Shopping, what a pain

We shop a lot here. More than a lot. But always for things like purses, kid's clothes, and custom made clothes from the fabric market. Truthfully shopping here is anything but easy.

I've mentioned how I have to grocery shop several times during the week. I go to at least three different stores to get what I need. I'll have a recipe in mind but can't seem to find all of the ingredients. Its frustrating.

When shopping in the mall, or even local stalls selling fake goods, the associate or shopkeeper follow close behind you. Watching you, asking you to name a price. Always pulling out their calculator ready to barter for a deal. You can never just window shop or browse.

Today we went to a Nike Factory Store. I am in need of new tennis shoes and thought this would be the place to find them. Sure they have tennis shoes, but none that fit. Unless I want to wear men's shoes. Most of the women's shoes stopped at size 7.5, I take a 9.5!!! There were two pair available in my size. Let's just say they are less than appealing. It baffles me that the Chinese have such small feet. Surely there are some out there with big feet like me.

So add shopping to the list of things I miss from home. I miss the ease of shopping. Being able to just look. Not having to bargain for a price and wonder if I paid too much. I miss creating my menu for the week, determining what ingredients I need and then doing one big trip to Kroger. I miss being able to head to the mall when I need a new outfit for an event the next day, not worrying if I have time to get to the fabric market to have something made. Only to hope that it looks OK when I do get it back. I miss being able to run to Target on a rainy day, just because I can.

Easter Pics

Here are our Easter pictures!!! It really was a great day. Enjoy!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Yay...we're back!!!

Not too sure what was taking place before but we're back now. I'll give you all a brief update to bring you up to speed.

We had a great Easter as you can see in a following post. The weather was perfect and the Easter Bunny was generous.

Chuck is back to work this week but will be done on Friday. Morgan is off from school for Spring Break, so Nancy and I have been enjoying our time with her. We've done some shopping, swimming, bike riding, and just hanging out.

Molly is getting ready to run a marathon soon. Well...maybe not a marathon, and probably not too soon. But she has taken a few steps on her own and it is only a matter of time before she chases her big sister down. She'll have new teeth soon, given away by her recent fussiness and excessive drool. Poor thing. But she's a trooper.


We will all leave next Wednesday, April 2 for Beijing. It is a three day trip filled with visits to the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace and other great sites. There will be pictures and an update once we return on Friday, April 4. Then Mark and I will be attending our first black tie event on Saturday, April 5. Depending on how my gown turns out (a whole other post), there may be pictures. (Mark's tux looks great, by the way.)

I think that is all for now. Hopefully I can continue updating the blog without any further difficulties.

Nancy's Day Out

Chuck's been busy working, so Nancy and I are having a great time together. When I asked her what she wanted to do today, she replied "we don't have to go shopping everyday." "I know", I said. "But that's what we do in Shanghai. We shop, we lunch, we spa."

Eventually we decided to visit YuYaun Garden, a traditional Ancient Garden with great architecture. Nancy was very impressed with the rooftops of the buildings and the tile work. Unfortunately Yu Garden is quite touristy now and is more of a souvenir shop than anything.

We stopped into the Pearl Market close by just to get an idea of what they have to offer. Both of us bought a few things and believe it or not, spent most of time there. We had plans to meet Mark for lunch so we didn't have much time to explore the rest of the area. We did however have a few minutes to watch traditional Chinese dumplings being made. You will see in one of the pictures a woman stuffing pork into the dumpling dough. In the next picture you will see a man slicing the dough from a HUGE block of dough. This restaurant is very famous for their dumplings and the line to try them is extememly long.

We met Mark for lunch where Mom tasted pan fried pork wontons and even ate them with chopsticks. She had practice though. Last night she ate her entire dinner with chopsticks. Including rice!! We made it home just in time to get Morgan home from school. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow....shopping, or more shopping. ;)

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Last week I was suffering from laryngitis, and could hardly speak. On Friday, Mr. Yu noticed this and he asked me if I had any medicine. I told him yes and that I needed to take some. Come Saturday I was still struggling to talk. While we were all out shopping, Mr. Yu had taken it upon himself to pick up some traditional Chinese medicine to help me get my voice back. He said I need to take 20 pills 3 times a day. The pills were little yellow balls, a bit smaller than a bb pellet. They came in a small white bottle , with a foil safety seal. I have no idea what they're made of, but I trust Mr. Yu so I decided to try them out. When I woke up on Sunday my voice was back. Mr. Yu was pleased with this. He said, "Chinese medicine, very good." And I agreed!

Remember when....

....Molly's hair was so spiky it wouldn't lay flat?





















Well, that's no longer an issue. Her hair is so flat and staight. It keeps getting thicker, but it doesn't seem to grow in length. She's still our beautiful girl!!

Gymnastic Champ

Today was technically the last day of gymnastics for Morgan. They will have one make up lesson next week, but today was treated as the last. At the end of the lesson, each of the kids received a badge and report card. The coach's comments said Morgan is a "good listener and takes on the competencies being taught." I am really proud of our little gymnast. Chuck and Nancy were able to watch and they were impressed with the coaches and how well the class ran. And even more impressed with Morgan's moves!! She really seems to enjoy the lessons, so we have signed her up for the next session which begins in April.