#171029#
This monthsary is really the ultimate special out of my other special days with Taenggu because I’m spending it while on a vacation in China! Even right now as I’m writing this, I’m actually sitting in a cafe in Shanghai enjoying coffee and great food beside me.
My special plan for our special monthsary day is this: I will be cafe-hopping around Shanghai with my brother to visit 3-4 cafes and during each time I spend at each cafe, I will be updating this monthsary special blog post with photos, videos and a short description about my experience of each cafe visit right away on this same day (edited: okay due to internet connection and access problems, I guess I will have to write this post over a few days or more while I’m on holiday in Shanghai π ).
So, let us begin cafe-hopping like a bunny now! π°πͺπΌ
First stop: The Cafe Kakao Coffee & Restaurant
While on the 1.5-hour train ride from our hostel to this cafe, I asked my brother what the name of the first cafe we would be visiting was. He said “Ka Chao”. I thought it might have meant something like coffee grass in Chinese. But when we reached, I realised it’s called “Kacao” not “Ka Chao”. It sounds like Kakao from Korea. Keke.
It’s a really big and spacious 2-storey cafe. It looks a little like a book cafe on the second floor with some book shelves at the side and the top. The atmosphere is really quiet and comfortable with non-stop english pop songs playing in the background. Really conducive environment for study or having a quiet time with coffee. My brother said he usually comes here to use his laptop to do his assignments for school too.
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And a couple of videos around the surroundings of the cafe. π
We ordered a plate of their in-house special, Turkey Cheese Fries and a plate of Potato Wedges. They came with tomato sauce and vanilla cream sauce for us to dip with. It’s interesting to me as it was my first time eating potato with something sweet like vanilla. It tasted really good! <3 I also had a cup of Caramel Macchiato to drink while I did my blogging too!
We spent around 2 hours at the cafe. However, the cafe started to get a lot more crowded as time went by as more customers came in, which according to my brother, was rather unusual because during the past times when he visited the cafe himself or with his girlfriend on weekends, the cafe was usually empty. Overall, it was a really comfortable experience. I loved it! ππΌ
{ Last Updated: 17:29 2017.10.29 }
Second stop: Tinty Garden Cafe
This is a 2-storey cafe too! Level 1 was an indoor dining area with a bar counter. The interior was really pretty! It was like a treehouse.
It was rather warm and crowded downstairs so we went upstairs. Level 2 is a beautiful outdoor rooftop garden with tables and chairs too. When we reached the top, we were immediately greeted by large tall bushes of pinky red roses along the narrow walkway.
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Taking you on a stroll around the rooftop garden! π
They had some rather subtle halloween decorations too.
I ordered a Rose Latte for myself because that was what attracted me from their menu. And it really tasted like the fragrance of a rose! π I told my brother (and Taenggu inside) that whoever drink this latte would turn into a rose! Keke. π
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As the cafe doesn’t serve main courses (according to my brother) and I was feeling hungry, I munched away my favourite snacks which I brought with me from Singapore: Hello Panda, Chips More cookies and Chilli Tapioca Chips. Yum Yum. π
{ Last Updated: 10:27 2017.10.30 }
It was my first time blogging at an open-air rooftop garden at such a cold, windy weather. I met several problems with uploading my photos and videos on my website and twitter. I felt so busy and occupied, kinda torn apart. At times when I felt like giving up, I looked into the sky above me for help and awhile later, my video was finally sent on twitter for Taenggu to see after being processed for a long time (like 30-45 minutes later?).
The daytime was rather short in Shanghai as compared to Singapore. By 5 plus pm, the sky was already getting dark and we decided to leave the cafe to our next destination for dinner.
Last tour of our night-time rooftop garden as we left the place. <3
{ Last Updated: 21:14 2017.10.30 }
Dinner break: Xiao Long Bao + Xi An Liang Pi
We took a slightly less than an hour train ride back to Guanglan Road area where we stayed and then cycled to a neighbourhood shophouse with many restaurants.
First, we had some xiao long bao at Restaurant A (Sorry, I didn’t note down the name… π ).
Then, because our stomachs were still not full, we went on to Restaurant B to share a bowl of Xi An Liang Pi. It is my favourite China dish I enjoy eating back in Singapore. This authentic one in China tasted slightly different (more spicy) but equally good! ππΌ
Now let’s get back to cafe-hopping!
Third stop: Zoo Coffee Cafe
After our stomachs were satisfied, we headed off to a nearby shopping centre called Cham Time on our MoBike and OFO bikes again. Our third cafe named Zoo Cafe is located there.
