[SmartShop]: Delis
Posted on March 31, 2008
Although Shanghai is relatively well-serviced when it comes to import supermarkets, sometimes the craving for food-from-home goes further than just Heinz Baked Beans and Lucky Charms. Even with the existence of Carrefour and City Shop, specialist western foods and fresh imported foods aren't always easy to get hold of. So, on a mission to satisfy your desire for marinated artichokes and jam¨®n serrano, Smartshop trawled Shanghai for delicatessens and discovered the following:Delish (Jing'An)
Delish is located in Loft 98 in Jingan Temple, flanked by two restaurants (SHOKA and Cantine) under the same ownership. The location is up-and-coming -- just next to a new boutique fitness club -- and definitely heading towards chi-chi. It's a cool little shop, with subtle d¨¦cor throughout. The high-end imports are of similar selection as other western supermarkets but Delish brings more to the table including an impressive variety of cheese, cooked meats, and breads. It also functions as a take-away caf¨¦, selling salads, sandwiches, soups and even whole meals (Vegetable Lasagna, Beef Stew) to-go.
Planet Caviar (Xintiandi)
Planet Caviar is both the name of the shop and a description of the land where its clientele come from. Planet stocks Iranian caviar and Caspian caviar from Azerbaijan, as well as farmed Norwegian and Scottish salmon and wild salmon at prices varying between 84rmb and 180rmb per 100g. A selection of alcoholic beverages is chosen with the food in mind; beluga vodka and magnums and jeroboams of Perrier Jouet and Taittinger litter the shop floor. These two pillars of old-school culinary sophistication -- smoked salmon and caviar -- are not just products, they represent a whole unique world view. Truffle oils, balsamic onions, and flavored cocoa can also be found here.
more Shanghai specialty food stores here
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DIY: Make Your Own Removable Recycling Center
Posted on March 31, 2008
ReadyMade magazine has a make-it-yourself recycling system perfect for small spaces: plastic bins hung to the back of a door. They say it can be completed in 3-6 hours and...Filed Under Apartment Living | Comments Off
Revisited: Propaganda Poster Art Center
Posted on March 30, 2008
The Propaganda Poster Art Center is still trapped in a basement off Huashan Lu.However, Yang Pei Ming, owner of 5000 propaganda posters and director of Shanghai's Propaganda Poster Art Center, may be looking to move his collection to a more conspicuous location. At the moment the Center operates out of three basement rooms located in a cluster of apartment high-rises. A low profile and low rental costs dictated the location heretofore, but Yang believes that "a private investor may back a move out of the basement."
The Center doesn't expect to receive government support any time soon, but Yang doesn't believe the powers-that-be will try to blockade his expansion.
Expansion would reduce the (significant) clutter, allow more of the work to be displayed and provide some continuity in the exhibition spaces. Currently, the posters and gift shop are in adjoining rooms, but the display of "dazibao" (handwritten posters) is stowed across the hall in a locked and darkened room.
more on dazibao posters at the PPAC
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Photographing Your Apartment
Posted on March 30, 2008
ApartmentTherapy is having their Smallest, Coolest Contest and to help entrants, they've written up a handy post on how to photograph your apartment. Even if you're not entering the...Filed Under Apartment Living | Comments Off
Feng Shui Your Apartment Through Color
Posted on March 30, 2008
With rentals, the only decorating changes we can make to the apartment are temporary changes. We can't change the wood trim or doors, redo the tiles or counter tops. For...Filed Under Apartment Living | Comments Off
Cheapest Way to Make Your Apartment Look Bigger
Posted on March 30, 2008
You can trick your senses into thinking a space is bigger than it seems with buying specific furniture, arranging it in certain configurations, and through decor. But the cheapest way...Filed Under Apartment Living | Comments Off
[My Weekender] with Charles Belin
Posted on March 27, 2008
Charles was a one-time manager of Mint and the man behind the relaunch of their "No Man's Land" ladies night parties at Dragon Club. He also runs design/events agency, "Design to the People."These days, Shanghai is a layer cake. I remember a time when everyone would hang out with each other at the same paces. There was a bar for our Wednesdays, our Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I remember people were mixing too. Now there's a different population loyal to several different places. Shanghai now looks like a real big city, nightlife and clubbing wise: many options, many different feelings, and categorizations. I'm fine with that and enjoy seeing new scenes opening and listening to more specific kind of sounds. Shanghai is getting richer in its musical/art/clubbing choices -- I just wish the quality could be on par with the ambition.
So anyway, I am now 32, married and a daddy-to-be... Translation: no girls, no smoke, and no booze in my nocturnal expeditions. D'OH!
