My phone call with Nongfu Shanquan just how:

NONGFU: Hello?
MICAH: Is this Nongfu Shanquan?
NO: Yeah. <silence>
MI: I'd like to order one bottle of water.
NO: One barrel?
MI: Ye...
NO: (interrupting) OK, got it. <click>

They are efficient. For lunch this afternoon I met up with John (B) at People's Square. First we stopped by Jiajia Tangbao for a steamer full of Shanghai's (debatably) best soup dumplings. Once again, they were out of all kinds except crab+pork and all-crab dumplings. Can somebody confirm that the other kinds do actually exist? After that we hopped down a couple storefronts to Laokele (老克勒), our first time there for the noodles. It was fabulous: John got the spinach noodles, and I had the asparagus bacon alfredo on carrot noodles, rich and oily and absolutely delicious. By the time lunch was over I had so much fat in my stomach I felt like I was done eating for a few days. John and I chatted about kids, my work his school, his new job at CIC, and weird stuff like dietary restrictions as law, and real estate around the city (imagine that, people in Shanghai discussing house prices?!). It was a good lunch, we should meet up again after the CNY.