Glasses Market!

Here in Shanghai, you will find a market for anything and everything.  Fakes, clothes, office supplies, electronics, books, and apparently glasses!  Not just the fashionable glasses with no lenses that people here like to wear - wish that's all I needed.....but actual prescription glasses!  I was skeptical at first until our friend, Rebecca (who's been here for awhile and knows all the "ins" at markets) took us and I came home with 3 pairs of glasses and was left wanting more! 

It was a super simple process though overwhelming with the amount of frames you had to choose from!  The shop was on the 5th floor of the market and the entire floor was dedicated to glasses!  The booth was set up like an eye doctor's office with machines, glasses in display cases, contacts abound, etc.  You can have your prescription read and adjusted but they will not attend to eye health, for that you must go to a real doctor, but if you just need to see better, come on in! 

We told Summer, our glasses friend, the types and styles we wanted and she gave us boxes and boxes of frames to go through!  If your prescription is straight forward, usually you can get your glasses made in 20 minutes.  The day we went, Summer was overloaded so it took four days to complete my order.  Two prescription reading glasses and one pair of prescription sunglasses for $100!  I feel this could easily become an addiction........what do you think???

 

#1!

 

 

#2!

 

 

#3!

My fabulous cat-eye sunglasses!  I LOVE them!

The market:

 

Looks pretty normal!  

But check out the advertisement in the left hand corner.....yikes!

It was very disturbing to the guys in our group!

After we finished with glasses, we walked around checking out other stores in the market; wigs, hair products, makeup, jewelry, clothing, you name it!

 

There are no words.

A little bling, bling, perhaps?!

 

Then on the way home, found this little gem in the metro station:

 

No idea what 'young style' is and not sure I want to know!

We finished our day under blue skies and cooler temps with cocktails!

 

Life is good :)

 

 

 

Mr. & Mrs. Bund

Friday night I took B on a date night to Mr. & Mrs. Bund, a restaurant on the Puxi side of the river that looks back to Lujiazui and the skycsrapers that claim the sky. 

It was a casual yet fancy place with some steep prices but delicious food!  There menu has over 180 items and it is set up similar in style to tapas.  We had goat cheese and basil risotto, tomato and basil pasta, sea bass, tuna, and mustard crusted chicken. 

Our table was inside at a window so we could take in the view.  After finishing our meal, we ordered a round of drinks and went outside on their patio to enjoy Shanghai at night :)

 

Fun bicycle sculpture in the building!

 

 

Look at all the people!  Like tiny ants everywhere!

 

 

B and The Bund.

 

 

That's a paddle boat folks, as Southern as you'll find out here......I gotta get on it! 

We had fun with color changing orbs on the patio!

 

 

Back in the lobby of the building, there was this crazy wax figure - we thought it was real when we went up to the restaurant but it was still there when we came back down. 

 

Of course B poses - no idea who this is!

 

To get back across the river to Pudong, instead of taking the metro or taxi, we took the

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel.  I had taken this tunnel on my first trip to Shanghai but B had never experienced it.  "Experience" is the key word.  It's very short, and I don't think the word 'strange' even begins to cover it.  Imagineering was actually consulted to design the experience but because of the pricey fee, the design went a different direction.....

No words can explain, if you come visit, we'll be sure to take you on it and let you experience it yourself!

 

SO THRILLING!!!

 

 

 

100 Days. 100 Nights.

We've been in Shanghai 100 days.  Can you believe that??!!!

There is a saying here in the expat community that you will have Shang-HIGH days and Shangh-LOW days.  We experience more highs than lows.  I'm so glad I lived in New York for three years before living here and that B spent time in the city with me because it has made the transition much easier; I often say I'm just getting back into the NYC groove and compare metro station transfers to Times Square, crowds as the same, and have learned that crazy taxi drivers are universal.  Low days manly consist of our frustrations with the language, communication, and stares - I get it, I'm white, you're not but we are not the only white people in Shanghai!  I want to learn the Chinese phrase, "May I help you???" to use when being stared at but probably not the best idea :)

We are looking forward to traveling and seeing more of this country and Asia.

Hong Kong will be our first big trip in October followed by Thailand in December.  We are also in the planning stages of visiting Chendu, China where you can hug a panda! as well as visits to Beijing, Tibet, and Japan.  Lots of experiences to be had and places to explore....

Here's to many more hundred days in Shanghai!

Housekeeping

B and I are very spoiled living at the IFC Residence.  The apartment was fully furnished with things we liked, we don't have to deal with a landlord, and we get housekeeping once a week.  Now, we have to pay for our housekeeping (this was a non-negotiable item from Disney as strange as that sounds) but we only pay 400RMB a month = $65 US.

Every Tuesday this means we get new sheets, a vaccuming (though I'm not sure she does this every week), dishes washed that are left in our sink, toilet cleaned, shower and tub cleaned, trash bags restocked, Kleenex restocked, and we never buy toilet paper!

This past week I'm not sure if we had a new lady or she just plain forgot some items but we were given no toilet paper or trash bags.  B called the front desk and told them, she cleaned the apartment but left no toilet paper (yes, spoiled.)  The front desk sent someone up with ONE roll of tp.  ONE.  And because we are stubborn, we used the one all week and then moved on to the Kleenex when that was gone.

While at work today, B sent this picture:

 

She left us a bag of toilet paper!

B was embarassed and said she must of thought he had a bad week!

Too funny!

Week 14 in Pics

 

 

 

Dog as African Lion

That's right.  A Chinese zoo tried to pass off a Tibetan Mastiff as their African Lion.  Supposedly, the zoo stated the lion was away for breeding purposes but other statements taken make the press believe the zoo was just trying to cut costs.  Other dogs were stand-ins for wolves and foxes were seen as leopards.  Check out the CNN link for the article and video:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/16/world/asia/china-zoo-dog-lion

Oh China.....

Week 13 in Pics

 

 

Qingdao Beer Festival 2013 - Day 2

The next day, the group headed out to 'Beer Street' to the Tsingtao Brewery and to find the elusive 'beer in a bag'!  We thought we would see many more of these at the festival but NO, and we wanted to drink beer out of a bag!

 

 

How to drink beer:  sip, look, swirl, sniff.

 

 

 

CHEERS!

And yes, a little girl peeing in the green space - everywhere they pee!

 

Chicken beer!

 

There was a 'druken house' inside the brewery - the floor was extremely slanted making you feel drunk without any drinks!  As B made is way inside, we all got this surprise on the monitor!  

 

Where the magic happens:

 

Sample time!

 

 

Best souvenirs in the shop - should have bought them!

 Back to the streets to find beer in a bag!

 

Jackpot!

 

The best part.....we purchased the beer right next to the live seafood tanks!

Oh China....

 

As we waited for taxis to head back to the hotel, Shawn and Brandon decided to greet people exiting the buses.  They said "Nihao" (hello) and "Huanying Guanglin" (welcome) to everyone - the people were all good sports and seem very amused!

 

We made our way back to the hotel and had a snack as B and I were on a later flight than the rest of the group.  As I was eating, B snapped this photo:

 

Butt bombed!  Yuck!

Great getaway but alas we realized.....we are still in China!

Looking forward to our trip to Hong Kong in October and Thailand in December to escape China and its nakedness for a bit!