freda's world adventures

Out and About and Meeting People March 27, 2010

Just a few days after Elsie left, on Sunday (14th), we went to our first (of many, I’m sure) Tomson Wine and Cheese gathering, in the common room, with couples from our building.   Everyone brings their own bottle and an appetizer to share round.  Turns out, when we arrived with just those things, we also need to bring our own glasses – a fact not mentioned in the email – so us “newbies” had to run back to our apartments for glasses!  There were about a dozen of us, and it was nice to start to get to know the people behind the faces we occasionally run into in the elevators.

A few days later I went on an outing with Tina, a GM wife, whose husband Tom regularly plays golf with Don.  Tina and Tom live about a 10-minute walk from our place.  Anyway, she picked me up and we first went to a little street of shops very close to her place, including a Chinese “wet market” – where I finally found sliced almonds.  (I’d been looking everywhere for them.)  The wet market is a good place to shop for produce (as long as you wash it really, really well), because it’s so fresh, and much cheaper than the grocery stores.  I hadn’t know where the closest one was, so this was a good find.  Tina also showed me where she buys international phone cards – so we can phone home cheaply.  (As soon as Don asks his administrative assistant, Vivian, to tell him the steps, because the instructions are in Chinese (!), we can test them out.)   Then, we went to the Metro (subway) station, and I bought a Metro card and Tina taught me how to use the subway – very efficient, clean, and okay when it’s not rush hour, as long as you don’t mind being stared at.  (But, as I tell everyone, I’m way past my due date for getting looked at back home, so I might as well enjoy it here while I can!)  We rode to the other side of the river, (much faster than being driven), to Marks & Spencer, where we had lunch and shopped on their food floor, then took the subway home, walked back to our place, and had tea here.  Tina’s lived here a year, and while she’s settled now, she had a more difficult time adjusting (than I’ve had) because she didn’t know anyone when she arrived.  (That would have been soooo hard.  She has blonde hair, and when she first got here she would go to the local mall and accost anyone with blonde hair to ask them where they got their hair done!  Luckily I’ve got several contacts to ask about hairdressers, etc.  My first hair appt is coming up, so I’ll let you know soon how that goes.)

A fun Saturday – flowers, shoes, margaritas:

Last Saturday (20th), I had a fun day with Diane and Sharon.  (Don went golfing on Saturday, so he had a fun day too, just in case you were worried!)  It started with breakfast at my favourite local, Element Fresh, with Sharon.  Then Diane came, with her driver, to pick us up and we all went to the flower market.  Sharon was buying big plants in big pots for her balcony (which Don and I will also do in a week or two), and Diane and I wanted flowers, or a potted plant, or something.  We ended up with both fresh cut flowers and potted plants. 

hard to resist such gorgeous colours!

Diane and I and the orchids

I picked a round bowl with three orchids and some greenery, which looks lovely on the table behind my couch.  Altogether, bowl and orchids and plants cost 120 RMB, about $18.50

From the flower market, we picked up Diane’s husband, Julio, and were off to Taikung Lu (the artists’ enclave) for a bite to eat and some browsing.  It was a warm day on Saturday so we sat outside for our little meal, and then had great fun poking in some of the shops.  As I was expecting my KavaKava shoe cabinet to be delivered that day, I was keeping my eye open for something to adorn the top of it.  I had the idea of “shoes” in my head when I discovered these tiles in a little shop, and thought they’d be perfect! 

Which, they will be, when once I actually have my cabinet.  Yes, it did get delivered, but when it was unwrapped, it turned out one side was rather damaged, so it was immediately wrapped back up and taken away.  I have no idea when I’ll see it again.  I’m sad, and my shoes are sad.  😦

Don was home when I got here and we attended to a few ‘housekeeping details’ before getting cleaned up and changed, and off we then went with Sharon and Fred and Diane and Julio for dinner at a fabulous upscale Mexican restaurant called Maya’s, which serves the best margaritas in town.  Or so they claim.  We tested that claim fully with several pitchers, and while I can’t say for sure they’re the best, not having tested any others in Shanghai, I can claim they’re very, very good… and slightly lethal!!  Maya’s has excellent food, as well.  (I think.  No, just kidding.  I remember!)

