While L. was in class today, I went out shopping. The Carrefour, Trust-Mart, and Jusco markets are pretty neat. They're all 2-3 stories tall and have moving sidewalks that slant upwards. Shopping carts stick to these sidewalks without sliding back....done with magnets. Tissue packs, batteries, and drinks line the sides of the moving sidewalk, leaving no space unused for selling. Things are quite cheap in places; a bunch of fresh, leafy veggies cost less than 1 rmb (12 US cents)!
One drawback to shopping here is the transportation. I have to go by bus or taxi. Carrefour and Trust-Mart send out free buses all over the area, including our XM campus, to pick people up every hour. But I can only buy what I can carry in one trip. There's no filling up my car trunk to unload in multiple trips from the home driveway, since I have no car. Even if I did, it's a six-flight stairway walk to our flat. Here, I make sure I don't overbuy to where that I can't carry it all. Hmmm....maybe that's not such a bad thing after all....
News has been reporting about the KMT's visits to China. A significant development in cross-strait relations with Taiwan that has this country's media riveted.
