Shanghai Art Museum and A Day in Puxi

Waiting out the red light in Puxi

Where we are in Pudong (or east bank of the Huangpu river), it is pretty antisepticised. Though not that many years ago it used to contain mainly farmland, as my driver liked to tell me. Our compound has blocks of ugly public housing facing some of the villas and these buildings house many farmers displaced about a decade or two ago from their land. They are talking of demolishing these buildings now to make way for more villa construction, so Pudong can only become even richer and more modern. And poor guys - they will surely have to relocate even further away in Pudong once their homes are being pulled down - again.

Puxi (or west bank of the Huangpu river) is another thing altogether. That part of Shanghai has more history and more soul, if you wish, and remains the cultural and entertainment hub of the city. Buildings old and new are packed together, streets are narrower, small boutiques and big malls stand side by side, old concession-era villas can be found in areas dominated by low-rise shophouses and people still sometimes walk the streets in their pyjamas and hang out their clothes to dry above your head.

A few streets in Puxi

I do not go to Puxi very often as it is quite far (anything from 30 minutes to more than an hour) from where I live and I hate being stuck in traffic jams in the middle of the day. Besides I have been busy unpacking as you know.

Shanghai Art Museum

However, just before my things arrived from Italy, I was there a few times to meet up for lunches with new friends, and to visit the Shanghai Art Museum. It was just a few days into the Chinese Lunar New Year, just after they abolished entrance fees and the whole of Shanghai started queuing up to visit the museum - if only for the first few days. Some, I was told, even turned up with their own picnics to be enjoyed in the galleries or with fresh vegetables from nearby markets to be washed in the museum's toilets.

From the foreign exhibition

I liked the simple use of black ink

Building was quite interesting as it was built in the 1930s and used to house the clubhouse of the decadent Shanghai Race Club. I didn't realise that the race tracks used to be just next to it as it's now something very proper like the People's Square.

Nothing much to say about the exhibitions, I am not an art expert but I have visited quite a number of museums in different parts of the world and this one was boring. They must have hidden the good stuff somewhere else since China is such a populous country and must have more talent than anywhere else. Or I must have visited at the wrong time. The only interesting exhibition when I was there was actually a foreign one and probably an advertisement for a few print companies in the USA. But I won't complain since entrance was gratos.

I rather like these paintings

I look forward to finding more time to explore Shanghai especially Puxi. I have a few local friends of friends here, plus expat friends who have been here a long time - so hopefully through them I will find interesting places to visit in the city soon. However the weather is starting to be unbearably hot so I am not optimistic that I will last very long out there.

Shanghai Art Museum

325 Nanjing Xi Lu

Shanghai

Global Child Day 2011 at YCIS Pudong

Art Auction @ YCIS Pudong (Babinou's Kandinsky-inspired piece)

We chose to put the Babies in YCIS Pudong because it is one of the smaller international schools in our part of Shanghai. And it puts quite a bit of emphasis on Chinese learning, in fact they have both an English and a Chinese teacher in each classroom.

Global Child Day 2011

Today was Global Child Day in the school. Every nationality in the school had been encouraged to participate either with its own stand, or grouped with a few others to occupy one. This year's theme was "the way it used to be" so every stand would display toys and games that children used to play in the country in question and there would also be demonstrations and/or opportunities for visitors to try their hand at some of the games.

France : Museum of Ancient Toys and Games

Babinette helping out at the French stand. Face drawn by the Brazilians.

There were also country-based costume parades, musical, dance and other performances - and of course a big buffet. No money changed hands on this day except for the art auction (proceeds were to go towards planting trees in Mongolia) and the right of entry consisted basically of bringing a dish to share with everyone. Since I have volunteered to do duty as well as cook for both France and Singapore, I have decided to keep things simple and made Apple Tartlets and Savoury Tartlets (for France) and Kaya Bread (for Singapore).