Fred and Freda after a few rounds of margaritas

Another furniture purchase:

Don and I have been looking at “altar” tables – at least, we think that’s what they’re called – which we’ve admired for quite some time.  After checking several different furniture stores, we decided on the one we liked the best.  Originally we were thinking we’d get this table for our very long hallway, because the hallway really needs something, but when we placed the table there, it just didn’t feel right, mostly because it was too difficult to see the beautiful carvings.  Luckily, there was a perfect spot, where you can see the table as soon as you enter the apartment, and also easily see the carvings.  Now I just need to find the perfect things to place on it – more shopping required!!

perspective when you first enter our apartment

beautiful carvings

Mahjong:

On Monday (22nd) I was invited to a “craft” morning at Ellen’s (a GM wife) home, about 15 minute walk away.  I went with a couple of women from our building, Janine and Robin.  Some people do crafts, some people just visit, and as she has a mahjong table, some people play that, so I started to learn how to play mahjong.  I say “started to learn” because it’s rather complicated!  But, the woman (Dorothy) who was teaching me and Robin (the other two women at the table already knew how to play) was a great teacher and she invited me to her place on Wednesday morning for her “beginner’s group.”  I decided to go, hoping it would help keep a few of the rules in my head if I played again relatively soon after my initial lesson.

On Wednesday, when I got there a little late, there were four “beginners” already in attendance and playing their first round.  I watched, and then we rotated places each round, so one person always had the chance to watch all the other hands and learn strategies.  (Or not…)  We played several rounds, and I think I understand the basics, but it will take a lot of playing to remember the “special” hands, and I’m not sure I’ll ever master the scoring system!

Happy hour – Culture class:

Turned out I had met two of the mahjong beginners at “Tuesday 5:00 Happy Hour” that several women attend at the local Italian restaurant.  Again I went with Janine and Robin, and when I got there I found I knew one other woman, a GM wife.  Among many others, I met a woman named Daryl, who’s a Canadian, from Dutch parents, and who grew up in Langley (right across the river from where Don and I grew up in Maple Ridge) – how small a world is that?!  Of course there was a lot of discussion on various aspects of living in Shanghai, and one woman told of getting passed counterfeit money at the fake market, which led to tips on how to tell if the bill is real and where to look out for fake money – thus “happy hour” beomes “culture class,” so Tuesdays at 5:00 seems a good tradition to me!  It’s just for a “happy” hour or so, (with two-for-one cocktails), though those who don’t need to head home to cook dinner for (out-of-town) husbands, stay on for dinner.  Don actually was out of town this Tuesday, but I still headed home for a quiet leftovers dinner in front of the TV because I was exhausted.  The night before I’d hosted our first Shanghai Girls Book Club, and the gang had stayed until past 11:30.  By the time I’d cleaned up and checked emails, I wasn’t in bed until after 12:30.  Somehow I was in a bit of a fog all day – though likely the wine, not the late hour, was to blame!  🙂

It isn’t spring until the government says it is:

On Monday afternoon (22nd), while driving in the car with Mr. Shi, on our way to the grocery store, I looked up the word for spring and said “today spring” (“jintian chuntian”) in my trying-to-learn-Mandarin-way.  We have been having lovely warm, sunny (relatively sunny, in that “high glow” way of Shanghai) weather and the magnolias are starting to bloom and it feels like spring.  To say nothing of the fact the spring equinox was March 20th.  Well, it turns out it’s not spring in Shanghai.  Mr. Shi emphatically said, “no spring; the news say no.”  I gave him my “what are you talking about” look and said, “but sun shining, warm, flowers….”  Still, he insisted it isn’t spring yet.  And then he taught me the words for spring, summer, autumn, and winter.  Turns out I missed the article in the paper, which a friend helpfully pointed out so I could “catch up”….  It’s not spring in Shanghai until the city’s weather authority, Shanghai Meteorological Bureau, declares it to so!  The start of spring is declared “once the average temperature climbs above 10 degrees for five consecutive days.  It (then) considers the first of those five days the first day of spring.  Therefore, the beginning of spring is always five days before the announcement that spring has arrived.  In the same way, when the average five-day temperature climbs to 22 degrees, the bureau will declare the start of summer – on the first day of that five-day run.”  Which basically means we are told that spring (or summer, etc) has arrived retroactively!  So there!!

the magnolias are blooming

blossoming cherry or plum (?)

twin boys playing in the park

even our lobby has a 'spring' display now

So, “declared” spring, or not, it is definitely in the air.

Until next time!

