This is Home (4/30/2011)

Saturday, April 30, 2011

For our 23rd anniversary, we moved!

The residence hotel apartment had many advantages, such as being close to work and having free apples and toilet paper, but it had some disadvantages: too little storage and having to do laundry by hand.

At Grand Gateway Garden in the Xuhui District of Shanghai, we have a lot more space, including a bedroom for Brynne!
Entry:

Living room:

With a huge TV (huge for us at 46") and better stations:

View from living room with balcony:

We are only on the third floor!

Dining room for 6 (instead of 2!):

(Hey, Mom! That's the painting you see when we Skype!) The artwork is exactly the same in every apartment!
The dining room has become the office due to the strength (or lack of) of the wireless internet connection:

With a Maxine post-it note pad from Susan.

Master bedroom:

With a desk and TV:

One personal piece of home decor on the desk, a gift from Cora:

View from bedroom:

Guest Bedroom: 

Okay folks, Brynne is here for only 1-1/2 months. That leaves a lot of time for you others to come and visit! We'll take the suitcases out of that closet on the left:

View from guest bedroom:

You can see the entrance to the Metro where the two guys are about to use the escalator.
Bathroom (well, the bathroom was bigger at Fraser!): 

The tub has a 2-foot edge to step over:

Kitchen (definitely bigger here!): 

With a machine that both washes and dries laundry: 

When the elevator is about to arrive, green lights move in the direction (up or down):

Grand Gateway Garden Residential Tower 1: 

We are on the third floor, the first three windows to the left of center above the entry.
The Gateway Garden garden:

 The security gate:

The entrance to the Club across the street:

The Grand Club is the location of the gym, outdoor pool, reading room, snooker room, mahjong and card rooms, golf simulator room, and more!

These are light-tipped poles:

The Grand Club Lobby chimes:

The Grand Club Lounge:

With card players.
The Grand Club Reading Room:

The way to The Grand Club Gym:

The Gym lobby:

The Gym reception:

The Gym:

The Grand Club Snooker Room:

The Grand Club TV Room:

The Grand Club Wine & Cigar Room:

The Grand Club Playroom:

The Grand Club Golf Simulator Room:

Kent tries it out:

The atrium:

The swimming pool:

The Grand Gateway 66 Plaza is across the street, one of the most popular shopping destinations in Shanghai.

And the 11th tallest buildings in Shanghai.
The Grand Gateway Plaza atrium:

The atrium looking up at one of the towers:

Butterflies:

Here a girl plays an electric violin for a L'Oreal promotion: 

An art/photo exhibit:

There are bands playing:

There will be a Pizza Mania contest next weekend (5/7/2011):

Revlon make-up demo this week:

Wii-type table tennis game promotion:

Auto promotion (5/14/2011):

This time a carousel:

Rockport Shoes really rock now (11/6/2011):

We perused some of the shops and found this juxtaposition interesting:

Whenever a new store or restaurant is going in, they cover the facade while work is being done:

Kent can get to work in 25 minutes on the Metro, making one line change. I still have grocery shopping nearby; the international grocery store is across the street in Grand Gateway Plaza, and the Hui Jin Supermarket (cheaper) is 2 blocks away (at Fraser I had a short 2-1/2 blocks).
Our light show at night:

You can see why they call the towers a pair of lipsticks.