We finally found the camera charger but still haven’t gotten into the habit of taking pictures all that often (we’ll get better, I hope). For now, here are some kind of unrelated ones we’ve taken over the past week.
Our place is in Jing’an. The more we learn about our area, the happier we are about the apartment we chose. We’ve told a lot of people about our place—people that have lived in Shanghai for years—and they all say we couldn’t have chosen a better location for getting to know the city. Lots of restaurants, bars, shopping within easy walking distance. It’s also very close to the Jing’an Sculpture Park, where we took a few pics the other day:
We’ll probably take more photos in the sculpture park later…there are some giant oxen sculptures I’m planning to make Ashley climb on top of like she’s riding one (don’t tell her).
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Here’s a pretty typical Shanghai family on their motor…thing. Ash said it was rude of me to take the picture even though they were staring at me moments before (presumably for being white and tall).
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Couldn’t resist taking this picture of a pile of chickens for sale at Carrefour, the so-called Western grocery store (it’s French). This is from the one in Zhongshan Park, which we went to first.
After hearing it called “the Western grocery store,” we were a little surprised at the piles of chickens and other, less recognizable food items. There was a section of imported foods, but all in all it was a pretty unfamiliar shopping experience for us. I had to lift our shopping cart at one point so that some employees could roll a palette truck through. So much for the customer having the right of way!
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That’s it for now, but we’ll get pics of the apartment up as soon as we clean up enough to take non-embarrassing photos. Thanks for all the comments on the blog! Great to hear from everyone. Will post again soon.
Enjoyed those photos, especially the family aboard their transportation. Hope it doesn’t rain before they get to their destination. Sorry that Rob is sicky. You caught me as we were riding downhill on the way back. I was trying to steer my horse, stay on my horse, & not drop my phone or get yelled at for being on the phone.
It probably gets dark earlier than in HB or HI. Do you guys get to get out together during the week? Will you be traveling over Chinese NY holiday?
Do all the chickens look like rubber chickens? xox, momster
Our guidebook describes the Jing’an region as “a humming and hectic urban mix of offices, malls, glass facades and high-end designer boutiques.” Two of your pictures have tall buildings in the background - your apartment building?
Hey, I am thinking that transportation vehicle would be great for Bree and Kelemen. It would just fit in their garage. Saw their new home yesterday… very nice.
Didn’t know you were sick Rob. Get well soon.
Thanks for pics.
Your mom is here for Super Bowl- love the look of the chickens!
Take care- Betzi
Dad, don’t think any of the buildings in these pictures are our building, but they all look pretty much the same. The taller ones behind Ashley (in the picture in the Jing’an Sculpture Park) are very similar to ours and might even be part of the same complex.
Well you wanted experiences - going to the market is definitely a new experience.
Are there lots of bicycle riders in Shanghai? I remember seeing bicycles in Beijing with chairs and many boxes piled high on the backs of bikes and amazed that nothing was falling off. In Shanghai I mainly remember lots and lots of peoople walking on the sidewalks and me trying hard not to get lost in the crowd - like you said - Disneyland after the parade.
Is the Chinese New Year celebration a big deal - do you get a day off from work?
Hope you are feeling better Rob - how is the new job going?
Ash - Are you taking your Mandarin lessons?
We are off to visit the vanilla bean farm somewhere up near Honoka’a. Betzi’s mom will be joining us for some lunch & a visit to the wood turning at HPA gallery in town. Betzi them left yesterday for SF & then the freezer died on dogsitting grandparents. I’m sure she needs a visit away from the house.
I was also wondering if your apt. bldg. was in the shot with AE. Was also pleasantly surprised to see the air/sky wasn’t as grey as I was imagining.
The size of the chickens…..I don’t think you have to worry about having too much meat to not finish it in one sitting. They’ve got that long, lean look instead of short, compact muscles…..
bon appetit, momster
p.s. it’s not 11:57 a.m. on Tues. It’s 8:58a.m. & I must get Lynn off her knitting to walk before it gets too much hotter.
It was great to see you guys and get a Skype tour of your apartment this morning! The place looks very liveable, nicer than I had imagined from your descriptions. Good to see Rob and be assured that it is only a cold, nothing more. You both look fine and happy…all things a Mom needs to know!
We await snowmageddon, the sequel here on east coast. At this rate, we will be attending school until July.
Have a great trip to Beijing and environs.
Glad to hear you guys are all settled. Roshley.com is my go-to reading while sitting in airports waiting for planes.