Wo ai Shanghai... Most of the time

Before I left to travel, I made a list of things I wanted to do while in Shanghai. The number one item was to eat at my favourite Chinese restaurant in Pudong - Smart Noshery Makes You Slobber. This place was a staple in my Shanghai dining. It was cheap, the food was always hot and delicious and best of all, there was an English menu (the owner spoke fluent English and French). It wasn't uncommon for me to go there 2 or 3 times a week and order the same 3 or 4 dishes each time. I loved the place.

The plan was to head to Smart Noshery for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate a triumphant return to Shanghai. So hungry that my stomach was eating my backbone, Kelly and I braved rushhour traffic, the Nanpu Bridge, and the worst weather Shanghai has seen in years to travel all the way back to Pudong for dinner.

I knew the rapid pace of change in Shanghai. I knew that what is there one day can be completely gone the next. But I almost cried when I saw the locks on the doors.

The taxi ride to Blue Frog in Superbrand Mall was the most depressing 15 minutes of my life. I couldn't believe that I would never again be able to order mapo dofu - bu yao ro - in the sticky booth with the tables that I always cracked my knees on because they were too small.

Smart Noshery, this ones for you!