After lunch in the consecutive day of 380+ smog I go to the bus stop. It was so hot, I was wearing a spring jacket unzipped. The bus stop signs were gone, but the slab of cement was still there and there people waited. The bus however did not stop. We watched it go down the street and stop. So we all walked down there, we couldn't see where the new location behind a big truck. This is the first time I've seen a friendly foreigner. He actually said hi.
The bus (my favorite #31) was packed full, but not over packed. I road it down to the fancy mall. I wanted to check out their supermarket in the basement by the food court. This was the import mother load. But they didn't have dill either. I want dill to make some dilly beans. I did see some kids stainless steel drink vessels. I was going to go with plastic, but as most of the china made stuff doesn't list a plastic #, some say PP or PC. What is that? So I did some research and even BPA free can leach more chemicals than non-BPA. Go figure, it's not about the plastic base, it's the un-named, un-known chemicals they add. So I don't know if I really want them to have the plastic now.
Walking beyond the food court they had a hall full of restaurants, I found Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut and Burger King(which is more expensive than McDonalds). In the window of one restaurant were several phrases, this one caught my eye: "You cannot prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building nests in your hair."
I found a purse I love by Oilily. I think it's a European company. But 700 rmb, yikes. Maybe I'll be lucky and find it at a cheaper mall?
By the time I came back to the surface, it had cooled so I had to button up. I had plenty of time so I decided to walk next door to Burberry. Wow. Upon entry I was spoken to in English and then followed by my guide around the store. I felt so uncomfortable, I got outta there. And noticed a huge empty birdcage across the street. I had to take a picture.
It was 3 pm and I wanted to get back. Good thing because the first bus was so full there were coat jackets sticking out of the door. Good thing I didn't try to squeeze in, I might have been in the door. So I waited for the next bus and made sure I got toward the head of the herd so I would be in the bus and not the door. It was a very packed bus! When I was waiting for the bus an ambulance was trying to go by. Try because the cars were trying to get out of the way and the cars going the opposite direction wanted to pull Ues right in front of it. Now they can do U-turns there normally, but I thought ambulance & police sirens were universal for get out of my way.
Very happy to be off the bus. As I was walking into the apartment complex I see a sign with several languages, one being English that said "all foreigners living in the area need to register with the local police". Good thing I'm just visiting.
Huge birdcage
You probably should register with the police. It is not a big deal. But even when I stayed in Dalian for a week with In-laws, I was supposed to register. You will be there a long time, and it can be troublesome if you don't register.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advise!
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