Brazieres! Where DOES an ample bosomed woman find a bra in China? Most of the women here are pretty small - everywhere. So, one might consider this to be quite a dilemma. It sure was a dilemma for me when my ONE bra that I could wear tank tops with, broke the other day. Aaagghhh! I'm still living out of a suitcase and I have about 3 shirts that are not tank tops. Why? Because it's hotter than sin here! So, what to do, what to do...?
I thought for sure my mother would have to ship me a bra from the US. But, since picking up a bra site unseen via mail was not particularly appealing, even IF necessary, I decided to take my chances shopping around at the Super Brand Mall. If any place was going to have one for me, there is a good chance I would find it there. There is a whole section of the mall called "Charm Gallery", dedicated entirely to women's under clothing.
So, I started looking around and around and around...only seeing padded bras and very tiny underwear. I was feeling more than a little discouraged.
Even in the States, bra shopping is...tedious. I don't know if this is just for ME or if other women experience the same level of tediousness. I remember watching a segment on Oprah one time where the whole show was about finding your perfect bra! Wow...your perfect bra. What a great concept! I have spent my entire bosom growing life trying to find that "perfect" bra. What I have found, were "good enoughs" and a whole lot of exhausting effort! Mind you, Oprah had her "guests" fitted for their perfect bra AND a professional braziere consultant (can you believe those careers are out there?). Well, you can imagine her happy guests went home with their PERFECT bras! Every time I have been out shopping for bras, I have also fervently wished I knew where to find a "professional"...you know, someone who would provide a fitting, stand there in the booth with me, slip on the bra for me, *ahem* adjust wherever needed, tilt her head back and forth with a seriously critical eye as to whether that is, indeed, the perfect bra for me. If ONLY, right?! haha
Well, just shy from giving up, I spied a booth in the Charm Gallery at Super Brand Mall that had non padded bras and low cut frames. Okayyy, it's a start! They were still really tiny and I had my doubts as to whether they would even carry my size. The lady came up to me, saw my piqued interest in the bra I was holding..and took over from there..no English necessary.
I was turned around, fitted around the chest and my cup size was assessed. Ah, but it didn't stop there. The lady disappeared, came back with several sizes that looked like they could fit me, pulled me into the dressing room and proceeded to instruct me to disrobe. I realized that she would not be leaving, so I did as she bid. Oh my goodness! The process was exactly as I described I had always wanted...this lady became my personal bra consultant! One right after another, she slipped them on, fastened them for me, *ahem* adjusted where needed, pointed out each and every bra's gleaming qualities (of course), showed me all of the different colors for each, adjusted the straps different ways...and gave me a cookie. :) I was sold! haha
I actually found TWO bras more perfect than any other bra I have ever found before! Ha! I just had to come to China to find the perfect one. Dang! Is that all?
They fit me incredibly and surprisingly well. The one drawback to the whole process was that instead of being my traditional chest size (you don't blame me if I don't actually name the number, do you?), I'm about 55 MORE than that here in Chinese sizes! Ugh! haha Whatever... the number is going to my grave...and I still found my perfect bra - plus one more! :)
On a different note...
We went out tonight with our [only] "couple" friends...MY friend Sol and her husband and kids. We met at the play area in the Super Brand Mall, daddies watched the older kids while they played, while us mommies walked around the area, pushing our little ones (we shopped a little too!). After the kids were more than a little tired and more than a little hungry, we ate at a place in the mall called Elements Fresh. Wow! What a great restaurant! Yum-mmy! This is a chain here, so there are more than one of them. Many of you in the US will like this place a lot...IF you visit! ;) The menu was English friendly, the food was fantastic and healthy and the toilets were super clean...WITH upright toilets! What more could you ask for? haha
It was a good time! So far, I have only felt a few moments of feeling "normal" since moving here...and this was definitely one of them. I enjoy hanging out with friends, new or old, chatting, catching up, etc. PLUS, Allen actually enjoys hanging out with them and wants to do it more...which most of you know is definitely a bonus for me. :)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
SUPER BRAND MALL!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!! What a wonderful mall! It was heaven! It has to be one of the largest ranking malls on some list, somewhere around the world...it's gigantic! I had heard about the Super Brand Mall...but I visited it for the first time today. I think I could go there everyday! It has everything! It has CLEAN places to eat - galore. It has all kinds of food, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, American...McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Haagen-Dazs, etc. Pretty much the "standards" over here. They had a Hooters too! :) It also had a dumpling place, bakeries, ramen, etc.
