My Hood - The Noodle Stand

Al fresco dining, China style.  I don't think it could possibly get any dirtier.  But I have to admit, the noodles do look really good every time I walk by..

The 100RMB Challenge - Day 5

Today for breakfast I got a couple of steamed buns, or "baozi". One with basically a pork meatball inside, the other one filled with some sort of vegetable and minced pork.

Total for breakfast: 1.2RMB (US$0.18)

For lunch, I got these mini pan fried pork buns called "sheng jian bao", which are a street food staple here in Shanghai.

You have to pay attention when eating them though, because the juices from the meat are locked inside; if you're not careful when you bite into them, it will squirt everywhere! I've messed up more than one shirt while eating them at work. Considering their small size, they are a lot more filling than they look - I got eight of them, and I could just barely finish.

Total for lunch: 5RMB (US$0.73)

I wasn't so hungry at dinner, so I decided to just make onigiri (Japanese rice balls). Three different types of sprinkles, for variety..

Total for dinner: 1RMB (US$0.15)

Total spent today: 7.2RMB (US$0.91)

Money remaining for the week: 38.2RMB (US$5.59)

Now here's the REAL challenge. It's Friday night, and people are gonna want to go out. What to do, what to do?..

My Hood

I love the area that I live in because as soon as you walk outside, it's mad local. From the lady that sells vegetables from her cart in the morning, to the place where I get dinner for $2, it's all really small mom and pop set ups. You get to know the who's, the what's, and the where's pretty easily. And as I've started to become familiar with them, I feel like I'm becoming a part of the neighbourhood. So I thought I'd start sharing with you what's up in my hood.

Here's where I usually get breakfast on my way to work.


I usually get the pan fried dumplings that you see in the black pan there. Or sometimes the buns from those steamers on the right. My breakfast usually costs around 50 cents.