How much do plants cost?

I feel like I got a good deal yesterday - but those that know plants better than me (mom) could probably tell me for sure. Even if I didn't such a great deal I definitely hit the shopping jackpot. Ang, Bonnie, and I headed to the plant market yesterday. I had heard of this place through a few online forums and was told that its "the place to go" to find plants for our house. There was also mention of a baby store in the same area but I didn't pay much attention to that, I was going for the plants.

We found our way into the market which seemed to be mostly fake plants and flowers - not quite what I was thinking. But, then we happened upon a little corner where they had all sorts of live plants and pots. I selected 4 potted plants and Bonnie spoke to the shop owner in Chinese and got them to throw in a hose, plant sprayer and three stems of a flower that we liked. The woman typed a bunch of stuff into the calculator and showed the total to Bonnie - 675RMB. We ended up paying 600RMB (about 85USD - and I should also mention that this price included delivery and setup). There are pictures included below - you can decide if you agree about this being a good deal or not. Maybe we should wait a month to see if they are all still alive before deciding?

The shopping adventure story doesn't end there. Of course we had to check out the baby store - its hard to find decent baby stuff in Shanghai so I'll always stop to look when I see baby gear. JACKPOT!!! We made our way up to the third floor of this market to find a very clean, well organized, quiet baby store that had EVERYTHING you could possibly need for a baby. Ok, maybe saying EVERYTHING is a bit of an overstatement. Baby toys in America are way cooler than the toys you find here (even though it is very likely that the toys back home were actually made in China). In addition to baby toys, diapers, formula, clothing, shoes, baby food, cribs and more toys they had a baby gym and a baby spa (where they let babies float in little bath-like pools of water and give them massage afterward - don't worry, I will never let Ang near these as I'm sure I'm not the only person who's first thought had to do with worrying about how sanitary this could possibly be). We looked around and bought a few toys but decided to head home because it was time to try to get Ang down for a nap. I am so happy to know about this store though - it definitely beats going to the over-crowded crazy Toys R Us down the street from us!

In Ang news...
We have teeth!! I feel like these have been a long time coming but noticed an insane increase in the amount of drool, chewing and crankiness in the past week. Sure enough, yesterday she got ahold of my finger and bit me!! I immediately opened her mouth to find two white edges peeping through her gums. Yesterday I found that she had moved herself into a position on her playmat so that she could get the bar on the side into her mouth (its foam on the inside and I bet it felt great for her to chew on!)



Ok, I'm off to the kitchen to help Bonnie cook. She is making us her famous dumplings tonight so I'm helping so that I can try to learn how to make them myself!! We have been so impressed with all of the Chinese meals she had made us in our home, but her dumplings are definitely our favorite!!