A couple of months ago, I moved into my new apartment. I went to IKEA in Beijing, which was 'an experience' - the locals go for a day trip, enjoying a cheap breakfast, then a nice sit down in the furniture section, chatting & texting, or even a family gathering around a table in the kitchen section. After a nice (cheap) lunch, they have a kip in the bed section. I kid you not. See a previous blog entry.
I'd bought a load of pictures to make my place more homely, and some frames for photos. I made several holes in the walls. One of the family photos fell off & the frame smashed, so on Sunday - with some reluctance - I went back with a pal, who wanted a load of stuff, and I bought just a replacement frame.
The queues to pay were HUGE. I was not happy.Waited over 40 minutes to get out. I swore a lot and my pal tried to pacify me and stop me going on a mass-killing spree by offering to pay for the taxi home (2 quid) and buy me lunch. I also swore (profusely) never to go back ever again. Ever.
Ikea have just had over 2 tons of chocolate cake destroyed because the Chinese authorities said it violated quality standards (hell, it must have been bad!!) - they also destroyed a load of Kraft cream cheese and even 3 tons of Nestle chocolate (all made locally)....the chocolate cake seemingly contained coliform bacteria, normally found in fecal matter, and the choccy bars sorbitol, which causes bowel problems...goodness knows what the cream cheese contained - the mind boggles...
I re-framed the family photo and put it back up.
It fell down and smashed again this morning. I plan to simply sellotape the photo to the wall. I'm not going back. Ever.
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