The mall is actually 10 levels of pure shopping heaven...and I'm not even a "shopper". I recognized many brand names, such as Esprit, Merrill, Toys-R-Us, Best Buy, iPod/Apple, Tomi Toys, Quicksilver, Skechers, Sephora, Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Addidas, Nike, Lens Crafters, Toni & Guy Hair Salon Academy and EVEN Scholastic! They had a really cool soft play area for kids on one of the floors along with several "spaces" or "stores" of kids products (no Desitin though!) around the same area.
While they had many, many brand name stores I recognized in one place, they also had much less selection than what we are used to seeing in the States. I'm sure it's because of space issues.
Something strange happened. I walked into Toys-R-Us and after a minutes of looking around, I actually felt short of breath and felt a slight constriction around my chest. I can only compare it to the descriptions of panic attacks I have heard about from my friends. It wasn't even remotely TOO uncomfortable, but I did feel some stress just being in there. *Let me repeat...it was NOT a true panic attack...not even close! When I walked out, it went away. I don't know where the additional stress came from, but I do remember thinking "can't anything be easy?" I was looking for a hard case for Ryan's Leapster and they, of course, didn't have anything like it (where do I look now?)...I was looking at play equipment and it was phenomenally expensive, even here in China...all the boxes were in Chinese...they had a TON of new toys I had never seen before and couldn't read the boxes...they had signs everywhere about where to go, for what...they DON'T take US gift cards (oh, that's GREAT!)...everything was bright and colorful...aagghhhhhhh! haha So, I walked out without really looking at anything. I felt like I was in a pinball machine...and I was the pinball, wandering aimlessly through this colorful store without knowing where I was going, what I should be looking for or even who to ask. I guess I'm just not ready to explore a Chinese version of Toys-R-Us yet. The one at home is hard enough to navigate on a regular basis!
However, I did enjoy exploring the Tomi toys and the 'children's paradise' section. They had a line of wooden toys that I thought were pretty cool...basic, simple, educational...period. I recognized some of the other Tomi toys, but some I hadn't seen before and found to be interesting. This is where the cool play area was for kids as well.
Anyway, I've attached a link if you are interested in learning more about the Super Brand Mall. :) It's located on the Pudong side of Shanghai.
http://www.superbrandmall.com/
The mall is actually 10 levels of pure shopping heaven...and I'm not even a "shopper". I recognized many brand names, such as Esprit, Merrill, Toys-R-Us, Best Buy, iPod/Apple, Tomi Toys, Quicksilver, Skechers, Sephora, Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Addidas, Nike, Lens Crafters, Toni & Guy Hair Salon Academy and EVEN Scholastic! They had a really cool soft play area for kids on one of the floors along with several "spaces" or "stores" of kids products (no Desitin though!) around the same area.
While they had many, many brand name stores I recognized in one place, they also had much less selection than what we are used to seeing in the States. I'm sure it's because of space issues.
Something strange happened. I walked into Toys-R-Us and after a minutes of looking around, I actually felt short of breath and felt a slight constriction around my chest. I can only compare it to the descriptions of panic attacks I have heard about from my friends. It wasn't even remotely TOO uncomfortable, but I did feel some stress just being in there. *Let me repeat...it was NOT a true panic attack...not even close! When I walked out, it went away. I don't know where the additional stress came from, but I do remember thinking "can't anything be easy?" I was looking for a hard case for Ryan's Leapster and they, of course, didn't have anything like it (where do I look now?)...I was looking at play equipment and it was phenomenally expensive, even here in China...all the boxes were in Chinese...they had a TON of new toys I had never seen before and couldn't read the boxes...they had signs everywhere about where to go, for what...they DON'T take US gift cards (oh, that's GREAT!)...everything was bright and colorful...aagghhhhhhh! haha So, I walked out without really looking at anything. I felt like I was in a pinball machine...and I was the pinball, wandering aimlessly through this colorful store without knowing where I was going, what I should be looking for or even who to ask. I guess I'm just not ready to explore a Chinese version of Toys-R-Us yet. The one at home is hard enough to navigate on a regular basis!
However, I did enjoy exploring the Tomi toys and the 'children's paradise' section. They had a line of wooden toys that I thought were pretty cool...basic, simple, educational...period. I recognized some of the other Tomi toys, but some I hadn't seen before and found to be interesting. This is where the cool play area was for kids as well.
