A Quiet Week

It's been a quiet week for me - recovering from my adventure during the bank holiday. On Sat I went back to the dentist, and today was my last visit. I always thought that the jokes about teeth & toffee were just that - jokes. No, they're not. I was wandering down the high St in Perth when Thornton’s caught my eye. I treated myself to some special toffee, and within a few minutes was standing holding one of my teeth! An emergency trip to the dentist, and then several other visits in Shanghai, and I now have a crown. What do you think, looks good? So, this turning 40 lark – teeth falling out, eyesight failing…. I know I’m not going deaf, ‘cos there’s so much noise here!

On Sunday, I went out for lunch with Alan, Angie and one of their pals, Garry. We went to a Japanese place near where I’m staying and ate Teppanyaki. You sit at a table with the chef standing in front of you. There’s a heated metal plate (hibachi) that the chef uses to cook your food. You choose lots of little dishes (we had 7 for the 4 of us) and the chef cooks them one by one, before dividing them up. We had a combination of steak and vegetables, finishing off with bananas, but the people we were sharing a table (and chef) with had king prawns, fish and shellfish. It all tasted great, helped along, I’m sure, by the copious amounts of butter, garlic and salt. I thought that the principle was great, and started designing my new dining room around a hibachi griddle. After a quick surf on the net, I discovered that you can get them as a trolley! Ideal! Just need a house for it now!

When Sheila was here, she bought me rice cooker/steamer. We didn’t get a chance to use it while she was here. Of course, all the instructions are in Chinese, and the buttons are labeled in Chinese. Hmm! I got them translated, and then figured out how to make it work. I’ve made rice a few times with it, and this week I had a go with dumplings Sheila had put in the freezer. It worked – yum! In the photo you can see the dumplings. They’re served with vinegar in Shanghai, but in the UK they’re served with soy sauce. I had both!

Continuing the food and drink theme, I have a hot and cold water distributor in my room. I can have a cool glass of water or, more usually, a cup of tea with the flick of a switch. It saves the constant boiling of the kettle!

I’ve been trying to do the blog thing on a Friday night, but I couldn’t last night – I was out. Alan is going to work in the factory in the north of China for the next 3 months, so was having a meal out. We’d a great time - the most challenging dish was beef tendons in jelly, and the most interesting was fruit salad in mayonnaise!! The restaurant was in XuJuiHui - a very lively part of Shanghai, a bit like Times Square in New York. It's all neon, and it never stops. My apartment will be 5 mins walk away from the centre of this area. Just a bit different from Davydovo. The latest date for my moving is mid-Nov, so still another 6 weeks living in a hotel! THe boat with my stuff will also arrive mid-Nov. I have no idea which route the boat took, but can't imagine it went North at this time of year. Just to finish the food theme, here's the photo of a bit of sculpture I took last night.