Tania in China

Sun, Nov 26: Success!

I am really tired. It was almost 1am when I was finally able to get to sleep last night, and I really don't want to go into work today. But Flins is going to be in by 10am, so I have to be there, too.

Today at work is a world of difference from yesterday. We spend a couple of hours running all the verification tests we need to on the Production servers and everything is successful. Yea! I think it is around 12 or 12:30 when we finish up and I get the rest of the day to myself. The first thing I do is head back to my room and take a 2 hour nap. I really needed that! I finally decide at 3pm that I have to get myself moving, so I force myself up and out. It has been raining for most of the last week, but when I get outside at this moment it is not raining, so I am lucky. I am glad I decided to buy a new jacket midway between the weight of my raincoat and my winter jacket - it is just right for current conditions.

My first stop is a DVD store where I buy 5 movies and the last season of "Alias" for around $14. I would buy many more movies to bring back, but I am afraid that all the DVDs there are probably European standard (PAL) and will not play on my TV at home (NTSC). I may only be able to watch these movies again on my laptop. I may not even bring back all the movies - I might leave them with people here. I don't know.

Next I wander through a different department store, and once again don't find anything really of interest. I am not looking for clothes or appliances or shoes, so it looks like the department stores are not for me. After a bit more walking I find Walmart again, and am able to buy a huge canvas bag for about $4. I need another bag to come home since I bought so much stuff here. I am now planning to pack my presents and "breakables" in the suitcases, and clothes in the canvas bag. I may have to pay for extra weight on the flight from Nanjing to Beijing, but I am allowed 3 bags on Northwest, two at 70 pounds and 1 at 40 pounds, so for those flights I should be ok. The only cashiers are on the food floor, and when I am trying to check-out at 4:30 it is absolute mayhem. I was planning to buy some more peanut butter and some custard tarts, but after fighting my way to the cashier area, I am unwilling to battle my way through the aisles to buy these items.

Flins had told me there were a lot of food shops under the "Pacific" department store, and although I can't find any signs for "Pacific", I find signs for "Great Ocean", so I figure that must be the same thing. I fight my way in and down, and first find the first Watsons I have seen in Nanjing. After a quick survey I find that they carry both the Grapefruit Sunkist pop I haven't been able to find anywhere else, and the haw candy I like. Chinese haws are the fruit of the Chinese Hawthorne tree. They look like crabapples, but are not nearly so tart. The haw candy is made from fruit puree, and taste a lot like fruit leather. I have tried some different brands, but the one from Watsons is my favorite.

After shopping I go looking for food, and find a Dairy Queen! I am looking for real food right now, but will definitely be making a trip back for ice cream before I leave. I settle on food from a bakery like the one I found in Beijing - a self-serve place with all kinds of sweet and savory baked items where you pick out what you want, take it to the checkout, and they bag it for you. I settle on a soft cheese breadstick, a bun with a hotdog and cheese on top, and a cream puff. It is good, but all the bread in China is very sweet - you have to go to a European deli to find bread like we expect. The baguette in the hotel is also not sweet; I am really going to miss it when I leave! I find a seat and eat my lunch-dinner, then bundle up all my new stuff and head back to the hotel. I had thought about getting a taxi, but the taxi line is long, and the walk is only about 15 minutes, so I bite the bullet and walk. It is now raining, and once again walking and dealing with traffic in Nanjing just wears me out.

I am cold and wet when I finally get back to my room, and I settle down for a night of DVD watching. I watch "The Bourne Supremacy" since I just finished the book, and the only things that the book and movie have in common is that they are both about a guy called Jason Bourne. Nothing else is even remotely similar. I ate so late and am so tired that I don't even go up to the lounge for my nightly drink and nosh - I just watch disk after disk. I do get a bit of cleaning and organizing done, but I am going to have to start on my next expense report soon. I had planned to enter one on Monday, but since I didn't travel over the weekend I did not end up checking out of the hotel, and I need the invoice from the hotel to finish my expense report. I am going to travel next weekend, but I don't know if I will submit an expense report then or just wait until I get back. We will see. It is almost 11 when I finally shut down my computer, and I know I am going to pay for that tomorrow morning - I have got to get more sleep!

posted by Tania @ 9:39 AM