Anyway, I've attached a link if you are interested in learning more about the Super Brand Mall. :) It's located on the Pudong side of Shanghai.
http://www.superbrandmall.com/
Monday, August 4, 2008
Let's be FRANK, shall we?!
Our ayi had some pictures of her children and her grandchildren that I had the immense pleasure of viewing today! She also had pictures of the other children she has been an "ayi" to over the years...SO CUTE!! While I was googoo and gaga-ing over the pictures, our driver asked if we had any pictures of our home in America?! Hell, YEAH!! Let me just pull up our computer FULL of pictures!! haha
I had the opportunity to show them all kinds of pictures. :) But, I promise you, they were just as excited to see the pictures as I was to show them...they kept asking for more! Both, the ayi and the driver wanted to see our families, the boys, our cars, x-mas pics, our house, etc, etc, etc!
As I was showing them pics of my family, a few pictures came up that seemed to really capture their attention...pictures of my lovely sister! I think that they not only found her very lovely, they are also interested in the sibling relationships of westerners AND my sister and I look NOTHING alike, which stumps us and our parents to this day!! haha They asked me all kinds of questions, how old is she?, only you and your sister?, who's older?, does she have babies?, is she married? etc, etc, etc! As I proceeded to answer all their questions, I was confronted with very STANDARD, no-nonsense (and very typical) DIRECT Chinese dialogue...
"That's you sista?" "Ahhh!?" "She look MUCH younga than you!" "She olda? Really?" "No, YOU look MUCH olda than HER!" "She not fat, like you!" "Yo sista olda?" "Same mother, same father?"
Wait a minute...did I just get side swiped on BOTH sides, and in only ONE breath?!! haha
Well, here are MY own answers to all of that! "She no babies! So, yeah, she skinny" "She no husband! So, yeah, less stress" "Yeah...she probably FEELS a lot younger too!" ;) HAHAHA
TWO things:
1) My sister IS truly beautiful, from the inside out...so, of COURSE, it shows!
2) The Chinese people absolutely mean NO disrespect when they say things like this. They see something and they just very honestly say how it is...or they don't say anything at all. It's direct. I can appreciate that. I was laughing the entire conversation!
On another note...
Tonight we ate at Bubba's Texas style BBQ...set up and run by a true Texan. He even has the Texan flag outside the restaurant and greeted us at the door. Allen was caught completely off guard when I downed a liter of beer and gobbled up my entire pulled pork (w/ slaw) sandwich PLUS some hush puppies! He hasn't seen me eat like that in a very long time and he has NEVER seen me throw down a liter of beer that quickly! He wanted to know, "What the H***?" haha I had to respond, "I'm in my happy place!" :) :) :) He had to chuckle at that and vowed we would try to go there at least once a month. He loved it there, as well you can imagine. The food was sooooooooooooo good! The BEST...I mean it (well, alright, MAYBE the Salt Lick is just a tad better)! This was the first place we have gone where the expats FAR out-numbered the locals. You can imagine how wonderful it felt to us! Yah BBQ!! hee hee
I had the opportunity to show them all kinds of pictures. :) But, I promise you, they were just as excited to see the pictures as I was to show them...they kept asking for more! Both, the ayi and the driver wanted to see our families, the boys, our cars, x-mas pics, our house, etc, etc, etc!
As I was showing them pics of my family, a few pictures came up that seemed to really capture their attention...pictures of my lovely sister! I think that they not only found her very lovely, they are also interested in the sibling relationships of westerners AND my sister and I look NOTHING alike, which stumps us and our parents to this day!! haha They asked me all kinds of questions, how old is she?, only you and your sister?, who's older?, does she have babies?, is she married? etc, etc, etc! As I proceeded to answer all their questions, I was confronted with very STANDARD, no-nonsense (and very typical) DIRECT Chinese dialogue...
"That's you sista?" "Ahhh!?" "She look MUCH younga than you!" "She olda? Really?" "No, YOU look MUCH olda than HER!" "She not fat, like you!" "Yo sista olda?" "Same mother, same father?"
Wait a minute...did I just get side swiped on BOTH sides, and in only ONE breath?!! haha
Well, here are MY own answers to all of that! "She no babies! So, yeah, she skinny" "She no husband! So, yeah, less stress" "Yeah...she probably FEELS a lot younger too!" ;) HAHAHA
TWO things:
1) My sister IS truly beautiful, from the inside out...so, of COURSE, it shows!
