After Taikang we hailed a cab to take us to our next destination. Jami had written down an address that was supposed to be holding a Chilli Cook-Off! So we told the driver where to take us and climbed in. I turned to Jami and asked her where exactly the cab was taking us, so I could know how much the cab was going to be costing us. But....she had no idea. She read about the cook-off and just wrote down the address. Since we live in the French Concession where everything is and happens we just have a tendency to assume everything takes place in our neighborhood:) Luckily it wasnt too far away! So the driver drops us off and we walk around the corner and find this wing and steak restaurant! when we walked in it was a total oasis. Inside the fence was a really cool boardwalk lined with tall trees with a waterfall on the other side. we did not feel like we were in Shanghai at all. the feeling of being back in the states was intensified by the fact that there were noooooo chinese people in this event. It was ALL expats(people living in china that are foreigners). sadly we got there a little late so we were only able to taste a few different chilli's. But we had so much fun anyways. everyone in there was super nice and I ran into a bunch of people there that I had met the previous thursday through a guy I hung out with. But the BEST part was the spotting of my "teammate". the night we got stranded in the typhoon while we were hanging out in the Apple store we saw this older gentleman sitting at a computer and he was wearing the SWEETEST outfit. I cant do the outfit justice so when we spotted him again at the 2010 Shanghai Chilli Cook-Off, wearing the EXACT same outfit, we had to take a pic. so I attached it below:)
we did some more great exploring this week for our three day break. first we went down to Old Shanghai which is a big area that still has old Chinese architecture and traditional Chinese gardens and tea houses. this place is lined with little shops that sell every trinket you could ever need! in one store we found everything from a shovel to use in your garden to Hello Kitty cell phone covers to cooking utensils! (again I attached a pic to show you the craziness of the store;) as we wondered more into the center of the area we found the main square which is gorgeous. there is a pond that weaves around this huge old tea house that is three stories high built in traditional Chinese architecture and is connected to the square by this really pretty stone bridge. the weather was absolutely perfect that day(it is FINALLY starting to cool down!) so me and Jami decided to see what this tea house was all about! we wondered up to the second story and found the cutest little table over looking the pond. all of the windows were opened and there was a relaxing breeze going through the room. we sat at the table and camped our there for a good few hours just chatting. It was easily the most relaxing day in Shanghai this far! we topped off the day with standing in line for about 20 minutes to try the famous Shanghai dumplings! and we were NOT dissapointed in any way!! they were soo freaking delicious! they make them right there in front of you so they are super fresh. the fill the dough with the meat and veggie filling and then steam them adn hand them to you! aaahhhh...so tasty:)
the next day(being today) we wondered down to the fake market once again. that place is soooo DANGEROUS! its the place where you can get tons of knock-off stuff for super cheap. today we were on the hunt for shoes. I was in desperate need for a pair of black flats and a pair of brown flats and Jami needed some blakc flats as well. we were also on the hunt for a Chinese Rosetta stone. And do not fret....WE FOUND EVERYTHING WE NEEDED! .....and maybe a little more:) right when we walked in there was a guy sitting on a little stool in front of his shop and as we passed he totally whispered to us "dvds?". when we looked down he was holding a stack of dvds down to his side. it was sooo sneaky! but me and Jami have been looking for illegal dvds since we got here. hahahaha! so we followed him into his shop and he sits us down on these tiny little stools and digs out the huge suitcase from under a pile of clothes! and when he opens it up there were hundreds of dvds in it! we went through all of them and ended up buying 9 movies for about $6 U.S. dollars! pretty much the best deal ever. but before we finalized the sale he asked us if we wanted any TV serious. and since we are stranded here with no english TV we naturally said YES. so he hands us a book and opens it up to show us a list of any TV series you could ever think of. its basically a menu that we can choose from.after looking at the menu he then proceeds to turn towards the wall, moves a few items out of the way and opens up the panelling off the wall of reveals a bunch of TV dvds! it was insane! I felt like I was in some kind of movie and that the cops were gonna come rushing in at any moment. the dvd market is being really watched right now becuase of the World Explo taking place here in Shanghai. once its done I dont think it will be so intense.
After the market we decided to go check out Ikea. we had a little trouble finding our way there becuase we had to take a new metro line and transfer to another line, but now we are getting pretty good at manuvering through the metro system. anyways...HOLY CRAP, that store is so flippin intense. neither of us had ever been in one so we were a little overwhelmed by the massive size of the store. you can litterally get every single thing you need to furnish a new house, right down to the lint roller. but our main focus there was getting some stuff to spruce up our house. once again....we had great success here:) we walked a way with some cute palce mats for our table which makes our dining room look so much better, some decorative mirrors to hang in our living room, some silverware(which was badly needed) and the best part was our new bedding!! our bedding that we have been sleeping in was so gross. they were ugly old used sheets and hideous comforters. we never looked forward to climbing in our beds. but now our beds are so cute, so clean and so inviting!
So now that we have some much needed shoes, wonderful new bedding, a few things to start making our house feel homey, and a great new sense of what is around us....we have to go back to reality. we go back to work tomorrow to work 6 days in a row and only had a one day weekend last week. the chinese school system is super strick about the number of school days in a semester so whenever a holiday falls during the week we have to make up school on the weekends. luckily we get a 7 day break after the 6 days in a row! woop woop!
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