We went on a scouting exhibition to IKEA today, mostly to see what they have, and also to get a few smaller things. As it turns out, they have a great many wonderful things, and apparently all of Shanghai is of the same opinion: It was terribly crowded. When we visited IKEA in Tokyo, it was similarly packed, but I thought that was due to the Tokyo store having opened only a few weeks before. It seems that maybe this is just what happens with fashionable and affordable European furniture outlets in East Asian metropoleis.

We came back with two huge coffee cups, plastic boxes Samla and Vessla, Komplement storage components, the milk-frother Produkt, Elly tea towels, the blue plastic tray Varsam, the cutlery tray Rationell Variera, IKEA 365+ spice jars (are they running out of names?), and wooden toy Mula (I hope that Kai does not read this before his birthday).