Pretty Finnish Ladies! They have made me an "honary Finn" They even gave me a Finnish name "Key-ah-lou" (that's phonetic spelling because I have NO idea how to spell it in Finnish!) it means lilly of the valley (flower) the national flower of Finland! I love these gals! :)
It was a nice day for it. Not too hot or cold. We had lunch there…here are some pictures of some interesting food choices: 
Mark worked late, so I had the evening to just relax and do a bit of leisure reading. Mark got home from work around 8:00PM and we just relaxed the rest of the evening and went to bed early.
On Thursday, Val and I had made plans to take the bus downtown to obtain a bus pass for me. She had gotten one while I was back home and she has become a “semi-expert” on the bus system here and she knew where I needed to go to acquire one for myself. So…we headed out around 10:30am for downtown. We got there and it was very straight forward and no problems. Woo-Hoo! You just never know here…some things are more problematic and you just learn to roll with it. We decided to go down Pingjiang Lu' (Píngjiāng Lù, 平江路) street. We both enjoy just strolling that street and taking in the culture and browsing in a few of the shops. My camera is dead..so no pictures but I have posted pictures of this very picturesque street before. After walking around for a while, it was coming up on lunch time, so we decided to head back on the bus and go to Heidi’s for lunch near home. We hopped the bus back; (using my new bus pass) which proved for an interesting ride. Our bus driver was of the belief that his aggressive driving and using his horn would get us there much quicker! Also, this bus’s suspension was nill! It made for a very comical ride to say the least!
Mark worked late, so I had the evening to just relax and do a bit of leisure reading. Mark got home from work around 8:00PM and we just relaxed the rest of the evening and went to bed early.On Thursday, Val and I had made plans to take the bus downtown to obtain a bus pass for me. She had gotten one while I was back home and she has become a “semi-expert” on the bus system here and she knew where I needed to go to acquire one for myself. So…we headed out around 10:30am for downtown. We got there and it was very straight forward and no problems. Woo-Hoo! You just never know here…some things are more problematic and you just learn to roll with it. We decided to go down Pingjiang Lu' (Píngjiāng Lù, 平江路) street. We both enjoy just strolling that street and taking in the culture and browsing in a few of the shops. My camera is dead..so no pictures but I have posted pictures of this very picturesque street before. After walking around for a while, it was coming up on lunch time, so we decided to head back on the bus and go to Heidi’s for lunch near home. We hopped the bus back; (using my new bus pass) which proved for an interesting ride. Our bus driver was of the belief that his aggressive driving and using his horn would get us there much quicker! Also, this bus’s suspension was nill! It made for a very comical ride to say the least!
We arrived back to Singha Plaza (about a mile from home). We stopped at Summit which is a market that carries many import items for westerners and picked up a few things here. Then we headed over to Heidi’s for lunch. We enjoyed our lunch of chef salad and ice tea and ate outside. We ran into a few of the other expat ladies we know. It was a nice day. We then headed back to our apartment complex. I made spaghetti for dinner and had picked up some garlic bread at the Franco Papa bakery that was quite tasty! That will be something to get again when having pasta for dinner.
It’s Thursday, so that means poker night! Mark’s feet and ankles are still bothering him, and even though the swelling has subsided, they are nowhere near normal. So, I tuck him in bed with the dvd clicker and one of his tv series to watch and head over to Ollie’s for poker. I enjoy my poker night with my poker buddies; they are a great bunch of people from all over the world. I did not fare as well as last week, and get knocked out of the tournament around 10:00PM. I then catch a cab and head back to the apartment. I get home and Mark is awake and still watching his tv series. Off to dreamland by 11:00PM.
It’s Friday am and it’s crafts at Pam’s from 10:00-12:00 then we usually do lunch after. So Joanna, Val, and I meet up at the gate to walk over to Pam’s. There is quite a big group this week. Ladies are working hard to get things finished for the craft bazaar which is being held on Dec. 3rd. I had to pin quilt squares together for the quilt that is being assembled. As much as I love to craft…I suck at it! So something like pinning is easy for me to do and I really can’t screw it up! J Here’s a picture of the crafters hard at work:
Around noon, we decide to head over to Casa Zoe for lunch. They have a nice lunch buffet. So, 12 of us (some ladies had other obligations) walk over to the restaurant. It was a nice lunch and I had the opportunity to talk with a few ladies I don’t know. It was very enjoyable. Time to pay…where is my little bag with my money and other things? Hmmmm…I empty my HUGE purse contents onto the table…it’s not here. Did I leave it on the dining table at the apartment? My friend Theresa loans me lunch money (thank you Theresa!) and pay. Some of the ladies are heading downtown for some sightseeing and shopping. I pass as now I have to go and find my little silk purse that has not only my money, but my new bus pass, my expat membership card, my address card (I use this for taxi drivers to get me home), and the card that lets me into the apartment building when the doors are locked (they are usually left wide open…but sometimes they are closed, and you just never know when you may need it to get in). Susanna and I head back towards are respective apartment buildings and say goodbye at one of the corners. I head up to the apartment. My little silk purse is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! I search all over the apartment. NO luck. SERIOUSLY??? I know I had it in the taxi coming home from Ollie’s last night. I am really upset and mad at myself! Where could it be? It must have fallen out in the taxi or out of my bag between getting out of the taxi and walking to the apartment building last night. GREAT…now I have no bus pass, expat membership card, address card, not to mention the money that was in there! Mark calls, and I tell him I lost my little purse and he can tell how upset and distraught I am. He tells me not to worry, everything can be replaced and at least it wasn’t my wallet with my ID or credit cards. True…but I am SOOO mad! I just got my bus pass yesterday and now I have to replace it? Not to mention the other things and the money! I am such an idiot!
