In search of the market

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

 I think there is a conspiracy!!!  They must keep the big market in a secret location and as soon as someone tells me where it is… they move it!!!  We spent yesterday walking up and down Yang Gao Zhong Lu, but we did not find anything that even remotely looks like a market.

During our language lesson last night I had gone through all the words I thought would help me at the market. 

Market - Shi Chang

Flower market – Hua shi

Dirt – tu

Pots – hua pen

Gloves – shou tao

Fertilizer – fei liao

And some really important words…

Ice cream – bing ji lin

Cone – tian tong

Chocolate – choco lee

(Marcy tells me that every post, I talk about losing weight and ice cream in the same post.  I had not realized that.  However I do think about ice cream a lot.  It is the only dessert item that we like here.  They have chocolate, but it is very expense, so that is something I buy, but partake of only sparingly.  So although I speak about ice cream often, I really do not have it that often, maybe once a week or, sometimes if I am lucky, twice.  But for someone hoping to drop a few pounds it is probably still too often.  But it is a comfort food in a place that never really feels like home.)

But back to my dilemma, all I want to do is buy some pots, soil and flowers… and maybe a couple of tomato plants.  I have this large wonderful deck on the front of the apartment that is begging for some color.  There is already a table and chairs with an umbrella that came with the apartment.  A few pots of color would make it so much cozier.  Around the parameter, they planted red tips for privacy.  They make a perfect back drop for a few nice flowers.  BUT Nooooooooo… the market alludes me!!!

So when we got to the Lotus Supermarket, I knew we had gone too far, so we went in to see what was there.  The supermarkets always have lots of shops outside them or they are in a mall in the basement.  We thought we should see what is here… it’s a mall, kinda, and the grocery is actually upstairs.  We wandered around the mall part looking at the shops.  There was a Dunkin Donuts and a French Bakery, restaurants… an Ajisen Noodles, then just clothes and shoe stores. 

Once we saw the noodle place… well, we knew what was going to be our lunch.  The walk from the apartment had built up an appetite and it was bearing down on about 1:30.  So we slipped in and ordered some lunch. 

I tried to ask the wait staff if they knew where the market was.  I carefully wrote out my questions in the correct format I had been taught and had the pronunciation down.  When I tried to ask them, they just blew me off before I could even finish my question.  That is the part of living here that is so frustrating.  Back home if someone asked me a question about some place… I would do my best to understand the question and give them an answer or point them in the right direction.  But here, there are many who do not even try to help.  So the market will just have to wait.

I needed a few things from the grocery, so after lunch we went upstairs to a giant Lotus Supermarket.  This was a really nice store.  The bakery was disappointing, but the produce was exceptional… and reasonably priced.  And the big thing… no fishy smell was permeating the air.  As a matter of fact, I saw no fish tanks of live fish.  This was almost like being in a grocery back home.  So we walked around to see what products were available… which really translates into ‘how good is the import section?’  It was only a couple of aisles and not so great.  I will put this on my list of places that I can shop.  It is no farther than the Thumb Plaza Carrefour and actually the walk felt a little shorter.

I was so optimistic I would find the market; I had drug my cart with me.  Although it would not be full of plants and materials, it did go home full of food.  All the way back I continued to look for the market.  I peeked down every cross street thinking I would spy something worthy of a closer look, but nothing worthy of a second look anywhere along the way home. 

I sent an email to Victor, our cultural training person who told me about this market in the first place.  I am hoping he can give me very specific directions and hopefully a name.  This has now become my mission… I am bound and determined to find this crazy market!!!!

I also had some presence of mind today and brought the camera with me.  All the wonderful things that are really close to us I can now share with you.  This is by no means everything, but it is a glimpse of what is between our apartment and the Lotus on Yang Gao Lu.

This is a huge plaza in between the intersection of Century Ave and Yang Gao and another road that marks the start of the gardens.  On the weekends this plaza is full of families skating, flying kites and just meeting up with friends.

The building in the background is the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center.

I am doing a kinda 360 degree view and this one is looking back to an area of businesses and tall buildings.

This is one of the time sculptures, the sun dial.  It looks like a fallen tower to me, but I am told it is a sun dial.  To the left of the sculpture is a tall white building and next to it is a dark greenish looking building that looks to be leaning with a slant on the top. That is China Fortune Tower, Michael’s building.  His office is on the 32^nd floor.

Oh BTW… notice the jacket… it has been in the 60’s since Saturday.  We went from mid 90’s on Friday to jacket weather on Saturday and rain.

This is a much better angle on the sun dial.

Here is another angle on the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center.  It is huge and the architecture… it looks like a set of glass kettle drums.

This clock is on the tower of one of the Chinese government buildings.  If I ever get turned around in Pudong and can see this clock… not only can I tell what time it is, but I also know I am almost home.

Not sure what these buildings house, but the architecture is pretty amazing. Kinda reminds me of Viking helmets with the wings or maybe a crown.

These are our apartment buildings.  The colored tiles on the balconies are a dead giveaway.

This is our front deck.  Now don’t you think this would be so much better if there were a few pots of flowers?  We have had some high winds so the umbrella had to be taken down.

This is my view off the back deck.  It is really lush.

This is the front entrance to our building.  Our apartment is the low bushes just to the left of the entrance.

If you peek through the trees, you can see the back of our apartment… that is ours with the dryer and a few towels hanging.  I am adopting the Chinese way… hanging our laundry.  It takes forever to dry in the dryer, so I hang until almost dry and then throw them in the dryer to soften them up.  I really never much liked the towels that could stand in the corner and felt like sandpaper. 

These are some random shots from the front of our apartment and from the back of the grounds.  The rounded building front that is down below ground level is the pool.  Although there are doors, the only way to get in is through the fitness center.  This little stream is the only one of the property that is not running yet.  There must be a leak or something… the workers have been doing repairs on it.  The other underground with the pond is another part of the fitness center.

Well I hope you enjoyed the short tour of some of my world now; the spaces between our apartment and the illusive market and around the apartment compound.   I am determined to make sure I have the camera with me at all times for those moments that something interesting or unseen appears. 

News Flash… just got an email with the correct location of the Market… it is Yang Gao South Rd and Pujian Rd.… total opposite direction of where I was originally told.  Of course we did not find it!!!   Yippee… going to find that ‘bad boy’ yet!

Hopefully next post will yield good news….but until then, have a blessed day!