2) The Chinese people absolutely mean NO disrespect when they say things like this. They see something and they just very honestly say how it is...or they don't say anything at all. It's direct. I can appreciate that. I was laughing the entire conversation!
On another note...
Tonight we ate at Bubba's Texas style BBQ...set up and run by a true Texan. He even has the Texan flag outside the restaurant and greeted us at the door. Allen was caught completely off guard when I downed a liter of beer and gobbled up my entire pulled pork (w/ slaw) sandwich PLUS some hush puppies! He hasn't seen me eat like that in a very long time and he has NEVER seen me throw down a liter of beer that quickly! He wanted to know, "What the H***?" haha I had to respond, "I'm in my happy place!" :) :) :) He had to chuckle at that and vowed we would try to go there at least once a month. He loved it there, as well you can imagine. The food was sooooooooooooo good! The BEST...I mean it (well, alright, MAYBE the Salt Lick is just a tad better)! This was the first place we have gone where the expats FAR out-numbered the locals. You can imagine how wonderful it felt to us! Yah BBQ!! hee hee
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Zhujiajiao
We went for a day trip today to a little town called Zhujiajiao (Joo-Juh-Jow). It's steeped in ancient history and is often called "Shanghai's Venice" or "Water Town". It's one of the oldest cities in the area. There is a fee to get "in" the city, but it was a little less than $10 USD per adult and that included getting into all the museum type buildings and gardens.
The little town sits next to a wide river and has smaller canals running through it. This river and the canals have river boats that look like traditional boats used in fish market trading and product transportation back in the day. The man working the boats used what looked like a long lever and moved it back and forth in the water to propel us forward. It looked like he was working hard pushing us. He had a basic rope attached to it to turn the rudder for direction.
We met my new friend, Sol (previous Coffee Bean entry), and her family there and had a good time walking in the back alleyways, looking at all the goods. However, it was hotter than sin and we were all sweating profusely and redder than tomatoes by the time we stopped for lunch. The buildings were close together and the alleyways were filled with little shops selling their wares, both food and non-food items. One particular product that caught my interest were "pictures" that were actually a ton of delicate thread woven together to make a picture. One of these little stores actually had the woman making them in front of us, authenticating they were, indeed, all hand woven. No two pics were exactly the same...I checked.
I've attached a few pics of our excursion. :) Again, it's not very stroller friendly. And here is a link describing the town a little better: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/shanghai/zhujiajiao.htm
Friday, August 1, 2008
Split pants - a drawback
Ok, so there ARE a few drawbacks to those split pants. hee hee
I was at the grocery store tonight and went to a line with one other person in it. There was a Chinese guy holding a 6-8 month old boy and waiting for his wife to come back with another product. His little boy proceeded to pee all over the conveyor belt! His dad turned him around and sure enough, his little bottom was entirely exposed. There really wasn't much commotion over it. The cashier called a cleaning crew to come clean it up...and that was that. :)
I'm not really sure when they know their children are going to pee or poo to avoid just this thing, especially with the younger kiddos. The whole idea behind the split pants is so that they CAN go anywhere...but do they usually just go in the street, by chance? Does mom and dad's shirts get dirty - a lot? How does that work exactly? haha I just don't know! :)
I was at the grocery store tonight and went to a line with one other person in it. There was a Chinese guy holding a 6-8 month old boy and waiting for his wife to come back with another product. His little boy proceeded to pee all over the conveyor belt! His dad turned him around and sure enough, his little bottom was entirely exposed. There really wasn't much commotion over it. The cashier called a cleaning crew to come clean it up...and that was that. :)
I'm not really sure when they know their children are going to pee or poo to avoid just this thing, especially with the younger kiddos. The whole idea behind the split pants is so that they CAN go anywhere...but do they usually just go in the street, by chance? Does mom and dad's shirts get dirty - a lot? How does that work exactly? haha I just don't know! :)
Overnight
It seems 3 things have happened here overnight...
1) My last blog was all about the Insect Kingdom. I was telling you what a wonderful trip we had and how I had such a great time with my youngest, spending a little quality time with him. With the way my kids have been acting lately, I really wasn't sure how a little outing would turn out - for me. Going out in public places with both boys has not been my favorite activity lately. So, you can imagine how elated I felt when everything went smoothly...
