6th Day In Ningbo, China

Date : 071106
Time : 08:30 AM

Woke up incredibly early today as stomach wasn't feeling too good. After letting it out, went back to bed and woke up at 10:30. Man, feeling pretty sick and my hands were feeling numbish, I swallowed mmy saliva a few times and tadaaa, it was confirmed i had a sore throat and slight fever, first signs of tonsilitis. Felt kinda terrible, but after a cup of water and the 'dont think about it' mentality, i was ready to go.

Time : 11:45AM

Went out early to have lunch with my stepdad during his lunch break. Mom told me we were gonna have sushi but once we picked up my stepdad, he made a U-Turn and suggested going to a place called Z Place, Z Place was owned by a Singaporean and that was where my folks managed to get to know other fellow Singaporean expats over here, as well as other nationality expats. And so off we went to Z Place. On arriv al, it looked far more appealing than the other shops around its area. I must say the signs and boards showcased on the front of the shop was visually appealing. It was a restaurant on the 1st level and a Jazz/Music Bar on the 2nd! Upon entering, my folks introduced me to their friends, 2 Singaporean guys and a lady. One of them was the owner of Z Place and the other guy was the owner of Z Buzz (another restaurant in the outskirts of Ningbo, i think). The staff were all local though and could hardly speak any English. However, the dishes on the menu had a very Singaporean theme. With dishes like Laksa, Mee Goreng, Nasi Goreng Istimewa, Sambal Kangkong, it totally reminded me of food back home. Ordered a Hainanese Chicken Rice set though as i felt like having chicken haha.. On came the food and i must say, the chilli and rice hit the spot but the chicken..well, could have been better. Overall though, it was a pretty good experience. Gonna be going there again on Sunday for some party.

Z Place Pictures

Time : 1:30 PM

Got into the car and went off the drop my stepdad off at his office. Following which, me and my mom proceeded to go to 'Lin Qiao', a shopping centre. She hasn't been there yet and so this was a new place for her to explore too. The driver dropped us off there and my mom realised that 'Lin Qiao' was just opposite TianYi Square. Upon entering, all i could see were Boots (Women boots, the kind they wear for winter), Shoes, shoes and more boots and shoes and boots. (u get the idea) Man humongous range of footwear all on the 1st floor. We scurried through to the middle of the building where they had the the staircases and escalators. Continuing on in the 1st storey were decoration shops and glassware/plasticware stuff. Upon looking up, the 2nd storey was full of Clothing material(Silk, carpets, cotton, wool) anything to do with fabric, you name it, it's all there in the entire 2nd storey. On the 3rd storey it was accessories, bags, and such and on the 4th was undoubtedly the women's paradise. We went up to the 2nd level and walked around, however nothing was appealing so we quickly went up to the 3rd floor. Walked around there and spotted lotsa bags, fake branded goods in its glory. Came across a shop which sold belts and i decided to get one to replace my fast wearing belt. got it for 30 RMB - 6 dollars. Leather belt too. Following on, my mom needed to go to the toilet so we went. I kinda needed to go too and entered the toilet. AND OH MAN WAT A MISTAKE. The toilet looked pretty dodgy form the outside but man inside, it was as if 1 million skunks filled the toilet(ok maybe im exaggerating)! I tried to hold my breath and entered a cubicle AND OMG! what i saw turned me off and nearly made me puke. Let's just say 'what happens if you shit and you dont flush' kinda thing. The smell stuck in my nose and i immediately went out haha without doing anything. Too damn gross, it's better to keep it in than to vomit it out aint it. Anyway, waited for my mom and we proceeded to the 4th floor.

Time : 2:15 PM

A bunch of curtain shops greeted us when we came off the escalator. We walked to the left and kids clothing shops were seen. Nothing to buy so we proceeded walking and there it was, a massive level of female clothing. The shops here were packed side to side so you can just imagine the amount of shops on a single level. Easily over 80 shops packed the whole level. Winter is coming soon so most of the stuff on sale were woolly jackets/blouses and the like. My mom scoured the shops looking for stuff she needed. Most of the shops had really ugly clothes though haha. After about 30-40 mins in the maze of shops, my mom had bought 2 turtleneck shirts for the kids, 1 shawl-like pullover, a long jacket-blouse and some other stuff. I bought a 'Louis Vuitton' bag for my stepmom back home in Singapore for prretty cheap. Overall, me and my mom spent less than 80 dollars. Bargaining is a sure must. My mom could even bargain her long jacket-blouse from 180 to only 70 RMB- 14 dollars. WTH? Crazy man, as i said earlier this is a heavenly paradise for shopaholics in Singapore haha.
Oh while on this level, i was videotaping the place when suddenly we walked past this shop. I didnt notice anything at first but then my mom said 'See boy, this is what they always do here'. I turned my head to the shop and OMG a lady, probably in her 40s' was in her panties trying on a pair of pants right there IN THE OPEN! WITH NO CURTAINS OR WATEVER BLOCKING THE UNSIGHTLY MIDDLE AGED HIP AREA!' OmG hahaha luckily i had the videocam turned off by then. It was pretty hilarious but kinda disgusting too hahaha

Outside Lin Qiao

After all that drama, we went back down to the first level as my mom had to get something for the house. Following on, we left the building and waited for the driver. Damn cold day and i wasn't feeling too well either. GRR!! ahha went back into the car and popped a panadol into the gutter.

Time : 3:00PM

Left Lin Qiao for Carrefour. Yes, they have a Carrefour in Ningbo. Arrived in Carrefour at about 3.15PM. Needed to do some grocery shopping for makan later and the following couple of days. Again, it looked similar to a Giant store in Malaysia. One huge level filled with everything. Before running about in the store itself, I had to go the loo and i was glad it was much better than the one in Lin Qiao haha. Came out and saw a few side stores, one in particular caught my attention, Pepsi Sports store. Decided to snap a pic of it.

Pepsi Sports Store

And so we went shopping in Carrefour, mom bought the necessities and all. I spotted Transformers Cybertron Mini figs going for 8 dollars here but wasnt too interested and decided to forgo buying it.

Carrefour, Ningbo

Time : 4:25 PM

Finished grocery shopping and went home. The kids were already home by then, with Kimberly cooking instant noodles for her and Nat. I was tempted and also ate a packet of instant noodles. haha Felt my throat getting better and popped another panadol after the meal. Juz lazed around after that while the kids played with the dog outside.

Time : 7:45 PM

Had dinner and played with the kids till about 10 PM. ate one more tablet of Panadol and went to bed early. It's been one of the most eventful days since ive been here haha