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Published: August 6th 2008
dragon fruit
mark found this picture to includeI'm writing some of this on Tuesday afternoon so I don't forget what happened today. It was a big day for me. I took the kids out to lunch by myself. It was really hard...literally nobody spoke English but I did it.
We strolled around the mall next door and then went over to Cloud Nine Mall (the big one with the grocery store across the street from our place). We saw signs for a few stores that are coming soon including a Toys R Us and some other store with a gigantic picture of Barbie. Kids were feeling good..and then we saw it. The Lego store. Right there in our very own mall. Nathan was speechless. He went in to price the various items. There's no deal to be had when it comes to the Lego in China--or anywhere else for that matter. But, he can save up his allowance and spend some of his savings when he's ready to make the big plunge. I just can't figure out who shops at these stores. There are so many and there just aren't that many people shopping in them. The grocery store is always packed...but not these littler boutiques.
the sign we missed!
says public transp right there..shoulda known! When we were looking around at restaurants in our mall we kept an eye out for pictures. Some of the pictures were not of things we particularly wanted for lunch...a whole fish, some animal parts we couldn't name...so we marched on. We went to one restaurant and after asking to see the menu, which had English and what appeared to be noodles, we went in and sat down. But, after looking more carefully, it was a sort of Italian/fried American place full of Chinese people eating lasagna, spaghetti, and pizza. Just didn't feel like a good choice for this momentous lunch. We got up and left quickly...and the search for food continued.
We settled on another place with pictures and English titles on the menu. That always gives me a false hope for a little bit of English speaking at the restaurant. It's just rarely the case. I have learned a few words but they all escaped me in the moment. So I had to call Mark to ask how to order rice (fan--pronounced "fahn"), how to ask for the leftovers to go (da bao--I had him text it to me in Chinese and he said it to me
and his coworker at lunch said it to me and I still screwed up the pronunciation and had to show the waiter my phone) and also remind me how to ask for the check (my don). Forget about ordering drinks, we just swigged out of my water bottle and had tea. Most restaurants don't sell bottled water and most people just have hot tea (though we had iced tea earlier this week). We ended up getting a nice meal. After I ordered (by pointing at pictures with English subtitles) I realized there was probably more on the other menus we had. They gave us maybe 5 different menus/books and I just focused on the big one. I wish I had looked further, because I saw other people eating what looked like dim sum. We had a chicken dish for Nathan, a pork dish for Emily and 2 vegetable/noodle dishes to share. There was a freaky looking vegetable in one dish and I didn't cover my concern well. The kids were like "Mom, we have to try new things!" so I tried it. I'm still alive. Was fine. A little squishy and nothing I'd purposely pick to eat again. The dish
it was in was great...veggies and clear noodles with a very light sauce. I also ordered some sort of greens with yellow bean-type things. I liked both dishes a lot and also tried the kids meat dishes. They loved what they picked and they ate very well. I did manage to order the rice. I said Fahn and then she said something back which I correctly guessed was "how many" since they do individual rice bowl. I did the 2/peace sign and moments later--rice! Go me. I did use the take it to go words and the waitress didn't seem to understand my pronunciation so I showed her the Chinese characters on my cell (LOVE THAT I can text myself or have someone else text me key phrases). She repeated back what I thought I had just said (one misstep with tone can cause what your saying to be meaningless or mean something very different than you intended). I was so glad Mark and his friend were on call--I hadn't actually arranged that in advance, but sitting at that restaurant not remembering how to ask for the check and knowing that you have to ask for it in order to
dinner at IKEA
as you can see, Nathan was still awake at dinner! woo hoo! get it...I was glad to have a hotline. I figured I had to go for it since a)I'm writing this blog and a headline of "We stayed indoors and had more cereal" was pathetic and boring, and b) next Thursday Mark is leaving the 3 of us here to fend for ourselves in this foreign land (drama intentional as Mark is one of my readers!). So in all it was a successful mission. I wish I could read the menus in Chinese because I know there was a lunch special...and I wish I had figured out the dim sum, but in the end, we ate well and have leftovers.
