the journey is the destination

Finding breakfast is something of a challenge in Beijing (or anywhere else in China, really, we just lucked into the bakery nearby our Shanghai apartment) because the Chinese generally don't eat the kind of breakfast that Westerners do. So this morning we went in search of coffee (for me--I've started drinking lattes. Caffeine is essential here) and food (for my parents, because I had gnawed on some old baguette, worried that we may not come across anything vaguely resembling Western breakfast food). First we tried the (massive) Ginza mall, which is very near our hotel, and has many recognizable stores (Levi's, DQ, McDonald's, etc...) and some not-as-recognizable ones, but that was a bust because the security guard told my dad that nothing opened till 10.

So then we ventured forth into the streets of Beijing to try to find the elusive April Gourmet Food Store. I think that's what it was called, though I don't know because, after an hour and a half of walking, we found it naught. It was half-amusing, half-sad to watch my dad get all flustered; Beijing is strictly not his city, and so while he had been completely prepared to take care of us in Shanghai, he was completely unprepared in Beijing. We didn't even have a guidebook, and our lone map was questionable (it turns out Beijing blocks are about 10 times larger than Shanghai ones). And even though Beijing was not his city, he hated to lose face when, after an hour and half of wandering, he (the China expert) could not conjure up the store. But by that time my mom and I had reached a state of zen, and the new Bock-Wasserstrom motto (second only to "life's a bitch, and then you die") is now: "The journey is the destination." Anyway, we ended up finding a Costa Coffee (which is a Chinese version of Starbucks--not that there aren't Starbucks in China, there are plenty, though inconveniently placed here in Beijing) so I got my latte and parents got food.

(The drum tower, modified a little)

Today was our first real day of being tourists. We took a taxi to the Drum and Bell Towers and hiked up a huge flight of stairs in the Bell Tower, saw the bell. Hiked down a huge flight of stairs, went across to the drum tower. Hiked up a huge flight of stairs in the Drum Tower, saw the drum. And a drum performance. Which was very cool. Then down the stairs again. (Stairs in China, funnily enough, are shorter than stairs in the US, I assume to accommodate for the generally shorter population. I appreciate this). The architecture was quite impressive. Then we wandered (we've learned that wandering is the best method of transportation, because if you have a destination in mind, chances are you won't find it!) through old alleyways of the "Hutong District" and did some window shopping, and some real shopping--I bought a communist hat, because it was just too good to pass up. I was rather surprised by some of the items displayed in the windows of the shops:

(Capitalism at its finest)

(Obama...Che...Mao...one of these things is not like the others...)

(Oba Mao? Really? Not to mention the Chanel bag...)

After exploring the Hutongs, we moseyed over to Prince Gong's

residence--a prince of old who had a quite extensive and beautiful abode.

Then we took a taxi to a Sichuan restaurant. Sichuan food is (in general) notably spicier than other Chinese food, and though the food at this restaurant wasn't extremely hot, I did accidentally bite into a Sichuan peppercorn at one point and my mouth became numb. Even so, it was another great meal. Fabulous hot oil dumplings and twice-cooked pork (which was similar to bacon, and was served with scallions and little buns to make sandwich-like things).

My camera battery had died so after lunch we went back to the hotel, and immediately all of our ambitious plans for the afternoon were dispelled by the air-conditioning and comfortable chairs of our hotel room.

We have decided that one good Chinese meal a day is enough for us, and after a big lunch none of us were very hungry so instead we went bar hopping. We went in search of "the Hidden Bar" that was written up in our guidebooks (my dad acquired some guidebooks for us after the April Gourmet fail) and which my mom was excited about. Unfortunately, because we had a specific destination and were not just wandering, the bar lived up to its name, and our fruitless search put a strain on my mom's support for our new family motto. We ended up at another bar called "the Den" which is half of hidDEN, so that's almost the same. We drank and watched the old Argentina-Germany game, while the rest of the (foreigners) watched Aussie football. Which I had never seen before, and seems (to me) to be the most ridiculous sport ever created. There were many raucous Aussies in the bar who clearly disagreed, however.

After we had tired of that bar, we walked over to the main street of bars, and found a nice place with a table outside where we could observe the nightlife. We also decided to try their hamburger, which tasted like no hamburger I had ever had and included a fried egg on top. The fries were actually quite good though.