September 18, 2011
Yesterday started out slow, but we finally got our gears moving by mid-afternoon. We were once again on a quest. The voltage converter we bought right after our household shipment arrived to power our coffee maker finally pooped out. Or maybe I should say burned out.
We began to notice a bit of smoke when we brewed a cup of coffee. Then the smoke got worse and the smell of burning wires… well that was enough for me to stop using it. Unfortunately that meant no coffee too. Actually at first we thought it was the coffee maker! We would not be finding a Chinese replacement for the Keurig which meant no more coffee until after we go home and try to bring one back… January! Long time to wait for a good cup of coffee!!!
Naturally we did not make any notes about the name of the place that we had gone to before, so it was back on the internet searching. We found a place that was in the general area we remembered and took a chance.
We took the subway and figured we could cab it back with the boat anchor. We walked and walked and walked… determination always keeps us going… and eventually we found it…yea!!!! Once we found it, it was the same place we had gone before! The name: Buy Now.
These places are not really one store like here. It seems that the building owners rent spots by the sq ft to various vendors. The down stairs, in this particular store, was all computers and laptops, the second floor was all cell phones and cell phone accessories, and the third floor was a whole lot of misc stuff. There were several more floors we could have explored but we never made it that far.
When we hit the 3rd floor, a young fellow immediately approached us wanting to know what we were looking for… and we were completely prepared this time. Since we already had purchased this product before… we had taken a picture and had exactly what we were looking for written up in Chinese characters. No problem… he had what we were looking for!!! Follow me!!!
Sure enough… we followed him through the maze and there right at the counter… voltage converters. He went through the stack of boxes and found the correct one. We opened the box to make sure what we were getting and it was spot on. It was a bigger box than the last one… you think size makes it better?
Now time to negotiate the price!!! Discount price RMB780. This is almost RMB300 lower than what we paid last time!!! Clearly we are better and smarter than the first time! So we paid and loaded the boat anchor and set off for home.
As we were riding the escalator down, Michael realized we should have gone exploring the area first because walking around with this thing would be impossible. When we got outside, it was straight to the curb for a cab… darn we should have planned better! Oh well… next time.
We dropped off the converter and headed straight back out for the subway. We are going to the new mall called Kerry Parkside. We had met friends there for dinner last weekend at a place called The Brew and wanted to come back for a closer look.
We passed an exhibit of Smart Cars. I am not sure if they were selling them or promoting them or perhaps both… but I took a few pictures to share.
Michael was particularly interested in this baby blue and grey one…
They are cute little 2 seaters with a tiny back for a couple bags of groceries room. I would love to have one of these bad boys. I could go toodling around Mabank when I get home.
But enough… time to move on to the metro. And since I had my camera out… I took a couple more shots… The first one is the back side of the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum… they just replaced the purlane with pansies in all the flower beds.
And this next shot is going across to the Metro entrances… the bridges are being replaced too. This update had been started before I went to Texas in July and they are still working on it.
The kinda arched domes are the entrances to the Number 2 Metro Line. Always a busy station because the fake market is below this whole area and more. You can enter from the metro among other ways. And perched everywhere is someone trying to lure you into their store in the market. We always just tell them we are going to the metro... no shopping today!
And everywhere you look there is someone selling kites. Every variety you might imagine. And now there are dozens that light up in the sky. At night it is beautiful… little colored twinkles in the sky.
Once on the subway we had to change over to the Number 7 line which would take us to Huamu Lu and the Kerry Parkside. There is a huge 5 Star Hotel there also. In the back of the hotel and mall is the huge complex called the Shanghai Expo Center.
I know about this Expo Center because Friday I had gone to the new Dragon Fly Spa for a foot massage. I had wanted to try it out because it is easy for me to get there by subway rather than having to cab it to Jinqiao to the other location. But I messed up which exit I was supposed to take out of the subway and ended up across from the expo center. By the time I figured out where I was compared to where I needed to be… I was sweating terribly which is not what I wanted going to the spa. But I found my way and the massage was heavenly. But leaving I actually found the correct way to go to the station and it was through the mall from the basement level… I did not even have to go outside!!!
