Thursday December 9, 2004

I must stop shopping, I must stop shopping…………when is payday?

After a lazy day surfing the net and working on the blog I finally decided to get showered and dressed at 4:30 pm. Kim and I were to meet one of her adult students, Sara at Metro and do some serious shopping! We had to catch a bus at 6 pm and travel half an hour to the north side of the city. It was rush hour and the bus was packed - standing room only. Fortunately by the time we were half way there I snagged a seat and so did Kim. We weren’t sure where to get off and all of sudden Kim shouted “come on” and headed for the door. The giant METRO sign across the road was her first clue. We went through the underground tunnel to cross the road and headed to the entrance. Sara was no where in sight and we had to wait for her as she has a membership and we couldn’t get in without her.

So goes the Chinese way of life. We were 15 minutes early. And she arrived 45 minutes late. In fact at 7 pm we were crossing the parking lot to go home when we saw her coming toward us. Needless to say, we were very happy to see her! Let the shopping begin! The store was huge! It is owned by a German company that imports a lot of goods from other countries. There was a whole section of imported foods. Kim and I got excited just to see Heinz ketchup! Pasta! Miracle Whip! Cheese slices! Real bacon! Bugles! Pastrami! Sour cream! Cream Cheese! Grated Mozzarella!
When we hit the liquor aisle, we were like kids in a candy store! French Bourdeaux wine! Jose Quervo! Bacardi! Bailey’s Irish Cream! Budweiser! It was just so hard to decide. I bought a bottle of wine and a large bottle of Bailey’s.
There were no real bargains on household goods and clothing but I did manage to find a good quality cardigan that fit me. It’s red with some beading down the front and looks like what Chinese grandmothers would wear. I didn’t care, it looked warm and I can wear it to school with my black dress pants and a t-shirt underneath.
We both overspent and had to put something back at the cash register! There was no way we could carry it all on the bus so we saved just enough for cab fare. I couldn’t wait to get home and have a pastrami and cheese sandwich with mustard!
I had to teach an extra class on Friday night, so on Saturday after classes I cooked up some spaghetti noodles and made up the Fettucine Alfredo mix I brought with me from Canada (thanks to my friend, Deb in Windsor, for that!) I stopped at A.Best and bought a bottle of Chinese red wine (saving the French one for Christmas) and some fresh baked rolls. I invited Kim and Heather to share it with me. It was really good! We ate Italian food, drank wine and watched a Harry Potter movie. Of course it was back to rice and vegetables spiked with hot peppers the next day but for a couple of hours it felt just like home!

Sorry no pictures this entry. I don't take my camera shopping. In fact I don't even take a purse. Paper money in my zipped pocket and kleenex for the washrooms. That's it. One less thing to worry about losing.