Yahoo for YooHoo!

What a shopping trip I had today!  I wasn't sure I was even going to get there since when I showed Mr. You the taxi book with the name and address of the store he looked confused.  He pointed to the map I keep in the van but since I didn't know where exactly the store was, that was going to be useless.  So, I got on the phone to Chloe and asked her to explain to him where the store was located.  After a lot of chattering she said he should be able to find it.  We did make it without a lot of fuss and even managed a stop at our bank.  He dropped me off at the door and pointed to the parking area.  I gave him some money so that he could park, pay, then pick me up when I was done.  I ventured into the mall and down a set of escalators into YooHoo.  I knew as soon as I walked in that this was going to be a pleasant shopping experience.  It wasn't a crowded store and they had lovely, relaxing music playing (occassionally there was a Christmas song, but it was still very nice).  I started in the produce section and was pleased to find romaine lettuce, potatoes, carrots (all clean!) and even asparagus!  I was in heaven.  Next I found the cheese display and couldn't believe the different kinds and flavors that were there.  I looked lovingly at some feta and the man working there asked me (in English) if I would like to try some.  I said yes, of course, and he opened the package and gave me some on a toothpick.  I bought the whole thing.  He very nicely weighed and wrapped it and brought it around to my cart.  I thanked him and continued on.

I moved on to the meat section and almost broke into tears.  There, in the beautiful, clean, glass meat display was the sight I have been looking for since we got here - a big, juicy T-bone steak.  I could hardly contain my excitement.  I asked for liang (two) and waited patiently for the woman to slaughter the cow and clean it...Just kidding!  I waited while she went to the back and got another.  As I stood there a man who worked at the store came over and asked me if I needed some help.  I told him that someone was waiting on me but, since he spoke English, I took the opportunity to tell him how beautiful the store was and that is was my first time shopping there.  We chatted for a minute then a woman joined him and he explained that she was his boss.  Using him as an interpreter she told me that if there was anything else that I needed, such as various cuts of meat, to just ask and they would help.  Not one to pass up an opportunity, I told them about Ezekiel Bread which I had started eating before we left for China.  It is made in California from sprouted grains and is about the only bread I can eat that doesn't upset my stomach.  They had never heard of it so I pulled out one of my "business" cards and wrote the name of it on the back.  He said that they would try to find it for me!  They also asked for my phone number and we all introduced ourselves.  They then proceeded to ask me questions on what I thought about the store, where I normally shop, etc.  I showed them the taxi book that Michelin gives expats to help them find the popular places to shop.  I told them they should definitely be in it.  They wrote down the phone number of Michelin so I hope they call.

While all this was going on I received my steaks then spied stew meat so I asked for some of that too.  While I did this the man (who I later found out is the assistant to the general manager - the woman) went to his office to get his business card for me.  The woman continued to walk with me and tried to have a conversation but it wasn't working so she called over the manager of the meat section who spoke English.  He now acted as a translator and she asked me if I thought they should move the spices, salt and pepper over to the meat section.  Sure, why not.  Eventually, she and her assistant moved to help someone else so the meat manager now walked with me and took me to the deli counter to get beef sausages and ham.  He actually weighed some stuff out for me (while wearing his nice suit) and told me that he lived in Ireland for two years.  I misunderstood when he asked me how long we had been here (I thought he asked how long we would be staying) and I said three years.  He was shocked that I hadn't learned more Chinese yet!  I quickly explained that we had only been here two weeks and that I am learning but, as of yet, don't know many grocery store words.  He apologized, gave me my meat, and I moved on.

