Cinderella in Shanghai

Last night, I got to watch the musical Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella starring Lea Salonga in Shanghai. Fantastic! Great show! The costumes, the music, the stage production, everything was just awesome!

I managed to catch the last show they had in Shanghai and the theatre was packed. This was a surprise as it did not seem to get a lot of publicity even in the local expat magazines. I only happen to be reading an old Shanghai Daily newspaper on Sunday that I found out the musical tour was in Shanghai until last night. And I was also surprised to still be able to get 2nd row seats the day before.

The whole time, I kept thinking I should have brought my daughter, Audrey, as there were quite a lot of kids watching the musical and some even in their Cinderella costumes. Fortunately I did not bring her as my mom and I had to walk home after the show in the rain.

The show was truly worth every RMB spent! And wish I could go to see it again, this time with Audrey...

Pantry Magic

Pantry Magic
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

On one of those rare occasion, spur-of-the-moment night after work, Simon and I went to check out the Dongpin Road and Taojiang Road area only to find new changes to this area of the city.

Shops have been updated. New shops have opened. An English pub has closed, an old building converted into a mini 'mall' with a few designer-y shops inside, a French baker has opened a branch here, and new restaurants.

The biggest thing that got me so very excited was Pantry Magic selling cooking utensils and stuff. Similar things I would get at the Panhandler's in Hong Kong. Now finally, there is a real kitchen shop to get western cooking gadgets in Shanghai.

The next thing we need is Shanghai would be an HMV and a PageOne and then we are 'complete'!

'Am I Look Good?'

'Am I Look Good?'
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

My colleague and I attended the opening of a restaurant that we helped develop the identity for. It's called Pipalli and the first shop is in Beijing.

As I was getting ready to board on a flight, saw this poster outside a nice little coffee shop inside the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport.

An almost perfect poster. 'Almost' because it is ruined by the Chi-nglish on the bubble... 'Am I look good?'

The Heat Is On!

Summer has descended into Shanghai with force this year. Temperatures have soared up to 39°C yesterday and expected to keep at that temperature for the next couple days. Government has started imposing 'energy conservation' with air-conditioning in offices getting shut down early; 6:30pm at most.

When we arrived back from a quick trip to Hong Kong yesterday, the hot air just came full blast in our face as we stepped out of the airport! It felt like stepping into the sauna. And S thought Hong Kong was very hot and humid more than Shanghai (though HK temperature was less humid). The kids were sweating right away, and not to mention S who was soaked!

With the sweltering heat, the outdoor pool where we go to every weekend was packed by 10:30pm with no lounge chairs left. The club even ran out of clean towels! This reminds us to keep with our early mornings (today was an exception with the kids adjusting to being back home hence we had a late start).

Bridge 8

Bridge 8
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

On a rare day out last month (sans the kids), Simon and I went to check out this place called Bridge 8. It's a cluster of renovated old industrial buildings which now houses a design companies, shops, and restaurants.

A bookshop selling design books has also just opened at the annex building's ground floor. We had a great time browsing thru the books and magazines and ended up purchasing some for the office.

The offices within Bridge 8 looked really cool and interesting place to work in but both Simon and I are still happy with where our office is currently at, conveniently located in the heart of the shopping area on Huai Hai Road.

Sheshan

Sheshan
Originally uploaded by arlyna.

Right before the Chinese New Year, we took the kids out to The Le Meridien in Sheshan, about 30 minutes from downtown Shanghai. It was to get away (even for a couple days) and also do a trial run on how it would be to travel with the kids.

The hotel is surrounded by a lot of greenery and even has a man-made lake and a beach! It just felt like a totally different world in spite of it only less than an hour away from our home.

The kids experienced playing in the sand for the first time ever. If only it weren't nippy and we were wearing coats, then it would have felt like we were in a beach resort.

The kids' swimming pool was also great! We were there each day we were at the hotel. The look on the kids' face when they were splashing about and enjoying themselves was just a great feeling, so you can say we enjoyed the pool time as much as they did.

And on top of all these amenities, the hotel also had a playground complete with swings and slides on the other side of the man-made lake which one had to cross via the stepping stones.

The other interesting thing is the kids enjoyed playing in front of the full-sized mirror in our room. They were simply fascinated at seeing their reflections and would sit in front of it, keep walking back and forth, dance, and more. It was just so funny seeing them making faces to see how their reflections looked!

Certainly a place we would go back again.

I've posted some more photos on my Flickr. Check them out now.