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Archive for July, 2007

Spending money like water

July 19th, 2007 at 07:47 am

Yesterday went to a designer tailor shop.

Silk spring coat to be tailor made - $46
silk vest to be tailor made - 40$
chipao off the rack (fit so well)- 53$
a chinese cotton shirt (ready made) 31$

Trip to a cheap on the street tailor to alter store-bought clothing
To hem pants 0.40$
To alter dress (hemm, lining, and taking in from two sides) 1.2$

Dinner:
fantastic tofu dish (fired tofu with garlic and spicey sause), fish flavored eggplant and beef with peppers + beer.
2$ per person

It is cheap, but I am buying a lot and spending more than I do in US. Especially on tailor-made clothing.

I already ordered a fitted 3-piece wool suit in Shanghai (93$, fabric included, from a reputable tailor)
and 2 fitted dress shirts to be made ($25 and 20$) one for me, one for SO,
a silk modern dress(40$) all friends I was with said I would be a fool not to get it.
And I bought a beautiful modern shirt for SO from Heilan Home(brand name) for 23$. I

I am thinking that I just can't find this quality for that price in the US, and that I would regret not getting it. So I am doing clothing shopping for a whole year.

I am going on a 23 DAY shopping spree!!!

July 11th, 2007 at 05:21 pm

And eating EVERY meal out for 23 days.
And studying, of course.
I am leaving today for China -- employer is sending me for an intensive language course (more like letting me go).
It is partially subsidized -- they are paying my salary (I am not taking vacation for this) and the classes and housing at the University is provided.
Everything else I have to pay for - no daily allowance or airfare. But I think this is a sweet deal.
I intend to buy stuff like clothing for SO and myself, cute stationary, bedding, accessories, cute stuff, etc... China is a place to bargain hunt!
I am excited and a little nervous - I have not traveled by myself in a long long time.

I'll have a laptop and internet at the dorm, so I'll still post!

shopping for food is frustrating

July 8th, 2007 at 03:59 am

I look at lables (just at the first few ingredients) and I find shopping to be hard. There is practically nothing I can buy in a regular supermarket - not even cheddar.

What the hell is "imitation cheddar"? And those were the only ones they had.
All the pasta is ENRICHED. All of it!!!

Sereals are also very difficult to buy. And I don't have crazy requirements - no corn syrup (in anything I buy) and sugar not being in the top 3 ingredients.

I see parents picking up cereals for their kids that have sugar as the FIRST ingredient. I just can't understand how they can do that.

I am not a health nut, I eat fats(love quality meats), good cheeses, pastries, coffee, etc... All the gourmet stuff. I just like it in its natural state. So I end up doing all my shopping in gourmet speciality stores - out of the way and not always accessible. It is not even a question of money - in some areas these things are just not available. And making dinner ends up not convenient.

I spend last weekend at a friends home in a very affluent area and they had a huge organic supermarket that had everything in one place and of fantastic quality. I just wish we had a place like that!