Ai Hua Beijing

... I only had my throat treated. Guess who’s supposed to go back today to get their ears checked? (Ha! Big joke!)

Also, a quick note about my medication: Pills, and plastic bottles are common here. However, my medication from the hospital comes in these small glass vials. You are supposed to puncture the top of those vials, insert a straw, and then drink a bitter, herbal-ly concoction. (Altogether more interesting, than say, drinking some Nyquil or such…)

ENTRY BY: Rat

MON 11/9/09 - It's time for NFL Sunday Night Football games at the Den. We buy breakfast again and settle in for the Eagles vs Cowboys game. This time we meet expat Aric, who is struggling with his CrackBerry and suggests that Mandarin is best spoken loud and fast, thus covering up the fact that you don't know how to distinguish between the third and fourth tones.

Several hours later, we ...

... all took a 'breather’ and learned he was a pilot on a layover who brought his family over to see as much as they could in the time they had.

We can now say we have been to the Great Wall of China because over the past week we have visited every section one can reach in this area (Badaling, Simatai, Mutianyu, and Juyongguan Sections). Sadly, Badaling (most popular with tourists) is the ...

... of the food looked amazing except for a few scorpions and grasshoppers on sticks, which seemed to be there for show only. We ended up going for some of the more straightforward offerings of noodles, dumplings and veg. Keep it simple, that's what we say. The next day we thought we'd take to the streets in style - by bicycle! The route we chose took us around the edge of ...

... amount of activities....and in the end, I'm beyond exhausted, but very satisfied. Let's just hope I can keep this up. So, before I head to bed....I've uploaded a few pictures from when my Chinese roommate Qian Chi and I went out to dinner...she took me to a YunNan (SW China) Chinese minority restaurant...the food was yummy and very different from the food typical of Beijing....kinda reminded me of Vietnamese food... Miss you all!

... with pearls and gems, items for battle including bow and arrows as well as swords and armour. We continued on from the Ming Tombs to the Great Wall at Badaling. We were fortunate to have good weather; quite sunny, reasonably warm and not too windy. What surprised us the most was how steep the climb was to reach the summit of the highest tourist beacon tower. Upward sloping pathways and worn out stairs pave the route. The concept of rise vs. run had obviously ...

... can. I can see if the water would be rough there would be alot of damaged bikes, but fortunately the water is smooth for the 14 hour ride. Once we arrive in Amsterdam there are photo radar cameras everywhere. The 3 Germans I'm riding with are used to riding flat out and they are accellerating and braking every time a camera comes into view. But we make it across Holland and into Germany where speed limits are a thing of the past. Amazing, these guys ride over ...