Thursday was a big day for us. First of all… Happy Happy Birthday to Wade!!! … our eldest grandson turns 8 today. His big day is easy to remember…03/03/03. This is the first birthday we have not been there to celebrate with him…
We were up early and off to the Western Clinic to start our Hep A and B inoculations. We didn’t have time to start the 6 month process before we left. So we head out shortly after 8 to find a taxi. Much to our dismay… there were no taxis at our gate. We had no way to communicate what we wanted to our gate security guards… so we headed out on foot. Prepared to walk 5 miles but praying that we would be able to hail a cab somewhere along the journey. During the morning commute we had no way of knowing if we would be successful or not. We had 45 minutes to get to the clinic. After walking 2 blocks, which is about a ¾ to 1 mile, we were lucky to be at the right place as one was letting a fare out and we hopped in. We got there right on time. We really liked the doctor who was a first generation Chinese American that had come back to Shanghai for the adventure. However, we had to go the same distance from our apartment, but in the opposite direction to the other clinic that actually had the vaccine on site. So at the completion of all the running, we had our first round of the Hep A and B inoculation behind us. Which I might add…this particular shot smarted something fierce!! We will go back in one month for the next round… then in 5 months for the last round.
We had to be back to the apartment by 1pm. Our household goods would be delivered, 27 cartons of various sizes. This is considerably sooner than we expected. I think they tell you it is going to be 4-6 and up to 12 weeks… just so you are prepared in case it takes that long. I spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday unpacking and looking for the right place to put my precious ‘stuff’. Of course it is only precious to me…. But it is here and now we feel like we might really be moved in. The other thing was … we were running out of several things, so getting our shipment meant Sudafed and more lotion and shampoo. The weather change on Tuesday had my head totally clogged.
The one item in this shipment that both Michael and I were anxiously awaiting was the Keurig coffee maker. I was curious to see if customs had confiscated any of the many boxes of K-cups we had packed with the coffee maker…. And much to my delight… the box had not even been opened. I opened the box and started immediately getting past the boxes of k-cups and down to the coffee maker… or brew system as it is advertised. I had repacked it in the original box… I was determined to make sure it arrived in perfect…working condition…. And it did!!!
I hustled around and gathered an adapter and a converter… and realized the converter I had was only a 2 prong… darn. So late that day I was off to the Carrefour in search of an electricity converter, but much to my dismay… nothing available that would carry the watts we needed. Shucky darn… that meant no coffee until Saturday!! It would be torture to look at that coffee maker and all that coffee and not be able to partake of a good cup of java!! So Saturday it would be…
Saturday, March 5
We started the morning on the internet searching for electronics stores in Pudong. We found several with 2 very close to each other. We decided that would be our best bet and the others would be backups.
So in preparation, I tried to think of all the questions we might have for the sales people at the store, Using Google translate, I wrote each request in English then translated to Chinese, cutting and pasting into an email that I sent to Michael. He would have this on his new TI issued Blackberry. We would have it when we got to the store and hopefully, leave with what we needed.
We also decided we would take the Metro… the subway train. Mapping out which line, where to get on and where to get off, we prepared for the outing. We would pick up the Metro just on the other side of the Science and Technology Museum. That would also give us an opportunity to check out the underground shopping mall. You had to pass through it to get to the trains.
Well… let me tell you… it was overwhelming. Before we even got to the entrance, there were people trying to get you to come to their store. One lady walked all the way down with us and basically led us to her store. It was full of knock off handbags and luggage. As we passed from the front to the back of the store… she led us to a secret door in the back that opened to yet another room full of purses. We were not interested in buying but we wanted to get a feel for what was available in this underground shopper’s paradise. It was like walking down the midway of a carnival and barkers calling you to look at their stuff or following you..promising the best price if you would just buy now. The merchandise available was quite varied… fabric and tailors, jewelry, clothes, shoes, luggage and handbags… and all things in between. It is a place you must negotiate. We have been told you should never pay more that 20-30% of the quoted price.