...until we got home. We had dropped Brandon off at school for the rest of the afternoon, but since Ryan has had a harder time adjusting to school, I decided to keep him with me today. So, we head home and I had been telling Ryan it was nap time so he wouldn't be "shocked" into it. For some reason, Ryan's blanket had recently smelled like urine, so I had the ayi clean it in the morning. Since we have yet to receive our washer/dryer, she put it out on the clothes line like everything else. When we arrived home, the ayi mistakenly showed Ryan his blanket on the line, which was still wet. And since it was still wet, he couldn't have it for his nap. While the ayi was showing him the blanket he couldn't have, I was getting his towel (to temporarily substitute) upstairs. Ugh! I heard him start crying before I finished walking down the steps. I figured he beyond tired since he had such an active morning and he had a belly FULL of food, so I take him into a bedroom and try to lie down with him. Ryan proceeded to throw the BIGGEST tantrum I have ever seen him throw. In fact, it very closely mirrored Brandon's episode from the week before. He was crying, screaming, and GROWLING. He was trying to kick, hit and head butt me! It lasted for over an hour! I couldn't believe it! I tried to sing to him, talk in low tones with him, but I knew that no matter what I did...I couldn't give in to this. I had to stand my ground to make him understand that this kind of behavior was unacceptable. As I'm watching my youngest baby boy growl at me (no more tears after the first few minutes), I couldn't help but feel that this was a culmination of some kind of pent-up aggression towards this transitional period. And I'm hoping beyond words that he let most of it out already. I know he's two. I know he'll be acting two for a while...and probably more aggressively than Brandon ever did...but wow. Again, I hope this was a "release" of some kind and I will only see milder versions of age appropriate tantrums from now on...I can't believe I'm saying this! haha
Anyway, FINALLY, after quite some time, he began to get tired and acquiesced. He ended up asking to be picked up and when I picked him up, he held on tight while I rocked him, rubbed his back and sang softly to him. He never did end up taking a nap, but once I let an appropriate amount of time go by while he sat quietly and patiently, we both walked out of the room together. I was EXHAUSTED!! At least this happened in the company of ONLY our ayi and driver, instead of a mall full of people. I guess.
2) Brandon woke up with what looked like very large mosquito bites on his leg...about 5-6 of them. We were thinking that maybe a mosquito got caught underneath his bed canopy and feasted all night. He wasn't complaining about them or even scratching them, etc. By the time we were driving to the museum, I noticed several boils on one of the bites. By the time we were done at the museum, they had popped and released some puss. By the time he came back from school, another one of the bites had boils on it. He still wasn't complaining about them..they didn't itch or even hurt until they popped and he had an exposed wound. He didn't have any fever. What had bit him? Was he having a reaction to the mosquito poison or did something else bite him? I immediately shook out his bedding. I still don't have the answers, but I'm keeping a very watchful eye on it, just to be sure.
As I mentioned before, our ayi is extremely watchful and immediately came over to inspect it herself. She looked grieved for Brandon's discomfort and she immediately called May (our previous hostess)...I didn't even know our ayi had May's number. May then called Allen who was driving home to inform him that the ayi suggested a certain kind of medicine and where to get it.
After ointment was applied and then a cute bandage, all was well with Brandon. But, not with mom. What if something like this happens again and I need medicine? Where do I go? Will I be able to read any labels? So, I went first, to a pharmaceutical store and everything is in Chinese...no name brands except for Band-Aid. I had to call an interpreter to translate what I was looking for...rubbing alcohol, Neosporin, other topical treatments, Band-Aids (sizes) and I also was looking for children's medicine for flu/colds, Benadryl, etc. Nothing. At least, no "name brands". Crap. The lady behind the counter kept pulling stuff out for me to look at and some of the packaging had a little English...but I'm not really sure what I was looking at, exactly, and if it is very effective. The hardest thing to translate, for some reason, was hydrogen peroxide. That was the only one I knew the chemical name for (hydrogen and peroxide)...and they had no idea what I wanted. Ugh! It was then translated to me that they don't have anything like that because it's too hot and the government won't let any into the country because it's such a high alcohol content. What?! So, I asked if they will have it in the winter...? 'No' was the answer. Sooo frustrating.
I will have to do more research. But, along with Sweet Chili flavored Doritos and Chocolate PB Ice Cream...my Christmas list has expanded to things like Neosporin, feminine products, Rubbing Alcohol, Purell hand sanitizer, Benadryl, and Robitussin. Ugh! You don't really think of these kinds of "essentials" until you can't find them. At least I can scratch 'tuna' off my list now! :)
3) Our dog has been savoring a rawhide bone the past few days. This morning, he looked normal. By tonight, one side of his face is swollen! That eye is even half closed! What is going on around here!!??? He was acting a little neurotic about the bone because he couldn't bury it. Did he eat it too fast and cut up his gums, thus the swelling? Or did something bite him? I don't see evidence of either scenario, but sure as day, his face is swollen! Aaghh!
