Busy Sunday Afternoon

Woke up early this morning and was struck by the sudden urge to cycle all the way to City Diner for breakfast (it's a fair distance away from where I live) then changed my mind and decided that since I have a bike, I should take full advantage of it by exploring all the little roads and cafes that I've always wanted to but never really got around to doing. So at 10am, armed with my restaurant guide and my map, I was out of the house and on the streets. What I really wanted to do was cafe hop - spend like an hour or so in each just to sample their wares and see if I can find one that I call my 'hangout'. Things didn't really work out that way but I still managed a couple. First stop was a tiny Viennese cafe that had a simple brunch in progress when I'd arrived. Käsespaetzle was on the menu and I was tempted to have some but it looked too heavy for breakfast. Ended up with ham & cheese scrambled eggs instead. Wasn't too happy at the fact that the eggs didn't come with a serving of bread. I had to order it separately. Even the butter had a separate charge!! Ordered some bread anyway but to my dismay, was served vollkornbrot - wholegrain bread!! I never could bring myself to appreciate German breads. I just find them way to heavy. I had 3/4 of one slice and wolfed down my eggs. Stayed for about an hour then headed to La Perla, a cafe within a bookstore.

Didn't get around to checking out the cafe though. How could I with all those books around me! Managed to find a Spanish section and bought myself a short mystery novel which I'm quite glad to note, is actually part of a reading series for learners of the language. There are even questions at the end of the book to test the reader's understanding! (I'm proud to say that I got past page 3 :p) Walked out of the store with 3 purchases: my novel, a little Moleskine 18 Month Weekly Planner (set me back by 130RMB - bloody hell) and the printed version of a movie that came highly recommended - The Secret by Rhonda Byrne - that claims "you will come to know how you can have, be, or do anything you want. You will come to know who you really are." What can I say... I was intrigued.

Next stop - Taikang Lu. More precisely, Lane 248. A unique little place where trendy meets traditional and . Once you get past the middle aged men playing cards and the vegetables spread out on the road for sale, you find yourself stepping into what would closely resemble a street in Paris. The shikumen that line the lane that are slowly being restored and converted into pattiseries and cafes, make for delightful places to catch up with friends over a cappuccino or two. The boutiques are also very tempting to poke around in. I plonked myself down at Cafe Mojo and didn't move for the next 2 hours, taking my time to slurp my peach-banana smoothie, my 2 Coronas and a chocolate mousse pudding. Sigh! By the time I left it was 4pm and I was ready to call it a day. The trip home was long but totally worth it! I now have a rough idea of what roads are in the area and what shops can be found on each road. FANTASTIC!