HAO XIANG LAI RESTAURANT

For dinner, we then proceeded to a Chinese restaurant named Hao Xiang Lai, beside Trust-Mart near Zhongshan Road. It was a very busy restaurant and the place was packed with locals, but somehow we managed to find a corner to sneak into.

the main entree

The restaurant offers authentic Chinese dishes and many varieties of dim sum delights. But we settled on the set meal, which consists of warm, & soft bread rolls as appetizer, for main entree we had sizzling beef served on hot plate with noodles and egg, and small portions of soup, salad, dessert and tea. The price of our meal was reasonable but the service was a bit slow.

MY WAY BAR

There was a foreign cafe bar named "My Way" that we always passed by and we wondered if it was good. The look was so intriguing with its little quirkiness and somewhat-clandestinely place. I thought this might be our real discovery because the place was a bit off the beaten path and quite different from the usual cafe bar.

Our curiosity was thoroughly peaked that we wanted to try even just for a cup of coffee. When we got there, the bar was already open but we thought it was weird because the place was so quiet. We even tried to peek into their curtained window several times but no sign of human presence was discernible. Zero. Nada. And it was kind of eerie. So, we became an instant skeptic plus our feeling of apprehension had already clouded our sense of rationality that completely holds us back. tsk, tsk, tsk...

AJISEN RAMEN, XIAMEN

From there, we wandered back again through the street and decided to have our dinner at "Ajisen Ramen", a Japan-based chain of restaurants offering Japanese dishes.

We queued for a few minutes for a table on a busy night, which was also a favorite hunt for regulars. Meal is served on the second level, where hungry patrons dig Japanese cuisines such as ramen, sushi, sashimi, noodles, rice seat meal, dumplings and desserts. Hubby and I tried one of their ramen dishes, a set meal with soup, and watermelon shake.

After a decent dinner, we decided to call it a night and retired to the condo unit. After having spent all the day walking around, we dozed off into a deep slumber...

ZHONGSHAN ROAD PART 2

While slowly strolling down the street, we'd seen some COSPLAYERS promoting some products. I thought, wow, what a good way to promote, advertise and attract customers. This is a very unique marketing strategy for a business to standout to prospective clients. Since I seldom see cosplayers (this is one of the reason why I'm dreaming to visit Japan someday, especially Tokyo's Harajuku district, a favorite venue of many cosplayers featuring in full regalia). I was so enthusiastic to take some photos but my mask of shyness completely enveloped me. Sheesh! So, I insistently begged and struggled to convince my hubby to get a quick snapshot of them.

Besides the shopping business you can drop in some of the restaurants like Pizza Hut, McDonald's, KFCs, a strip of cafes and numerous kiosks and stalls that serve snack foods, sandwiches, Chinese delicacies, drinks, ice creams and coffees.

One of the local kiosks/stalls

There are also hotels, banks, bookstores, music stores, and money changers in Zhongshan Road. If you're looking for a centrally located accommodations, close to the shopping district, you can choose any of the following hotels that we spotted.

Lujiang Harbourview Hotel

East Ocean Hotel

Millenium Harbourview Hotel

Lujiang Harbourview Hotel, a four-star hotel overlooking picturesque Gulangyu Island, East Ocean Hotel (3-star) and Millenium Harbourview Hotel, a 4-star, 22-storey building located at Zhenhai road.