This morning I decided to exercise in the gym in the hotel. It was probably a good idea. Even though we prefer swimming and there is a local pool, it would probably be quite unhealthy to do strenuous exercise in this pollution. I got on the bike and did 10km in 30 minutes; all preparation for our big hike on the great wall tomorrow. Some people at breakfast didn't think we are fit enough for the great wall, people judge by appearances. I challenge them to 10kms in 30 minutes on the bike or 1500m in 40 minutes in the pool. Around 11 we decided to head out on an adventure to Tiananmen square. We planned to get the underground metro. Too bad we didn't. A local convinced us to get on his rickshaw. He told us the price was "3". He never showed us a card or a calculator. We all piled on to the (motorised) rickshaw and headed down the road for Tiananmen. It's actually not that far. We were enjoying the ride for a while, until he then went down a back road and alley. We began to feel a little nervous and wondered; we pr-ed. He dropped us at Tiananmen, but actually not that close to the quare, it was still the Tiananmen district, but near a shopping complex. He then asked us for our money and pulled out a card that had "300" on it, not "3". 300 yuan is about $40. The ride was fairly short. We knew we were being ripped off. I tried to give him 100, he was angry. There was another local close by. If there had not been I would have walked off after paying him 100. I gave him another 100 and he accepted it. So we got ripped off $30, when we could have spent $1 for the whole family on the Metro. SCORE: Beijing 2 / Kubes 0.
Ok, we are reasonably happy having pr-ed to forgive the rickshaw driver.
The police are everywhere. We had to pass through security to enter the square. Incidentally the same is true if you have a bag in the metro.
People were staring at us where we ever went, so I didn't mind taking photos of them. I think they are quite amazed to see a family with two children, especially with one in the snugly. Wait till tomorrow when Abigail rides in the backpack.
This photo has a story on Abigail's Spot.
Ah, the glory of the rev-tion, on show in Tiananmen square.
The workers of the rev-ion.
China is always on show to the world. The World Expo starts in 544 300 seconds in Shanghai. Just to prove that China is always advertising itself, the last campaign has shut down. I thought it might have been fun to go to the Olympic "Water cube" and go for a swim there. Apparently it is closed. Guess that didn't think the public would actually want to swim in it. Sport is only for those chosen to represent their country after all.
Ok, I give up, the barrage of rev-ary images has convinced me.
There were families everywhere, who seemed to be more interested in us than any of the grand imposing symbols they should have been paying attention to.
Lots of good photos, and some friendly interactions with the locals (or perhaps they are tourists from the provinces??). SCORE: Beijing 2/ Kubes 1
Our kids were tired after our Tiananmen adventure, so we decided to give the Forbidden City a miss. How important can the capital of the world be anyway? We found our way to the metro and successfully navigated our way to the correct station using our metro map. SCORE: Beijing 2/ Kubes 2.
Boarding the train was a challenge. It was extremely crowded. People were not making room for us. I thought I employ some Russian tactics and push our way on. One man decided he didn't like this and pushed back nearly pushing us off the train. He yelled at me. I didn't have the Chinese to say "calm down old chap" as I pointed at our little children. The rest of the passengers seemed to be on our side. Not a fun experience. SCORE: Beijing 3/ Kubes 2.
After getting back to the hotel, I ventured out by myself to find nappies for PJ. I found myself in a 6 level department store, where there was allegedly a supermarket. I had a piece of paper with the word "nappies" writte in Chinese. The department store was full of hundreds of boutique kiosks and departments and teeming with people everywhere. The Chinese economy has created a hungry capitalist creature in the masses. I explored for a while before showing my note to someone. I was sent to the fourth floor which was full of kids boutique stores. Only one of them had nappies, at a very high price. I just knew there had to be the nappies I sought and that there had to be this alleged supermarket somewhere. But I had been looking a long time already. SCORE: Beijing 4/ Kubes 2.
I felt like giving up. The day had been long by now. But I didn't have any choice, we were nearly out of nappies. I went out into the street and saw two more massive shopping complexes. This was going to take a long time. I pr-ed. I went into an underpass, and there was an entrance to a supermarket. It was quite chaotic inside and it took me three attempts to figure out how the store worked. There was very little concept of isles, everything was higgeldy piggeldy. But I prevailed and found some Huggies for $10. I thanked the L-d a lot. :) Beijing 4/ Kubes (with the L-d's help) 3.
Following the adventures of today, we are eating in the hotel restaurant tonight. It was a close tussle, but Beijing got the better of us today. But the rematch will be a different thing, we have learnt a few lessons and are a little wiser now.
POST SCRIPT:
Countback results in new winner
This news just in:
A countback on yesterday's score has brought about a different result because I forgot to share the final and most significant story of the day.
There was actually a story I forgot to tell, of a woman sitting on the footpath with pictures from her baby's ultrasound and a long explanation in Chinese. I couldn't make out the pictures properly. I walked past her and the L-d told me to go back. I gave her some money and then crouched down to p-y for her. I pointed to the sky to let her know I would p-y, she made a p-ying motion with her hands to let me know she understood. I p-ed for her and then tried saying to her the name of J in as many forms as I knew. She repeated one of them and nodded at me and I knew she understood. There is enough of a witness in China that I reckon she has heard the name of J before. She knew I was p-ying to J, and I reckon it impacted her. "There is no other name given under H than by which we may be saved, othe than J." That was probably worth two goals, so the final score on countback should probably be Beijing 4 - Kubes 5.
I had felt really defeated by Beijing yesterday, but in the end I realised that the Lord won out despite the circumstances.
1 comment:
This is lovely and so encouraging! I like the way you wrote it - and the way the L showed He can win in the end after all! Be strong in Him as you go forward.
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