Random photos

Rail maps at People's Square showing the new lines.. crazy stuff.. the People's Square station has 20 exits!!






View of Cloud Nine mall through a taxi window



Some place I have no idea where but I liked the colour.



Qipu Lu





Gorgeous book cover of a children's storybook



Carrefour today:

If you translate "Spice girls" into Chinese and then back into English it becomes "Spicy Girls" so it's Chinglish I guess. I found it amusing because my mother calls that group the "Spicy Girls" too!





There was some crazy shoe sale going on. 10-20 RMB (about $1.50-$3) a pair! I did take a quick look and the styles weren't too bad but the queues were horrendous and the quality wasn't that great.. but the price is just unbelievable! Only in China, eh?



Something about giving away free bags. Carrefour's bid to help the environment. They are probably warming us up for when they stop giving out free plastic shopping bags. I feel so stupid now thinking it started tomorrow, when it started yesterday! (the 6th). I could've claimed my free enviro bag today but didn't :(



We got new kitchen taps! Yay for Mr Fang.



Some crappy dinner I made - lamb chops, fried rice and lettuce. The hubby liked it, though, amazingly.



I've also added photos to my Paul's post yesterday (the 6th!)

Tacos in 10 mins

I'm becoming a champion taco/burrito maker. I just managed to prepare, cook, present/serve, clean up and eat it in 35mins. I need to do it quickly because I hate cooking. The quicker the better. Even better that my husband says it's good!

I buy the ingredients from Carrefour or City Shop. Only City Shop has tacos though. Carrefour only has burritos.

Sometimes I don't even have everything I need and I improvize. Ie I used soy sauce for the chicken if I don't have the proper flavouring thing. I also cook the taco sauce in with the chicken.

The chicken is the only thing that takes a bit of time. The rest is just chopping up: tomatoes and lettuce. The cheese comes shredded already.

Amazingly, the taco shells crisp up nicely in the microwave!
You can do burritos as well. The preparation/ingredients etc is exactly the same.

Phew, I'm so proud of myself I managed all that in 35mins (and I'm usually a mega slow eater!)

In other news I went to the Shanghai Center again. I had an appointment near there, 15 mins walk away. Since I needed to go to the supermarket and Paul's is in the same complex I couldn't not stop by. One day I will try everything in that amazing bakery! But for now I have to try to not cry at the prices.

So I had a Paul's danish for dessert. Effortless! :D

What does an expat wife do with her time?

I'm kind of getting sick of being asked this question and I thought I would get my thoughts out there once and for all.

It's funny you don't see retired people constantly being asked, "What do you do with ALL your free time?" but I guess it's totally incomprehensible that someone under the age of 60 (who is not a full-time student or full-time mother) does not work full time. I guess people look down on you. A LOT. Look at Paris Hilton for example!

There seems to be four types of people in this world:

1. Those who are workaholics and feel that if you aren't working 40, 50, 60 hours a week there is nothing to do and it becomes 'boring'. They 'live to work'. They can't understand why anyone who want to retire, they want to work forever!
2. Those who 'work to live' but not 'live to work'. This seems to be the most popular type. These people wished they didn't have to work but don't mind their job too much and the income that it brings.
3. Those who don't work but wished they were working. This is usually students who wished they had more cash, or homemakers who used to have great careers but are now at home looking after their young children and prefer their old life. Retirees, also who wish for their job to give them 'something to do'.
4. Then there is the non-working type who don't mind not working.

I obviously fit into category 4 and my husband into category 2. My father, category 1. Retirees can either fit into 3 or 4.

I guess for workaholics (1) you are deemed a lazy arse if you don't work. Simple. For non workaholics who work (2) they are - dare I say it - jealous of anyone who doesn't have to work.

My husband and I agree that as long as you have something meaningful to do with your time then not working is fine (obviously assuming that you can get by on one income). So, the million dollar question is: What do I do with all my free time?

First of all, I am not someone who likes to fill their week with endless activities one after the other. It in fact exhausts me and I am perfectly happy to do just 'nothing'. I do not get bored easily.

The things I have managed to do since being here are:

1. Perfecting my cooking ability. I have gone to being totally incompetent to maybe quite alright.
2. Learning and continue to get better in Mandarin.
3. Taking up learning Spanish.
4. Working on my website which will hopefully get me an income in the near future.
5. Meeting up with friends.
6. Eating out with my husband and just 'growing together' to use a corny phrase.
7. Going to the gym and staying fit
8. Going to the Chinese herbal doctor (TCM) on a regular basis so she can fix all the things 'wrong' with my body.

I can honestly say that I feel a lot happier and healthier than when I was back home.
I haven't been sick in ages, my skin looks better, my hair and nails are strong and grow like crazy.

How can anyone say that my life is unfulfilling? Bah to them, I love my life! :)

Bruschetta

In an effort to be a good (50's style) wife I have tried to do more and better cooking lately. For anyone that knows me I detest cooking! Ugh. And I am weird in that I have not much interest in food nor eating. I hate grocery shopping.

So anyway, here is the bruschetta I made last Thursday, a week ago. What do you think? We have no oven nor toaster but a flat cafe-style toaster doobiewacker. I used 2 cloves of garlic, some spring onion, quarter of a red onion, one whole tomato, and some "olive" bread I bought from Carrefour (already sliced because I'm lazy). I finely diced/chopped all the ingredients. Then I added a dash of olive oil to the bread, spooned the mixture on and sprinkled on the Italian herbs (Masterfood brand - from Australia!)

You can add shredded cheese on top too. :)

It was so delicious, even if I do say so myself. The bread was perfectly cooked and crunchy and the toppings were tasty. The red onion was the magic ingredient, I think.

Now... what the diddly am I going to make tonight?

(PS this stupid layout on Blogger when uploading pictures sux!)