Shanghai 101 - Week 4

Some things we didn't know that we have (kinda) figured out...

1.  What in the hell does this mean?  What kind of soap is it?  Does it have bleach in it?  Will it make my skin fall off?  These are things I won't know unless we give it a go...

Jeff bought this bottle because it was the same
shape as one I use in Melbourne...

Only, the words on the bottle are somewhat different.

2.  Sometimes when you order "chicken" on the menu, you get at least a half a chicken...the whole chicken - head, neck, body, legs, foot.  Sometimes you don't.  It's pretty much a crap shoot as to what you get.  I've ordered the same soup for lunch at the same restaurant two different times and gotten two different chicken treatments - one time it was shredded chicken breast, the next time it was half of a boiled chicken - skin, bones, meat, and all.  Makes ordering like playing roulette...you may be a winner, you may be a loser.

3.  Breakfast in a western hotel is always good or better than good.  If all else fails and you don't know what to eat or when you'll have a western meal again, head to a Marriott/Sheraton/Renaissance and go for breakfast.  You'll pay for it dearly, but you'll get a great brekkie.

4.  There is a lot of paperwork to file to live here, and you have to file it many times with many different departments.  BUT, it seems as though we're legal...at least for right now! <<update...we're not exactly finished.  They need our passports again for another 3 - 5 days...>>

Waiting, waiting, waiting...for more paperwork.

5.  Dogs wear puffy coats, too.  And sometimes sneakers.  If it is the last picture I ever take, I will get a picture of a dog in a puffy coat with sneakers.

Better Safe than Sorry...

As part of our lease, our landlord was to provide a safe.  In it, we will keep all of our paperwork...and there is a lot of paperwork. (another post will be dedicated to paperwork - I know you can't wait!)

It was on my weekend 'to-do' list, so off I went to unpack it, set the code, and shove all of our papers inside.

I pulled her out of the box - a little small...not sure what will keep someone from coming into the apartment and walking out with the safe under their arm, but whatever.

Then, I go to read the instructions on how to set the code. 

I figured out how to get the batteries inserted.  That is all.

Me thinks that Jeffie didn't learn to read Chinese while skiing in Montana, so I will have to take the paperwork into the office and have our assistant translate it for me. 

It's SNOWING, it's SNOWING...

That is what I yelled yesterday when I looked out my window and saw those frosty flakes.  The girls that sit outside of my office started snickering and giggling, so I'll need to investigate what "SNOWING" means in Mandarin.

View of the park from our balcony

View of the traditional Shanghai homes with SNOW on their roofs!

We got about an inch or so of snow, and it was snowing when I got on the plane Friday morning for Melbourne. 

Admittedly (and thankfully) Shanghai didn't get the Nor'easter that Boston did, but we got something!  Hope everyone up there still has power and have made a few snow angels!

ps - when I arrived in Melbourne on Saturday morning, it was 90 degrees!

Is this Weird?

So, I was in the dining room the other day, and I look up to our heating vent, and I see this:


Are we being recorded?

Is that weird?  Apparently Jeff knew it was there (for 2 days), and didn't say anything knowing that I would freak out.  He thinks it's just a temperature unit in the heating system.  I think we're being recorded.

In talking with other expats, it's very common that 'maintenance people' come into your apartment right after you move in to 'fix things.'  I'm pretty sure they are coming in to plant recording devices.

I have a friend from grad school that I'm thinking about contacting to do a sweep of the apartment.

Creepy.

Evil Nemesis. And, a New Love.

I have found an evil nemesis in China, but also a new love.  So, which do you want to hear about first?

Let's go with EVIL.

Yep, that's it.  Know what it is?  It's a drain that exists in each of the bathrooms near the toilet.  Seems pretty innocent enough, only it's not.

EVIL.

It smells.  Horribly.  And, it's an unidentifiable smell.  If you know me well, you know that I don't do well with smells - I can smell garbage that needs to be taken out a good 2 days before Jeff can...I just don't do well with smells.  Not only does it smell horribly, but the smell travels - the one in our master bath - is good...no complaints.  The one in the hall bath and the little bathroom off the kitchen - off the charts with bad smell. 

The issue is that it's not only our apartment that does this, it's every bathroom that I've been in here.  Work, hotel, and there are comments after comments on the expat sites about this horrible smell.  I do know that it's worse when it's rainy, so I look forward to drier days.

My new love.  And, actually, it's not just my new love...it's Jeff's, too.

LOVE.

We have had a difficult time finding good coffee, and know that we were completely spoiled in Melbourne.  We broke down and bought a Nespresso machine.  Jeff initially bulked at the idea because they are a bit pricey here...but, once we were in the store, I thought he was going to spring for the mac-daddy of all Nespresso machines (but he didn't).  It was very cute - and a great example of how they bring their brand to life in their stores.  He got all starry-eyed, sat down, had a cup of coffee, then went all in and qualified for their Chinese New Year promotion.

Happy Australia Day...A bit Late!

The good ol' Aussie's celebrated Australia Day over the last weekend in January.

Last year, we were at the Australian Open Tennis Tournament.

2012 - It was so hot this day - we were so glad we were in the shade.

2012 - Love the photo-bomber behind us.

This year, we were in a bar in Shanghai watching the final match.  Just a little different ambiance.

There were guys two tables over that were chain-smoking, and I'm not exaggerating (two guys in the top-center of the photo - jerks).  Lighting one cigarette from the last.  It was gross.  Restaurant #2 that we left early because of how much people around us were smoking.  Not sure we'll ever get used to this.

Our first attempt at ordering salsa in China...it was
okay, but not anywhere near as good as Ericka's!

Delivery: Laundry

Since we were living in a hotel for the first three weeks that we were in Shanghai, we didn't have a washer and dryer that we could conveniently use.  We asked around, and there are several services that will do all of your dry cleaning and laundry...some even deliver.  Sign me up.

I emailed the service, they dropped off two laundry bags one day, picked-up dirty clothes the next day, and dropped off sparkly fresh clothes the day after.  And, they really do the whole experience quite well.  As an added bonus, they even combed my cashmere sweaters - for free!

Clean and tidy laundry - no folding to do!

The folding of dress shirts is better than
when we bought them.

It's all about the presentation, isn't it!  Nicely
done with a ribbon and bow.

While I don't believe that Jeff will let me continue to send our laundry out every week, it's a great service to know about.  If the dryers here are anything like they are in Melbourne, half of my clothes have to hang dry, which means that laundry takes a long time...if we're in a pinch, I know where we'll be going!