Food and Massages

So I had thought it would only be fair for me to tell you a little bit about my food experiences since, as most of you already know, food is a passion of mine. We’ve been mostly eating Chinese food (duh) but our team has really been craving American food so they sneak out to get some McDonald’s ice cream every now and again. Me, I’ve done my best to stick to the basic Chinese/ Mongolian/ Asian cuisine to stay true to my word. The other night, we actually went to this really famous street market where they have all kinds of exotic foods. Although it was expensive, I had some very delicious dishes such as snake, locusts, and last but not least, SCORPIONS!!! Finally, revenge on the animal that ruined my junior prom (as most of you know but if you don’t, you can ask me later). It was actually very tasty! Most people got two sticks of scorpions because they were so good. Then today happened and my team decided they wanted to try this famous Tex-Mex restaurant in Beijing. I was less than thrilled to eat American food in China but I didn’t want to upset the team by saying I did not want American food so I humbly obliged. It was basically what I expected from an American restaurant in Beijing, less than impressive food and very high prices. Since most people left their dishes half-full, I scarfed down the rest of their plates and left fully stuffed. Hopefully it will be our last trip to an American restaurant in Beijing.

On a happier note, I have gotten some of the best massages of my life here in Beijing. I’ve gotten foot massages, back massages, and even head massages. Actually, the head massage was so good, I fell asleep twenty minutes into it. Kyle had to physically shake me to wake me up from my deep slumber. Tonight, I had a sixty-minute foot massage. First, they put your foot in a green tea bath to warm the feet up. Instead of just sitting there while your feet soak, they massage your back and neck while you are soaking your feet. Then, they dry your feet off and give you the best 45 minutes of your life and I heard your feet feel good for a couple of days. And I got it all for only 38 yuan, which is about $5.59. Now that is a deal my friends, a deal. More good news, I made friends with a vendor at the Pearl Market and they helped me find places that would give me stuff for the best quality and cheapest price. I went to one guy who was selling the previous vendor some scarfs for 200 yuan. Then I walk up and tell him Emma referred me and he brought the price down to 20 yuan. I still bargained with him and got a couple of scarfs for 12 yuan a scarf. Can’t wait to tell you guys what happens over the weekend.