Monday, October 27, 2008

Spending thoughts

3 dishes at my fave Sichuan resto = 60 kuai (and enough for 2 people).

One tub of ice cream = 55 kuai (and barely enough for one person!)

This has not been the most exciting wknd I have spent over here... early mornings + work + early nights. I think the two highlights of the wknd must have been my work outs (who still don't feel 100%... I ran for 40 min yesterday -after 30 min of cross trainer- and my legs and head felt heavy. Not good) as well as my Sat night splurge on a tub of ice cream. I call it a splurge because bloody hell, they sure know how to charge for western ice cream over here! Actually, when I sat in front of the TV and stuffing myself a bit later I came to think of how you can really blow your money in Shanghai/Suzhou when you shop for the 'wrong things'. After thinking about this for a while I made a promise to myself never to buy expensive ice-cream again. It just doesn't feel worth it when u think of what u can get for 60 kuai in Shangahi/Suzhou....

Oh, and since we are doing this, here's another thought:

Tights from H&M = 69 kuai.

Cute summer dress = 60 kuai.

No more H&M for me while living in China!!!

7 comments:

Becky said...

I like the dress.. where do you shop? Any recommendations for living on a budget in Shanghai would be great...

Jonna Wibelius said...

Thank's becky! :)
I mainly shop in the French concession. Changle Lu, Xinle Lu, Maoming, Shanxi Nan Lu.... Fuxing Lu. Small shops is the trick. There's also a quite good market at the Jing'an temple.. I think it's called something cheesy, like 'email plaza' but I've bought many cute/cheap dresses from there. People's square (metro) also has a fairly good underground market... a friend of mine told me that there's also a lot of good shops around Zhongshan park, which is still to be explored... :)

Anonymous said...

A chinese newspaper "Elite Reference" 《青年参考》 just translated one of your posts, "chinse men+western girl".
Here is the link: http://news.ifeng.com/opinion/200810/1027_23_848932.shtml

it's not the original link of "Elite Reference", i cant find it.

Anonymous said...

I found your article from creaders.net, it was translated into Chinese:

在中国你常能看到这样的组合:中国女孩挽着西方男孩的胳膊,但你很少看到西方女孩挽着中国男孩在一起走的情景。为什么?我也不太确定。但是我能猜测出下面几个原因:

  
1.许多西方女孩的身材比较高大。和中国男孩相比,她们显得很“魁梧”。女孩讨厌比男孩高大的那种感受,而男孩也讨厌那种比女孩娇小的感觉。

  2.文化差异。西方女孩非常独立,她们会要求与男朋友分担家务。但在中国,女性被认为是家务承担者,男人完全可以坐视不管。我很难想象西方女孩该怎样融入到这种文化当中,至少我不会这么做。

  3.语言沟通障碍。

  4.缺乏相互的吸引。第一次来中国时,我一直在想:“我绝对不会觉得亚洲人漂亮……他们不是我想要的那种类型……”但是现在,我不得不承认自己在街上发现了好多特有魅力的亚洲男士(中国人、韩国人、日本人等)。

  我想这和审美习惯有关。刚来中国时,你会觉得所有人都有着相同的面貌(同样,我的许多中国朋友也觉得西方人模样相似)。过了一段时间后,我的眼睛能区分不同的人了。又过了8~12个月,我的视线里帅小伙突然多了起来。最有趣的是,当我指着一位帅哥,向刚来旅游的瑞典朋友介绍时,她们则直皱眉头。

  难道是眼睛的审美需要有个过渡吗?我实在想不出其他原因,我只知道亚洲男孩子的确很迷人。今年1月份,我和朋友去韩国首尔旅行,韩国男孩的面容、服装看上去很帅(虽然对我来说,仅仅帅还不足以和我约会,趣味相投才是关键)。

  总体来说,我觉得中国男孩与西方男孩相比,阳刚不足、温柔有余。甚至还有中国男孩拎着像女人手提包似的东西(当然,有男孩为女朋友拎包的情况,不可混为一谈)。西方男孩从不会这么做。

  同样,有些中国男孩还留长指甲,我绝不能忍受自己的男朋友这样做。另外,好多中国男孩竟然穿紧身裤,而且他们选择衣服的色彩过于艳丽。我同时还感受到,中国男孩比西方男孩更多愁善感。我的意思是,你听到过西方男孩在大街上唱《泰坦尼克号》的主题曲《我心永恒》吗?

  我会和中国男孩约会吗?我不知道。中国男孩会认为我大胆、鲁莽、固执己见,我爱肆无忌惮地大哭和大笑,在中国人看来,这一点儿都不是女孩该有的行为。实际上,我认为自己没有中国女孩那么“女气”。我虽然喜欢漂亮衣服和高跟鞋,但我不会让男朋友为我的消费买单。我们一起出去时,我决不会像一个需要宠爱的孩子(汉语叫作“撒娇”)要求男朋友买这买那。

  不知我的上述观点,中国男孩会认同吗?(作者:[瑞典] Jonna Wibelius) 

Unknown said...

Yes, I think you're right, things are getting more exciting in China, but cost more when you pay the bill...I can tell the difference from my trips to China during the past few years...and surely Shanghai is an expensive city! Anyway, the point is always to enjoy yourself and have fun!

Tsienni said...

Am I the only one who is left clueless after reading the title... but "spending thoughts" ? Ugh, good luck with your Chinese, though.

Anonymous said...

No more H&M?? Are you sure you've thought this through Jonna....