So, I figure I’ll turn on the TV and see what might be on…oh and a side note here, to add insult to injury, my Slingbox is not working. No American television for me. It stopped working last week, and after my brother reset it, it worked for a day and is NOT working again. So…Chinese television and DVD’s it is. Mark has to hardwire it to the router when he goes back in November for a week (another long story!) instead of it being wireless. It loses the signal too easily being wireless. So, I turn on the TV to discover it is not working! All the channels say “this channel is not handled by your smartcard” Great! This day is just getting better and better! Mark offered to take me out to dinner but I told him I didn’t feel much like going out and I was probably not fit for human interaction at this point of the day. So, when he got home, we ordered Indian and it got delivered within an hour. Dinner was good and we just hung out at home. I was not good company and that wonderful husband of mine just tried to make me feel better.
It’s Thursday, so that means poker night! Mark’s feet and ankles are still bothering him, and even though the swelling has subsided, they are nowhere near normal. So, I tuck him in bed with the dvd clicker and one of his tv series to watch and head over to Ollie’s for poker. I enjoy my poker night with my poker buddies; they are a great bunch of people from all over the world. I did not fare as well as last week, and get knocked out of the tournament around 10:00PM. I then catch a cab and head back to the apartment. I get home and Mark is awake and still watching his tv series. Off to dreamland by 11:00PM.
It’s Friday am and it’s crafts at Pam’s from 10:00-12:00 then we usually do lunch after. So Joanna, Val, and I meet up at the gate to walk over to Pam’s. There is quite a big group this week. Ladies are working hard to get things finished for the craft bazaar which is being held on Dec. 3rd. I had to pin quilt squares together for the quilt that is being assembled. As much as I love to craft…I suck at it! So something like pinning is easy for me to do and I really can’t screw it up! J Here’s a picture of the crafters hard at work:
Around noon, we decide to head over to Casa Zoe for lunch. They have a nice lunch buffet. So, 12 of us (some ladies had other obligations) walk over to the restaurant. It was a nice lunch and I had the opportunity to talk with a few ladies I don’t know. It was very enjoyable. Time to pay…where is my little bag with my money and other things? Hmmmm…I empty my HUGE purse contents onto the table…it’s not here. Did I leave it on the dining table at the apartment? My friend Theresa loans me lunch money (thank you Theresa!) and pay. Some of the ladies are heading downtown for some sightseeing and shopping. I pass as now I have to go and find my little silk purse that has not only my money, but my new bus pass, my expat membership card, my address card (I use this for taxi drivers to get me home), and the card that lets me into the apartment building when the doors are locked (they are usually left wide open…but sometimes they are closed, and you just never know when you may need it to get in). Susanna and I head back towards are respective apartment buildings and say goodbye at one of the corners. I head up to the apartment. My little silk purse is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND! I search all over the apartment. NO luck. SERIOUSLY??? I know I had it in the taxi coming home from Ollie’s last night. I am really upset and mad at myself! Where could it be? It must have fallen out in the taxi or out of my bag between getting out of the taxi and walking to the apartment building last night. GREAT…now I have no bus pass, expat membership card, address card, not to mention the money that was in there! Mark calls, and I tell him I lost my little purse and he can tell how upset and distraught I am. He tells me not to worry, everything can be replaced and at least it wasn’t my wallet with my ID or credit cards. True…but I am SOOO mad! I just got my bus pass yesterday and now I have to replace it? Not to mention the other things and the money! I am such an idiot!
So, I figure I’ll turn on the TV and see what might be on…oh and a side note here, to add insult to injury, my Slingbox is not working. No American television for me. It stopped working last week, and after my brother reset it, it worked for a day and is NOT working again. So…Chinese television and DVD’s it is. Mark has to hardwire it to the router when he goes back in November for a week (another long story!) instead of it being wireless. It loses the signal too easily being wireless. So, I turn on the TV to discover it is not working! All the channels say “this channel is not handled by your smartcard” Great! This day is just getting better and better! Mark offered to take me out to dinner but I told him I didn’t feel much like going out and I was probably not fit for human interaction at this point of the day. So, when he got home, we ordered Indian and it got delivered within an hour. Dinner was good and we just hung out at home. I was not good company and that wonderful husband of mine just tried to make me feel better.
I just need to count my blessings and realize that losing replaceable things is really pretty trivial in the big scheme of things isn’t it? Lesson learned… I’m no worse for wear, and I’m still a very blessed and lucky lady to be living the life I have! Hopefully, the weekend will be an uneventful, calm one. I’ve had enough turmoil this week. Till next time…
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