off we go
saturday lis and I slept in. we had all sorts of grand plans for the weekend, so on empty stomachs we had a difficult time deciding what to do on which day. to give us time to decide and the get our heads on straight, we tried a new place for brunch: azul. it was delicious, but the trade off was having to endure the exuberant young french host who was clearly and loudly doing his best to flirt with us. anyway, we knew we had to drop by the fabric market and pick up our purchases from last week. we debated going to the museum, the antiques market, yu gardens, and "cheapa loo," which is supposed to be a good place for buying gifts and trinkets. the problem with "cheapa loo" however, is that we don't know how it's actually spelled to even look it up or try to get there in a cab. x-i-a-p-u l-u? who knows. we were told to go early, as it gets very busy in the afternoons, though I haven't decided if that might be more interesting.
after some unfocused pondering, we both agreed we were in the mood to shop. so off to the fabric market we went, to pick up our stuff and to then find a few more places around that area. well, what we forgot is that the fabric market is an all day affair for us. that place is full of potential. the only problem is fulfilling it. I wish I had a book of patterns here... anyway, our orders from last week turned out fantastic—even lis's pants which she had to try on behind a blue sheet tacked up across the corner of the busy hallway. (I'd be lying if I said she didn't walk in on another woman doing the same.) this time we were on a mission to find winter coats, and boy did we; we each bought TWO. lis's second coat was a process to order, as she wanted to merge two patterns: the collar from one and the rest from another, with a beautiful green material. apparently this was "very good" fabric, "from japan." they demonstrated (much to our surprise) by pulling out a lighter and burning the edge of it (which only slightly blackened.) the curious part was how afterward, the woman made lis SMELL it. I suppose the whole demonstration was a good bargaining chip on their behalf, as you can't really argue against safety, can you?
our last stop at the fabric market was a little shop in the front which sold touristy items: luggage, backpacks, mao bags and t-shirts. lis was interested in getting a couple of t-shirts and was quoted a price of 180 RMB each. (that's about $23 US.) no way. we told the little gal as much and since lis wasn't totally committed to the shirts, we were going to just leave. but the girl dropped the price. 100. still, no. lis was trying to pull herself away, but the calculator followed, dropping the price more and more. she followed us out of the store. at one point a woman came with the two t-shirts and a plastic bag. "okay, okay." 100 for both. lis hesitated, considering. "should I?" we were on the street corner and at this point I knew Little Miss Calculator was not going to let us leave without those damn t-shirts. no. I think we can get better. and we did. final sale was 80 RMB for both. we checked with a local later and found out we were right on target. t-shirts should be about 35-40 RMB each. it IS the end of summer, you know.
by the time were were done at the fabric market, it was time to head back to the hotel and grab our swimsuits. we had been invited to a poolside BBQ by the Notre Dame Shanghai Alumni Chapter Head (SACH). how could we pass? so we snuck some towels out of the hotel and headed over around 5pm. the cab ride was a long one. we got stuck in traffic and our driver was the only one in shanghai unwilling to switch lanes. he just continued to sit there and take his road rage out on his emergency brake every ten feet or so; he'd yank it up like he was parallel parking, dukes of hazard style. throughout, we were privileged to be able to listen to some sweet chinese pop ballads. (lis took a short movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9rE2ht0lQ0 make sure your volume is up.)
we finally arrived at SACH's place, a complex of 10-20 high rise apartments, scattered around a park-like setting, pool and children's playground. the cab driver pretended to know where to drop us off and after an almost complete circle, decided that the nearest high rise would do. so we went in search of a manned guard station, but eventually found the pool instead. upon entering, we didn't see SACH. as we rounded the pool, however, his wife introduced herself and told us to help ourselves in the food tent. we started to, and SACH quickly found us, awkwardly pulling us away from a conversation with his colleague. he seemed a little frantic, trying to make sure that we—and everyone else—had a good time. we hadn't planned on staying too long, but eventually more of SACH's friends showed, and he pulled us over to sit with them. one was another notre dame alum, and the rest seemed to be friends of his girlfriend. that is until Kid Club showed up. Kid Club was about the same age as lis and his father had gone to notre dame with SACH. he himself had gone to school in wisconsin and his english was perfect. in fact, I didn't even clue in on the fact that he was half vietnamese or that he had grown up in taipei until he brought it up. he was a really nice guy and full of info, but most of that info was about the shanghai club scene. I guess that is good though; he is very passionate about his profession (he's creative director for one of the older and evidently more pure clubs here). it was funny to see him punch it in with SACH, and really sweet that he and his beautiful trendy girlfriend took time out to come to the BBQ. we shared a cab home with the two of them (this one less eventful and with native speakers to guide the way) and we got their cards and the tip to check out his club friday night. i'd consider it if we weren't going to beijing this weekend. i can't imagine what the club scene here is like. according to Kid Club people don't dance. they'd rather "shake dice" and eat watermelon. apparently the dice thing is some sort of game, and Kid Club's beautiful girlfriend explained that watermelon is used for everything: good customer? have some watermelon. sorry we messed up your order. have some watermelon. "appeasement fruit," we named it.
