Well apparently going out of my way to get a flu shot this season didn’t do jack. Sorry for the long silence, we’re still alive over here but the flu certainly took both of us out of commission for more that a few days. First it started with a sore throat, which I initially attributed to the dry heat and my new pillow. You see, I was too cheap to repurchase the space-foam pillow I had back in the States. Instead, I got this cheap $5 pillow which well… was a little too fluffy. So my head ended up resting at this odd, unnatural angle which in turn made me snore. That seemed to also dry out my throat. But by the next day, I knew it was more than the dry heat and crappy pillow. The runny nose and congested head practically paralyzed me. I began the Robitussin/Hall’s/Orange Juice/hot fluids program that day and slept in till about 3 pm. I gave myself a headache from sleeping so damn much. Saturday the sore throat moved to a new host: John. Poor guy, here he was bragging about how he was going to escape the flu precisely because he ignored my advice to get the flu shot. Now he was a victim too and boy did it hit him hard!
Sunday we thought we felt better. My Uncle Zhu from Jia Xin (about 2 hours south of here) came up with his wife and 6-year old boy. He is Nai’s nephew and works for the police department in Jia Xin. He’s really keen on helping us get settled here. He’s been really helpful– brought us freshly-made zhongzis as well as a roasted chicken. (I guess he thought frozen fried rice and ramen noodles were a bit pathetic). He introduced us to some family in Shanghai, including a Mr. Sun who works for the Jiefang paper–a weekly city publication. The networking session was okay– I was advised to become literate. I’m working on it.
These last two days have mostly been a blur. Both of us have pretty much slept the days away. But this evening, we finally started feeling better. We went to Carrefour again… picked up some imported goods. We’re on a strange Bloody Mary kick. We went to a bar sometime last week and I ordered a Mary Bloody. It came in this lame 2-inch tall tumbler and tasted like ketchup. And the celery was missing. John had a black Russian and it was unfortunately subpar as well. So tonight we got all the ingredients to make our own: some Mrs. T’s mix (that was all they had and it was pricey), tabasco sauce, vodka, black pepper, and celery. We also got some V8 which comes in larger containers… not sure how to make the drinks without a mix but guess we’ll find out. We’ll be sure to include an update on our concoctions in the Food and Drink Guide.
In other news, I try not to think about LOTR. If you have to ask, forget it. You wouldn’t understand the obsession anyway. We went to the Ka De Club to get some new DVDs the other day. I got so excited when I saw the disc-jacket for LOTR Return of the King… I mean, it was possible right? (the movie released in HK and Singapore already). But alas, when I flipped to the back, it made no mention of Viggo or Orli or Elijah… none of them. Too good to be true damnit. But I WILL get the movie before February. I HAVE to because watching the trailer and every frickin’ clip out there and reading all the entertainment news is getting old. For those of you who have seen it, please share your insights! The wait is unbearable. Sigh!
Hmm, the jetsetting grandparents are due back tomorrow. They sure are getting around for a couple of 80-year olds. I’m looking forward to their return. I’ll have to get Nai to test me on my new characters. John’s going back to Pimslur. I now refuse to tell the cabbies where to drive us. They have to get the addresses and destinations from John. His pronunciation has improved a lot.
Not sure what’s on tap for the holiday. Most locals still have to work on Xmas. We may try to get together with Wang Jian and his wife (related to Uncle Zhu). They’re about our age so we may see if they want to go bowling. On Friday, we’re attending a blogger’s gathering. While I was researching SH from the States, I came across his site which was packed with information on IT services here. Anyway, he’s having a meetup for all the people who follow his blog… so that should be interesting.
Have a safe and happy holiday everyone! Drop us some email soon or catch us online for an IM chat.