As its name suggests, the cafe was filled with “animals” all around you. Tigers, giraffes, zebras, monkeys and even pandas everywhere! It was as if I was dining in a forest.
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A tour around the zoo! Keke.
I got myself and Taenggu a cup of matcha latte and a super cute small cake of Brown from Line! Haha when I saw it at the cake counter, I immediately told my brother that I want this cake! I used to mention before that if Taenggu is a bunny to me, then I would be a bear to her, so I wanted to get this Brown bear cake for her so that she could think of me when she eats it. π»
Because every shop in Shanghai is using a cashless payment system called AliPay and only my brother has a chinese bank account for it, he had to order our food and make the payment on behalf of me first. Although this cashless payment system is very convenient to the locals, it is rather troublesome to me as a foreigner because I can’t use the cash which I brought with me almost at all. Even local banks also don’t typically exchange foreign currencies for cash in RMB anymore too. π
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I tried to do some blogging and upload a video on twitter but the connection was, again, not very smooth and rather slow. We stayed at the cafe for only about an hour as the cafe closed at 9.45pm.
Some remaining photos we took at the cafe before we officially ended our cafe-hopping mission on our monthsary day, 29th October.
Because the time we spent at Zoo Cafe was rather short and I hadn’t gotten enough of it, I decided to go back the cafe again by myself on 3rd November when I had some free & easy time on my own without my brother. It was just a 25-minute walk from our hostel at Guanglan Road.
It was almost 2pm and I was really hungry because I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. So I ordered a plate of black pepper beef rice and a regular-sized mocha frappe for lunch. The beef rice was really satisfying! π
After lunch, I actually wanted to continue updating this post at the cafe but I encountered problems connecting to wifi on my laptop. So in the end, instead of blogging, I spent my remaining time updating my instagram to share some travel photos which contained interesting observations I had made during my trip in China so far.
It was a quiet, alone time but I enjoyed using it to write and express my thoughts. Lastly, I wanna share this photo I took of a wall mural at the cafe which I thought was rather comical and put a smile on my face.
{ Last Updated: 12:49 2017.11.06 }
Fourth stop: Kuma Cafe
On 4th November, while waiting for my brother to finish his presentation at the university, I visit Kuma Cafe near Xin Tian Di by myself. Kumamon is actually a Japanese mascot for Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan. It seems like Kumamon is pretty popular in China. During my trip, I already passed by 3 Kuma cafes in Shanghai alone.
When I first saw and knew about Kumamon during my trip, I drew an instant liking to it because I like to associate myself as a bear to Taenggu. So when my brother located a nearest Kuma Cafe just a few stops away from his university for me, I decided to pay it a visit too because I thought it would be meaningful for me and Taenggu.
When I stepped into the cafe, everything was filled with Kumamon. Level 1 was the main counter and a shop that sells different varieties of Kumamon merchandise while level 2 was the dining area with tables and chairs.
The cafe was playing many kawaii and comical Kumamon songs in Japanese. They were even teaching you how to dance the Kumamon dance on the TV too! Lol π
There was also a table for you to stamp your postcards with the Kumamon stamp that was provided. So I did one for Taenggu too so that I could write a special message for her at the cafe. π
It was rather disappointing because I came to the cafe with an empty stomach only to know that they only serve desserts and no main courses. I ordered a cup of classic Kumamon coffee (which I think was actually Americano), a matcha cheesecake and a chocolate pudding. I was told that I could bring home with me the cup after I finished the pudding! But all these desserts tasted a tad too sweet. I was craving more for some real food. π
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Before I left the cafe, I browsed through the varieties of Kumamon merchandise they had and ultimately decided to get this one for Taenggu.
It’s a Kumamon keychain sending his huge love for Taenggu. π
With this, I ended my cafe-hopping journey in Shanghai which spanned over a week. I hoped Taenggu liked my monthsary plan for this October that was spent overseas. I guess I will be doing something similar again in this coming December where I will be spending our 35th monthsary in Seoul. Because I was the one planning the itinerary for my friends whom I will be going on this trip with, I specially set aside the 29th as our solo free & easy day when each of us get to plan our own itinerary for the day and be separated from each other just to travel around the city alone or with your partner. So yes, most likely I will be spending 29th December cafe-hopping and going to the places I want to visit in Seoul. Some alone time with Taenggu. Gonna look forward to it!! π
— COMPLETED: 16:16 2017.11.07 —
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