Elsie’s visit – part two March 18, 2010

Mr. Shi picked us up at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning to get us to the airport for our flight to Beijing.  It’s about a two-hour flight from Shanghai.  We were met at the Beijing airport by our tour guide, Hallen, and a driver, and they took us first to our hotel to check in and freshen up, and then to a fantastic traditional Chinese restaurant (after checking we liked Chinese food) called Beijing Noodle King Restaurant, (at least, that was the translation), where Elsie and I were the only Westerners!  Our entrance (well, everyone’s entrance) was greeted with a shout, and when we left there was another shout – apparently greetings of ‘come in’ and ‘come again.’  We sat on very narrow benches, and ate a feast….  It was a noisy, bustling, fun place.

delicious food!

Then, we were off to tour Tian’an Men Square and Forbidden City for the afternoon.  It was freezing in Beijing (the whole weekend), but gloriously sunny on Saturday afternoon.

in front of Mao’s Mausoleum

                                        This picture of Mao, on the wall leading into Forbidden City, is replaced every year, with a new, clean copy.  This is where Mao proclaimed, on October 1, 1949, the country was now The People’s Republic of China.

We enter into Forbidden City….

fabulous roofline

    in the garden at the back, where the emperors would stroll, and meet their concubines…

Back to the hotel to rest, warm up, change.  Elsie and I met in the hotel lobby for a drink before dinner, and then were picked up for our Peking Duck dinner at the Jin Bao Kao Ya Restaurant, which translates to Gold Treasure Roast Duck.  Another delicious meal!!

On Sunday morning we awoke to low, oppressive clouds.  After breakfast we were picked up and headed first to the airport to pick up Don, coming in from Cairo.  Once Don had arrived and changed into warm clothes (it was hot in Cairo, frigid in Beijing), we were off to the Badaling section of The Great Wall.   As we got closer it started snowing!  We stopped for lunch at the only place tourists visiting the wall can eat – a huge hall with good food, so that’s okay.  When you enter you first go through a cloisonne factory and showroom, so we learned about the process of making this fine pottery, and bought a few small pieces, before making our way up to the restaurant.    Then, back in the car and to the Wall.  We took a cable gar to the top, and then we were there.  For the cold, snowy weather, it was still rather busy.  Some areas were too icy and steep for a woman with a dodgy knee (me) and a woman with a fairly new hip (Elsie), but we made our way up and down a small section, took pictures, and loved the comraderie of the people visiting the Wall on such a cold and snowy day – people helping each other to get over the icy patches, and shivering together.  Hallen told us that the Chinese think of snow as lucky, so maybe a feeling of luck contributed to the joyous mood on the Wall.

Hallen, Elsie and I wrapped up against the cold…

We drove back to Beijing and were on our own for the evening.  We decided to go back to the Beijing Noodle King Restaurant for dinner (within walking distance of our hotel) so Don could experience the fantastic food and fun atmosphere.  After another huge, delicious meal, we stopped on the way back to the hotel for a foot massage – ahhhh – the perfect end to the day!

On Monday morning it was snowing in the city!  After packing up and checking out of the hotel, we were picked up and driven to a hutong – Beijing’s traditional courtyard housing – where we took a rickshaw ride through the narrow alleys, getting out to walk across the bridge of the lake, and through the central shopping area.  It was beautiful in the snow (though cold), and a much more interesting hutong area than Don and I had been taken to during out trip  in June 2008.

                                         so many doorways, off the alleys, into the homes…

beautiful, colourful displays in the shops –

Next we toured the Olympic Site.  The Bird’s Nest Stadium really is spectacular.

We wandered around the grounds a bit, and then had to stop for a washroom break – where these two delightful signs were found!  (I love the “Chinglish.”)

Then we had lunch in another Chinese restaurant, where Hallen often eats with her husband and family.  We sampled many delicious speciality dishes, including donkey!  (We ate so much food during our trip I ended up gaining a pound a day – even with all the walking!)

In the afternoon we went first to a silk factory, where we were given a demonstration on how silk is made, and where we could buy quilts if we wanted (we declined this time)….

and then to a carpet factory, where we saw how silk carpets are hand-woven…

and then Don and I spent a great deal of time deliberating over a carpet, finally buying this gorgeous one for our office…

After that, it was time to head to the airport for our evening flight back to Shanghai.

We were exhausted after our very full weekend in Beijing, and Tuesday was a cold and rainy day in Shanghai, so we had a quiet day – just a little shopping.

