Meeting up with old friends part II

Later on in the evening I met ViVi Zifu for a dinner at the Peter Rabbit restaurant. It's a cosy restaurant tucked away in a corner at the Zhong Xiao Fu Xing area.

Ordered a Salmon cream pasta (yes CREAM pasta) set meal. The appetizer was fruit salad that came on a Peter Rabbit ceramic plate. Sadly I didn't really get to see Peter Rabbit coz I don't really like fruits... I tried stuffing down all the fruits I usually don't eat.. honey dew, cherry tomatoes... it helped that we had a bowl of yoghurt to drizzle on the salad... but fruit is still fruit. The mushroom cream soup was really good though. It's not to creamy that it's "gelat". Though the soup is not so thick, you still get the full taste of mushroom with a hint of onion. The portion of pasta is really huge... if you're a small eater you probably can share it with a friend. Last I had an ice milk tea in a Peter Rabbit glass cup. Really wanted to bring one of the plush toys home...

The outside isn't very conspicuous and not very attractive. Only a small door with a few Peter Rabbit decorations, but stepping inside you feel like you're in a little English cottage. Lined along the shelves on the wall are Peter Rabbit soft toys of all sizes. Even the electric plug has Peter Rabbit emblazoned on it.

Thanks Vivi for the treat. Too bad you're going to LA for a month... who knows when we will meet again...

After dinner, went with her to pierce her ears at a old rundown mall in the midst of all the shiny new buildings. The place reminds me of Far East back home comprising of many small shops in a mall. Unlike our shopping mall culture back home, the shops here simply line the streets. Though there are chain stores like NET and the familiar Hang Ten, there are many startups. Also there are many illegal hawkers where you can pick up bargains NT200 (S$10) for dresses, accessories and little knick knacks. It's amazing how prosperous this underground market works. Racks of clothes equipped with wheels in case of emergencies allow the hawkers to make a quick escape when the police patrol their area. It's often like a hide and seek game with some running as quick as their legs take them or some just cover their wares and hide in a corner. Often the proper shops are pretty accomodating and don't give the game away. I even saw one hawker hiding in one of the shops. Actually I think the police just close one eye... times are bad.. as long as they are not as ostentatious as to hawk their wares right in front of the police.