Friday was maybe one of the best nights of our lives, if not the best.  It was certainty at the top of best days spent together - we were just so happy.  Well, to be honest it was a bittersweet happy because we were leaving the next day - errr Joachim was I (Chrissy) was leaving on the Sunday - and its always a bit sad to say goodbye.  Pathetic, let's alldo an eye roll, but true. It was our Christmas!!!

Joachim came to my house around maybe 3 o'clock.  I was still getting ready, typical, and he helped me choose one of the many outfits I putforward.  Poor Joachim, sitting through "these opaque tights, or these black-tinted ones with zigzags".  But alas, after singing to Goldy (Joachim) and presenting my ayi, Ying Fang with a Christmas present we were off.  We took my driver to the Jin Mao tower to J-life, the supercool center with all things from an upscale fitness place (well it SEEMS upscale and much more serious than Megafit) to a dentist place mymom went to, and happy food places catering to the Jin Mao business centers.  We went there for Yogo, my love and life since discovering it by happenstance.  You see, after finishing our last final around noon in June (this is last year) we subway hopped and decided to just walk around and be merry.  After spending over 10 dollars on one coke in Hyatt (say what?) I was like "lets explore", we went through the revolving doors and there it was.  On the third floor hidden away. Apparently, it was too hidden.  Now the only Yogo left, unless the XiNanjing is still there, is in Xin Tiande.  No worries though.  We went down a level and Joachim got an egg sandwich with bar-b-que sauce (bacon removed) and after taking a free sample of gingerbread I realized that my life would not be fulfilled without eating more.  So Joachim bought me a gingerbread cookie - the last one in a heart shape! It had EDIBLE PEARLS.  Those blow my mind.  They look like pearls orbeads of some sort, they are metallic, and yet we eat them.  It doesn't feel right, so I sat there and examined them for awhile.  Finally, in H&M, it went down like:

C- Joachim, what are these shiny balls?

J - Edible pearls

C- Thats so odd. Why do we eat them?

J- They are meant to be eaten, its food.  They are just sugar.

C- (*dawn of recognition) OHHHHH.

Anyways despite not getting my Yogo smoothie in Banana Breeze, on the way out there was a stand with a juice machine with over 60 combinations.  I had a kiwi-pear, and I can say that it was the best juice I have had. Why doesn't Element Fresh sell kiwi-pear drinks rather than apple?

JOACHIM"S TURN!!!

After our trip to the downstairs fruit place we decided to head to Super Brand mall.. We gotFrench fries at McDonald's and had drinks, while we went around to H&M, Adidas, Lacoste, etc.... looking for cool clothing for Chrissy as a Christmas shopping trip present!!! YAY!!! We looked around for ages.. left no stone unturned, no nook and cranny unexamined, looked at dresses, skirts, blouses and shirts, shoes and socks...hehehehe... but we didn't find anything that really stood out.. We even went to the Adidas store to see if they had any of the super cool and uber comfortable track suits, and yet to no avail... Not that it really mattered because it was amazing just going around and shopping,critiquing, snacking, talking.. and I wasn't worried. We had a back up plan. TaiKang Lu... and that is where we subway hopped to next...



At the subway Chrissy was intrigued by the presence of a street vendor with ornate jewelery. She looked at it. Thought about it. Looked at it again.. And in all her time thinking she asked the price... resulting in two words: Woah!!! Expensive! And so we moved on..







We got to Taikang Lu and decided to first walk around a bit, and look at the shops and then if there was anything that was liked and worthwhile come back to it later... (a word of advice:TaiKang Lu closes really early, most of the shops close around 8-9 while the restaurants remain open much later so the best time to go is noon to late afternoon/early evening) We looked at quite a few shops, including this really cool modern and semi-minimalist swedishesque home interior store which had amazing books, guides and even very nice clothing. We walked into several different jewelery shops, and also some mini clothing vendors to look for dresses or anything fashionable. Again, leaving no clothing hanger unmoved, and no pile of clothing undisturbed we looked around.. and the staff of some of the stores even joined in. And at last we found this really remarkable cool and stylish looking dress, and this time, Chrissy thought about it and told me she liked it a lot.. (in my mind: present number one!)... She then told me she really really like the interior design book and the cupcake bookfrom the store we were in earlier... but she didn't know which one she wanted.. (in my mind: present number two! but which one?) and so my decision was: Well, Chrissy, why not just get both? (Christmas shopping  = success. )

It was after the successful and very happy Christmas shopping treat that we headed to dinner at Origin!





CHRISSY''S TURN!!!

Haha.  Orgin is the best! It has soft lighting and Moby-esq music.  The food is delish.  It puts all other "Hip and Healthy" restaurants (the ones filled with men in scarves, Europeans in knits,  and no one under the age 30) to shame.  Even the salads are worth going for, like I didn't think it would be possible to make a salad special. It's the same thing everywhere.  But no.  They have champagne vinaigrette to put on top your feta/arugula/salmon./ext salad.  I will do a food review later, as the meal was not the best part of the night.  It was an added cherry on top.  We ended up taking 3 unique courses each and eating a 3 hour meal, complete with their special juices and organic red wine! It was so wonderful, we just were sohappy!  We sampled each others food, it was all great! Joachim got a  vegetable sandwich, which has a terriakye sauce with it.  And it made me so happy as Joachim pointed out "Before you, I would not have thought to order this.  I would have gotten the Philly Cheese sandwich.  But this is honestly a lot better!" I beamed.  Yay! I influenced pescetarianism! I would say that made my night, but that whole night was great ! And while I was already beaming,  I didn't stop smiling the whole night!  We went back, we beared the freezing cold to find a taxi! I was blue! When we got back,  my parents gave Joachim a present for Christmas, memory cards with beautifully artistic shots of Old and New Shanghai.  Ironically we had been admiring the present in the boutique where Joachim bought me the books! And then I gave Joachim my presents for him.  I was nervous, I didn't think they were that great (I don't have talent or experience, so it comes from the "heart" haha) especially compared to the great gifts Joachim gave me! Also,while I spent forever on them, it looks like I didn't which would make it seem like I didn't care.  But Joachim liked them, or at least pretended them to like them, so it was no worries! We had planed to watch Blade Runner.  However, we couldn't find it so we watched our old favorite, the one we used to watch like a drug last year, Kill Billvol. 1.  Memories Memories.  A perfect end to a perfect night !







- Chrissy and Joachim