On Wednesday, the first sunny day of Elsie’s stay in Shanghai, Mr. Shi picked us up at 9:30 and we went to a nearby “water village” called Zhujiajiao, about an hour’s drive from the city.  My Shanghai guide book describes it as “a charming tableau of Ming and Qing dynasty alleys, bridges and old town architecture.”  Three are some worthwhile sites, including a Buddhist Temple, a lovely little art gallery, and a fantastic 400-year old, 72m-long, five-arched bridge.  Mr. Shi wandered the village with us, and was very helpful in bargaining for a good price on a couple of purchases, as well as finding what was probably the only western-style toilet in the whole town, at the hotel.  He also picked a restaurant for our lunch, and chose our food from the strictly-in-Chinese-with-no-pictures menu – everything was delicious!  We also hired a little boat, available at several points, for a water-way tour of the town.  All in all, a lovely three hours in a quaint little village that feels like a step back to yester-year.

                        Mr. Shi

scenes by the canal…

and in the town..

Once back in the city, Elsie and I took the ferry across the river to the fabric market to pick up the last of her made-to-measure clothes.

Back on the ferry to home, and then Don arrived (with Mr. Shi) to pick us up and we went to the Shanghai World Finance Centre, to ride the elevator up to the world’s highest observation deck on the 100th floor, where we watched the sun set and the lights come on around the city.  The view is quite spectacular, especially looking down on the Jinmao Tower, which is such a beautifully-constructed building.

Don and Freda and Haibei, the Expo mascot

     our apartment complex –

On Thursday, we started Elsie’s last day by walking to the Pearl Tower and bought a ticket to the middle ‘bauble,’ where we enjoyed the 360-degree view of the city, and then down to the basement which houses a very good museum on the history of Shanghai.  Then we walked back along the river – where Elsie had walked in the cold and fog on her first day.  It was so nice to enjoy the walk in the glorious sunshine.  We stopped at the riverside Starbucks for a small bite and drink, and then back to the apartment for Elsie to finalize her packing.  Mr. Shi picked us up at 2:30, and we drove to Don’s office, where we toured the building, met Don’s Admin Assistant, Vivian, and then we were off to the airport to check Elsie in and say goodbye.   Our first visitor, and a successful visit….

Our First Visitor (part one) March 12, 2010

First of all, I’d like to belatedly wish everyone a Happy Year of the Tiger!  We missed a good deal of the celebration in the city as we were in South Africa, but there were fireworks every night for over two weeks, up to and including the last night, Lantern Festival, on February 28th, so we did actually witness a little of the biggest holiday of the year.  The lobby of our apartment complex had a fabulous display for the holiday…

(I apologize for all photo placements – I’m a blog newbie and still learning the “insert” function.)

Our first visitor, Don’s mum, Elsie, arrived the evening of February 25th for two weeks with us.  Despite unfortunate weather (heavy fog, rain, snow!) I think we showed her a good time.  I felt bad that, because I haven’t lived here very long, I don’t yet know all the best places to take a visitor, and the weather did stop us doing a few activities, but … we managed to pack quite a lot in, and there’s always next time!

We stayed low key for the first couple of days.  For Elsie’s first morning, I took her walking through our ‘hood – along the river, out for lunch to our favourite local, Element Fresh, a quick stop at City Shop for a few groceries.  Then our driver picked us up and we went to the fabric market – the required first day activity if you want to take some custom-made clothes home!

On Saturday we went furniture shopping – Don and I are still looking for a few needed pieces.  Didn’t decide on furniture (though we found a few potentials), but I did get a lovely old curio (supposedly 80 years old) for display on the living room table…

I’m not sure what it’s original use would have been … I’ll have to do some research.

We also spent a few hours shopping in the “fake” market, which is always fun.  Everything from watches, handbags, belts, sunglasses, sports jerseys and luggage (knock-offs), to the curios like fans, silk and pashima shawls, Chinese-style clothing, and placemats, table runners, shoe bags, etc, plus pearls and other jewelry.  The shopping is endless!

On Sunday we went to the Westin for brunch and entertainment.  The brunch was absolutely delicious and the entertainment was … okay.  This fellow –

was making little critters from bamboo reeds for the women and children.

There was a lovely orchestra playing while we ate, and then a variety of entertainment  –

the orchestra

After brunch we went to YuYuan Gardens, a Shanghai must-see.  When we planned this excursion, however, we didn’t realize we were going on the busiest day of the year – Lantern Festival Day.     The crowds were amazing!  But, once through the shopping area and over the zig-zag bridge (several right angles, designed to thwart bad spirits who can only travel in straight lines (!)), the garden was beautiful and peaceful.