India : snakes & ladders had been invented by Indians

Japan : very lovely toys and origami

S.E. Asian stand : zero point, 5 stones, sepak takraw...most stands have loads of student volunteers working to consume CAS hours

Every child was given a passport when they entered the Fair. In it you'd find all the different countries participating in the Fair and some information about the country or a toy/game linked to it. Then there was a question on each page. The children were expected to answer the questions and visit all the stands to collect a stamp on each page, plus watch the different demonstrations as well as try out the various toys/games themselves (with the possibility of winning a prize).

My apple tartlets and mini-quiches

Part of the buffet spread

The buffet was BIG. So much food and such an interesting variety of dishes. It was held in the school canteen and basically we were only allowed into it once - unless there should still be food leftover for seconds. I was totally delighted to find kueh lapis among the offerings - thanks to the Indonesian delegation. The S.E. Asians had nasi lemak (sponsored by a restaurant here) and chicken curry, not to forget the very popular sticky rice with mango dessert. I suspect that it was somewhat easier cooking food in quantity here because most will have domestic help.

Nigeria : you can communicate on the drum

Classical music interlude : most schools here have a good music programme

Korean stand : using rice stalks to make toys

Year 1 and 2s painted a few pieces of work for the art auction and Babinou wanted us to bid for his work (that he did with a few other kids). I won the auction and carried his masterpiece home at the end of the Fair - and it's now hanging on the wall next to his bed.

A Morning in Shanghai

革

I had to attend Babinette's EAL assembly this morning (incidentally the school song contains references to God) so made my way to school pretty early and found myself in front of my hairdresser (near the school) before it opened. Only to be greeted with another assembly, one of all the 40-odd salon staff lining up military-style on both sides of the entrance, clapping hands, making speeches, telling jokes, dancing to loud music and singing songs. I totally freaked out as lately I kept wandering into places where people happened to assemble, be it the dirty back area of a restaurant before it opened for the day, front of a private compound when the security guards were changing shifts, and a few other similar line-ups. That in a country where I believe you have no right to assemble, except to sing propaganda songs or face the firing squad.

The young man (he came from Henan where Shaolin Temple is) doing my scalp treatment told me that they do those assemblies every morning. They would all have memorised a few slogans, the company's motto etc and would take turns to come out to lead the others in a few songs, sketches or dances. I didn't attend any dance when I was at school so you can imagine that I totally hate occasions like these when you have to move your body parts while others are watching.

Motivation, team spirit building, entertainment before the daily work begins...The Chinese are embracing corporate spirit and functioning with ardour - and I will remember not to turn up at the hair salon before 10:30am the next time.

Then I went to Metro to shop for groceries. In other parts of the world, you usually can't shop there unless you have a corporate membership card. Over here, you pick up a piece of paper when you walk in, shop and then pay up at the cashier giving him the same piece of paper (just pretend you have forgotten your card and write down your company name). He normally doesn't even look at it.

Not that there was anything interesting to buy in Metro. I do not buy in bulk anymore ever since I made my new resolution not to stock up. If you had spent weeks sorting, giving things away and then packing like I had before we left Italy, and then another few weeks unpacking and sorting again like I had since our things arrived in Shanghai - you would have a phobia of stocking up too. The effects will probably wear off in a while, but at the moment the memory is still fresh.

Then I had to deal with our driver. His company is asking our company for a raise. The rental of the (coming new) car is more expensive as is the driver's OT rates. Our company wants to switch to their cheaper rival, but Hub wants to keep our current driver who is a pretty decent chap. I was given the task of testing him out, if he would want to work for the rival company should we stop using his current one...Days like these you wished you couldn't speak Mandarin.

But the Chinese are usually open to talking about anything especially if it has to do with money. My hypothesis is that when you have political repression, you are free to talk about everything else. As a matter of fact, one of the things I enjoy asking people here is how much they earn. That is a particularly indelicate question, but we are in China and people usually have little taboo talking about money.

Actually I am not interested in finding out how much people earn per se. I just want to know how they manage to live on what they earn, why the income gap is so wide in Shanghai especially and what this implies in terms of social justice and stablilty in the long run.

