66 Days - Electronics store was amazing..

So me and Nate had planned on going to the electronics store to grab some parts that we needed. I had no idea what to expect other than we knew it was a couple of stories high. We got there about 9am. We walked in and my jaw dropped. Everything you would ever need in the electronics world was here. Most of it was automation equipment but you could get terminals, wire, cables, connectors, bare LEDs, resistors, chips, SCRs, power supplies, switches, heat shrink, motors, test gear, LCDs, and fans. There were stores devoted to fans of all sizes and shapes. It was crazy. We needed some cables, and we walked into this store that had walls full of cubbies filled with cables, usb, firewire, HDMI, DVI, network. Even stuff like pink and purple cables. And they were dirt cheap. We bought 4 serial cables and 4 network cables for like 4 dollars. Normally a serial cable at Fry's would be 10-15 dollars each. The one thing that I did notice was there wasnt much computer hardware. No motherboards, hard drives, and stuff like that to build you own computer. I have a good feeling that a store like that exists elsewhere in Shanghai. Did I mention the store was 5 stories and was huge on each floor? The upper floors had little stores inside that were like 10x10 or 10x15 cubes and a shopkeeper in each one. The tricky part is that some of them sell the same thing so when your looking for things you can find them again somewhere else. We got what we needed and got back to the site.

It was warm today. I was able to wear short sleeve shirt outside, but inside the building it was still cold. It really feels like the AC is on but its not. The site is extremely noisy with continual surprising sounds like anvils falling from the sky and saws cutting sheet metal, along with hammer drills going into concrete. Not very pleasant.

I got back to the hotel and I decided to venture out. I had something on my mind that I needed to get. I am trying to get a birthday card for my lovely wife. I am having a really hard time finding anything at all, even something in Chinese. There was an arts and crafts store I noticed, but it was on a higher floor of a building and I couldnt find it. All the info was in chines except "Arts & Crafts" on the outside of the building. I also went down to the new world shopping mall. I was tired walking around trying to find a card. I guess I will have to do something else.

I went up to the arcade in the mall and tried a few games and got bored quick. I had to get a players card which was 100 yuan (15 dollars US).

Thats pretty much it for today. I am posting a picture of how the Chinese move a concrete slab, in ancient pyramid fashion using conduit. As most of you dont know conduit isnt rated for any loads, its only to be used for protecting wire in a building, not roll concrete with or using as a pry bar.

Also just as a note, you can enlarge any picture I post by clicking on it.