Walked a lot today. First woke up early by iron-wife. Flower market!!! 7am.... So we started off at 830am after a much needed cup of strong brew. We started from home, took the subway to JiangSu （江苏）Road subway station. And the adventure began.
Iron-wife forgot where the flower market was, so we start off walking in the general direction based on her spider sense. We hit the local web market. Man, it was like we were back in the 40's. Small back streets, curvy and crowded; but got all the things I thought with the on set of Shanghai "Cultural Revolution", we cannot get and only get things in a hyper-inflated price foreign owned supermarket. Everything was fresh. Got all sorts of mushrooms, vegetables, live ducks, chickens, peas, beans, 5 different types of Tofu, live eels, fishes and still the ever presence live fish heads. It was crowded. At some corners, we even saw make shift noodle stands. O yeah, pig blood as well. And I saw a sign saying "stewed dog meat" hanging next to a big bowl of meat. Cool! No, no, sampling. We saw an apple stand, RMB8.00 for 10 apples. In a supermarket, RMB15.00 for two of the same kind. You can live cheaply; just have to look. Yes, it was a great experience for any foreign visitors. But one thing: wear jeans, hiking boots and long sleeves shirts/jacket. Money or wallet in your deep inside pocket. Once you are done visiting, recommend stripping and shower. Clothes and shoes, get them washed. Too crowded, everyone just rubs on you. And the ever spitting by people, landmines!!!! Felt your shoes just really dirty after that.
So then we walked toward the flower market. Funny was, we were there 2 years ago just before Chinese New Year. We just forgot. So we thought we were onto this new adventure. Haha... As we entered the flower market, we were shock. People? Was this China? Barely a soul. Mostly shop workers. No shoppers. And 1/4 of the shops were empty. There were lots of flowers of different types but no one bought. We bought a small Poinsettia plant for RMB4.00 (US 60 cents or so). A big one priced at RMB6.00. Business was tough. The hotel just outside the flower market was shutdown.
After the flower market we walked home. The green path was the way we walked this morning. Got home just in time to "do the business" and left for another "walk about". Me only this time. Friend wanted to have lunch. And I knew what he wanted from us. Otherwise, he would not have called ... Map below shows my track. The green path at the bottom left was my loop.
The lunch was at this Cantonese restaurant; food was good; service was good and the price... well... 4 dim sum dishes and a big bowl of rice, had cost RMB$101.00. Good thing the restaurant provided covers for the jackets on the seat backs. Otherwise, my jacket would have smell like unfiltered Double-happiness cigarette.
Got home finally at 2:15pm or so. I could hear my ankles cracking. 3:15pm, out the door.... Another Bill's excellent adventure.
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