From what I have gathered, the minimum monthly wage in Shanghai is currently 1280 rmb, though what one can do with that I have no idea since one dinner for us in a restaurant near our hotel usually costs this much if not more. We definitely do not eat in the same places.

And inflation is bad here, labour shortage so serious that wages had to increase - though not as much as property or food prices. And education is somewhat not free in this Communist country - ironic, don't you think so?

We lunched at my Parisian Chinese friend's Vietnamese restaurant in Puxi the other day. He used to pay his staff 900 rmb per month 2 years ago. Now he is paying 2300 rmb. And has lost half of his staff after the CNY break - many of the migrant workers do not return to Shanghai after their annual holiday, preferring to stay home or nearer home since the wage gap between smaller cities and bigger ones like Shanghai is narrowing whereas the cost of living in the latter is definitely much much higher.

Then I was told that white collar workers tend to earn much more, from 4000 rmb onwards, many in the 10 to 20000 rmb bracket and certain (someone I actually know, for example) even earning 2 million rmb annually. There are many Ferraris, Porches, Audis etc on the road. My relocation agent travels in Europe almost every year for about 2 weeks and she is only 28. So the income gap is widening at a frightening rate. And trying to tell the driver that the 5 to 10 yuan extra he is asking for per hour during OT is too much makes us look really mean.

So I digress as usual. Anyway driver complained that my ayi earns more than he does. True, except that we pay our ayi whereas the company pays the chauffeur and the latter has not just budget but also policy. And I didn't want to mention that while the young lady keeps busy during the 20 hours she'll be here each week, a driver usually spends the bulk of his time just waiting and doing nothing. But he did concede that the OT pay rise was normally only a suggestion and our company could always refuse it.

He doesn't want to move to the rival company because it has taken him 5 years to build up his relations (guangxi) in his current company. I was told that you have to fatten your manager's pocket during festive occasions plus know someone who knows him in order to be given decent driving jobs (like the one he currently has). Fair enough.

Finally, the cost of the new car should be negotiable so with a bit of adjustment we hope that we can continue to keep our current driver YL. When you see how most people drive here in China, you know that he is quite a gem. Plus he is always in good humour whereas most Chinese people tend to look quite grouchy. And tell me if this is not a sign : my ayi and my driver both have rare surnames and the left half of their surnames is the same - 革 meaning "revolution". Such a coincidence.

House in Shanghai : Part 2

1st floor corridor

I must say that it was easier than I imagined having the ayi around. I did my own housework for 6 weeks and finally decided to hire help when I started having dizzy spells about a week ago. The house is too big and I have so many other things to do - like blog and/or explore Shanghai.

One of the girls working at the service centre introduced JL to me. She currently has a friend working in the compound. Compared to most of the other ayis working here, she's young, very petite and pretty. I took to her almost immediately for who wants an old and ugly cleaning lady when one could have eye candy on a daily basis?

For she wouldn't work for the initial 3 mornings a week that I wanted her for. Over here, most of my neighbours have full-time help at least 5 days a week, some even have live-in ayis. But I only wanted someone to clean, no need to cook or look after the children. And my kids and Hub will pick up after themselves - no question of them getting used to having someone serve them hand and foot.

View of living room from above

We in our compound are expected to pay double the average hourly wage for ayis in Shanghai. They wouldn't work for less and they want to work a minimum of 5 mornings/afternoons a week - unless you manage to find another family or 2 to share them with. And they also expect you to pay them a 13th month bonus during the Chinese New Year.

I agreed to all her terms because I can understand her situation and I have in any case talked with enough people to know what to expect. Besides, they usually come from poorer towns or villages in China with the hope of creating better lives for themselves - so if I can afford it I do not see any reason to make things difficult for them. With JL, I have also offered to help her teenage daughter with her English - as an additional bonus. Hopefully the girl will have a better life than her parents.

