A 1st - one of many - Total BUST!!!

We decided to take a trip to the Textile Market on Saturday with some friends.  The Textile Market is a place to go when you are looking for custom made comforters.  We have been looking for comforters since we arrived - we did not bring ours from the states thinking it would not be a big deal to find them here - wrong!!!  Duvet covers are very popular here, however, that would require us to buy the Duvet & the cover, which would not be cheap.  So, when I heard about the Textile Market & how cheap it was, I was sold!!  Plans went South when the friends we were going with could not make it (currently moving into their place) & they were bringing the translator.  We thought, for a brief moment, about going solo & having Mr. He help us but from what we heard, they don't speak any English at the Textile Market & Mr. He's understanding of English, however getting better daily, might not be much help to us when trying to ask questions/place an order.  Change gears.....Another thing we need for our place is rugs - the entire house has hardwood floors.  So we picked up our handy dandy book we purchased called "Passport Shanghai 2007-2008 edition "  & found a rug place.  Mr. He met us in the morning for our adventure.  After fighting weekend traffic getting into Puxi, we arrived at the rug place over an hour later.  To my disappointment, the rug place was all a pile of bricks with a concrete block with BIG letters saying "RUGS".  Guess it was not meant to be......Change gears, again......Off to take the kids bowling.  The reference came from a different book, so we headed there.  We get upstairs to a smoke filled bowling alley.  The wait was 30 minutes so we decided to stay - the kids were so excited to bowl that we did not want to crush them & leave.  Well, an hour & a half later we finally get a lane - I think we deserve some kind of medal for roughing this one out!!!  We decided to play only 1 game due to the crowds, smoke & time.  The experience was one like no other but still one to give us a smile!!  After bowling we headed to Zapata's (Mexican).  The atmosphere was very bar like with very little seating.  We did not have a problem getting a table in the upper tier of the restaurant at the early time we arrived.  Prices were high (SMALL glass of Coke was $4.00), however, the entertainment was just that, entertaining!  Many of people coming in for shots & dancing on the bar along with some pictures.  The food was nothing to write home about.  We cashed out at $75.  Overall, a disappointing day in the land of Puxi!!!  Off we went home to shower the kids & wash our smoke filled clothes (sorry AYI).  Once the kids got in bed, Ron & I watched 'No Reservations' while eating good ol' Orville Redenbacher's popcorn.  All's well that ends well.................