Shopping Story

This morning I walked to the local Carrefour again. I've come to realise that moving out, even temporarily, can require quite a lot of small things that one doesn't normally notice and the problem is exacerbated by China Air's stingy 20kg luggage limit, so off I went to re-supply my new flat. A couple of towels, a couple of decent-sized mugs, and a flask, of the type that taxi drivers here use, to keep me caffeinated through next month's classes.

I stopped off for some early lunch at 樱花和食 (Sakura (or cherry blossom) harmony food) which had been translated as something silly like Sakura Delicious Foods. I ordered a Japanese beef rice and French-style red wine pork set meal, because, even though I wasn't very hungry, I wanted to hedge my bets against one or the other not tasting good.

I had no idea what was French about the pork, with its sesame seed and teriyaki coating but it was tasty if a little salty. The Japanese beef rice was fluffy long-grain rice topped with thin slices of fatty beef, fried with onion and some sort of sauce. To my untrained tongue it didn't seem especially authentic but it was brimming with that savoury 'umami' flavour that Japanese food is known for. The accompanying drink was billed as orange juice but was actually orange squash, and it tasted of washing-up liquid. I couldn't decide if it that was the flavour of the juice used, or if the cup hadn't been rinsed properly, so I erred on the side of caution and left it well alone.

Oddly enough, the Japanese-themed restaurant also served Russian pizza (which looked like a regular American pepperoni deep-pan to me), chicken wings, and some Chinese-style noodles too!

For the walk back, I picked up a cup of 巧克力珍珠奶茶 (chocolate pearl milk tea). 奶茶 or 'milk tea' deserves a post all of its own so I'll write about that some other time.

When I got back, Mr. Ming had just seen off the washing-machine installation man, and had put my whites in to wash! The machine was plugged into the shower's water supply and Mr. Ming had pilfered my four-plug extension to power it, so I was in need of an extra shower pipe, and a new power extension to take a shower or use my laptop respectively. Seeing that, Mr. Ming immediately volunteered to go shop for me. I protested, but weakly, as I knew trying to describe and buy an extra shower pipe would be a monumental hassle without the know-how and vocabulary to find a shop and describe the correct specifications, so off he ran.

A while later, as I was hanging up my washing, Mrs. Leng and Ming Yue popped by. A telephone installation guy would be along shortly and they wanted to make sure he did everything properly. As he clambered about amid the wires and pipes outside the flat, Mrs. Leng and Ming Yue examined my new purchases, complimenting me on my good taste, and generally fussed about me in a nosy but comforting way. The phone line reconnected, installation guy left and Mrs. Leng and Ming Yue followed shortly after, assuring me that it would take a few more hours for the line to be reactivated at the other end. It was then that I noticed Mr. Ming had even mopped the flat for me while I'd been out shopping! I came here to get away from parental influence but it looks like I've swapped that of my real parents for some well-meaning locals!