Chinese Valentine's Day

As I mentioned in my previous "blog," yesterday was Valentine's Day in China. I don't think I've ever felt like there were so many couples in Shanghai as I did yesterday. Everywhere you looked on the subway were couples leaning on one another, people sharing motorcycles, and girls sitting sideways on the back of bikes with their feet crossed. As I tried to pretend that every flower person on the street wasn't just selling roses, but actually had some wildflowers/ lilies/ or carnations hidden under their cart....it was clear to me it was Valentine's Day when I went to eat lunch at HOOF. Now, let me explain. HOOF is a Korean restaurant I had never been to close to where I work. I LOVE Korean food, and ate it for lunch almost everyday last summer at HuaShiDa (East China Normal University) in Shanghai. We had the BEST Korean cafeteria. Anyways, I saw a picture outside of a "hot bowl" that I used to eat all the time, which consists of an egg, sprouts, edamame, carrots, some sort of bean, and rice. You mix it all together in this super hot bowl, and everything sort of cooks together. It's fabulous, and you can add a hot sauce to it too. So, I decided to try HOOF, and see what it was all about.

Ohhh how I didn't know what I was stepping into.........The waitress opened the door saying "Welcome Welcome" in Chinese. As I proceeded to walk on the red carpet leading me into the restaurant, I saw rose petals scattered everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE that were white/ red/ and pink. Then, when I entered the restaurant, I noticed that there was a special "set menu" for couples at lunch. Therefore, everyone in the restaurant was a couple. I sat down in a booth with crushed red velvet cushions (with rose petals on the table), and ordered my hot bowl meal...hoping that it wouldn't take them that long. As I sat, and pretended to read Catch-22, I couldn't help but notice the music selection of: Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, Whitney Houston, etc. Finally, my hot bowl came, and I ate it and left.

After this lunch escapade, I decided to make a date for Valentine's Day. I was not about to let the day pass without doing SOMETHING slightly romantic. Sooo, I talked with my friend Ashley, and decided to make a date at this fantastic dessert place she had been telling me about. After my long commute home, I walked from the subway stop down HuaHai Road to the H&M to meet her. We then walked down a small road next to H&M to the dessert place called Hof. (And yes Sara Hofman and Melissa Hofman...I thought of you) Hof is a small/ modern/ dimly lit beautiful restaurant, that fit our "ideal" location for a Valentine's Day date. We shared a lovely bottle of Cabernet, and ate infused olive oil with bread. We had a wonderful conversation about life, and living in China. After our relaxing "date," we decided to then go to Barbarossa to see what all the talk was about this venue. Getting a cab was tremendously hard, and after about 25 minutes, we managed to get a cab that the driver had told us up the road we couldn't get in (even though nobody was in the cab). We asked him if he had a girlfriend, and if he bought her presents for Valentine's Day. Through his mutters and loud chewing, I think we concluded that he had a girlfriend and hadn't bought her presents because they had just begun dating.

We then arrived at Barbarossa, which you have to walk through People's Park to get to. The park is pretty at night, and you have to walk over a stone bridge surrounded by a huge lily pond to get there. Once we were there, it was actually a relaxing atmosphere. Barbarossa consists of 3 floors decorated in a Middle Eastern style. There are lamps/ candles/ tapestries everywhere. Ashley and I didn't end up staying long, and took motorcycle taxis home!! Anyways, it was a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

More to come later...再见！