But boy! This is Shanghai! The city that never sleeps! And there's always something to do here!
Friday night:
Planning to hang out with the Japanese crew, the girls, Nakamura Kazu and Kuroki Norikazu, both owners of Colabo restaurants and Dragon club. A glass of red wine, a plate of antipasti on the balcony of the old lane house of Colabo then our favourite shabu shabu place by Wanping and Huaihai for the usual awesome Japanese hot pot, huge Asahi "nama biru," and the smile of the mama san. Stuffed and happy we will roll down to the Bund where BR will be celebrating its reopening in a very French chic decadent way. You can trust the guys on this! This will be a good chance to catch up with my bro Damien Kay, resident DJ, and to gesticulate on his well-chosen house music. Then it will be flaming drinks on the bar and winks to and from the girls. A married man can do that right?
more of Charles' weekend here
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Interview: DJ Kentaro
Posted on March 26, 2008
A champion of the DMC World DJ Final in 2002 at the tender age of 20, DJ Kentaro is a world renowned hip hop DJ and Ninja Tunes recording artist. This Friday, in conjunction with their month-long celebration of The Lab anniversary, The Shelter hosts Kentaro along with the Lab Crew and Elnomo. Louder.cn's Ciga caught up with DJ Kentaro to ask him a variety of Kentaro-related questions.***
Where are you from originally? How does it influence in your music?
I am originally from Sendai, Japan. It's about 1.5 kms north of Tokyo. My crew is DJ Mitsu the Beats, Gagle... Mitsu and I had a crew called "Scratch Curz" back in '90s and we just scratched most of the time together. Now Mitsu is big producer and he provides beats to lots of different artists. I guest I'm doing the same as well. We've done some collaborations before too.
Where are you based for most of the time?
These past few years I've been going to Europe a lot. At least three or four times a year. Since my label is in London as well, recording and such is always based in London.
Which place that you have toured is your favorite?
Europe is always fun and I've shared the stage with lots of great people. The experienced has influenced me a lot. France is my favorite country though. Good food, chilled-out people, and beautiful women. Haha.
more with DJ Kentaro here
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[Revisited] I Love Shanghai
Posted on March 25, 2008
Comfortable black velvet lounge couches, tastefully dim lighting, hip urban graffiti photography on the walls, a sleek bar surface imported from LA, and a selection of individual cocktails, I Love Shanghai is a welcome addition to Bund Life clubbing, and a great spot for a relaxing candle-lit cocktail before heading off to the main event at Attica or Bar Rouge......or so you would think before some giant drunk asshole in a purple afro wig slams into you, spilling beer all down the front of your shirt, offering to buy you three more in compensation. Right about this time is when you'd notice the five drunk university girls laboriously throwing themselves around a stripper pole, a drunk German tourist screaming out an order for another Shanghai Slut, a group of drunk Filipinos in total bliss dancing to Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit' It," a group of pre-drunk American teachers pulling out their 100rmbs for the all-you-can-drink deal, and a crazed looking bar manager--dressed up like a tweaked-out Jesus Christ--chalking another absinthe shot up for Washington state, increasing his own lead on the rest of the city by 55.
more on ILS here
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[Sleepover] Cheap Sleeps
Posted on March 24, 2008
No one thinks of Shanghai as a backpacker's paradise, but whether you're just passing through, in need of a semi-permanent residence, or need to put visiting guests up, there are a number of affordable pillows to rest your noggin and some of them are actually quite nice. Listed below are reasonably priced lodgings located near or on the Bund, in the less hectic Jing'An area and as far west as Hongqiao.Captain Hostel (The Bund)
A Shanghai institution, the Captain Hostel offers some serious bang for your Bund. This ship-themed residence, be-speckled with buoys and portholes, is mildly gimmicky but unusually clean for a hostel. At the bottom rung are the Sailor Bunks, which house up to eight seafarers on four bunk beds for a mere 70rmb a night. If you choose these bunks be prepared to share the (clean) bathroom facilities with your shipmates on the entire floor. The Bunks themselves sparkle with maritime spotlessness, and are accessorized with glass-topped card tables with sand and rocks inside. First class cabins on the top floor have a great view and private bathroom but are otherwise Spartan and cost a whopping 1,200rmb. Also housed in the building is the rooftop Sunshine Bar, perhaps the least expensive watering hole on the Bund, and a Shanghai hidden gem. Drinks are about half the standard price and come with an outdoor deck facing the Pudong skyscrapers for that wind-blown nautical feel. The lobby also has a breakfast room and business center where an hour of Internet cost 20rmb.
more affordable accomodations in Shanghai here
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