Friday 13th September
Lots of new experiences today although none really to do with the festival. I decided a day off work was finally a good reason to take a proper visit to Walmart on my own. Not the most exciting thin, but the first time travelling further than on foot on my own.
With some new apps set up on my phone, a bank account and WePay, I took booked a Didi ride (Chinese Uber) to Walmart. After some fiddling with the app, a taxi soon arrived, I hopped in and was at Walmart. The driver didn’t ask for money, so I assumed that it had worked! Sort of, a couple hours later I opened the app to find a payment to authorise, in future I will remember to make it soon after the ride is completed.
Optimus Prime still stands guard outside Walmart!
Walmart is just the main shop in a centre full of smaller shops, but I walked around briefly before going into the store. The middle of the centre had some area with tables covered in camp netting, and dozens of people on their phones playing some Fortnite style game which was being shown on a big screen.
Probably wandered around Walmart for the better part of two hours, mostly because I couldn’t find anything and went around all the aisles several times. Eventually I gotta some more plates and knives, things for Thai curries like coconut milk, sauces for other possible dishes... Also some new shoes, light and hopefully will let my feet breathe more as the cheap shoes I brought from the UK are sweaty.
‘Fish ham’
Actual ground coffee, the joy of it. The sense of relief as I made up some coffee in my percolator in the evening.
A work mate called me up asking if I could pick up some painkillers, but I couldn’t find them anywhere, but I took a walk down the road to a colourful building that had some shops and maybe a cinema or bingo. Certainly eye catching.
No luck not the painkillers, they just don’t seem so easy to find here, every supermarket and corner shop in the UK sells them, but not here. I had another idea though, as soon as I got back gave my mate a call to come over the flat. Earlier this week I asked a Chinese colleague to set my address in a delivery app so we put it to the test. Everywhere here you see people dressed in yellow on electric scooters taking deliveries on a constant basis. First thing I would be ordered were some tablets, so I placed the order and we watched the app track the drivers GPS first to the chemist and then along the roads to our estate, wondering if you would actually find my exact flat. Within 15 minutes there was a knock at the door and we had painkillers!
I still haven’t managed to get some supplies fore making models and figuring out Taobao is another job near the top of my list. Instead I bought this not-Lego tank from Walmart for the equivalent of £3. They don’t make Lego like this anywhere else! Lots of parts look suspiciously identical to Lego pieces, but I don’t suppose anyone is bothered by that here! Took quite a while to build as well because all the pieces looked the same...
End of a day of firsts. First Didi ride on my own, paying for things with WePay, home deliveries and a proper coffee from my percolator.
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