Promptly after dropping Will off at school on Monday morning (we didn't take June to school that day as it would be challenging to pick her back up in a couple of hours), we headed for the Puxi fabric market. Our intention there was to get a suit made for Adam. I am carrying his old suit so they could use it as a pattern. It is a pretty fast turn around to have the clothes ordered on Monday and ready by Friday when we needed them, but they did it.
While we were talking with David and his assistant and picking fabrics, etc. June was very busy entertaining other vendors. They sit on stools outside their little cubicles and wait for customers. Then they yell out "Lady, so cheap scarf, belt, sweater, jacket, etc." and try to lure you into their shop. They were amazed that June could speak Chinese. June loved the attention and would sing her Chinese songs and talk with them. Of course, they remembered her when we went back on Friday to pick up our wares.
Steve ended up having a sport coat made and a couple of dress shirts. I had a dress made also. All of the items were completed by Friday afternoon when we went back to pick them up.
Outside the fabric market, they have blankets with jewelry on them. I didn't purchase anything on Monday, but when we returned on Friday, I found a couple of necklaces that I purchased for 3 or 4 dollars each. Jen is an excellent negotiator and we made a good team. She would set it up and then I would step back in and offer them just a little less. Since she was negotiating for me and I was the ultimate purchaser, it worked every time.
After our outing to the fabric market, we crossed back over to the Pudong side of town and went to Taylor's new Specialized office. He gave us a tour of the facility and then we went to lunch. Their multi-story building has office space, places for training, repair, storage and a huge area where everyone puts their personal bikes that they ride to work or ride on their lunch breaks. Of course, they have showers and lockers so they can clean up after their rides. Taylor usually rides his bike to work unless the air quality is really poor. Then he cleans up for the day at the office.
We also went to a Specialized store where they only sell his products. It was a beautiful place.
June got on one of the display bikes and rode it all over the store. Everyone loves to watch June perform.
On the first day of the bike race in Indonesia, another rider's wheel caused Jen to crash. She was thrust off her bike, which was broken in the process, and then run over by another rider. She was pretty bruised, cut and banged up, but amazingly she got up and not only finished that day's race, she continued the next two days and finished in the top 20 for the women's race. She beat the rider who caused the crash. Her knew right away her wheel was damaged but didn't realize until later that her whole frame was broken too. Both will be replaced under warranty.
June loves her school but she didn't mind missing a couple of days to hang out with us. When the kids arrive at school, they take off their shoes and put on slippers and hang up their backpacks.
Two of June's teachers were happy to pose with her for a photo. One speaks some English. The other one not so much.
One day while doing our shopping duties, we stopped at Jen's favorite lunch spot. Jen prefers vegetarian foods but Steve was able to get a delicious sandwich. The food was very interesting to sample. I loved trying lots of new food options.
Here we are back at work finding jeans for family members at the underground market. They have a taylor who will adjust the hems at another stall in the market. It was worth the $5 and 15 minutes.
June found this princess t-shirt and couldn't be persuaded to pass it up. She picked it up and took it to the clerk and asked "How much?" She had us laughing a lot with her cute little sayings and then she would get a very pouting look and say "It's not nice to laugh at people." We had to be careful.
One evening after a day of shopping with Jen, Taylor took us to his favorite restaurant in a very high end mall. It was absolutely gorgeous and not the place we had been shopping in earlier. His favorite restaurant is a Japanese place that specializes in pork dishes with very few vegetables. Jen stayed home with the kids that night.
Here is the fried pork cutlet served with cabbage. The cabbage was sliced so fine it looked like a pile of rice noodles. We loved the cabbage with a little sauce they put over it. The pork was very good too.
I had this bowl of rice, pork and egg. It was delicious and very filling. I took a "doggy bag" so I could finish it another time. I actually ate it for breakfast one morning.
After dinner, we walked around a big circular walkway just outside of the mall which allowed us to see the beautiful buildings of Shanghai all lit up. It was a spectacular sight. Interestingly enough, Jen had taken us around this same area earlier in the day and it was so hazy that we couldn't see the buildings well or take any good photographs. The breeze came up later in the day and cleared it all out. We were happy about that.
On our walk, Steve spotted a Dairy Queen and couldn't resist a milkshake.
The weather was nice enough during November, that many of the flowers were still blooming. These are pictures I took looking down over the highway and landscaping from the walkway that night.
Shanghai is such a diverse city and parts of it are amazingly beautiful. A new building under construction will be one of the tallest in the world. Here is a photo of the downtown area that Steve took from the window of our car. It was one of the clear days.
Here is Steve with the owner of David's where we get the suits made.
Shanghai buildings on a hazy day.
We were so happy that we didn't have to drive ourselves anywhere. The traffic is crazy and the cars come within inches of each other. We have observed very few accidents which is almost unbelievable. Taylor's driver is very good. He is calm but aggressive. He manages some astonishing maneuvers. He is also very good with the kids. After 4 years, he is practically like family.
This car did a 20-point turn in front of the kids' school. Chinese can part in very tight spots too.
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