...we've been on the go!
To give NZ a little reprieve from the Sal and mama show that takes place daily in our living room ...babble babble babble, mom makes faces and dances like an idiot, babble babble babble, laugh laugh laugh, Sal and I filled our calendar with activities that kept us out of the house for the better part of each day.
Making it even better, was our weather. We finally caught a break! We woke upon Wednesday to gray skies, and low humidity, and it was oh.so.nice. Of course the humidity and rain have returned for the weekend, designating today as a lazy day, but those three days were worth it!
On Monday, we walked from our complex to the local Xīngbakè ( Starbucks) with a bunch of neighbors to meet up for Wuxi International Club's first gathering since summer vacation. Many expats are returning after summer holiday, so it was nice to meet some new faces--and Sal got loved on even more. He's grown quite used to the attention.
Tuesday, we stayed in for a little while before heading over to a friend's house to visit for few hours.
Wednesday, we jumped in Mrs. Georgia's van and her driver took us to Nanchan Temple, here in Wuxi. We met up with Mrs. Frankfurt, and her son and toured the temple. Mrs. Georgia and I climbed to the top to take photos, and by the next day, both of us had sore legs! There is a lot of tourist driven shopping stalls in the temple area, but I am still having trouble enjoying the experience when I have Sal in a stroller. It is impossible to keep one eye on his stroller, policing who touches him and what not.
Stopping to window shop is a bad idea--because when I do that, I usually turn around to find a crowd of gawkers surrounding us. They will just keep coming until I start pushing my stroller over people's feet. It definitely detracts from the shopping experience, and makes me thankful for being able to window shop hassle free in the states. I did score about a kilo of apples for 5RMB, which I thought was just pure awesome. That's like 75 cents for 2.2 lbs!
 |
| Mrs. Singapore flanked by gawkers as she watched the boys while we climbed the temple stairs. |
 |
| We climbed to the top |
 |
| Nanchan Temple |
 |
| A monk |
On Thursday, Sal and I walked to Subway with Mrs. North Carolina and Mrs. Michigan for lunch. It was so nice out that we grabbed our lunches and sat at outdoors at a little cafe where we tried out their drink menu. Being that I am not a coffee or tea lover, I tried out the "Lime Green Lemon Lime Soda"...and it was just that---Sprite with lime green syrup added. Hellllloh sugar high! I think next time I'll give seltzer water a try. The hostess quickly moved us inside when it started to drizzle, cause you know, the baby might catch a cold or something!
 |
| Lunch with the ladies...Thursday |
Friday was our busiest by far--my driver took Mrs. Michigan and me to IKEA where we met up with Mrs. North Carolina and Mrs. Barcelona for a shopping fiesta! I lllllllooooove IKEA here. Not so much at home, but here---it's a sense of security and familiarity. It's quite funny to go into someone Else's home here and see so many of the same items you have in your home though. Guess we all have good taste! We sat down to lunch before heading home, and all in all, it's nice to have other ladies to shop with! No rushing or anyone telling you not to buy things (which reminds me of this blog, which splits my side every time I read it)--actually, NZ is a pretty good sport about the things I buy and shopping that I do, since I am usually pretty spendthrift. After my grand purchase of 15 RMB ($2.25) for a pair of gray oven mitts, I walked out satisfied. Once we were done at IKEA, I dropped Sal off with his dad for an hour or so, and delivered supper to a couple who just welcomed a daughter.
I got home, kicked my shoes off after such an eventful day ( yes, shopping can wear a girl out!!!) and settled on the couch with my iPad. We ended up accepting an invite from the Michigan's for supper, so we grabbed a couple taxi's and headed out for some live music and German food. It was a really fun night, and the kids danced on stage, Sal got serenaded by a possible tranny singing Justin Bieber's "Baby baby song", and we returned home well fed and feeling like we've started to really live life over here, rather than just survive.
And that, my friends, is a good feeling.
Sal looks so stinking cute in that photo.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are embracing your living adventure and have some other expats to explore with you! Keep the pictures coming!
yeah for friends. Look at that handsome guy in the middle which chicks on both sides. He is a charmer already. I love him too, his grama Sandy
ReplyDelete