Master bedroom

I found out that they live in a small rented flat that is dark and humid, no larger than my bedroom, for about a thousand yuan monthly. They have bought a place of their own in their hometown since real estate prices in Shanghai are too high even for us. I have therefore also offered to let her shower at my place during the very hot and humid months since they share a bathroom and kitchen with other families in their building. I was reminded of one of my late grandaunts in those days when Singapore was still an underdeveloped country. She lived in a tiny rented room in a horribly dark and dirty shophouse and shared a kitchen and toilet with who-knows-how-many other tenants and I can still see the place in my mind more than 30 years down the road. It had certainly marked me as a child.

I will however stop there as so many other expats and even local Chinese friends have warned me not to be too nice with the workers or I would bring trouble to myself. I may have Chinese origins, but I am not Chinese and as such the way they think or behave is quite alien to me. There is no smoke without fire, so I will heed the warnings and try to keep a distance between my helpers and myself. My Ukrainian helper in Italy walked all over me as Hub liked to remind me.

The Teenager's room

The house has 5 bedrooms and a small study room. 3 of them have walk-in closets. There is no basement in the house so we do lack storage space. Since our driver keeps the car with him, the garage is empty and we use it to store our bikes, golf clubs (no more membership at the club for the whole family = all golf bags at home!), boxes etc. It is very similar to our house when we were living in the USA - meaning that the construction leaves just as much to be desired.

Babinou's room

The compound from what I heard was built in 3 months. Pre-fab wooden houses in 8 styles. The walls are mostly empty and Hub has proven it by knocking a hole in one of them as he tried to hang up a picture. Everything is electric because of the fire hazard and I now have a fabulous big wok - and no gas for fire.

Babinette's room

There are cameras everywhere in the compound and men on bikes and scooters patrol all day and night. You cannot enter without a pass and when you have one, the guard salutes you as this place belongs to the Chinese government. I leave my door open most of the time because you really feel safe here.

View of our small terrace

What a change from Italy I must admit.

Singapore Day Shanghai 2011

Singapore Day Shanghai 2011

For once in my life, I actually had some luck with timing. Who would have imagined that I would move to Shanghai the year Singapore decided to organise Singapore Day in the same city? And the week before the government even threw in a buffet dinner at the Westin for all Singaporeans living in Shanghai?

Bad tongues would wag about this being Election Year. But Singaporeans in Germany have always been invited to lunch annually in Berlin, I've attended Singapore Day in London in a year when there were no GEs and before I left Italy I was invited to dinner in Venice by OSU (Overseas Singaporean Unit) - it's all about connecting us with the country and with one another when we are away from it. And whatever it is, I love a free meal.

However, I didn't count on the Shanghai Grand Prix spoiling my plans a little. The qualifying race had to fall on the same day, of course. Aarrgh.

Very yummy satay

I originally planned to start out at Singapore Day and move on to the Grand Prix - but Hub reversed my plans and we ended up being too early at the latter and not having much to eat when we arrived at the former. In fact, almost every stall had sold out its food when we arrived at Century Park. We only managed to eat some satay and grilled seafood.

Nonetheless, I was happy to be part of Singapore Day Shanghai 2011, bumped into a few friends and just loved hearing people speak Singlish all around me. And the goodie bags were great, chilli tapioca chips (yum yum), chatek, 5 stones, picnic mat, T-shirt and lightweight umbrella...they have thought of everything!

My House in Shanghai - Ground Floor

The house : the Ferrari is mine and the scooter's my ayi's

I have mentioned before that I live near Jin Qiao, the expat part of it, of course. For just down the river on the other side you actually have locals and migrant workers living in a pretty busy part of the same neighbourhood - though I am sure that prices are not the same there. I am going to check it out when I have a moment, because I just love bustling streets where people actually hang out - though of course living in them may be another thing altogether now that I am becoming more antiseptic. I have incidentally become a total addict to Dettol.

