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Published: September 15th 2008
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We have had a busy time this Moon weekend, with an average couple of days, culminating in a great day today. I had a fun time out with work people on Friday night. We went to a Teppanyaki restaurant which did an all you can eat and drink type thing, and then we sang Happy Birthday to 2 of our colleagues who both had birthdays on Friday! We then went to a new bar which was having an opening night. One of our colleagues knew the owner so we go free drinks all night. It was a good chance to chat to some of the other teachers at school. We were discussing the fact that, altho theoretically we are with each other all day 5 days a week, we hardly see each other. We are just so busy and the school is so disorganised that there are so many unhappy bunnies at the moment. Enough said about that for now I think.
Anyway, Saturday we went back to the Fabric Market to check out my orders from last week. I was able to bring a couple of my items home, but some of the others needed adjusting. We agreed it
just goes to show that if you are getting something made for a deadline, you need to factor in alterations. Sophie's Chinese dress was absolutely gorgeous, but we had to leave it to be adjusted, and mine too. However, Ian found another Chinese dress and a long Chinese style jacket that he decided would look nice on me and negotiated some great prices. We will be making another return trip next weekend to (hopefully) collect everything. I think in the meantime, Ian is going to think about getting some tops made, and I need to have a good look at magazine pictures. One other thing I learned was that you really need a solid idea of what you want making and not just be airy-fairy about the style. ideally you need to choose something they have as an example, or take an example or picture in.
Ian managed to find a bar which showed the Man U match on Saturday night, but was seemingly quite unimpressed with the team's performance. However, it is good to know he can still keep supporting in person and not just via the internet!
Yesterday it decided to rain again sadly so we
didn't venture out until lunchtime. It appears to be quite rainy all this week, altho the temperature is still at about 28 and at times very oppressive. So, no wellies, mum, we would melt in them I am afraid! We went to an expat coffee brunch thing where Ian had arranged to meet a woman from the Shanghai Expat website as he is going to help out at the Shanghai Expat show which is on next weekend. He is hoping that he will be able to network with some people and make some contacts, and it also looks like a great show for us to attend as a family. After this, we went on a new adventure (or more, I did) and I went to try one of the local beauty salons. Sorry if this is too much info, but I have to share with you the fact that I finally managed to find somewhere to get waxing done! It has been a source of great amusement for Ian and my friend Suzanne that whenever we go somewhere I try and ask about it but get laughed out of the salon! Anyway, I struck gold this time but was quite
nervous as you can imagine! You can imagine my fear as the hot wax went on....but she didn't rush to whip it off, but put more on the other side! There I am panicking that it will never come off, and she is patting it so that it solidifies! I found out later that this is the way it's done in Africa way too, they leave it to cool, then peel (or rather whip) it off with their hands....not material involved and lots of pain....but probably no more than usual I guess! Well, after this trauma, I was quite pleased that I had a pedicure booked to relax into. OMG.....I so needed this doing also. As I have no doubt mentioned, the amount of walking I do every day is pretty huge, so my feet have been taking the brunt of it and to say a little bit of hard skin came off is an understatement! Anyway, skipping a few details, I now have gorgeously manicured feet, which I am sure will be killing me by the end of tomorrow.
This morning we awoke to rain once more, so went off exploring again...initially to try and get Ian some
business cards printed. This is quite the norm here, so that wherever you go, you can give anyone you meet a card. You have to make sure you give and receive a business card with both of your hands, and on receipt, you have to spend a few seconds examining it. Anyway, we got a bit stuck when we realised Ian had no Chinese name, and it needs to be in dual language really, so we left it for now. We are kind of hoping that tomorrow changes things anyway, when he has his interview. After a quick visit to KFC, we found an Optician. I have been looking for one so I can get new contact lenses, and I have been kind of putting it off if I am honest, but I had to bite the bullet today. I have to say, once again, I was impressed with their efficiency. I asked if I could get an eye exam and was told to take my lenses out and walk around the Department Store we were in and come back in 10 mins. As those of you who know me well enough to know how blind I am can understand,
I felt very uneasy at this prospect, but was guided around by my giggling husband and childrend foe the next 10 mins! On returning for my eye exam, it was over in about 7 mins and was told that my prescription hadn't changed and here, have these lenses, off you go! The eye exam was free and the lenses were about the same price as UK, if a little cheaper -hurray, success at last!
We then ventured back onto the Metro to find the Science and Technology Museum. We hope you can see from the photos (if this website works tonight) how amazing the building is, we were blown away. And that was just outside. Inside was equally fantastic and I think it has well-deservedly become the children's favourite place so far. They were running around announcing how brilliant it was and Sophie decided she wants to live there! We stayed for sbout 4 hours and have loads of photos which we will try and upload in a mo.
So, here we are, back home again with the children sound asleep and now I have to go and prepare for lessons tomorrow while Iam prepares for his interview.
Time is running along with us here, and so is life!
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