Feb 5 08
Today I planned to go out on my bike around the neighborhood and beyond, but drizzle kept me indoors. Good thing, because at 9:00 a.m. my doorbell rang and my landlord appeared, saying he came to wait during the 3 hour period that the internet serviceman would be turning up to install my service...I guess I was just lucky today to be there since no one bothered to let me know the day or the hour this would be occuring! Now that it is set up, wow is it blazing fast, and I put it to the test by Skyping -- yes video -- with Lenny LaLumiere and it worked fabulously.
After that I Skype-to-phoned Glen and we visited as he was getting ready for bed.
I decided I couldn't stay in all day even if it was rainy, so I decided to take the subway Line 2 to Jing An Temple area, near which I lived before. It was hardly recognizable but I walked around the block in something of a wet daze. I almost laughed out loud -- ok maybe I did -- passing by a boutique called S&T. The name by itself, innocuous, right? S&T stands for Single and Tingle! Then I wandered around a multilevel mall there, coming across the actual Tempurpedic mattresses and their regular retail prices on the home furnishings floor. These were no knock-offs. In the basement I shopped for groceries and was delighted to find a rather large selection of organic veggies and fruits. I will be shopping there again soon!
On the way home I ran into the principal of my school, Eddie, who said he and others often get together for dinner at The Blue Frog and did I want to go. I decided that would be better than making my own dinner at home and a chance to visit with other teachers. Eddie and David, another teacher, ordered steaks and I had black-pepper beef with red and green peppers. It was a nice place with a lot of western options, kind of my first western meal experience here although what I ate was Asian. Yes there was beer involved, but not for me and neither did David imbibe. It seemed quite the foreigner hangout, on a walking-only street with several similar themed restaurants. After dinner we all walked over to a DVD store where they sell English language movies, and for the price of going to 1 movie at the theater in the states I bought 5 legitimate DVDs.
After that I Skype-to-phoned Glen and we visited as he was getting ready for bed.
I decided I couldn't stay in all day even if it was rainy, so I decided to take the subway Line 2 to Jing An Temple area, near which I lived before. It was hardly recognizable but I walked around the block in something of a wet daze. I almost laughed out loud -- ok maybe I did -- passing by a boutique called S&T. The name by itself, innocuous, right? S&T stands for Single and Tingle! Then I wandered around a multilevel mall there, coming across the actual Tempurpedic mattresses and their regular retail prices on the home furnishings floor. These were no knock-offs. In the basement I shopped for groceries and was delighted to find a rather large selection of organic veggies and fruits. I will be shopping there again soon!
On the way home I ran into the principal of my school, Eddie, who said he and others often get together for dinner at The Blue Frog and did I want to go. I decided that would be better than making my own dinner at home and a chance to visit with other teachers. Eddie and David, another teacher, ordered steaks and I had black-pepper beef with red and green peppers. It was a nice place with a lot of western options, kind of my first western meal experience here although what I ate was Asian. Yes there was beer involved, but not for me and neither did David imbibe. It seemed quite the foreigner hangout, on a walking-only street with several similar themed restaurants. After dinner we all walked over to a DVD store where they sell English language movies, and for the price of going to 1 movie at the theater in the states I bought 5 legitimate DVDs.
Comments