Entrance : Kimi's helmet on cupboard from Kava Kava (bag is ayi's)

Roads are wide and clean in Jin Qiao, we have Carrefour, a number of international restaurants, Food Republic, Bread Talk, trees and laowais everywhere. I am a member of an organic spa owned by a Malaysian and I shop every week at Pines - a small supermarket specialising in imported foodstuff. Taking a taxi to Jin Qiao from my house can be a pain though - because it is not far away enough and many taxi drivers hate the hassle of getting into our compound only to earn a few yuan from us. And boy can they grumble.

Guest room

My compound is probably the only one in Shanghai that is green and has birds singing all day long in the trees and bushes. Houses are very big in Shanghai, but they tend to be very close to one another. When you have lived in the middle of an enormous field like we had for 4 years in Italy, you get claustrophobic at the thought of seeing your neighbour pick his nose in the morning. And I did have a large trampoline to set up outside my house - so we jumped at the sight of our current compound and signed the contract without even visiting the inside of the house. There are no fences around the houses here, we share the green spaces.

Ground floor corridor

Entrance : Gansu old altar table, vintage wooden lunchbox

We freaked out when we saw the curtains. The previous tenants were very rich Chinese and we obviously do not share the same taste in home furnishing. Since we have this clause in our contract saying that we would accept all the existing curtains in the house, they didn't want to hear about what we thought of their curtains. Then we found out when our 52-inch plasma arrived from Italy - that they wouldn't allow us to hang it up on the wall. Because even though you pay 60000 rmb per month for the house, it is made out of wood and most of the walls are actually empty. Panique a bord as this means No space for the home cinema and we had to go on another round of furniture hunting...

Dining room

Other than that I love this house. It is quite cozy and has (6) toilets that actually flush - though they do get blocked from time to time as it's Chinese plumbing after all. Only in China have you bins next to the WC for the toilet paper - which honestly is gross if you do more than pee. Anyway, the good thing about my compound is that you have an army of guys ready to turn up the minute you call - to unblock your toilets.

Family room : already a lazy bum in it

Study room : the side curtains will be removed later as just had Roman blinds installed

Because I live in a state-owned facility. I share the comfort and the privilege with the top brass of the Chinese Communist Party - though I'm always second compared to them. And not being white I am probably more 3rd class than 2nd - how often have I been mistaken for an ayi here. They wouldn't let me enter my own house sometimes.

The open kitchen : new bar stools from Kava Kava

We have a few restaurants in our compound (very good Indian cuisine, quite decent Thai and Moroccan, 5* Chinese, haven't tried the Italian bistro) and a 5* clubhouse with bowling, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, badminton, squash and ping pong courts, olympic-sized pool, spa, gym, KTV, tea house etc. There is also an enormous landscaped garden and lake out there - much appreciated after the hustle and bustle of a megacity like Shanghai. The only thing that is missing is an outdoor pool - but you can't have everything. Besides, there are lots of mosquitoes here.

The salon : our own Poltrona Frau Vanity Fair armchairs, wooden furniture salvaged from junk shop, sofa borrowed from the compound

The house is not totally ready yet (if it ever will be) as I am running out of steam after a month of non-stop unpacking. So this is a first glimpse (the 2nd is here), just pretend you didn't see the mess.

The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo, Shanghai

The Kitchen

Hub has been working alot since he started his new job in Shanghai. He travels to his factory in Anhui Province every week and stays there for at least 2 days (easily he'll be able to raise another family at the same time). The rest of the time he's married to his iPhone and computer, meetings and conference calls and the time difference with Europe doesn't help, it's possible for him to be talking to someone at any part of the day/night.

But he has done the unimaginable and has managed to break even last month - after 5 years of continuous loss incurred by his predecessors. He seems to love the challenge and is already forecasting expansion and what not. It is fortunate that I speak the language and can get by quite nicely without him, and if I need someone to hang a picture up on the wall, a quick call to the compound's service centre will see (paid) help on its way. I only lament the lack of availability of the chauffeur on those days when he's away in Anhui, the guy has to drive him there and I am left to the mercy of Shanghainese taxi drivers whose seat belts could never be found even though the voice recording when they turn on the meter advises systematically all passengers to put them on.

