3 bride night

May 26, 2007 Saturday

The fireworks started at 6:15 this morning. Some bride must be getting an early start.

I was invited to Sherri’s apartment for coffee. She is from Seattle – and knows strong coffee. It was delicious. Allison joined us. I took two bags of books. We had a lovely time sitting and chatting. They all live in what is called the old guest house. The rooms are much smaller than our place. Sherri has a living room, bedroom, bath, kitchen and dining room. She lives on the 4^th floor also. Allison lives on the 5^th. (4 flights there and 4 home)

When they heard that I hadn’t yet been to the Temple market, Sherri said that she was planning on going and why didn’t we make it that afternoon. I had heard about the City Gods’ Temple market, but Hongfang and her husband decided that I shouldn’t go there. (The Chinese are always worried that something might happen. China seems quite safe to me. I do realize that in crowded places, a purse might be stolen or a pocket picked, but that doesn’t seem to be a reason not to go.)

The temple market is a warren of shops. One reason not to go might be that you would get totally lost and not be able to find your way out to a street. Sherri wanted to buy some fabric to get some dresses and pants made. There is a 2 story fabric building with lots of different shop areas, very crowded. She found some fabric that she liked for a dress and some other fabric for pants. How much did she need? They called the tailor over from his booth for a consultation. She had dealt with him before, so was quite comfortable with the process. After much consultation, the fabric was cut. Oh, oh, the pants fabric was not big enough. (He was right there!) After somemore consultation, the tailor said that with another piece the same size, he could make 2 pairs of pants – one for me, too. Was I interested? OK. The deal was made. I paid my share for the fabric - 49¥

The tailor was busy with another customer (having a gorgeous brocade jacket made). We went off to look at other stuff. Found the little Chinese stuff area and made some purchases. Then made our way back. Much measuring and discussing style. Not tight fitting!! I told Sherri to tell him that my hips and thighs were as small as they would ever be. I gave Sherri money to pay him when she picks everything up in a week. She is going to mail them to me when she is home in Seattle in a month. The pants are costing 30¥. So for $10, I am having custom made pants. (2 flights)

The heat was getting to us, so bought a water and found a cab for home. (4 flights)

We wanted to go to Meng Cheng for our last dinner. This was our favorite place. BUT, it was a three bride night and they were totally full.

We walked over to the Holiday Inn. They have a Chinese buffet in a revolving restaurant on the 29^th floor. Had a good dinner with a lot of tastes, so weren’t too disappointed.

Just as we were finishing, this little guy and his grandmother came by.

He is 8 months old. I got out my pictures of Branwen and Calder and suddenly we had a mob at our table. People were coming over from picking food and from other tables. I showed the picture that has their Chinese middle names on the back and there was much excitement. Grandma took some of the pictures back to her table to show more people. We could hear her saying the names. What fun.

Back home. (4 flights) 24 isn’t on on the weekends, so we went to bed a little earlier.

18 flights.