                                                                                                     everyone having fun…

Lanterns hanging everywhere, of course, because of the festival.

over the zig-zag bridge…

into the beautiful garden…

okay, not everyone was having fun!

Elsie and I stayed home on Monday morning to watch the closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.  In the afternoon we walked to Bamboo Massage for foot massages – a first time treat for Elsie, and she’s hooked!!  Then Mr. Shi picked us up and we went to Carrefour for groceries – a must-do outing: the size of the store, the noise, the crowds, the unidentifiable food – it’s an adventure!

Don left for Cairo really early Tuesday morning.  Elsie and I picked up my friend Kim and the three of us went to Taikung Lu, the artists’ enclave.  We wandered the alleyways, shopped the boutiques, (I bought an adorable “commie pig” (love the humour!)  ),

ate lunch at a great little cafe. 

Freda and kim checking out a shop…                     and one of the little alleyways….

Then we went to the Gang of One Studio (www.gangofone.com.cn) to buy a couple of photos by Wang Gangfeng, famous Shanghai photographer.  Kim has actually met both him and his wife, Coin Qian, a painter.  (www.coinqian.com)  Wonderfully for us, Coin happened to be in the gallery/shop and helped us in our selection of photos, as well as spent time chatting with us about her husband’s work, her own work, and showed us her studio workshop.   I bought two of Gangfeng’s colour photos of people on their bikes in the rain, with their ponchos over themselves and their bikes – a very typical scene here.

    this is my photo of one of the pictures I bought.  The other one is rather similar, taken at the same street corner, but a bit of a different scene. 

Do check out his website, though, because his pictures are so great.  The black and white ones of children are adorable.  Before we leave I’ll be buying a few more, I’m sure. 

The rest of the week was spent doing some more shopping – fake market, pearl market, fabric market – and a couple of tourist things.  We spent a couple of hours at the Jade Buddha Temple, one of Shanghai’s few Buddhist temples.

It was built between 1911 and 1918, has several statues…

and carvings, including a lovely laughing Buddha…

and a reclining Jade Buddha…

But, the “centrepiece” is a 1.9 meter-high pale-jade Buddha, which you have to admire from afar, and can’t take pictures of.

We also went to the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall – an excellent museum centre that houses a good display of the coming Shanghai World Expo and an incredible model of Shanghai that takes a whole floor….

Our apartment complex is featured in this picture on the right… basically we’re right in from of that small ferry boat – the four taller building around the shorter one that’s (almost) lined up with the little ferry boat.  That shorter building in front is actually not accurate to our complex – it’s the common area, but in reality, the common area building is only a few floors high. 

On Friday night we packed our suitcases for our early Saturday morning flight to Beijing….

The first week (and a bit) in Shanghai February 9, 2010

We had a very full and interesting first week, and I have so many stories to tell (that I don’t want to forget) you’ll be here reading for days.  I promise to minimize the detail in future entries… if I can!

We arrived here Saturday, Jan 16th, late afternoon, and our driver, Mr. Shi, and his 14 year old daughter, English name Sherry, Chinese name Yia-Jing (which I think is very pretty, but she introduced herself as Sherry), were at the airport to pick us up, complete with a huge bouquet of pink roses for me!  It took an hour to get from the airport to our apartment, and then we were “home.”  I was so glad Don had been able to get all our furniture moved in before he came to Vancouver for Christmas (which I already mentioned in my first blog entry before we left Vancouver) because the bed was set up and the towels in the bathroom, etc, but it was, at the same time, overwhelming with what still needed to be done.  We were too tired to get cleaned up to go out for dinner, so we ordered in, and then unpacked our suitcases and started organizing our “dressing room closet” before falling into bed. 

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, with sun shining in blue sky and about 10 degrees out.  We worked in the apartment all morning (I had to completely reorganize the kitchen, for one) and then met our friends Diane and Julio, and Sharon and Fred, for lunch at our favourite american-style restaurant, Element Fresh, not more than a 5 minute walk from our apartment.  It was so nice we could sit outside to eat.  Then we went walking for about an hour, picked up a few groceries at the little City Shop across the street from us, a corner store that caters to ex-pats, with lots of food items that look familiar to us (and are expensively imported), and back to work unpacking and organizing.  Sharon and Fred (she works for Don at GM) who live in the same apartment building on the 9th floor (we’re on the 17th floor – though because the Chinese don’t use the number 4, there is no 4th floor, or 14th floor (etc), and they’ve also kindly eliminated the 13th floor for western superstitions, so Sharon and Fred are really on the 8th and we’re really on the 14th!) had invited us for dinner, which was greatly appreciated, given I had no idea how to use all of my appliances yet, and was too tired to think it all through.  Fell into bed after a lovely few hours with them.

