Day 23 in China during the Coronavirus

Okay, what bits of today can I squeeze out, because seriously, nothing, and I mean NOTHING happened today.

This is the main highlight of the day: I ended up going to the supermarket because Zac wanted some items to make another ‘Zac Special’ dish, although didn’t want to go out into the cold himself. Being the Good Samaritan I am, I volunteered as tribute… okay, I didn’t volunteer. Zac had to ask me about 50 times to go because obviously I didn’t want to go either. In the end I gave in because at least it would give me something to do, even if it did feel like Antarctica but instead of penguins there were Chinese people wearing masks. Yay -_-

I got to the supermarket and there was a new addition on entry, the staff now take your temperature while simultaneously spraying your hands with sanitizer, wow. How refreshing. Anyway, I was actually enjoying myself looking around at all the things I didn’t need. I love food shopping and supermarkets, there’s just so many things I could potentially buy! I was so tempted to buy a hotpot cooker but left it because I didn’t want to carry it back, then I was going to buy a new mop but again, couldn’t be bothered to carry it back. It was more of a window shop and it was definitely more entertaining than being in my apartment.

Just coming away from the story quickly, I love hotpot! When I was back in England, my sister (whom is a big fan of all things Korean) would always say that she’s going for a hotpot with her friends or she’s eating noodles or dumplings or something. I just didn’t see the appeal. Anyway, since living in China, I’ve found a love for Asian food. Our Chinese friends have us round for dinner and the hotpot we have is cravable! I actually really miss it since being in isolation, and omg the BBQs they have here are just yum! So so so cheap too, you can get so much chicken, fish, vegetables or whatever you want on a stick and they’ll grill in front of you. I miss that too! Fortunately we still have dumplings, I never really had dumplings before I came here and omg they’re addictive! They’re like little parcels of yummy meat, delish – Even have a few in our freezer now! I definitely see my sister’s interest now, she’s a genius (literally and figuratively). Interestingly though, before Zac and I moved here we had a Chinese takeaway and we were not a fan!! We were worried we were moving to China and we were going to hate all the Chinese takeaway foods based on that one meal (dramatic, I know) but actually it’s nothing like that and we love the cuisine… Although, we have to be careful because a lot of the shops will probably give you the pooper doopers!

So carrying on, I was sent to the shop to get some red wine and coconut milk… I picked up some eggs, shampoo, shower gel, cat food anything but red wine and coconut milk. I got to the till and remembered what I was actually there for. Definitely showing signs of early onset dementia. I picked up the items for Zac, paid and was on my way to walking out of the shop which is when I got distracted. In China they have their own version of Starbucks called ‘Luckin Coffee’. As the virus has shut all businesses apart from the supermarkets, this means Starbucks is shut here (They also have Starbucks). I have been craving a Green Tea Java Chip Frappe for a long time now and Luckin Coffee do the next best thing ‘Matcha Exfreezo’ so I treated myself to one! Yay yay yay!! So happy!! BUT that was naughty because last night Zac and I said we weren’t going to have anymore sugary sweet things because it’s getting out of hand… I didn’t even last a day, neither did Zac though, we’re terrible! As I felt so guilty, I had to make up a story to make me feel better about it when telling Zac. I said “well, I was walking out of the shop when some English speaking Chinese man asked if he could buy me a drink, I asked him why and he said because I like your hair and I said okay, I’ll have a Matcha Exfreezo then! How crazy is that, that some random man offered to buy me a drink”. What’s funny is that Zac completely believed me because those sort of things actually happen to us here. I’m not being cocky but I’m quite admired here, Chinese women say to me ‘I love your legs’, ‘I love your nose’, ‘some women get plastic surgery to have their legs stretched to look like yours or get their nose lifted to have their nose high like yours to look more western’ so it’s not just me, any western female would be admired. Anyway, that’s why Zac believed me. So I got back home after taking my time about it and Zac was saying ‘wow how crazy the guy bought you a drink’… I couldn’t carry the lie on, I was looking at him and his bald head and I just had to tell him. “I WAS NAUGHTY, I WAS THE MAN THAT BOUGHT MYSELF A DRINK AND SAID MY HAIR LOOKED NICE!” He thought it was funny but was more upset that he didn’t get one… I’m not a meany, he told me he had a bad stomach before I left so I was saving his stomach. I’m just so thoughtful and caring and thought the lie would help him deal with it better, i told you, I’m a Good Samaritan… but I can’t lie to him so it didn’t really work.

Anyway, that’s that. I worked out, go me! And now I’m hungry again but trying to restrain myself from stepping into the kitchen because I will be ravenous! Stay strong Emily, and to all the other people who are trying to not eat about 10,000 calories today!