The rest of the actual shopping was rather uneventful other than to say that the live turtles they had looked yummy but unfortunately turtle is on the "Do Not Eat" list of my blood type diet.  Then I got to the checkout and the real fun began.  I was waiting in line when a lady came and directed me to another checkout that only had one customer and he was finishing up.  This same lady proceeded to unpack all the items in my cart onto the checkout counter while another cashier rang them in.  I had forgotten to weigh my grapes so a man working there took them and gave them to another cashier who went and had them weighed.  The unpacking lady now started bagging my groceries while the man worker continued the unloading of my cart.  Once everything was accounted for the cashier asked me for my card.  I showed her cash but that wasn't what she wanted.  Three of them we standing there telling me "card, card" but I had no idea what they were talking about.  One of them ran off to the service desk and came back with a lady that spoke English and she told me I needed a card that cost 10RMB (about $1.50).  I tried to buy one but they shook their heads and she told me to come with her.  My groceries were held captive by the other employees while we went to the desk and they gave me a form.  It was all in Chinese so I had no clue what to write.  Another girl asked me if I had a Chinese name - ah, no! - so I filled in my own name.  Then they asked for my birthday but I thought she said "first name" so I was scratching stuff out and making a mess.  Finally I took out the little green card that Michelin gave us with my information written in English and Chinese and let them fill it out.  Then they wanted a proper ID.  The only thing I had was my Nova Scotia driver's licence and I had to expain that my master number was the ID number.  From here I was taken into another room, a much fancier one and the woman told me that I needed to give her 1010RMB (about $155CAD) and all of a sudden my little gold mine started to feel like a money pit.  But, I gave it to her and asked if I was going to be able to use the 1010RMB and she said yes, except for 10RMB for the card.  Phew!  Apparently the card allows you to get VIP pricing on groceries.  I was just glad I wasn't paying some sort of a membership fee.  Since my order was just over 1000RMB I guess the cashier was trying to help by making sure I got this card.

I went back and paid the ransom on my groceries and was ready to leave with them but the cashiers and man worker thought it was too heavy for me to carry.  They volunteered the poor cashier who put my order through to push my cart out to the van.  We started out and, for whatever reason, instead of going up the elevator she went up the escalator.  Not the special one for grocery carts, just a regular escalator with a full cart.  We did all right on the way up as I helped her hold it but when we got to the top the front wheels got stuck and I had to jump off and lift them up to get the cart off the escalator.  It must have looked ridiculous!  We proceeded through the mall with her pushing my cart and me trying to remember which way I had come in so I could meet Mr You at the right door.  I called him when we were close and told him I was ready.  He hollered something in Chinese and I said "I'm going to the door" a little slower, like that would help him understand.  Again he yelled something and I just said "OK, zai jian" (OK, goodbye) and hung up.  When we got outside I looked around and he was no where in sight.  I waited for a minute then got my phone back out.  I dialed Mr You's number then handed it to the cashier.  I figured, if she wants to get rid of me she will talk to him and figure this out.  She did talk to him and walked out to the front looking at the building.  Eventually she hung up the phone, grabbed the cart and headed back inside with me following.  We went to an elevator this time and took it down one floor to the parking garage.  We walked around and around seaching for our van to no avail.  She asked some workers down there something and they pointed back to the elevator.  She asked other people and they just shook their heads.  Finally, I called Mr You and, again, handed her the phone.  More chattering then back to the elevator and up to the main floor again.  We walked through the mall to the other side then to another elevator and down again - this time two floors down.  It turns out there are two parking garages, one with two levels and the other with one level.  When we got to the second floor down, there was Mr You waiting for us.  He took the cart and piled the groceries into the van.  I thanked the cashier profusely and gave her a tip.  She didn't want to take it but I insisted.  I hope I didn't insult her somehow by giving her money, but she deserved it!

Following all that Mr You drove very fast to get me home (or get rid of me), faster and crazier than usual.  I didn't care.  I had spent two hours in that grocery store and after the paying and searching fiascos, I had a headache.  I did feel triumphant though, I had my meat!

As we approached home Tim called and told me that within twenty minutes a shelf was being delivered to the apartment and within an hour of that our landlady would be coming by with someone to repair the shelf.  Huh?  What she meant was someone to put it together.  A bookcase did show up and shortly after so did our landlady, her daughter, her mother and a man to assemble said bookcase.  We had a great visit with them, learning some Chinese (names for relatives) while they looked at our scrapbooks that Darlene made.  The kids were all over the apartment and eventually made their way into the office where the guy was working.  When we finally checked on them they were in there with this poor guy's tools, trying to help him put the doors on the bookcase and he had his cellphone out taking pictures of them.  Eventually it all got put together and we now have more storage.  After everything was cleaned up I noticed there were three glasses of water in the office.  I asked about it and found out that Nick had gotten the man, himself and Ryan drinks while they worked.  How cute is that???

After they left we had a couple more visitors when Anna and David stopped by.  Following their visit we had the best meal I've had since I got here - t-bone steak, asparagus (delicious!) and a mixture of mushrooms, onions, garlic and feta cheese.  It was superb!  We have a new favorite store here and the quest for meat has been a successful one!  Even Ryan and Nicholas were eating the steak.

Speaking of Ryan, his appetite has been restored and he seems to be back to normal.  Hopefully that's the end of the illnesses for now.

Here are a few pictures for your perusal.  Happy Easter to all!