Living in... Shanghai, Uncategorized A CAVERN OF ICE 15 April 2010

One really annoying thing about living here? Often, you get quite dodgily-made stuff. It looks OK, but then you realise it falls apart at the drop of a hat. Arghhh.

Case in point? Our fridge.

It was provided by our landlord, and they’d obviously just gone for a cheap one so they could say a fridge was included. I’m not particularly pissed with them because we LOVE our landlords (very very very nice, accommodating people), but I suppose when there’s a shortcut, you can’t blame people for wanting to take it.

The fridge is average, because the air doesn’t distribute properly so various parts of the fridge have varying temperatures. But it’s not too bad, because we don’t cook and don’t have raw food in there anyway.

The problem is the freezer section. IT IS A FRIGGIN’ ICE CAVE!!!! Even if we keep it shut and never open it, I suppose air/moisture seeps in somehow, and solidifies on everything inside. So if we leave it for around 3-4 weeks, the ENTIRE freezer is full with snow/ice. It’s really overwhelming opening the freezer and the whole thing is solid white. And it also freezes shut all the drawers, so we pulled them out. Instead now, it just freezes the entire inside with solid ice/snow, growing at an alarming rate.

It takes almost 2 hours to hack away the ice (which poor Chris has to slave over), and is super messy because ice and water goes everywhere on the kitchen floor. And then a mere 24 hours later, all the ice starts growing back and a few weeks later, it’s completely iced shut again.

Sigh.


After removing some of the snow/ice in the freezer…….
looks like we’re going to have a snow fight indoors.

All tuckered out. Or rather, Misty is πŸ˜›


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wow did the fridge really make all of that snow in the sink? That’s crazy. Likewise, I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy shoes in China. Granted they’re generally not my style, but I’m so afraid I’ll be walking down the street the stiletto heel will snap and I’ll trip and fall on my face right in front of a bus.

Ya, it’s really like show, so weird!

I haven’t bought shoes here either.. and no clothes (unless they’re by an overseas brand). I personally just don’t like the style πŸ˜›

I remember freezers like these when I was a kid, but even then it wasn’t as bad!!!! 😐

Not going to try to ask your landlords to change the fridge?

I know, this one is just insane! Difficult to ask ’em to change for the reasons I posted in some replies above..

wow did the fridge really make all of that snow in the sink? That’s crazy. Likewise, I haven’t been able to bring myself to buy shoes in China. Granted they’re generally not my style, but I’m so afraid I’ll be walking down the street the stiletto heel will snap and I’ll trip and fall on my face right in front of a bus.

Ya, it’s really like show, so weird!

I haven’t bought shoes here either.. and no clothes (unless they’re by an overseas brand). I personally just don’t like the style πŸ˜›

I remember freezers like these when I was a kid, but even then it wasn’t as bad!!!! 😐

Not going to try to ask your landlords to change the fridge?

I know, this one is just insane! Difficult to ask ’em to change for the reasons I posted in some replies above..

Yeahhh our prob tho is that they’ want to inspect so I have to arrange a time off work to be at home, then have to convince them cos they’ll say it’s normal, then have to be home again if they agree to bring a new fridge. argh!

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Ya, but man its such an effort cos they’d wanna come in to inspect it first.. then will probably try to tell us this is “normal” for China etc. arghh!

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Yeahhh our prob tho is that they’ want to inspect so I have to arrange a time off work to be at home, then have to convince them cos they’ll say it’s normal, then have to be home again if they agree to bring a new fridge. argh!

the ‘sacrifice’ is worth it! else you’ll be cleaning up the fridge like every other week! its gonna make you go bonkers if it had not already!

I don’t think it’s a question of being badly made, really. It’s just not self-defrosting. I have a Soviet fridge, and we have 2 inches of ice buildup.

You’re supposed to defrost it periodically by unplugging it and letting it melt, using a hairdryer if you want it to go faster.

Oh actually, no fridge I have ever known needs to be defrosted. All of them are self-defrosting! As far as I know, it’s only the really old fridges or low-quality ones that require manual defrosting… INSANE considering we’re not in the 70s anymore…. :S

Ya, but man its such an effort cos they’d wanna come in to inspect it first.. then will probably try to tell us this is “normal” for China etc. arghh!

haha yeah we were thinking of having fun with the snow, but it’s sooo cold in Shanghai right now we lost the will πŸ˜›

I don’t think it’s a question of being badly made, really. It’s just not self-defrosting. I have a Soviet fridge, and we have 2 inches of ice buildup.

You’re supposed to defrost it periodically by unplugging it and letting it melt, using a hairdryer if you want it to go faster.

Oh actually, no fridge I have ever known needs to be defrosted. All of them are self-defrosting! As far as I know, it’s only the really old fridges or low-quality ones that require manual defrosting… INSANE considering we’re not in the 70s anymore…. :S

haha yeah we were thinking of having fun with the snow, but it’s sooo cold in Shanghai right now we lost the will πŸ˜›

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Yikes!!! Kinda funny how the freezer produces ice literally!

Anyway, throw it out and get a sub zero instead πŸ˜›

Wow – I haven’t seen a freezer like that in years. Everyone has self-defrosting now – even the cheap fridges.

Be careful when hacking it out – you don’t want to puncture anything and have freezone leaking out (happened to a friend of mine.)

There is a new envirnomental movement thingee to get rid of fridges as unnecessary appliances. Some people unplug it and just use it for storage. They say they save on energy and it encourages them to only eat fresh food.

The problem I’d have with that is that it does get warm in Winnipeg in the summer (believe it or not) and that if one likes cheese and butter, that might be a problem. It’s interesting to think that people got along nicely in the past without fridges and they used only a cool pantry. However, I don’t think there used to be an apartment culture – you can always find a cool room/basement in a house – and some apartments get amazingly hot – I imagine Shanghai has pretty hot summers.

It you got really annoyed, you could price a beer fridge (as they are called in Canada) that has no freezer at all. Here they cost a couple of hundred, tops.

I KNOW… it’s just the cheap China fridges that are like that.. I haven’t actually seen a freezer like this EVER, in Singapore or Australia! Drives me craaaaazy

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Yikes!!! Kinda funny how the freezer produces ice literally!

Anyway, throw it out and get a sub zero instead πŸ˜›

Wow – I haven’t seen a freezer like that in years. Everyone has self-defrosting now – even the cheap fridges.

Be careful when hacking it out – you don’t want to puncture anything and have freezone leaking out (happened to a friend of mine.)

There is a new envirnomental movement thingee to get rid of fridges as unnecessary appliances. Some people unplug it and just use it for storage. They say they save on energy and it encourages them to only eat fresh food.

The problem I’d have with that is that it does get warm in Winnipeg in the summer (believe it or not) and that if one likes cheese and butter, that might be a problem. It’s interesting to think that people got along nicely in the past without fridges and they used only a cool pantry. However, I don’t think there used to be an apartment culture – you can always find a cool room/basement in a house – and some apartments get amazingly hot – I imagine Shanghai has pretty hot summers.

It you got really annoyed, you could price a beer fridge (as they are called in Canada) that has no freezer at all. Here they cost a couple of hundred, tops.

I KNOW… it’s just the cheap China fridges that are like that.. I haven’t actually seen a freezer like this EVER, in Singapore or Australia! Drives me craaaaazy