Tinker Toy Building

We've had another successful weekend here in Shenyang.  On Saturday our boys went to their friends' house and played while Tim and I went with our new driver to shop.  Li is an excellent driver and provided nothing changes, I'm sure we will be very happy with him.  He's smart but not arrogant and seems easy to get along with.

Our first stop yesterday was the fabric market.  Since we are going on a cruise in six weeks we decided that it was a good time to get Tim a new suit.  There are a couple places at the market where you can choose your material and have the suit made all in one stop.  Mom had a pair of dress pants made at one of these places and liked them so we returned to the same one.  We first looked at material and when the lady came to help us I told her that we didn't want anything too pricey.  I have learned well how to say "cheap" and "expensive" in Mandarin!  We found something that seemed reasonable but also nice and black in color.  Then came the more difficult task of determining how much it would actually cost to make the suit, what features Tim wanted and trying to answer their questions.  I thought I pretty much understood but they kept talking and talking so I figured I had better get a bit of help.  I told them I would call my Chinese teacher.  I did and, silly me, forgot that Amanda was on a trip to Beijing.  When she answered her phone she was standing on the Great Wall.  I apologized and told her not to worry about it but she insisted it was fine and asked to speak to the man.  As it turned out, I knew what he was trying to say anyway.  I thanked Amanda then hung up, thinking that we were pretty much done except for the measuring.  We weren't.  After a lot of charades I determined that they were asking how thick of a shirt he would wear with the jacket.  I told them but then they had another question.  I'm still not exactly sure what it was they wanted to know, but eventually they seemed content to let it go.  I hope it wasn't anything too important!

We paid for the suit and were told to call around the 15th to make sure it would be done, but I'm pretty sure it will be.  Without the shirt, the cost was 1123 rmb or roughly $175.  The odd thing was that a custom made long sleeve shirt to go underneath was going to cost 500 rmb.  We told them we would just buy one.  I didn't think to get any pictures, mostly because I was too busy talking and trying to figure out what they were asking.  I will try to remember when we go back to get it.

After that experience, which didn't take us too long, I decided to check out a couple of the silk shops to see if there was anything else I might like for a dress.  It's also nice to get Tim's opinion since he is the one that will see me in it the most.  Very quickly we picked out a silver and black material.  I think I will use it for a dress similar to this one:

And the black/purple/silver material for this dress:

The lady that I purchased both these materials from considers me a "pengyou" or friend and tells me that every time I go in.  She claims to be giving me a special price, although it's always the same as the first time I ever bought anything from her.  She's very friendly though and I like going to her.

Since we spent all the cash we had we decided to head out to a bank machine then Wu'ai Market.  I have a list of things I need to get before we go on our trip and a few of them are available there.  Tim was thirsty so when we walked into the first building we stop at a little stand to buy some water.  Two ladies who worked there were talking and didn't notice us until we said, "Ni hao".  As we did, one of the women looked at us like she had seen a ghost and dove down onto the floor.  Tim and I just looked at each other and I asked the second lady for a bottle of water.  She came right over to me, as close as she could get, and started talking to me.  I didn't know what she was saying and by this point a man had come over so I told him we wanted a bottle of water.  He got it from the cooler and Tim handed him a 100 yuan bill, the smallest we had since we had just come from the bank.  He handed it to the first woman who was still on the floor and she inspected it to make sure it was real.  They got us our change and we were on our way, finally able to get away from the woman who was almost pushing up against me.  Very strange.

We shopped around for a while, finding Nicholas a pair of Crocs for our trip and Ryan a water bottle to have in the van.  Surprisingly, Wu'ai has a large selection of bathing suits and I decided I would get one since mine regular one is losing it's shape and I probably should have a couple anyway.  After a lot of searching, I found one that I thought would be okay and chose the largest size they had, XXXL.  It looked like it would fit a ten-year-old.  I asked the woman how much it cost and she told me 130 yuan.  Not a bad price but I didn't want to pay that much if it wasn't going to fit and there is no where to try anything on.  I told her 80 yuan and of course she said no and went on trying to bargain with me.  I stuck to my guns though and told her I would think about it.  Eventually she said okay and got one out for me.  As I checked to make sure the size was okay she decided to start chattering to her friends about me and my 80 yuan offer.  I don't know what she was saying for sure, but afterward, the more I thought about it, the more I wished I had just walked away and forgotten about it.  Perhaps she wasn't being nasty, I don't know for sure what she was saying, but it was rude anyway.  But, it's so difficult buying swimsuits at the best of times, I didn't want to prolong it anymore.  When I got it home and tried it on, I was really wishing I had given it back to her.  Although it was really cute and looks okay, it's way too small in the chest.  It squishes my boobs up so they look like a couple flattened doughnuts.  I may go back another day and see if I can find something a little more forgiving in that area.

By the time we finished at Wu'ai we were very hungry and decided to go to our favorite Thai restaurant for lunch.  It was a little too delicious and I ate more than I should have but we both enjoyed ourselves.  We had pineapple rice (it's actually served in a hollowed out half pineapple), Pad Thai and Vietnamese Spring Rolls.  It made us happy that we decided to go back to Thailand next year.

We had a lovely time shopping and the kids had a fabulous time with their friends.  When we got their they were running an obstacle course in the living room and didn't want to leave.  Eventually we got them out and headed home to relax for the evening.  It was a great day.

Today Nicholas wasn't feeling so good with a headache and fever so we didn't go too far.  I guess he caught whatever Ryan had although he's been able to eat with no problem.  Tim went to the gym and picked up a few groceries while I stayed with the boys then I went out for a nice long walk this evening.  I walked all the way to the Tinker Toy Building and back, then in the other direction for a bit.  It was a nice day with blue skies after a couple days of heavy rain.  

The Tinker Toy Building, which is just my name for it, it a construction project at one entrance to WuLiHe park.  I have been told that it will be an office building but it's hard to imagine that when you look at it, especially given it's location.  They've been working on it for a couple months now and will be a really neat looking building once it's completed.

This next photo has nothing to do with China.  It was actually taken by my mother in Economy, Nova Scotia.  I love it for the blue water and clear skies, but also for the cool dolphin head.  Can you see it?