Life in the Big City

I know that living in the one of the largest cities in the world has it good side (ask my poor over-worked alarm clock about the down-side), but today’s experience was just a bit surreal!!

It all started off a few months ago, when I started learning Mah Jongg. Of course, never one to keep my mouth shut, I was talking about it at work – and so the idea of a Mah Jongg session was born. So, in a couple of weeks, some of my work-mates are coming round for an afternoon of Mah Jongg, followed by a ‘teach Rhona to make dumplings’ session, then a whisky tasting session – talk about a mix of cultures!!! The only problem I have is the table for playing Mah Jongg. I don’t have a table the right size for 4. My dining room table is for 6, and my balcony table is barely big enough for a cup of tea! No problem. I live in Shanghai – they have tables here! I have no idea where, but I’ll find one.

Mah Jongg table

So, it’s Saturday afternoon, and the weather has cooled down – a lot, so I decide to go for a wander in the neighbourhood. I needed to go to the bank, so that meant walking past the DVD shop (I was very restrained and only bought 5 – well, I was on my way TO the bank!). Then I decided to wander down that street there, as I’ve not been there before. Guess what area I ended up in? The furniture shop area!!! Spooky. I had no idea that there was a furniture shop area, never mind that it’s 10 minutes walk for where I live! Most of them were a bit too rich for my blood – and what would I do with marble flooring anyway – I’ve nothing to floor!!! I was drawn into the sculpture shop (which won’t surprise – but the fact that I came out empty-handed might. Nothing was leaping up and down enough saying buy me-buy me to make me give in. Strolling a bit further got me to a shop selling chairs. Now, I’ve been searching all over for chairs for my balcony, and had given in to folding chairs a few weeks ago – buy now I’ve found where the chairs are. Then I spied some folding tables hidden in the corner – just what i was looking for. On looking closer I saw that a couple of them were even specifically Mah Jongg tables. Perfect. I am now the proud owner of a ‘Silent Mah Joing’s Table Smooth Absolutely Pushing Tireless For Longer’. I’ll still loose though!!! It reminds me a bit of the card table that used to come out on a Saturday night at my Auntie Jean’s, to be filled with cups of tea and plates of cakes and, of course, pancakes!!! Who knew then that I would own a similar table 30-odd years later, but in Shanghai!!!

Shanghai Science and technology Museum

Last Sunday the weather was hot, so I decided that I would use somebody else’s air conditioning to keep cool. (Can you tell I’m Scottish??) I went over to the other side of the river to Pudong, and spent a few hours in the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. It’s an amazing building, and they have some good stuff to do. Unfortunately my Chinese wasn’t up to making the most out of my visit, but a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. One of the bits I enjoyed the most was archery against a robot. The competition side didn’t interest me, but the archery was pretty cool. I think it’s something I’d like to learn how to do. I’ll need to see if I can track down an English-speaking archery coach in Shanghai (knowing my luck, there’s one next door!). I was a bit surprised at one point, as there was a big display dedicated to James Clerk Maxwell – the Scottish mathematician and physicist, who gave his name to the building (JCMB) where I studied physics at Edinburgh University all those years ago. The Scots get everywhere!

Display on the works of James Clerk Maxwell