A Day of Living in Shanghai

We’ve been searching for electronic stores in Shanghai and there are a lot actually but we have not seen a big one until we saw Metro City some weeks ago. We promised to go back there and so we did.

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Last Sunday, Marcus and I went back to that electronic market to buy me an iPhone and we tag along Kristoff because we know that Kristoff is also crazy about the place and he knows the market better than us. We went there early and it took me five hours to find the perfect iPhone from the kindest salesperson. I knew already that I’d get an iPhone but that didn’t stop me from trying other mobile phones. I don’t think Sonny Ericson Xperia, the phone I wanted, is already available in China so unfortunately I was not able to try it and even if it were there already, I wouldn’t think that Marcus and I will buy it. It is just too expensive.

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Anyway, after the shopping in the Puxi area we went back to Pudong to eat and before that, we decided to walk around a little bit because the weather was great (after like 3 weeks of constant smog) and so I was able to take some photos. It felt a little bit funny because I was acting like a real tourist. We live here since June of this year but until now, we haven’t really explored Shanghai yet. We have this mentally that we have plenty of time so we don’t have to see every place and try out everything here immediately but maybe before we know it, the time’s gone.

A Present for Me

I got my birthday gift a month earlier! We went out last Sunday to shop for my gift. My husband bought me an iPhone for my birthday and since my birthday is still a month from now, he told me that I am not to use my iPhone yet until that day but I am glad that he doesn’t have the heart to refuse my request. He gave in right after I said “puuuuuuuhhhhhlllllleeeeaaasssssse!”

This iPhone will be Marcus’ birthday gift and Christmas gift for me. It’s really too bad that both occasions are in the same month. I say that not because I only get one gift for both occasion but because Marcus only go through the difficulty of deciding what to give me once a year!

Inferiority Complex Attack

Emily, one of my Irish friends I mentioned in my earlier post, decided to stay in Shanghai to live with her boyfriend. I consider them friends because we spent a lot of time together in the last few weeks and Emily’s boyfriend is a colleague and friend of my husband. Emily’s sister Tina already went back to Ireland but Emily will stay for a few weeks then she’ll be flying back to Ireland to quit her job. That is just so grand. :)

So anyway, Emily called me and asked if we could have a coffee together sometime because according to her, she really enjoyed my company the last times. That was so nice of her to say but that’s something I didn’t expect. Emily has a managerial position in human resource of some British-Indian company and she is like 54 years old and she often talks about very intellectual things so you can just imagine my surprise when such person display interest in spending time with me.

I am no intellectual. I am just a simple woman who is living a simple life but being married to Marcus also means that sometime, I’ll be going to parties, dinners, and gatherings where I’d be spending time with people who have much wider knowledge and way more eloquent than I am. I always try to talk to these people and not just smile and be pretty (in short, look stupid) but sometimes I can’t help but feel tiny.

Block Unknown Numbers

I was awakened last night because our landline kept ringing. I thought to just pretend that it doesn’t bother me and that I am sleeping soundly so my husband will answer it but turn out that my husband had thought  of that too. After several rings, I was not able to take it anymore so I decided to just answer it myself. Who the hell will call at such an unholy hour?

It turn out that it was just a prank call!

If anyone of you have encountered the same problem, know that you can do something about it. There is this thing called “reverse phone lookup” and this allows you to track unknown numbers that call you. With this service, you can then know if the number is important or not thus allowing you to block unimportant numbers. NationwidePhoneLookUp.com is available in US and their database has more records available than virtually any other service around, tipping the scales of running a successful search heavily in your favor. Visit their site now to learn more.

Going to a Costume Party

In line with the upcoming Halloween, Marcus’ company decided to hold a costume party. A few week ago, we discussed about it and we started to think what our costumes will be. First, he said he wanted to go as Dracula but who is the partner of Dracula? Winona Ryder? I cannot really remember but whoever she is, she’s not looking scary at all. I wanted that we go there as partners. If one is looking scary then the other must be looking scary too so “Dracula and his partner” will not work.

After a lot of thinking and kidding around, we finally agreed to go there as Franz and Sissi-the last Emperor and Empress of Austria. And since we were in Austria that last week, we went shopping for our costumes. They were a lot of choices of Dirndls and Lederhosen so we didn’t exactly have a hard time looking for the costumes. Dirndl and Lederhose are the native costumes of Austria so they have a lot of it. We just need some costume wigs to go with out traditional Austrian clothes and all will be perfect.

I am sure that weren’t we in Austria that time; we would have a hard time looking for the costume and we would probably just have ordered it online. For me, I like both kind of shopping: Online shopping for its convenience and old fashioned shopping for its fun.

Have a Happy Halloween everyone!

Dressing Up for Autumn

I have to admit that it is a little bit difficult for me—a tropical girl—to pair up clothes for autumn. This is not my first autumn but I still didn’t learn how to properly dress up for it.

For regular autumn day, I think I can manage—jeans, sweater, and jackets. That is basic. But you see, we’ll be flying tomorrow to Austria and we are attending this party on Saturday evening. How will I dress for a semi-formal party in autumn?

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It’s easy to dress up for summer and winter but for spring and autumn? I find it difficult to look for autumn clothes because for one, I don’t like their colors. For this year’s autumn, it seems that the “in” color is purple and all its darker shades. Iw! Other options are gray, brown, maroon, beige, and black.—how bleak! And another reason is that temperature here in Shanghai is still warm so I don’t see a lot of stores selling autumn clothes yet and we don’t exactly have the luxury of time to shop when we arrive in Austria.

So… I don’t know. I only have today to look for something “nice” (as Marcus describes it) and if I can’t he just have to bear going to the party with me wearing what I think is good enough to keep me warm.

Just Updates

We’re almost ready.

We successfully bought all the presents and packed our luggage. Just a few more errands and we’ll be all set. Our flight will be in the evening and we will be landing in Munich at 5:00 am or something. It will be a looong fligh. This time, our vacation is shorter than the last May. I’ll be back in two weeks.

Ruthi will continue managing My Pink Notes and Angel will post a guest post tin Bizarre Marriage. I will try to manage the rest.

If you haven’t yet, read about my Wordcamp 2008 experience here or check out my latest project here.

Having a Baby

baby.JPGI don’t know if you’ve heard the news about hundreds of babies in China dying because of consuming a certain milk formula. This news really shook me and made me think again about having a baby while we are here. Initially, we agreed to wait two years after our wedding for a baby and that was a year ago. It means, we only have another year to wait but the problem is… Marcus signed a two-year contract to work here in Shanghai. Technically, we can have a baby here. It will still go with our plan but hearing such news scares the hell out of me….maybe it is wiser to wait a little bit longer until we’re finally settled in Europe.