Saturday

Today's post will be short, no really I mean it. I will rely on photos to tell the stories. Steve took me out today to see the sights and we walked for much of the day. It was brisk outside but not too cold so it was a good day.

We started at U Town, a 4 story electronic shop. H-U-G-E!!!!! It was unbelievable what was in there. Think of the computer section at say Best Buy, the glass cases with laptops, desktops, cameras, flash drives, etc. These glass cases were everywhere, seriously. There were areas for Apple products, Dell, Sanyo, Sony and the list goes on. It was overwhelming. The glass cases were made into "cubicles" for lack of a better illustration, each cube was run by an independent contractor who rented the space and sold whatever they could. There must have been let's just say 50 per floor selling everything under the sun. They had cell phones in all styles, colors and models (perhaps not all real models but it was something to see). I mean it was everything electronic, circuit boards, keyboards, computer cases, PSPs, soup-to-nuts, they had it all. On the 3rd floor there was an arcade for 1/2 of the floorspace. What is really odd is where U Town is, it's located in the older part of the city. The photo below is taken outside of U Town.

Once we had our items (me a cable and Steve some batteries) and had moved through the entire store (you know we're guys so it was less than 30 minutes, not much window shopping here). We walked to bar street to find a DVD store that was highly recommended. Along the way, we passed some interesting sights so I'll show the photos with a caption to explain.

We passed a natural medical store and there was the jar in the picture. Look closely, it's dried frogs....good for what ails you. They also had the birds nests to be sold for soups and such, along with the "blue pill" stuff like horns and antlers to keep "up" your health (if you know what I mean).

Hey, what's this? Anyone that's a fan of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman knows that this is daschi (the thing hanging....not the banannas), a fruit popular in Asia that stinks and that Andrew even spit out so you know it's got to be bad. I also found out that stinky tofu is exactly that, you don't need to pass close to know it's there. I noticed it last time I was on Walking Street but I didn't know what the "aroma" was, Steve indicated it's stinky tofu. The best way I can put it is that it's really bad foot odor cranked up a few notches. Firecracker to M80, that's about the right scale (and I may be sugarcoating it a little, it makes the fish smell at the office seem like roses in bloom).

We went to Auchan, a large store here for shopping. It's Wal-Mart on crack......really! If you hate Wal-Mart, you'll despise this place. Take a Xanax before walking into this store. The image below might help illustrate. I'm making an appointment for a therapist now, I've got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after going in this place.

Note that the lane numbers (75, 76, 77,...). There were over 100 check out lanes and the crowds are just like the image. I wish I could've taken a shot from much higher up to show the people. One more image, please note the flavor on the baby formula.

I'll post a link to the photos when I have them uploaded to the web so you can review all of the photos. We walked for miles and stopped in a Starbucks to recharge for the final 15 minute walk back to the Chateau. It was a very interesting day, a lot of stuff seen and photos taken (and uploaded now that I have my cable...15 RMB for the cable, basically $2, something that would've probably cost $8 in the US. Steve bought Slumdog Millionaire on DVD for 6 RMB, less than $1. They are selling the first 18 seasons of the Simpson's for 200 RMB which is about $30. $30 might get you one season in the US. Anyhow, enjoy the photos and stay tuned.

I have to say one thing about the Expats here from my company; they are all great and willing to step up and help out with advice, places to avoid, etc. They have all gone out of the way to help me feel welcome in this very different world. This is a support system that anyone would need to make this transition. I feel very fortunate to have these folks to rely on when I need a hand.