Shanghai shopping

Xixi mentioned that she thought shopping in China might have increased in price since she last came, and perhaps this is true in the department stores, but you can still get great deals in market type places. I went to the Hongqiao International Pearl City, driving there through insane traffic with my mum's friend and her daughter. Her daughter currently lives in Ottawa, Canada, but is here on vacation for about a month. It's nice having someone to do something with outside of just study and family and it was nice to finally do some shopping (and not in Qingdao...).

Le Sportsac is really big in China right now, which makes sense because it's brand-y enough to appeal to Chinese sensibilities, whilst also being cutesy enough to really really catch on! I invested in two little bags, and luckily my mum's friend was a really good bargainer. I wouldn't have been game to bargain as hard as she did, but then given how weak our Aussie $$$ is right now I should bargain for all I'm worth! I also got two wallets, one "Dior" and one "Gucci", but not the typical weird little infinity symbol Guccis that you usually see. That was definitely a need because my wallet is falling apart. I really wanted this beautiful "Anna Sui" old fashioned flowered one, but she wouldn't lower her price anymore so we walked out. If I see it again maybe I'll buy it. Although who needs so many wallets? You only really use one... it was really really nice though.

My name is Trin and I'm a shopaholic. Hello everyone.

Shopping... and a museum

After a lazy day yesterday (after my bad dream I couldn't face going out and figuring things out in the city) I got up early to walk down Haight St, which is famous for being hippy land during the 60s and also near where the Grateful Dead lived. I missed the tour they have on Tuesdays, so I didn't learn much, but I did go shopping and bought a patchwork skirt, silk pants (Asian style) and a tie up muslin cardigan. All kind of hippy-ish and perfect for traveling through Central America in! I also walked up a hill and got some great views of the city. Worth every puff and sore legs (just because of my general lack of fitness).

I also walked through Golden Gate Park to the de Young Museum. I think I was offered drugs twice and an old homeless man might be in love with me (for no reason I can understand, maybe he'd bought some happy drugs). It's also where I think San Francisco's homeless people go to hang out. Here they carry all their worldly possession in shopping trolleys, which you see full of clothes (and not really much else). It was funny because the trolleys were all parked down the hill (like a parking lot) and the homeless people were hanging out on the grass, drinking, talking, doing whatever. And now I feel like I know what homeless people do during their days.

The de Young museum had a really beautiful glass exhibit by an artist named Chihuly. I'll have to put up some pictures that I took (and normally I don't take photos of art that I see in museums) because it was incredible. Maybe just google it. The rest of the exhibitions were a bit underwhelming (should have seen them first!) but this was very cool. Then I went next door to the Japanese tea gardens for a nice walk around and some tea and cookies. If you ever go to San Francisco I don't recommend the tea garden except as a place to have a rest, but note that it costs $4 to get in, and another $5 for your tea and cookies, so you could go somewhere else for a break.

And tonight I went shopping with Carmen and we both bought a bit of stuff (I got two dresses, a pair of shoes and some shorts). It's been a spend-y day for me so I'm going to go easy on the shopping for awhile. I don't want my money to run out before I get to New York!

Now, mostly we've been eating at home because it's cheaper and more homely I guess, but last night Carmen and I went to the Mission (a kind of Latino neighbourhood in San Francisco - it's a slightly poorer area I guess, but it has a lot of bars and clubs and restaurants so it's a fun place to go) to eat at Andalu, a tapas style Mexican/Spanish/Asian style restaurant, which I recommend to everyone who comes here. The service was not great (just kind of slow and the front of house was a bit dopey - not rude or anything, just slow) but the food was incredible. So delicious! We had these "ahi tacos" (fish - tuna I think? - tacos) that were so more-ish and we got a cheese fondue which was divine and went perfectly with the toast and bread. And dessert was donut holes that you dipped in little cups of thick, dark hot chocolate with cream on top. It also has an extensive wine and cocktail list. I can only vouch for the sangria (yum) and according to Carmen they make good faux-hitos (virgin mojito). I will be posting photos of these when I get around to it, because it was so, so good.