there was slightly more to the weekend, but that's another story altogether...
after some unfocused pondering, we both agreed we were in the mood to shop. so off to the fabric market we went, to pick up our stuff and to then find a few more places around that area. well, what we forgot is that the fabric market is an all day affair for us. that place is full of potential. the only problem is fulfilling it. I wish I had a book of patterns here... anyway, our orders from last week turned out fantastic—even lis's pants which she had to try on behind a blue sheet tacked up across the corner of the busy hallway. (I'd be lying if I said she didn't walk in on another woman doing the same.) this time we were on a mission to find winter coats, and boy did we; we each bought TWO. lis's second coat was a process to order, as she wanted to merge two patterns: the collar from one and the rest from another, with a beautiful green material. apparently this was "very good" fabric, "from japan." they demonstrated (much to our surprise) by pulling out a lighter and burning the edge of it (which only slightly blackened.) the curious part was how afterward, the woman made lis SMELL it. I suppose the whole demonstration was a good bargaining chip on their behalf, as you can't really argue against safety, can you?
our last stop at the fabric market was a little shop in the front which sold touristy items: luggage, backpacks, mao bags and t-shirts. lis was interested in getting a couple of t-shirts and was quoted a price of 180 RMB each. (that's about $23 US.) no way. we told the little gal as much and since lis wasn't totally committed to the shirts, we were going to just leave. but the girl dropped the price. 100. still, no. lis was trying to pull herself away, but the calculator followed, dropping the price more and more. she followed us out of the store. at one point a woman came with the two t-shirts and a plastic bag. "okay, okay." 100 for both. lis hesitated, considering. "should I?" we were on the street corner and at this point I knew Little Miss Calculator was not going to let us leave without those damn t-shirts. no. I think we can get better. and we did. final sale was 80 RMB for both. we checked with a local later and found out we were right on target. t-shirts should be about 35-40 RMB each. it IS the end of summer, you know.
by the time were were done at the fabric market, it was time to head back to the hotel and grab our swimsuits. we had been invited to a poolside BBQ by the Notre Dame Shanghai Alumni Chapter Head (SACH). how could we pass? so we snuck some towels out of the hotel and headed over around 5pm. the cab ride was a long one. we got stuck in traffic and our driver was the only one in shanghai unwilling to switch lanes. he just continued to sit there and take his road rage out on his emergency brake every ten feet or so; he'd yank it up like he was parallel parking, dukes of hazard style. throughout, we were privileged to be able to listen to some sweet chinese pop ballads. (lis took a short movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9rE2ht0lQ0 make sure your volume is up.)
we finally arrived at SACH's place, a complex of 10-20 high rise apartments, scattered around a park-like setting, pool and children's playground. the cab driver pretended to know where to drop us off and after an almost complete circle, decided that the nearest high rise would do. so we went in search of a manned guard station, but eventually found the pool instead. upon entering, we didn't see SACH. as we rounded the pool, however, his wife introduced herself and told us to help ourselves in the food tent. we started to, and SACH quickly found us, awkwardly pulling us away from a conversation with his colleague. he seemed a little frantic, trying to make sure that we—and everyone else—had a good time. we hadn't planned on staying too long, but eventually more of SACH's friends showed, and he pulled us over to sit with them. one was another notre dame alum, and the rest seemed to be friends of his girlfriend. that is until Kid Club showed up. Kid Club was about the same age as lis and his father had gone to notre dame with SACH. he himself had gone to school in wisconsin and his english was perfect. in fact, I didn't even clue in on the fact that he was half vietnamese or that he had grown up in taipei until he brought it up. he was a really nice guy and full of info, but most of that info was about the shanghai club scene. I guess that is good though; he is very passionate about his profession (he's creative director for one of the older and evidently more pure clubs here). it was funny to see him punch it in with SACH, and really sweet that he and his beautiful trendy girlfriend took time out to come to the BBQ. we shared a cab home with the two of them (this one less eventful and with native speakers to guide the way) and we got their cards and the tip to check out his club friday night. i'd consider it if we weren't going to beijing this weekend. i can't imagine what the club scene here is like. according to Kid Club people don't dance. they'd rather "shake dice" and eat watermelon. apparently the dice thing is some sort of game, and Kid Club's beautiful girlfriend explained that watermelon is used for everything: good customer? have some watermelon. sorry we messed up your order. have some watermelon. "appeasement fruit," we named it.
there was slightly more to the weekend, but that's another story altogether...
posted by danigrl at 7:32 AM
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