But we finally gave it up and made our way to the train station. We bought our tickets and found where we needed to be to get to the stop we needed. It was very crowded. We had opted for a backpack for our outing… so my purse was safely tucked into the backpack that Michael was wearing. We waited for our train… I went first and Michael was behind me…. Then all of a sudden the doors closed… I was in and Michael was out…. Oh dear!!!! He tells me the look on my face as I turned to realize he had not made it was somewhat priceless… wide eyed and gaping mouth. I have to say my heart was pounding. I had nothing… no purse, no cell, no money… all I could do was find a central location at our stop and pray Michael would find me.
When the train stopped… all I could see was a mass of bodies ready to stampede on when the doors opened. I quickly followed the person in front of me off the train and pushed my way through the masses. There was no stopping or I would have been pushed back into the train. I made my way up the stairs... basically riding with the flow of people rushing up the stairs. It dispersed once we got to the top, so I found a spot that gave me a view of the stairs and waited…and waited…and waited. I finally saw Michael and the relief I felt was nothing short of wonderful. He had been looking for me down on the platform, but my instinct said to stay where I was and he would find me.
One adventure down…it is time to move on to the electronics store. We found our way out of the subway and into the daylight. Once we got our bearing…off we went. We found the first place and headed in. These stores are huge… it is more like an electronics mall. It is like many stores with every imaginable product you could need. Overwhelming is a word I use a lot here… because this country girl has no point of reference. I have been to New York City and not even NYC compares to the number of people, the noise, the size, and the pace of Shanghai. Then add the language issues… well almost every outing is a challenge.
We finally find a place that has some adapter and transformers in the case. We whip out the Blackberry and bring up our predetermined questions. The sales girl finds someone that has a little English and we ask for a transformer… he thinks we are talking about a cartoon… please. So again we show the translated questions and they start scurrying around. She brings one to us that is 200 watts… not big enough… more scurrying. We need one that carries at least 1500 watts… but 2000 would cover us. Then this guy comes up with a fairly big box… probably 8”x5”x 6” and sits it down. We check the specs and yippee!!! Just our size!!! So price… 960 yuan… How badly did we want that coffee?… pretty badly… $125.00 bad!!! YES!!! No negotiation… we pay and that was that. So they package it up. Michael lifts it up and it weighs at least 15 lbs. It is heavy!!!
Now we need to move to plan B. We were going to have lunch and do a little shopping and site seeing… but this thing is too heavy to walk around with. We load the sucker into the back pack and head for the train station… this time I was determined to not get separated when those doors opened. We got on the train and headed back home. By the time we made it to the apartment we had already decided that if it did not work with our coffee maker we would just have to do without.
We got in and unpacked our precious cargo. Michael lugged it to its final resting place in the kitchen. We carefully plugged the Keurig into the adapter and turned on the transformer… so far so good. Hit the power button on the Keurig…. AND it worked!!! Success was ours!!! We celebrated with a hot cup of coffee… it was delicious!!!
Now that our main mission was completed… it was time to find a place to eat and head to the Carrefour. We need a printer… that way I can handle things on my own… translate my needs and print it off. My little disposable phone is a no frills phone, so I have to prepare ahead for a shopping trip. So we headed out on foot again.
It is about 4-5 miles to the Carrefour… we were getting our exercise today. Have I mentioned that I have lost 11 lbs and Michael has lost 15 lbs? We basically live on fruits and vegetables and walk almost everywhere. Michael walks to work… 30 mins there and 30 mins back. We should be in better physical shape than either of us has been in years by the time we head back to the states. I am excited about that prospect!
We gave Malone’s a try for a late lunch and early dinner. It is kinda like a sports bar and grill. It caters to the foreigners serving typical American bar and grill fare. And …it was filled with foreigners too. It was a place that was on my list of dining spots to try. The food is ample and pretty tasty.
We successfully purchased a printer and bought a few other necessities. We hustled through the store like a couple of old pros. We have this part down pat… the biggest thing is remembering to bring your bags.
We headed out to catch a cab and off for home. Another successful Saturday Shanghai!!!
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