Our adventuring started with a trip to the Tianshan Tea Market, which Captain Direction (aka Trish) navigated us to. I've taken on a safety role of making sure Trish doesn't walk into or onto anything while she orients us, and also keep a vigilant look out for any cats she may need to take pictures of.
I apparently did a terrible job of describing to Trish what the Tea Market was, as she assumed we were headed into one big David's Tea like store. The market is actually three stories of small stalls selling tea and tea accessories. It seemed we arrived before most of the stall owners though, as the majority of stalls were still closed. We wove our way through the maze, stepping into some open stalls, and peering through the glass at others. Eventually we passed a stall where a gentleman called out to us in English, and we went in. Trish and I were invited to sit down and try some teas by the stall owner, who would use her phone to help translate. The gentleman with her was enthusiastic to communicate with us, and eventually used a bit of Japanese, which caught Trish's ear, as a beginner Japanese speaker herself. Between the multiple languages and technology, Trish and I sampled a few different teas and made our purchases. Hopefully there are three Tea Market pictures somewhere in the blog (we're having email difficulties, so please be patient. If there are no pictures, please use your imagination.)
After the Tea Market, it was time for a change of scenery as we checked out of our hotel and headed to our first AirBnB in the Former French Concession. The neighbourhood was a foreign concession from 1894-1943 when the French were pressured to sign it over to the Government of China. The majority of streets we've been down are long and lined with Sycamore trees, with lots of small shops or residential entrances. There may be a street picture for you to see!
Our new apartment has a ball pit, and Trish is okay with that (pictured below, possibly)
Along the way we passed a pet shop, where Trish restrained herself from adopting a kitten and/or puppy on the spot. To help console her, once we'd dropped off our stuff at the new apartment, we headed to a nearby café: Puppy Cubby. As you may have guessed, this is a dog café where you can sit and pet the pups. They had us put on single-use socks, sit under blankets, and brought some starter puppies over. It's a little embarrassing when the puppies keep wandering away, and the attendants bring them back over, but eventually we ended up with some fluffballs who were content to sit with us for pets. After some handwashing and lint rolling, we then indulged in a post-puppy treat.
Puppy Cubby Pictures: might be too cute to load, sorry.
Although it was a bit later in the day, Trish and I decided to check out Fuxing Park. It was created by the French in 1909, and at 10 ha. it was once the largest park in Shanghai. We wandered along the pathways, taking in the flowerbeds, quiet atmosphere, and cats. We even got to see some park dancers, which we had heard about previously. We're not entirely sure if it's a regular group of the same people, if anyone can join, etc. But we did watch what seemed to be passer-bys join in for a turn. It was fun to watch, and knowing that the daytime brings a lot more activity, decided we would need to come back the next morning. A picture of night time Fuxing park may or may not be here.
Trish and I do a lot of walking, and I've been trying to learn to trust the scooter drivers when we're crossing the street (or, sometimes when we're on the sidewalk). It feels very haphazard the way they pass, turn, and cut in wherever there is an opening. For the most part they're well timed though, and my hesitation only throws them off (and me even more). It's a bit surprising to think that we haven't witnessed any accidents at all, and only one or two incidents of someone being unimpressed with another driver. So, apparently they know what they're doing.
No comments:
Post a Comment