Shortstuff!

Weekend Edition

Day Ten. Shortstuff!

It's the weekend, and so, this and tomorrow's post will be about specifically what I am doing. I wish I could get ahold of what everyone else was doing, but it would be stalker-like and straaange...and since it's late and i have a toothbrush in my mouth, I can't talk for long. I will make this brief and painless, with barely any descriptions for time's sake, and your sanity. Please don't give this blog entry high expectations, because it's about, well, me. And if you're not interested in me, you can stop reading...NOW.

...NOW.

...now?

Okay, i gave you three chances. This means you are willing to put up with me, no matter how boring my day may sound.

This morning, I got to 'sleep-in' until eight. Then I had to get out of bed (my homestay mom had already patiently called me several times, and I didn't want to get her upset) and get ready, because we were going to have breakfast! Only, we weren't going to have it at 'home' like we normally did. We were going to go to have it at a restaurant!

(I barely eat breakfast out, so it was surprising.)

Anyway, me and Katie and the mom all walked to the nearby mall, and it was quiet and barely awake, just like me. We ordered noodles, ate them, all that. They were actually REALLY good. Credits to the mom for her good choice of restaurant!

Now that I was all filled up, we went back and I got to use the computer, do some stuff, and then me and the mom were headed out again, and walked to the nearby mall (another nearby mall), that had just opened today!

Once we got there, I had some free bread samples and waited for Clare to come (we had made arrangements) and pretty soon it was just me, Clare, and Clare's very stylish 'mom' in the mall. We looked around for awhile (and i mean AWHILE) and it took some time before we could actually get used to the big numbers on the price tags on the clothes we saw. This was the first time we had actually looked at the price tags before we tried the clothes on.

It took some time before we found some clothes that would be worth it, and plus there was this really cool sale: "Buy 100, get 100!" It's not as bad as it sounds, really. it's just that if you spend 100yuan, they'll give you 100yuan on a card to spend! So it's like an instant rewards card. =D So sophisticated! Clare's 'mom' followed us everywhere (she was very very nice) and wrote down everything that we wanted to buy, because the shopping/paying method was very complicated here. But we didn't know that yet.

Anyway, around noon we took a break from trying on clothes and Clare's 'mom' drove us to a restaurant called MeiMei. (sounds familiar, right Julia?) We went in and had lunch with pink-haired Steven, who seemed surprised to see us. The meal was very fancy, just like the restaurant's amazing interior design. We actually ate lunch with the interior designer. Talk about good connections!

We all chatted away, then Steven left, then we finished our meal with mango pudding, and then we were headed back to the mall again! Whee!

Once we got back, Clare's 'mom' started explaining the method that this mall used to pay.

So first, you'd write down everything you want on separate papers for each store.

Then you'd go to a cashier and pay for everything BEFORE you got it.

They'd give you a receipt and a rewards card with the money you spent rounded down by hundreds. (Say if you spent 375yuan, this sale lets you get 300yuan back on your rewards card so you can spend that too!!!)

Then you'd stop by each store and show them the receipt, and they'll get your clothes.

Simple as that!

Actually it's a lot more complicated than America, but after all the paying is done, you just need to pick up your clothes, and that's all just lovely.

But we had a hard time spending our rewards card's money (which we split evenly in half), because a lot of the things we wanted weren't participating in the event. Still, Clare's 'mom' was patiently helping us and suggesting things and showing us some clothes we might like, which i think was very nice of her!

But when we managed, our legs and feet were aching from all the rounds we had taken on the exact same floor.

*sigh* the pain of shopping!

After all that, we went down and had some DQ sundaes, and then my homestay mom came to pick me up.

THIS IS THE FUN PART!

She was going to take me home, but we weren't going to walk.

Nope! She had a MOTORCYCLE!

In China, the motorcycles are quieter and smoother, and of course there's a passenger seat.

Well I GOT TO SIT IN THE BACK AND IT WAS SO FUNNN!

Except the painful bumps at the end, it was definitely something i'd want to try again soon.

Then, i sat on my bed and finished a large mound of homework, and we had dinner, and THEN we were back outside, and everyone, all four of us went into the car, and the dad drove us to Times Square.

Over here we looked around a bit (I didn't want to shop. I saw all the exact same stores in the department store and i started to feel sick =P) and it was really pretty, with all the lights on bridges and buildings and EVERYWHERE. The dad pointed out a big long ceiling overhead, and i finally noticed how many people there were, at 8:30 at night.

What was going on?

Then a huge flash came from the ceiling above us.

IT WAS A GINORMOUS SCREEN!

Everyone gasped and craned their necks up to look, and after a few advertisements there were a series of lovely clips picturing Suzhou, and then after that it went black. Well, ten minutes of enjoyment.

And just as everyone started to head back, the screen lit up again and revealed UFOs...?! and then aliens playing pool with the planets. man, it was nuts. Then the screen went black again, and lit up, showing ads once more.

Finally we left, and so did the huge crowd that formed to watch. We then went back into the car, and I closed my eyes for a lovely nap.

Goodnight.

(wasn't that totally short? looking at how short it is makes me feel bad...)

~~~Reporter Poh