Side bar… I needed to recharge my transportation card and the service desk was right at the entrance so I wanted to do it here because it was so convenient. As I approached, a woman was desperately trying to communicate (in English) with the person working there. I had flashbacks!!! I felt for her as it was me about 7 months ago. So I did what any good Christian would… I told her I could help her. The look of total and complete relief was all over her face. I told her to hang on while I recharged my card and I would be glad to assist her.
She was looking for a market… not a fancy mall, but a fake market for cheap stuff to take home from her trip. She, Kiran, and her husband, Tinu, were at the Expo looking for furniture for their string of hotels, Mada Hotels, in East Africa. They were based in Kenya. I told her they were in luck as I was headed home and there was a huge market right at my station. They were staying in Puxi and right off East Nanjing Lu… off Line 2. So this all was working out for them… They would stop off at the market and make their purchases, then hop back on the line 2 for their hotel.
I showed them around a few shops in the market and once they felt comfortable, I headed on for home. They thanked me for my help and we exchanged cards. Said if I ever got to Kenya to please come and stay with them. I would love to take them up on that offer… Africa would be incredible!
But back to my original story… Michael and I started at the bottom of this mall and explored what was there. Only 3 stories of the mall were open and there were lots of store fronts posting ‘Coming Soon’ for some new stores. One thing was for sure… lots of places to choose from to eat… from as casual as Johnny Moo’s to super fancy with white table cloths and candle lite places.
We decided upon a place called Food Fusion, Malaysian cuisine. After looking over the menu, we wanted to try it. Our timing was perfect because within about 15 minutes it was packed and there were lines outside. We ordered a variety of dishes because we could not decide. There was only one dish we were not too crazy about… it was Sambal Mixed Vegetables. The sauce smelled like stinky feet. Did not like this one at all, but everything else was delicious. We would definitely be back.
I looked up Sambal Sauce. Here is what I found.
Sambal Belacan or sambal belachan must be the only true Malay food trademark. You are not considered as a Malay if you do not like or perish the thought, never ate sambal belacan. What is sambal? What is belacan?
Sambal refers to any kind of ready-to-eat fresh chili paste mixed with a variety of spices like onion, garlic and ginger. The paste must have some mixture of spicy hot, sour, salty and sometimes a little sweet taste.
sambal belacan
Belacan is dried shrimp paste cake. Penang incidentally makes the best belachan in the world (I am not kidding or being biased, okay?). There is a version called belachan madu, available at Taman Tun Sardon. The taste of sambal made with this belacan madu it SO GOOD! Sambal belacan usually is made of fresh red chilies or bird's eye chilies, a little shallot or onion, sometimes ginger, a squeeze of lime, belacan and a little sugar.
I guess I would not pass for a true Malay anyway… but this was not for me and even Michael… ‘the eat anything that doesn’t run away guy’ did not like it much either. But everything else we had was wonderful… and the curry puffs were sooooo good.
The strange thing that we have noticed here in Asia… food is not served all at once! It is doodled out over the course of the meal. Like last night, we were served the curry puffs, penang spring rolls, and the rendang beef first. So that was the 2 appetizers and one entrée. Finally the drinks came. We had almost finished that when the second entrée, a pork chop with a homemade sweet and sour sauce with sesame seeds came. That was soooo good. We were completely finished and waiting when the mixed vegetable dish came. Then we waited… and waited… and waited for the stir fried broccoli with garlic. We were about to the point we wanted to leave… and it finally was served. Hard to get used to this method of serving food, but I guess it works for them.
But we enjoyed it immensely and knew we would be back… even if they do serve the food in weird order and doodle it out. All that food was RMB206… or about $33 USD. Not a bad price for a nice meal.
Michael and his sweet tooth needed a little dessert. We wandered around a bit… we had several options for something sweet. There was a Mr. Donut, a Baker and Spice, Cold Stone Creamery, the Coffee Bean, and a couple other places. The Coffee Bean won out solely because he could have cheese cake and coffee in the same place… and the cheese cake looked like it what we expect it to be… creamy... and it was.
Once we finished dessert, I was happy to have the walk back to the subway and then the walk home… I needed to walk off that over full feeling!
Another Saturday down in Shanghai… nighty night!
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