vibe to it. Maybe it was the beer.

We went for early dinner at a great fish restaurant that I keep meaning to pick up the name card from - I have been there 3 times and I still don't know what it is called... It is well worth the effort to visit. You chose your seafood and fresh water fish from the many tanks on the ground floor. I have no idea what most of them are. You specify in what way you want your fish cooked and what combination of flavours you would like. My firm favourites are the scallops, cooked with lots of garlic, some finely chopped spring onion and very fine vermicelli noodles. Oh God they taste good. On the other hand, I recommend that you avoid the tank of water beetles and the one filled with what looks like a writhing mass of... well... basically they look like flaccid penises.

Lilli and Max loved the fish tank full of big exotic stuff (including sharks). I assume that visiting high-rollers pick a big fish for a banquet to impress their mates. Lilli also nearly ran a mile when a crab decided to try and make a break for it from his tank (in order to avoid his certain destiny) and ended up running sideways in her direction.

We decided to leave the frogs in peace on this occasion.