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Published: April 12th 2009
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It was awfully muggy today. You can be greatly deceived upon waking, and gazing at the bright light stream in. Expectations arise of glorious sun, and while the outdoors are indeed bright - they are grey. Or beige. A strange light nonetheless. It makes photo taking a frustrating business, because there really is no view. So panoramic shots will be disappointing - or impossible. Alas.
I slept in today. This is my first morning of arising after 7:00pm, so perhaps I am adjusting to the jet lag. I was even able to stay up until midnight yesterday so there is hope for me yet! Juliet was cracking jokes regarding the youth of today at my expense. Apparently I am quite lame. (Tell me something I don't know). Oh well, I will show her yet. Bust a serious dance move on her as soon as I'm able, and then she will see. The youth of today are magnificent.
Met two English boys that were going to see the Summer Palace, so we decided to band together and explore. The bus ride was a good hour and a half, mostly standing. Polite behavior is an absolute must on public transport, which
is odd when you consider how normal it is to see gobs of spit flying while walking in the streets, or mothers yanking down the pants of their toddlers to piss wherever. Regardless of this fact, if you are sitting and an elderly person boards the bus, you MUST give up your seat to them immediately. I quite liked that stern respect. We three had scored perfectly lovely seats on the bus (not an easy feat in crowded Beijing) and were settled in to be quite comfortable for our long ride, but sure enough we three successively were booted from our seats (which we gave in with eager and good grace) feeling quite lovely with the whole situation, I was dismayed to realize upon looking up, that we had been sitting in the seats ESPECIALLY reserved for the elderly, disabled, or people with children. Haha. Oops. The rest of the ride was uneventful, but hay-fever season has begun so those white fluffs float through the air like puffy snow and blew in through the bus windows. (I nearly choked on one).
I lost my ticket right after purchasing entry for the Summer Palace (typical me) so had to repeat
my purchase. Maddening. It was quite beautiful, but I confess that I am becoming a little numb to the beautiful buildings. I greatly enjoyed exploring the extensive grounds, and hiking up the winding steps to see the potential/nonexistent view. The blossoms gave off a heady perfume which was lovely to wander through. We lunched on doughy meat dumplings and the Chinese version of Oreos.
Our ride home on the bus was in the middle of rush hour (standing again) so we amused ourselves by playing "would you rather..." and other games of the like. I felt like I was 12... which was awesome. Now I am back at the hostel and thinking I should venture out and get some grub. Speaking of grub, the Peking Duck was excellent last night! So delicious, and just watching the chef come out with your complete duck and carve it up in front of you was an art form in itself. Quite impressive. I ate pure fat.
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sonja bristow
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Happy Easter! He is Risen! Just finished a waffle brunch with the Palmgrens and it was deliscious! We missed you! The feta was great! What did you do for Easter? We will also eat a Lindt bunny in your honour. Love you! Love the blog! Mom