All of this...just OVERNIGHT!!!
1) My last blog was all about the Insect Kingdom. I was telling you what a wonderful trip we had and how I had such a great time with my youngest, spending a little quality time with him. With the way my kids have been acting lately, I really wasn't sure how a little outing would turn out - for me. Going out in public places with both boys has not been my favorite activity lately. So, you can imagine how elated I felt when everything went smoothly...
...until we got home. We had dropped Brandon off at school for the rest of the afternoon, but since Ryan has had a harder time adjusting to school, I decided to keep him with me today. So, we head home and I had been telling Ryan it was nap time so he wouldn't be "shocked" into it. For some reason, Ryan's blanket had recently smelled like urine, so I had the ayi clean it in the morning. Since we have yet to receive our washer/dryer, she put it out on the clothes line like everything else. When we arrived home, the ayi mistakenly showed Ryan his blanket on the line, which was still wet. And since it was still wet, he couldn't have it for his nap. While the ayi was showing him the blanket he couldn't have, I was getting his towel (to temporarily substitute) upstairs. Ugh! I heard him start crying before I finished walking down the steps. I figured he beyond tired since he had such an active morning and he had a belly FULL of food, so I take him into a bedroom and try to lie down with him. Ryan proceeded to throw the BIGGEST tantrum I have ever seen him throw. In fact, it very closely mirrored Brandon's episode from the week before. He was crying, screaming, and GROWLING. He was trying to kick, hit and head butt me! It lasted for over an hour! I couldn't believe it! I tried to sing to him, talk in low tones with him, but I knew that no matter what I did...I couldn't give in to this. I had to stand my ground to make him understand that this kind of behavior was unacceptable. As I'm watching my youngest baby boy growl at me (no more tears after the first few minutes), I couldn't help but feel that this was a culmination of some kind of pent-up aggression towards this transitional period. And I'm hoping beyond words that he let most of it out already. I know he's two. I know he'll be acting two for a while...and probably more aggressively than Brandon ever did...but wow. Again, I hope this was a "release" of some kind and I will only see milder versions of age appropriate tantrums from now on...I can't believe I'm saying this! haha
Anyway, FINALLY, after quite some time, he began to get tired and acquiesced. He ended up asking to be picked up and when I picked him up, he held on tight while I rocked him, rubbed his back and sang softly to him. He never did end up taking a nap, but once I let an appropriate amount of time go by while he sat quietly and patiently, we both walked out of the room together. I was EXHAUSTED!! At least this happened in the company of ONLY our ayi and driver, instead of a mall full of people. I guess.
2) Brandon woke up with what looked like very large mosquito bites on his leg...about 5-6 of them. We were thinking that maybe a mosquito got caught underneath his bed canopy and feasted all night. He wasn't complaining about them or even scratching them, etc. By the time we were driving to the museum, I noticed several boils on one of the bites. By the time we were done at the museum, they had popped and released some puss. By the time he came back from school, another one of the bites had boils on it. He still wasn't complaining about them..they didn't itch or even hurt until they popped and he had an exposed wound. He didn't have any fever. What had bit him? Was he having a reaction to the mosquito poison or did something else bite him? I immediately shook out his bedding. I still don't have the answers, but I'm keeping a very watchful eye on it, just to be sure.
As I mentioned before, our ayi is extremely watchful and immediately came over to inspect it herself. She looked grieved for Brandon's discomfort and she immediately called May (our previous hostess)...I didn't even know our ayi had May's number. May then called Allen who was driving home to inform him that the ayi suggested a certain kind of medicine and where to get it.
After ointment was applied and then a cute bandage, all was well with Brandon. But, not with mom. What if something like this happens again and I need medicine? Where do I go? Will I be able to read any labels? So, I went first, to a pharmaceutical store and everything is in Chinese...no name brands except for Band-Aid. I had to call an interpreter to translate what I was looking for...rubbing alcohol, Neosporin, other topical treatments, Band-Aids (sizes) and I also was looking for children's medicine for flu/colds, Benadryl, etc. Nothing. At least, no "name brands". Crap. The lady behind the counter kept pulling stuff out for me to look at and some of the packaging had a little English...but I'm not really sure what I was looking at, exactly, and if it is very effective. The hardest thing to translate, for some reason, was hydrogen peroxide. That was the only one I knew the chemical name for (hydrogen and peroxide)...and they had no idea what I wanted. Ugh! It was then translated to me that they don't have anything like that because it's too hot and the government won't let any into the country because it's such a high alcohol content. What?! So, I asked if they will have it in the winter...? 'No' was the answer. Sooo frustrating.