Very nice prawn and asparagus risotto

Nonetheless, Hub must think of me sometimes. On a few rare occasions when he was in Shanghai and had a spare hour, he would try to bring me out to lunch. Especially to a restaurant recommended by a colleague or somewhere he has tried out on business and found to be nice.

That was how we ended up one afternoon at The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo - an Italian restaurant situated on the Pudong side of the river. The guy's apparently famous in Japan, but when you came from 4 years of eating Italian in Modena like we did, you wouldn't be easily impressed. Still, I would recommend the restaurant for its fabulous view of the Bund and reasonably-priced set lunches. Plus the food wasn't bad at all, most of Hub's Italian colleagues here dine there occasionally.

View of the Bund from the restaurant

The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo

2967 Bin Jiang Da Dao

Lujiazui

Shanghai

Tel : 021 5054 1265

Mr and Mrs Bund, Shanghai

Bund 18

We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Shanghai. I had to be pulled out from under the mountain (364 to be precise) of boxes that I had been unpacking since early April, shoved into our chauffeur-driven car and rushed in the (acid) rain to Mr and Mrs Bund for a celebratory dinner.

Pasta in porcini cream

But I did get my hair done quickly in a hair salon that afternoon, the beauty of Shanghai being that while imported foodstuff is very expensive, waidi girls massaging your scalp and shampooing your hair for 35 minutes cost almost nothing. I have been nagged into taking up a 10000-yuan membership at Amani Hair Salon and Spa and that entitled me to better shampoo and a few discounts. It is quite impossible not to prepay for services (aka membership) here in Shanghai and possibly the only way to be left in peace each time you seek a haircut or a massage.

Pan-fried Foie Gras and Pomelo

And once you have prepaid for your services, you find yourself always ready to try something new in the boutique, I found myself as such undergoing a series of dandruff and other hair strengthening treatments - an excuse to have my scalp massaged every week while I contemplate the motifs they have plastered onto the white ceiling in the hair salon.

Lacquered Beef cheeks

My new pair of white Hugo Boss heels turned quite black by the end of the evening - and I've only walked between the car and the restaurant. It was drizzling and the pollution must be pretty bad in the city for the pavement and the rain to turn black literally.

Strawberries and coulis on thin crispy filo tart

But the outing was worth the health hazards for the food was good. French, nice decor if a little too noisy, innovative menu and a nice selection of (expensive) wines. Efficient service and tasty food (try the Black Cod - excellent), every dish cooked quite to perfection. Hub was so enchanted by it he wants us to return whenever we can. From weekday lunch to late Saturday night dinner - any window in his tight schedule will do.

Mr and Mrs Bund

Bund 18, 6/F

18 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu

Shanghai

Tel : 021 6383 9898

Life Without Access To Blogger And Facebook

Goes on...Not too sure about withdrawal symptoms unless you consider the binging, but then I am an all-weather eater so it'd be difficult to say for sure.

I am now in Shanghai - the NYC of Asia. In Pudong Jin Qiao more precisely, where the roads are wide and clean, the buildings each taller than the other, the restaurants at European prices (with service that is worse and more insipid though) and where you see more foreigners than locals in the streets.

The road to China had nonetheless been quite long (no, I am not just stating the obvious), it was to say that we left Modena on the 7th of January and only arrived on the 21st. Passing through Munich, Stuttgart, Reutlingen and finally Paris. We were very happy to be in Shanghai at last - minus all the locks on our luggage which honestly was a mystery. Nothing in them seemed to have been stolen, but every lock had been removed. And I am now left with keys that will no longer open any lock(s), made redundant through no fault of their own...

We have a 30th floor 2-bedroom flat in a 4-star hotel for 6 weeks. With a view (when there is no fog) of buildings and more buildings, as well as the grandest (and noisiest) private fireworks display that I've ever seen on the eve of CNY. 20 million people live in Shanghai, that's nearly the whole of Malaysia in one city, only that you can probably count the trees if you put your mind to it. I am sure that whatever tree they have around will grow tall and wide one day - if they survive the pollution and the incessant honking.