Don started work early Monday morning, and worked like crazy all week, going in early and taking conference calls most evenings.  I slowly made my way through the boxes and organization of the apartment.  And had many “little” adventures….

Shopping Adventures:

On Monday afternoon Fred came with Mr. Shi and me to help with some errands.  My Chinese cell phone wasn’t working, so Fred took me to an electronics store to check it out.  Turned out I had to get a new number as my previous number (which I used in September when we were here for our “look-see”) had been discontinued due to lack of use for three months.  Then we went to a hardware store, called B&Q, for light bulbs, extension cords, etc – Don and Fred had discussed what we needed, so basically I was just along to pay, because hardware stores are not my favourite!  But, in the same area as B&Q there are several other little shops, which Fred walked me by, explaining what’s in them, which are good, etc, and we came to a small grocery store that also carries DVDs – a big business here.  Fred’s obsessed with movies, so he had to check out the titles, and of course I did too.  It’s unbelievable what’s available here – movies that are still in the theatres in North America, like Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, An Education, etc, etc, are all available in DVD form already – all ripped off, of course, so we won’t be bringing anything we buy back to Canada.  There’s lots of TV series DVDs too.  I found, and bought, the third season of Mad Men, which I know for a fact won’t be available in Canada until March 23rd because I had wanted to buy it before we left and couldn’t.  Well, here it cost 40 RMB, which translates to about $6.50 Canadian!!  We started watching it, and while the quality isn’t perfect, it’s still pretty good, and certainly good enough so we won’t feel like we’re missing our favourite shows while we’re over here.  And then, we went to Metro, which is a store like Costco, for which you need a membership to get in.  Fred has a membership, so he could get me in, and I picked up an application form, and then we did some grocery shopping which, so far, has been the biggest ‘adventure.’  Luckily the grocery stores have ‘import’ sections, which is a good default place when I can’t find what I want on the other shelves.  As it was, I couldn’t get everything I wanted at Metro because, like Costco, they only carry in bulk whatever they happen to get in at the time.  I did get some things on my list, though, and by the time we were finished, and back in the car, it was 5:30 and I was exhausted!

Tuesday afternoon I went out grocery shopping again, by myself, this time to a French chain called Carrefour, which I like a lot better than Metro.  I still didn’t find everything on my list, but I was happier with the fruit and veggie selection.  I had great ‘fun’ buying rice.  The sacks of rice are so humungous I wondered how we’d ever get through one bag in a year, never mind even lifting it up and storing it!  But, then I found open bins of rice, like in a bulk food store.  There were three different prices on the three sections of rice – though, to my untrained eye, the rice looked all the same.  Well, I guess it looks the same to the Chinese, as well, because I watched a few women pick up handfuls of the rice and feel it before deciding which to buy!  Since I have no idea what good rice should feel like, I just bought a small bag from the most expensive section to give it a try.  Not that it was ‘expensive.’  I’m sure they thought I was crazy buying what was probably only enough for a day’s ration for a Chinese family!

Friday, after going to the police station with the General Motors HR person, Yolanda, to present documents that will get me my residency visa, I had Mr. Shi take me to a furniture store called Kava Kava, and ordered my ‘shoe cabinet,’ a piece of furniture I learned of from Sharon and have been coveting ever since.  I think if you go to the furniture company’s website: www.kavakavahome.com you can see it.  It comes in three sizes and many colours; I ordered the mama-bear-middle-size, in a glossy dark, dark brown colour (with no designs).  I’m very excited about this purchase, which unfortunately I won’t get until March 13th as the factory is closed for a few weeks for the winter holiday/Chinese New Year’s in February.  Mine will hold about 40 pairs of shoes.  We’re going to put it in the entrance lobby of our apartment, right outside the front door, where you enter after stepping off the elevator.  That area is ours alone; the other apartment on the same floor has its own entrance off a different elevator.  Then we’ll have a couple of chairs there, as well, so you can sit to put on your shoes.  As you may or may not know, the Chinese always take off their shoes before entering a home.  We do that in Vancouver, as well, so it’s not a new practise for us, and here in Shanghai, it’s a good idea not to wear shoes inside because you have no idea what might be on the bottom of them!!  It’s very dusty and dirty here because of all the construction, and the rain turns that dirt to mud, and then of course there’s the spitting and urinating, and who knows what else, that happens on the streets.  Best not think about it, just take off the shoes and put on the slippers.  I now know why the Chinese shuffle when they walk (well, not everyone, that’s a stereotype); it’s because of the little slip-on slippers – it’s the only way you can walk in them.  Luckily I brought a selection of slippers that my visitors have been very happy to wear!

