I always write long letters to my mother when I travel so this time I've decided to put together a blog so that I can share all my stories and photos with her while I'm away. Like any diary it's hard starting. What do I say? What do I want to remember later?
So much happens that is interesting and out of the ordinary that I want to capture it all, but I don't want to be writing instead of doing. We've brought three cameras between the two of us, so we should get some good photos. If Facebook was available in China I probably would have ended up posting the odd photo there and emailing Mum instead. I would have had great intentions of making a travel diary when I got home, but it would have become one of my many unfinished projects. This way, I have something to show other people as well, which will be fun for me and, hopefully, enjoyable for my friends.
I remember the first time I travelled overseas, I wrote a long letter to the family about what the plane trip was like. Do you remember that Mum? It went on for pages and pages. Now they've all travelled, so I'll skip the details. Poor Graham is finding the trip long and boring. He has been dreading it. I'm glad that I've been brought up to accept the trip and enjoy it for what it is. At least I'm not suffering. Mind you, I am finding my seat a little uncomfortable on my seat bones, without the padding that was there a few months ago. One of the few down sides of losing a lot of weight I guess.
We are flying into Shanghai so that I can go shopping for clothes! I am really excited about at and have done a lot of preparation for our expedition to the fabric markets. The first time we were here, Graham had some suits, shirts and a leather jacket made. He talked me into getting a couple of work suits made but I found the whole experience really stressful. I wished afterwards that I had bought more clothes as wearing clothes that have been made to measure is so comfortable. On my second trip I was more adventurous. I ran into a few problems but we handled them and learned from them.
This time I am totally ready for my shopping expedition. I have pictures of what I want made, one for the tailor and one for me so that they know that I know exactly what it is that I've ordered. I bought some discontinued pattern books from Lincraft a few months ago and have been working out what to buy. My visit to the style consultant the other week was a bonus as it helped me identify some must have items and crossed a few "wanna be like everybody else" items off my list as they won't suit my body shape.
Because I need a total wardrobe replacement - work, casual and going out clothes - it's been quite a project. This suits me down to the ground. As those of you who know me well are aware, I am such a project manager. I have a list of the minimum I need to get me through winter and I have a wish list of what I'd like to have. I've worked on the basis of having to do this again in 12 months as I still have another 10 kg to go to get to my final goal. That's a dress size and a half, so I won't be wearing these clothes next year.
As a result, I've set a strict budget. My goal is to buy the minimum, then buy myself a major wish list item, then get as much as I can of the rest of the list within budget. I've allowed myself room to spend more, but half the fun will be in shopping smart in Shanghai so that I have play money when I visit the silk market in Hangzhou and the night markets in Yiwu.
My major wish list item is a leather coat. I have a Marie Claire picture of exactly the shape I want. We're going back to the place where Graham bought his jacket. That's one of my favourite clothes shopping stories in China. When Graham was buying the jacket, the sales assistant, Candy, was all over him like a rash. It was as though I was invisible. When he finally decided on a jacket, and she started to measure him, he patted his tummy and said "I'm too fat." Candy said, "no you're not", reached out and rubbed his tummy and then said "you're very strong". Needless to say, for the past few years I occasionally rub Graham's tummy and tell him "you're very strong". Hey, it worked for Candy. Just because we both start to laugh doesn't mean that it's not a successful sales technique!
We only have an hour to our destination now. Once we get through the formalities, we're off to catch the Maglev, then the subway. It's an adventure. We know what station to get off at, and we will probably walk to the hotel. It's a few blocks, but we're both fit and healthy and we will be tired of sitting by then. We could get a taxi from the airport but the opportunity to travel on the world's fastest passenger train is too good to miss. It takes a whole 8 minutes to cover the first part of the trip, compared to 45 mins in a taxi. I've been on the Maglev once before. Graham has done the trip a few times now. It's as smooth as silk.
I'll know how that goes before I get to post this blog entry, but I'll save the tale for my next post. :-)
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