I was sick for nearly 2 weeks. Probably with flu though I have no idea if it was swine or human. Mum suggested that it was because I hadn't brought along a bottle or 2 of water from my last place of residence to drink together with water in Shanghai - and that I have paid for not acclimating to the new soil. Anyway, as you can see I'm still alive and kicking, though I have kept my promise to my friends not to say anything bad about my host country on my blog - I've just whispered my opinions to my Hub's new chauffeur (who always agrees with me), thought I'd keep it very local for a start.

Being sick for so long meant I had the chance to become acquainted with Chinese TV. Every other channel shows gunfire-heavy drama with Japanese soldiers, Revolutionary Green-beret Chinese soldiers and pig-tailed damsels in them, or full-throated wailing Chinese singers singing their hearts out on stage - but I cannot tell you much about them since I usually just move on...to the Korean TV series even though I really do not like kimchi (or watching people eat kimchi).

For a Communist country Chinese TV has more commercials than any other TV I've ever watched - not that I've watched much TV in the last 15 years. Especially not in Italy where you only see half-naked young women dancing in front of 2 old men on every channel. Anyway, I've become pretty good at zapping across channels now - all 40 of them. In fact, I usually follow about 3 drama series at the same time in between commercials. They sell a lot of skin-whitening beauty products, industrially-produced drinks and cakes, computers and other products for smarter children and cold medicine of all sorts. But I wouldn't be seduced even if they speak very Pekinese Chinese - 60% of all deaf children in China became deaf after consuming some kind of antibiotics. Isn't that scary?

Though safety comes at a price. Went to a Singapore-run clinic yesterday to check out the doctor and get a new prescription for birth control pills (yes, we're still at it). Paid 200 euros for the 10-minute consultation plus 32 euros for the (imported) pills. I should have trained as a doctor after all. That was good money.

Back to TV, I am addicted. I spend my afternoons and evenings crying in front of the TV. I have forgotten how Asian drama tend to make one cry - a lot. But once the kids started school, I had to stop (the afternoon shows) as they have a lot of homework to do and years of Maths and Chinese to catch up on. We wake up at 6 in the morning now, so 10pm shows are also out - except during eve of public holidays and weekends.

I haven't started socialising much - but that will start soon I suppose. There are millions of expats in Shanghai. And everyone passes through the city at some point, we've already had lunch with an Italian ex-colleague of Hub's and he's going to dine with the CEO of some company he had dealings with in the past tomorrow evening. And I just got a call from my good Chinese friend in Paris that he's now in Shanghai - I never got to see him when I was living in Germany or Italy - but fancy catching up with him in China.

The other morning I turned up at the younger kids' school for a knitting lesson (preparing for the day I'll be knitting for my grandchildren) and caught the end of a PTA meeting. In spite of myself, got roped into helping out at both the Singaporean and French food stands (for a charity event). Interesting thing is that the French think of cooking and the Singaporeans of catering. I have almost forgotten that. Haha.

This morning I went to a fabric market to hunt for an ancient Egyptian costume for Babinette - for Egyptian Day at school. I had barely made my request when the tailor told me that I must be from one of the International Schools and promptly charged me 280 rmb for a piece of white cloth held by another piece of gold cloth that my darling will only wear once. But what choice do I have? Sewing figures not among my many talents. Why do these schools always make us spend money? And I've also got to make an ancient Egyptian dish. Since I do not have foie gras with me, I have decided to try couscous and roast chicken (well, it's fowl) - if I manage to find the ingredients and get the mini-kitchen in the flat to work. We have been eating out everyday since we were here.

Well, I'm not back for good. Just for the duration of this VPN trial that the Teenager has signed up for. We will only move into our house in mid-March. It's a big wooden house with 5 bedrooms and an open kitchen. In the meantime, I look forward to discovering more of Shanghai which probably is going to be one of the most important cities in the world - if it isn't already. See you later.