Friday I also went back to Carrefour to get some more groceries.  I think I will try to avoid grocery shopping on Fridays!  The line-up to weigh and price the fruits and veggies snaked around the produce bins and caused much determined elbowing to keep a place in line, which I performed like the best of them!  Not much chance a little Chinese woman can push a large Canadian woman out of line!

Rice cooker:

I decided I needed a rice cooker after cooking rice one night and having the water boil over.  The boys have one in our Vancouver condo and we all love it.  So, I told Mr. Shi what I wanted and off we went to a humungous department store.  Mr. Shi went in with me, found the housewares department, and up we went.  It’s interesting here, because the store is organized first by product and then by manufacturer.  We found the rice cooker section, and OMG, it’s a business unto itself in China – I’ve never seen so many rice cookers!  The first ‘model’ I see, as we’re entering the section, must be the cadillac of rice cookers because the price tag on it was 2800 RMB – between $400 and $450 Canadian!!  Just a tad more than I want to spend.  Mr. Shi then takes me to the display from one Japanese manufacturer (I forget which one), says “Japanese make it better,” and we look at some of them, but again, I can’t believe the prices.  I just need a little rice cooker, just for Don and me, not a huge family; just for the occasional meal, not a daily event.  We move on to the Toshiba models – again, Japanese.  He shows me one that’s 899 RMB – better, but still too expensive, though the sales clerk tells him she’ll give a discount, I think maybe 10%.  But, it’s still more than $100 Canadian, and I’m not spending that.  So, we look at the same display, cheaper….  There’s one at 699 RMB, but I’m still shaking my head.  And then we see a few models on sale, that to my ‘untrained’ eye look exactly the same as the more expensive models – but maybe they’re last year’s?? – and there’s one for 399 RMB, about $60.  This I’m okay with, so the sales clerk goes off to get one in the box, I hand Mr. Shi 400 RMB and he goes over to the cashier to pay, comes back with the receipt (fapiao) to show the clerk, picks up my box (he always carries my purchases if he’s with me) and off we go.  Wait until you see it!  (I’ll post a picture.)  It’s a “display” item!  It’s got the rice cooker insert, and then a basket to fit on top of the rice, I’m guessing for steaming vegetables at the same time.  I haven’t tried it out yet.  I asked Celina to show me which button to press to start it – of course the instructions are in Chinese.  I’ll let you know after my ‘inaugural’ run.

No exchanges, no refunds:

I bought a couple of pillows at the B&Q hardware/housewares store, and when I got home I realized there was a slash in one of the pillows, os I put it aside to exchange later in the week.  Well…. it turns out that’s not the Chinese way.  No refunds, no exchanges, usually.  They just expect you would “repair” the problem.  Of course I didn’t realize this, and when I showed Mr. Shi the problem, told him I had the receipt, needed to do an exchange, he didn’t say anything except, “okay.”  I didn’t realize this was “unusual” until we were in the store and Mr. Shi was explaining to the woman what I wanted.  Like everything here, this required a consult.  She grabbed another woman and the three of them had a confab.  Wish I understood the language!  All I know is that one of them demonstrated how it could be sewn back together, and Mr. Shi went on and on, and the only thing I understood was when he said “Cha-na-da” – telling them I’m from Canada – maybe explaining I had different expectations, that we do things differently there?!?  Who knows.  All I know is the B&Q women relented, and Mr. Shi happily ran off to get me another pillow.  When we were back in the car (after I’d also bought some more storage containers), he told me “today is lucky day,” because of the exchange!!  Amazing, eh.

