Two weeks in ...

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A slow start to a Sunday, but with some big plans. Laundry day! I had to saunter up to WalMart today to pick up some launcry detergent and some other items. I learned that one of the great things in living in the city and walkin geverywhere, is that it limits how much you purchase. You can only buy what you can carry and it may only seem like a short walk when you are going, but it can feel like an epic journey when returning, depending on how much stuff you are carrying. I've learned my limit ... I can successfully carry a medium-sized rice cooker, 5kg white rice, 4L water, 10-pack of toilet paper, small bag of snack-sized Snickers (luxury item) and two plastic containers for luncher. Doesn't seem like much, but I wasn awkward-lookin gmess by hte time I arrived back at my apartment.

Now that I'm back, equipped with Tidd, I've fired up the washer/dryer. It's a two-in-one unit and I had to estimate the amount of soap I should add, as the machine is smaller than our jumbo-sized unit at home. If I had to guess, I'd say I was a little generous as the front-load window is full of white suds. Might have to do an extra rinse cycle on this one.

No big plans for today ... will likely head down to a nearby restaurant district called Sea World and check it out. Very touristy and designed for expats, so not a place I'll frequent very much, but they do have a Dunkin Donuts! I'm actually dining on crackers and white rice for a couple of days to sooth an upset stomache I acquired a couple of days ago. I anticipate being back on full feed in a day or two, which will be good because I'm now down about ten pounds since arriving.

My workmates took me to a great vegetarian restaurant for lunch on Friday and that was a great treat. Mushrooms, tofu, chilli oil, rice and watermelon juide ... felt great after eating such healthy fair and I'm even getting better with chop sticks. No pieces went flying onto my clothes and I was even able to secure the most slippery edibles. I'm hoping to look at least like a ten year old with chopsticks by the time my assignment is done.

Tomorrow it is back to work, but it's a short week as we are required to be off on Thursday and Friday for the University Games that are taking place in Shenzhen. I haven't yet secured tickets, but I'm excited to have a four day weekend for more exploring!