Today I went to 王府井 and 西單 in Beijing. They were basically gigantic shopping centers that were eleven stories tall and there were like 4 of these enormous buildings next to each other. I tried some 85°C bakery goods and it was pretty good. The pineapple Danish thing looked like it was supposed to be a 菠蘿包or something, but the tasty crumbly part seemed more solid and more crumbly. It was alright.

I bought very little things even though I was in the shopping district because things just seemed pretty expensive, some shoes were like 490塊！There was also this one mall in 西單 that looked like a mall but it seems like there were separate stalls for different brands. There was always some worker standing that waiting for you to come in and assist you, but they seemed more like an intimidating guard for the stores. I think I prefer more passive workers than aggressive workers just waiting to pounce on you. It’s like in an American store, like Macy’s, there would be like 2 workers for like 400 square meters but then here, it’s like four times that much and they’re all staring at you like a hawk. So I just felt too awkward to buy stuff I guess, and when I did try it didn’t really seem right. I’m not sure if I’d really want to go into another Asian shopping center again.

You know how in the states, you know which stores you would normally go to for your price range such as Forever 21, H&M, and those other stores that you just know are way too expensive? Well here, I’m walking through the mall and everything looks all fobby and I’m not even sure which store to go into. I just assumed the ones w/ very little people were the expensive ones. If I walked into one w/ nobody in it, it would be hella awkward. I wish Vivien was here so she can dress me up, because I’m really bad at shopping. She’d be daring enough to go into those stores.

Oh yea! Subways are different here! In the Bay Area, transferring from one line to the other on the BART only requires you to cross one platform, but here, you have to do like a quarter mile trek in order to get to the next line! Everyone is also very pushy, and it’s really crowded on the buses. If someone really wanted to pick pocket you, I can see how that can be very busy. The doors are also automatically timed, so if you don’t get off the subway in time, you’re stuck in there for another stop. I guess this could be the reason why everyone is pushing and shoving to get in and out of the train. So much walking for so many hours (can’t expect to sit down on the bus when there are hoards of people) made me really tired >.<.

There were also TVs in the subway train and you can see commercials on the walls of the subway tunnel when the train is moving. I guess they timed each frame perfectly so you can actually read it and it’s not a blur. I thought it was pretty neat.

I went to a club for the first time because it was free entry for girls and free drinks too on Wednesdays for a particular cup. We had a mini “pre-game” and drank a shot of 白酒 which was like 56% alcohol (didn’t know until after I drank it)! No wonder it felt so terrible going down even when we washed it down w/ orange juice. Finally got down to the club at around 12am and got a free shot right at the door, wasn’t really sure what it was, but I didn’t really taste it. Then I had a “screw driver” at the bar because it was familiar (Alicia from lab was going to bring it TO LAB on sungod and drink it from a flask but it never happened :P). So I had two shots when I got to the club but I didn’t really feel buzzed which was ok J. I guess my tolerance isn’t toooo bad after all. I attempted to dance w/ Susanna and her friend for a while and I felt slightly awkward, but I guess the shots gave me a little courage :P. I lost part of my hearing tonight.

On a side note, this is for you Wen. I got asked if I was Filipino once yesterday :P