Am I A Nerd?

Weather: Fine
Mood: Inquisite

I love reading since I was young and this interest hasn’t dithered even when I'm an adult. I enjoy reading fictional novels, but when time gets busy, I'll fall back on magazines. ~shrugs~

Since moving to Shanghai, I’ve yet read too many novels. Mainly because English novels are hard to come by (especially since I am living in Pudong where shopping arcades are scarce), and if they are for available, they come with expensive tags. :(

Recently, while visiting an antique furniture shop , I bought a couple of books in its 2nd hand book corner. The books are on sale for 10RMB each, and the money collected, according to Marybelle, will be contributed to charity.

Anyway, the point is..... I wasn't aware I actually miss reading so much. Only 3 days, I had finished reading "The Doomsday Conspiracy" by Sidney Sheldon. If not for the regular chores I need to attend to, I probably could have finished reading the book in a day. Of course, it helps that “A Sudden Change of Heart" by Barbara Taylor Bradford. I'm trying to read it slow, but in just an evening, I have already completed half of it. :P

I'll probably put a stop to my reading after I'm done with "A Sudden Change of Heart". It's just too much a threat…. whenever I start to read, I just drift into my fictional world and it's difficult to pull myself out.

Quote from my gal, ".................." ~kept shaking her head~
........ I started my little princess on her piano lesson yesterday but she cried and refused to learn from the teacher. ~sigh~

Reaching Out

Weather: Fine
Mood: Relax

I was told that the group of Singaporeans ladies I mentioned in my last post, formed the Shanghai Expatriate Mum's Club. They are constantly "recruiting" new members and trying to help them get settled in Shanghai. So, if you are new in Shanghai and needed friends, do drop me an email so I might refer you to them.

Yesterday, I attended a farewell lunch organized by Shanghai Expatriate Mum's Club when the ex-coordinator, Helen, who will be leaving to return to Singapore in July, gave a farewell speech. Having been in China for 8 years, and having been part of the group, she could not help sobbing towards the end of her speech, since she misses the group which contains all her friends.

I can share Helen’s sentiments. When we relocate to another country, it means leaving our family and friends and past life behind to start afresh. At our age, it is not easy to make friends. However, when we start afresh in a new country, we find friends who shared similar experience, since we start off from the same platform...... being "alien" here. Thus the newfound friendship becomes very precious to us.

Having said that, friendship does not come knocking on your door. If you need a friend, you might have to reach out with a little effort. He or she could be just an email, a call or a sms away. ;)

Related Posts:
A Friendly Bunch
Treasure Friendship

Quote from Son, "Why is it you can watch TV and I can't?"

....... although I encourage my son to be inquisite, but this type of question is getting out of hand. ~shake head~

A Friendly Bunch

Weather: Little Drizzle
Mood: Uplifting

As time passes, besides getting to know Shanghai better, I am also getting to know more people. For instance today, I just went out for lunch with a group of Tai-Tais. Thanks to Lina, the mother of my daughter's classmates, who always made it a point to introduce me to new friends, that is how I got to know these friendly ladies, who were introduced as Singaporeans from Puxi (since Lina and I stay in Pudong).

Although it is the first time I met these ladies, they were very warm, and had been enthusiastic in engaging me in their activities. All I can say is that they really know how to make one feels welcomed.

For a newbie (in joining social group activities), it has been tough to engage in a social group that I can feel comfortable in, since the group would usually be made of "old birds" who are "clicky". Therefore, I am quite happy to meet these ladies, who are eager to make new comer feels welcomed. Since they are so nice, I would probably be meeting up with them more in the future.

Quote from Gal, "I want to do homework."

...... my little angel is a very self-motivating one in terms of learning, wish my son can be the same.

Antique Furniture

Weather: Cloudy
Mood: Relax

A couple of days ago, I joined the mums in my gal’s school to attend a visit to an Antique Furniture shop in Puxi Cabobao Lu. The visit was coupled with a talk by the shop owner, Marybelle. She started by telling that whatever she had in her shop cannot be really considered as antiques, since they are mostly 50 to 60 years old. However, they are beautiful olden furniture which is more affordable. Then Marybelle introduced us what these furniture are made of, and how they can be maintained. Overall, it was an enlightening talk, especially when Marybelle touched on the different types of materials used for making the Chinese furniture; 硬木 (aka hardwood) and 软木 (aka softwood).

At the time of our visit, Marybelle claimed she didn’t have any hardwood furniture in the shop since these are collectible items well sought after by. Even furniture made of红木 (aka red wood), the hardest of the soft wood, would be snapped up by long-time customers if she managed to get hold of one.

Personally, I wouldn’t invest in any olden furniture for the fact that I’m a superstitious lady. I wouldn’t want to risk using something that was being used by the dead. Take for instance a bed, or a mirror, who can guarantee that it is spirit-free? ~shivers~

However, I’m all for restoring old furniture for further usage. It does help the earth by reducing waste. Am I contradictive? Well… that’s me. :P

Quote from Gal, "I like Mei Mei room, I like Mummy room, I like....."

.... seems our dear girl is falling in love with our new apartment. :)

New Estate "Glitches"

Weather: Fine
Mood: Keeping My Fingers Crossed

I like the housing estate we moved into. It is conveniently located with wet market, supermarket, convenience store, food outlets and surrounded with generous greeneries. And in the compound, one can find reputable schools (from kindergartens to universities) and look forward to an MRT station in the near future.

I think I will enjoy my stay in our new apartment, except currently, we still have to tolerate some inconveniences due to the fact that our estate is brand new:

1. Renovation noises everyday from 8am to 6pm. And sometimes, it is extended to night time and weekend due to inconsiderate contractors / neighbors.

2. Renovation garbage disposed in common areas of the estates by thoughtless ones.

3. Lifts being stalled by selfish movers. (God help us especially those of us who stay on high-floor.)

4. Dusts, dusts, and more dusts.

I am crossing my fingers that my neighbors will finish their renovation and move in soon. Hopefully, the inconvenience we face need only last for 2 or 3 more months. ~ crossing my fingers ~

Quote from Boy, "Where is Mei Mei?"
Quote from Gal, "Goa Goa leh?"
..... seems like the siblings are getting closer. :D

Renovation Fuss

Weather: Fine
Mood: Exhuasted

I wonder if there’s anyone who hasn’t encountered a problem after he/she shifts into a newly renovated house. For us, the last couple of days have been hassles….

First, we discovered that the build-in closet in one of the rooms is problematic. We couldn’t close the closet door at all after hanging our winter clothing because it is being built too shallow. I was pretty mad about this fault because I have not once but many times emphasized to the contractor that I need lots of storage space, so I took few times to go through the closets design blueprints with him to ensure the closets are built to my expectations. Argh…… :(

Then, as we started to use our power supply, we found that most of the power sockets are loose when we plugged on our appliances. After dismantling one of the power supply sockets, we found that the sockets installed were of inferior quality. My husband was very angry that our contractor actually used such product that could put our life at risk. My husband made the contactor change all the power supply sockets after giving him a grave warning.

The above encounters are just 2 major problems we hit; there are some other minor ones that I would find it too bothersome to share with you.

The renovation contactor is someone introduced via a friend, and he has seemed pretty reliable through our interaction with him. All I can say is that.... we can never be too trusting in China.

PS: To the one who has written to me to ask for the contractor’s contact, through this post, I hope you understand why I hasn’t replied you. ~sigh~

PSx2: BTW, the broadband in my new house is yet to be installed. I’ll be back more regularly once I have my access to internet again.