Apartment maintenance and ayi service:

Celina, Fred and Sharon’s ayi (maid), who is also going to be my ayi, at least to start, came for the first time on Tuesday.  We’re going to see if she can handle the duties at two apartments over the next few weeks and then re-assess.  I don’t need her to do as much as Fred and Sharon want her to do, so I don’t anticipate needing her more than one to two days a week… we’ll see.  She’s very efficient.  In less than one day she washed all the floors (and we have a HUGE amount of floor space, just inefficiently set up otherwise), plus cleaned the master bathroom and powder bathroom, plus did the laundry.  Laundry is the biggest challenge, and I will never do it myself!  The washing machine and dryer are European-apartment-sized, and the dryer takes about 1 1/2 hours to dry a small load – unbelievable!  Celina also discovered that our washing machine leaks and our dishwasher doesn’t work.  She called the apartment maintenance guys, and for about a 1/2 hour we had two maintenance workers, plus a young woman (job?), plus Celina, hovering over the dishwasher, discussing the issue.  Hmm.  Turns out they had to phone the manufacturer (my appliances are all Gaggenau – supposedly high quality, but I’m beginning to wonder if they’re not all “knock-offs”) and it was arranged that someone from the company would come here Friday morning at 10 a.m.  I’m still not sure if the washing machine issue was resolved.  I also had apartment maintenance here to fix our bedroom curtains, which weren’t opening – all the curtains open by the press of a button, so who knows what was happening – and to show me how to turn on the bathroom floor heating system.  Marble floors in the bathroom, and they’re very cold of course, but there’s under-floor heating, which wasn’t working.  I think it’s rather standard and “very China” for there to be a lot of maintenance problems.  Everything has been done for show, but not necessarily for function.  All part of the ‘adventure.’

Dishwasher problem, part two:

Life here is certainly a learning experience!  As you’ve just read, on Tuesday the ayi discovered my dishwasher wasn’t working, and a repair appointment was set up.  On Wednesday afternoon someone from the lobby desk called to ask me if the repair man could come up now (was he here for another appointment, or Friday morning and Wednesday afternoon are interchangeable??) so I said of course, and up they came.  After checking it out, it turns out the machine requires salt – special salt for dishwashers, not the eating kind – and a rinse agent before it will work.  Who knew?  Not the ayi, apparently.  I had the apartment guy write down in chinese characters what salt product so I could have the ayi buy it when she went out to buy all the cleaning supplies whe needs me to have.  I have her 500 RMB (about $80) and had my driver take her out.   Handy, eh?!

Walking:

I’m trying to walk as much as possible.  After a year of knee problems and surgery, I packed on weight that I now need to lose.  Unfortunately it goes on much faster than it comes off.  😛   Anyway, I’m following a simple route (don’t want to get lost!) that sort of follows the river, though, for the most part, I can’t see the river due to buildings or construction.  It’s a fairly good route along city streets that are quieter for traffic and people, so I can mostly move along at as fast a clip as I can manage, and I only have to cross a few streets – which is the most dangerous part of walking in Shanghai.  (The hardest crossing is at the street that leads to the little ferry that crosses the river;  I’ve become very Chinese in dodging the scooters that swarm off the ferry if I happen to get to that crossing just as the ferry has come in.)  I’ve mapped out an hour-long route.  On the way out it’s not very interesting, scenery-wise, though it’s always fun watching the bikes and scooters that pass by, so often loaded down with the most amazing assortment of ‘stuff.’  The worst part os one little corner of the wall built around a construction site that is obviously the “pee corner” – I can smell it coming before I get there, which is a good warning to move across the sidewalk closer to the road edge so as to avoid the “wet,” which the first time I passed, I didn’t do.  (yuck)  Once I turn around and am heading back the view is better, as I can see the Jinmao Tower and the Shanghai World Finance Centre tower (which we call the “bottle-opener building” because of its shape), as well as a large assortment of apartment and office buildings.  I’m becoming inured to the sight of taxi drivers pulling over to the side of the road (luckily across the street from where I walk) to pee into the small bushes lining the fences of apartment complexes.  I almost don’t hear the horking and spitting of the (mostly) men (I was going to say that I’d never seen a woman do this, until one day when a woman was walking towards me and spat right in my path when she was only five feet, or so, away from me!) as long as they’re not too close – then I worry!  And it’s interesting that whenever I pass another “visible minority” (us white folk) out walking, we always exchange smiles and hellos, like a secret handshake of a secret club, and I wonder if they’re thinking, like I am, “it’s so nice to see another ex-pat, because I know they share my language.”  I’ll have to remember to take my camera one day and get a few pictures of my route to accent this story.

okay, that’s enough for now.  Next time, the fabric market, and other assorted details….