Aside form getting on a plane to Beijing at 8 .. I had virtually no plans for the day.. What a gift.. !.. i made the best of it.. I got up too early.. still feeling a bit of jetlag.. and went out for a run. Again it was a raining.. .. again I didn’t mind. I headed back to Century Park . This time I paid the entrance fee and was able to run the interior trails. It was so beautiful.. I saw only 3 other people the entire time I was there.. I suspect it was because of the rain.. but even so, it was strange having this huge green space… forest and ponds , gardens and art all to myself … especially in one of he densest population centers in the world. .. but II really did have the place to myself.. It was beautifully manicured land.. tree lined walks, fine bridges..

 

I could have stayed there all day.. but.. breakfast was only served until 1-L30.. so I ran back to the hotel and ate… Today I did not try the 1000 year old eggs// but they were there waiting for me…

 

I went back to my room and did a few hours of work.. then packed. Just before 1, my friend Jia came and picked me up from the hotel and we grabbed a taxi down to the international  center.. I wanted to look for electronics.. There were 2 huge buildings full of people selling everything from iPhone knockoffs to spy equipment.. It was fun looking.. but once again.. I didn’t buy much..

 

As we walked around the place Jia and I brainstormed about work. I have a sense that she and her group will be very helpful to me in my new job.. After a couple of hours of shopping without buying.. we decided to grab something to eat..

Jia knew a ‘hot pot ‘ restaurant nearby.. It was really an experience.. It’s one of those places where you cook your own food in soup that’s biking in a heated container embedded in your table. The place was hidden on the 6th floor of an older office building.. you’d never know it was there.. The place took up the whole floor.. and .. was packed.. I learned it was open 24 hours a day !

We had fish. tofu and spinach in two kinds of soup.. one was mild vegetable stock.. and the other was spicy tomato. The spicing was pretty interesting. It was full of sezchuan peppercorns.. they taste a little like juniper berries.. but they made your entire mouth numb when you ate one by accident.. not numb like… ‘oh they’re so hot’/.. but numb like Novocaine .. Still I like food you can feel so that was pretty cool.. It was messy stuff.. so before you were served they made you put on an apron.. Good thing..because by the end of the mean, the table was covered with glop.

Te highpoint of the meal was the homemade noodles.. This guy came by with a small strip of rolled out dough.. he then started puling it , tossing it and looping it in the air to stretch it out.. ..sort of like a cross of someone tossing a pizza. .. and some cool marshal arts dance…. then he too the strip of dough which was now several meters long.. folded it, tore it masterfully into strips and dropped it in the boiling soup.. Bravo .. what a show ! Check out the name of some of the dishes in the slideshow here… tripe, blood curd, gizzards and squid beard ?!?!?!

 

After eating.. Jia and I walked to the subway line..She headed one way.. and I headed the other.. 3 stops then changed for the very cool maglev train to the airport… It floats on a magnetic field… and at 300 km/hour (180 miles per hour) .. it made what would have been an hour long drive to the airport into 10 minutes.. so cool !

 

It was so fast.. that I got to the airport in plenty of time.. I’d just checked in for my flight when someone called out my name.. A man I’d never met.. but knew who I was called me over.. His name was Vincent.. and he recognized me because of my weird hair.. (many folks do).. .. He’s an amazing inventor who works in Hong Kong. He proceeded to explain and then demo a really clever idea for increasing video resolution.. He was so excited about his idea.. I loved talking with him..

… okay.. 3 hours later now.. just flew to Beijing ..it’s 23 degrees F.. brrrrr !.. I took a 40 min cab ride to the hotel. .. .. I’m staying at the shangri-la.. my favorite hotel here.. I think this is my 4th time here .. it’s beautiful and gracious.. and so are the folks who work here.. ..

Being in this hotel does bring up a very sad memory. I was staying here once with a group of work freinds when one of them, my freind Clark, learned that his mother had passed away.. At that point I’d never seen someone have to take in such hard news… I’ll never forget that…

ahh.. the world is full of memories.. ..

ok.. time for sleep.. more tomorrow..

nite all, nite sam
-me