I will have to do more research. But, along with Sweet Chili flavored Doritos and Chocolate PB Ice Cream...my Christmas list has expanded to things like Neosporin, feminine products, Rubbing Alcohol, Purell hand sanitizer, Benadryl, and Robitussin. Ugh! You don't really think of these kinds of "essentials" until you can't find them. At least I can scratch 'tuna' off my list now! :)
3) Our dog has been savoring a rawhide bone the past few days. This morning, he looked normal. By tonight, one side of his face is swollen! That eye is even half closed! What is going on around here!!??? He was acting a little neurotic about the bone because he couldn't bury it. Did he eat it too fast and cut up his gums, thus the swelling? Or did something bite him? I don't see evidence of either scenario, but sure as day, his face is swollen! Aaghh!
All of this...just OVERNIGHT!!!
Insect Kingdom
We went to what's called the 'Natural Insect Kingdom' today. This museum is also located next to the Shanghai Aquarium and underneath the Pearl [broadcasting] Tower, which is, in itself, a tourist attraction. I have to say that the Pearl Tower is quite magnificent when you are standing beneath it...it's windows and reflective parts have rose colored tint, making it look like a large, elaborate, knitting needle. I will attach a pic when I can find one.
Anyway, the boys' summer school had a field trip to the Insect Kingdom today, but only for Brandon's age group. Since I wasn't entirely thrilled about Brandon jumping onto a bus in, who knows what kind of condition, with a driver who drives like everyone else here, and no seat belts...I decided to drive behind the bus in our own van where I know both kids are strapped in tightly.
I wish I had taken pictures, but I had NO IDEA what kind of day this would be with both boys and adding the camera wasn't practical today. As I mentioned before, Shanghai isn't known for their ramps and elevator accessibility, so I didn't even know for sure if I could take our stroller. I already had snacks, purse, water bottle and diaper bag in tow. AND I didn't know how busy it would be or if I would be lugging a folded up stroller in addition to everything else because my driver would disappear to find parking or drive around until we were done. So..SORRY Auntie and Grandparents! Next time though! :)
It turned out to be a fantastic trip! The "bug" museum is filled with all kinds of insects, but also has reptiles, amphibians, jelly fish, komodo dragons (I think) or at least a smaller version of them, fish, birds, domestic pets, very small primates (the smallest in the world in fact), and lots of other things. It also has a stage for wildlife "shows" and a semi-play area. The gift shop is also pretty big. The reason I interjected the "I think" part above, is because all the descriptions of the animals were their Latin names...everything else about the name was in Chinese. Although, they did have the location and characteristic(s) of the animals in both English and Chinese.
The upper floor (entrance to the museum) has a wooden walkway over water with fish and other animals to look at, and ends up at the primates and snakes. Around the corner from these, is a large selection of all kinds of insects. All the cages appeared to be clean and well taken care of. It's amazing that certain types of cockroaches still look so much like trilobites did millions of years ago...their ancestral cousins? I'm not an entomologist, folks! Or a paleontologist if you want to get technical!
Downstairs (no elevator), is where most of the action is! This is where most of the animals are housed and they have made it look "jungly" with artificial foliage covering the fluorescent lights, etc. There are also parts of this area they have made to look "natural" along the walls, ceiling, etc. Both floors, fortunately for me, had enough space to wheel a stroller. Although both sets of stairs to get in and out were steep and numerous, especially with a stroller!
Are the cages clean? Yes! Are they spacious enclosures so that the animals don't feel caged? No! But, they do appear adequate. And, of course, they have wall after wall of encased bugs that were probably killed in the name of education. It was very interesting to see all the different types, both alive and dead.
They also had a section dedicated to domestic pets...which was really cool for the younger kiddos...less intimidating! This section had bunnies, guinea pigs, two goats, mice, etc. For 2 yuan, you could feed some of the animals, including two goats.
Brandon's favorites were all the fish, the giant owl and the goats. :) Oh, he tells me he also liked snack time and going across the bridge in the semi-play area.