We celebrated with some gelato downstairs in the mall. This mall is so big I doubt we'll see all the stores and restaurants in 2 years.
The gelato guy was German and spoke to us in English. That was fine, but hardly seemed worth it after the ordeal that was lunch. I could point and pay without English at the Gelato place just fine.
After lunch and ice cream, we pushed on for another grocery trip. We only buy a few things each trip and we needed more breakfast
and lunch things according to Emily. We found some pancake mix (add water and stir kind) which we are going to use tomorrow with the crepe pan. I have 1 pan at this point and it's the one I brought. I have put it to good use. I even made toast in it...still need to get a toaster oven. We have so far to go with the house set up but we are getting more done each day.
We also bought some eggs but I was not sure about the date on them so I sent Ray an email asking if it was an expiration date or a packed on date. He informed me it is the packed on date. Good to know! I get nervous about some of the stuff I'm buying as far as ingredients/nutritional info. I can't read the contents and often I just hope it's what I think it is. Sometimes I feel like I'm buying cans without labels. Even the watermelon I bought. Seedless? Don't know! Not a big deal but would be nice to know before I buy. We did buy a dragon fruit which is an exotic looking fruits taste sort of
like kiwi. The kids wanted to buy it. I had never had this fruit until my previous trip to China. I love it.
Tonight we took the Metro to IKEA (I'm putting up a video of the scene during rush hour), where we bought so much that people repeatedly stopped to stare and point at our cart. There's always something just a little different about us. Most people here don't load up a cart a IKEA til it's overflowing, but when they move into a new apartment, I would think there's that big shop that everyone does. A couple times I had to shoo people away from our cart. They seemed to think it was the restocking cart and someone almost took my teapot! We got lots of stuff--mostly for the kitchen and some storage. We found mattress toppers but after we loaded up our cart and made it to the self help section to collect the mattress pads, we couldn't carry it all and didn't end up getting them this trip. At least we found them and can look forward to pain-free sleep someday.
We ate dinner at IKEA for 50 RMB--so $7.50ish. It's the same meatballs and potatoes as in the US stores, but they also had white rice with green veggies and chicken. Nathan made it all the way to IKEA before he got very tired. He started to fade before we went to eat and after dinner he was squatting and sleeping in the checkout line. He kept trying to climb into bins of pillows and blankets. He gets to that deep, deep sleep state so fast. It's hard to get him to walk, keep going.
We had so much stuff we had to get a larger car to take us. People just wait at IKEA to offer rides. The first guy offered to do it for 60RMB (~$9) and Mark refused. As he walked away, a huge crowd formed around him...everyone wanted to get our business. He agreed on a price (50 RMB) and it all worked out in the end. When Nathan was getting out of the taxi he stumbled and fell. I was so scared, but he is totally fine. No blood, not cuts. He just melted into his bed when we got upstairs, and slept until 5:30am with a couple wakeups.
I brought some photo albums that Grandma and Aunt Julie put together from previous times together. The kids are enjoying them and I'm glad I thought to pack them in the packing frenzy last week. Wait? Last week? We haven't been here a week yet. Feels like longer.
Today (Wednesday 8/6), we are unpacking some more this morning (and by we I mean I). Then we are taking the train to meet Mark for lunch and to go to the passport office. The kids need to come with Mark and Jessie to apply for their residency visas. I am a step behind them, since my health exam results are pending. So I have to navigate our way to the Metro--which I should be able to do, buy Nathan his own transit card (they can't be shared) and get on the right train! Turns out, Emily rides for free. She is short enough so she can just walk under the turnstiles and get a free ride. Gotta get over this hurdle or we'll be hermits while Mark is at work and out of town.
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Uncle Fred
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Stout Hearted Slaven's
You guys are very stout hearted to adapt to a new culture with a foreign language no less. Heck, I could bareley understand Londoners when I was in the UK. And Thank Goodness for IKEA!!! Hope you enjoy day by day, love to all. Uncle Fred, Toshimi and Melody