Suzette's Parenting and Breastfeeding Blog

On Friday and Saturday night, I stayed in my best friend ES’s rented condo.

Yes, ES is my best friend, from school days, for 20 years already.  We just counted on Saturday, and yes, it is already 20 years.  Hmm… it shows how old we are huh!  :p

She had a very good and bright career here in KL.  Bumped into this angmo, some chemical reaction happened, and she married him.  He then got a job-transfer to Shanghai.  She quit her good and bright career, and followed him all the way there.  Very brave, I have to say.  But seriously, between finding another job and finding another husband, which is tougher which is more worthy to sacrifice for?  I’d do the same if I were in her shoes. 

Anyway, she has been alone living in that big city of Shanghai.  Though she always claimed that she is very busy everyday, I still believe that she must be lonely.  Though I wanted to go home early to see Ian, but I’d also want to visit her to give her some companionship (ahem! of course i can do some shopping too! :p)

OK, enough excuses to extend my stay now…

Back to the topic.  I must write something about her condo.  I must admit that I was like 刘姥姥 - like kampong girl/woman first visiting city.  Her condo… whew! superb!  This is the type of condo that, I believe, our new GM is trying to look for in KL (which of course he couldn’t find!).

In the lift, there is no button for you to press for the floor except G, B1 and B2.  The lift will go to your floor with the access card only, and it will bring you to your floor only.

It is 237 sq meter, bigger than the total build up area the my future house will be (190 sq meter only).  The rooms are very well partitioned and designed.  Of course the rental is not cheap.  All properties in Shanghai is not cheap anyway, and for this one it is USD4,200 per month!

She and her husband decorated the house so well (came in unfurnished), that it looks like being managed by the hotel - the type that you thought the professionals would do.

She and her hudband are definitely good in interior design.  Must get her ’service’ next time when my house is ready.  :p  Wonder how much it would cost me to ‘hire’ her.  Hahaha!

I really had a good time there, especially the conversations I had with her.  Unfortunately too much to catch up, and too little time we had.  Most of the time we talked about my stuff, I didn’t have enough time to learn about her new life.  Sigh!  There will be other time, but really don’t like to wait. 

Looks like my main highlight of the last Shanghai trip is the XiangYang market only.  :p

Well, it was supposed to be a business trip… so, Thu and Fri I had meetings in the hotel.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, my meeting was cut short.  By 4pm Friday, I was free to go.

I checked out and moved in to my best friend’s (ES) condo.  I extended my stay by one night, and came home on Sun instead of Sat.

This is actually my second trip to Shanghai.  The first one was in Jan 2005, and it was a very lousy trip, coz all the 3 days meeting ended at 8 or 9pm.  We had dinner very late and all shops were closed by the time we finished.

This time, hehehe, I had a good time with ES.

We didn’t go any where on Fri night, just had a good dinner nearby her rented condo.  On Sat, she took me to the Yu Garden in the morning, which is not worth going.  Then we headed to Xiang Yang again.  This time, I was determined to buy something…

Well, not much that I bought actually.  A bit disappointed due to the crowd.  Weekend crowd is so heavy.  On Wed when we went, it was like we were the only customers they have and we were so precious and people are willing to make a deal with us.  On Sat, it was the other way round.  Too many customers and we lost our bargaining power!

The first row of shops we went in, no one entertained us coz their stores were full of tourists and travel groups.  A lot of angmo too!

We were lucky coz when we moved to the second row, the crowd disappeared, just for a short while, short enough for us to buy some good stuff.  After that, crowded again.

I bought DVD for 3 TV series: Lost season 1, Lost season 2, Sex and the City season 1-7.  Only rmb6 per disc (less than RM3!).

Then bought two Armani shirts for DH, at only rmb75 (less than RM17 per piece!), and their quality is very good!

ES bought 3 table runners (2m long), for only rmb50 (about RM7.5 per piece).  We believe it is a very good price, coz after the deal the shop owner was so angry with us and refused to talk after that!  :p

And finally, I bought some Coach key-chains at only rmb15 per piece!  I bought 7 pcs, all very nice ones, intend to give it out as souvenier, though I also like them very much and really feel like keeping them all to myself!  :p

That’s all that I bought.  Not much, and none of these are for me, as usual…  :(  But I really feel good, especially thinking of the Armani shirt for DH.  They are REALLY good!  I feel like asking ES to get more for me.  I can collect from her next time I visit!

Anyway, feel sad coz won’t have the chance to go again before it closed down in May ler.  When I can resume traveling, it would be in Sep already…  Well, at least I’ve been there, at least once! 

Last week was a busy and away week for me.  Tue I was away for a full day conference which ended at 8pm, and Wed early morning I already left for Shanghai for a meeting.

When we (my boss and I) arrived to the hotel at 4pm on Wed, we went to the Xiang Yang market to shop.  Woo hoo!  This is a good spot to shop, coz you get really good bargain (if you are good).

I am not a good shopper, as mentioned many times before.  So, I didn’t buy anything on that day.  I just observed how my boss shopped.  Really an eye opener for me.  After seeing how she shopped, only I learnt the strategy.  She managed to get the price from rmb 180 down to rmb 15.  From 240 down to 40, etc.

I didn’t buy anything, except a beaded handbag, and that was after my boss got the price so low to rmb 60, then only I bought one (tumpang her price).  My friend bought the similar bag in Malaysia for RM90.  rmb60 is less than RM30!  Maybe we could go lower, but I’d rather think we’ve got a good price!  :p

So, the strategy learnt is:
1. You must not be desperate, i.e. if don’t buy also never mind.
2. You must know how much you are willing to pay for ‘that’ item, or how much it worth.
3. Start with a price lower than what you are willing to pay, coz you’ll need to up it later.
4. Walk away if the shop don’t budge.  There are many other similar shops, and if there is no similar ones, remember point 1.  :p

That is the Xiang Yang market, and it will be closed down by end May.  So sad!

Oh, BTW, what do they sell in Xiang Yang?  All the pirated and fake branded goods are found here.  You can also find some locally made unbranded stuff.  But it is most famous for the fake branded goods.  :p

During the last weekend I found that watching TV with Ian is really a “torture”.

He suddenly so persistent and insistent to go into the TV.  I really don’t know how to fulfill his wish.  And this, only happened, when he was watching F1 race.

On qualifying race, he already whined all night wanted to go inside.

During the race day, he kept saying:

“我要(I want) go inside!”

“我要(I want) sit there!”

He kept repeating the two sentences and cried/whined, through out the whole F1 race.

Out of frustration, I told him: “Nah!  You want to go inside, you go lah!  But I don’t know how to help you go inside.  Go lah!” :p

Such a stubborn boy.  Sigh!