Ryan's favorites were the small monkeys, guinea pigs, bunnies, fish, turtles...and he wouldn't get anywhere NEAR the snakes! Seriously, he kept his distance to about 4 feet from the glass! No matter what I did to persuade him! haha
Mom's favorite? My kids' attentiveness for a couple of hours!! Oh...the animals?! Ah, I also liked the big boa constrictor and the little monkeys were so cool...I want one! I liked seeing the resemblance of ancient trilobites with the contemporary cockroaches (live ones).
The teachers were able to look after Brandon and show him around with the rest of the class and I got to spend some quality time with Ryan, which was so nice. Without having to keep one eye on Brandon constantly, I was able to really show Ryan all the cool stuff! I loved it!
The museum was not very busy on a Friday morning, so overall, it was a good trip! :) We will definitely be going back! I'll take pictures next time, I promise! :)
Anyway, the boys' summer school had a field trip to the Insect Kingdom today, but only for Brandon's age group. Since I wasn't entirely thrilled about Brandon jumping onto a bus in, who knows what kind of condition, with a driver who drives like everyone else here, and no seat belts...I decided to drive behind the bus in our own van where I know both kids are strapped in tightly.
I wish I had taken pictures, but I had NO IDEA what kind of day this would be with both boys and adding the camera wasn't practical today. As I mentioned before, Shanghai isn't known for their ramps and elevator accessibility, so I didn't even know for sure if I could take our stroller. I already had snacks, purse, water bottle and diaper bag in tow. AND I didn't know how busy it would be or if I would be lugging a folded up stroller in addition to everything else because my driver would disappear to find parking or drive around until we were done. So..SORRY Auntie and Grandparents! Next time though! :)
It turned out to be a fantastic trip! The "bug" museum is filled with all kinds of insects, but also has reptiles, amphibians, jelly fish, komodo dragons (I think) or at least a smaller version of them, fish, birds, domestic pets, very small primates (the smallest in the world in fact), and lots of other things. It also has a stage for wildlife "shows" and a semi-play area. The gift shop is also pretty big. The reason I interjected the "I think" part above, is because all the descriptions of the animals were their Latin names...everything else about the name was in Chinese. Although, they did have the location and characteristic(s) of the animals in both English and Chinese.
The upper floor (entrance to the museum) has a wooden walkway over water with fish and other animals to look at, and ends up at the primates and snakes. Around the corner from these, is a large selection of all kinds of insects. All the cages appeared to be clean and well taken care of. It's amazing that certain types of cockroaches still look so much like trilobites did millions of years ago...their ancestral cousins? I'm not an entomologist, folks! Or a paleontologist if you want to get technical!
Downstairs (no elevator), is where most of the action is! This is where most of the animals are housed and they have made it look "jungly" with artificial foliage covering the fluorescent lights, etc. There are also parts of this area they have made to look "natural" along the walls, ceiling, etc. Both floors, fortunately for me, had enough space to wheel a stroller. Although both sets of stairs to get in and out were steep and numerous, especially with a stroller!
Are the cages clean? Yes! Are they spacious enclosures so that the animals don't feel caged? No! But, they do appear adequate. And, of course, they have wall after wall of encased bugs that were probably killed in the name of education. It was very interesting to see all the different types, both alive and dead.
They also had a section dedicated to domestic pets...which was really cool for the younger kiddos...less intimidating! This section had bunnies, guinea pigs, two goats, mice, etc. For 2 yuan, you could feed some of the animals, including two goats.
Brandon's favorites were all the fish, the giant owl and the goats. :) Oh, he tells me he also liked snack time and going across the bridge in the semi-play area.
Ryan's favorites were the small monkeys, guinea pigs, bunnies, fish, turtles...and he wouldn't get anywhere NEAR the snakes! Seriously, he kept his distance to about 4 feet from the glass! No matter what I did to persuade him! haha
Mom's favorite? My kids' attentiveness for a couple of hours!! Oh...the animals?! Ah, I also liked the big boa constrictor and the little monkeys were so cool...I want one! I liked seeing the resemblance of ancient trilobites with the contemporary cockroaches (live ones).
The teachers were able to look after Brandon and show him around with the rest of the class and I got to spend some quality time with Ryan, which was so nice. Without having to keep one eye on Brandon constantly, I was able to really show Ryan all the cool stuff! I loved it!
The museum was not very busy on a Friday morning, so overall, it was a good trip! :) We will definitely be going back! I'll take pictures next time, I promise! :)
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