It’s so hot, the kids energy is zapped over the struggle of the A/C battle. The boys have been getting bloody noses due to the heat. They seriously have had less candy here and only 1 chocolate ice cream a day. Only my room stays cool all night with my single room a/c unit. Every night my mother-in-law wakes up and turns the A/C unit in the living room off and then the fan off and then the covers on the kids. Apparently besides it not being healthy for the kids to be cold. The A/C must leak something that after being on for a while doesn’t make her feel good so she turns it off roasting my kids. Instead of closing their bedroom door. Even if she did turn the A/C off for a while. Leave the fan on and the blankets off! So I am getting up during the night, turning it all on, she turns off. Repeat, every night. Then when it’s starting to get cooler (79) outside, I just open the window since I know she’ll turn the fan off. Nope she shuts the window! You can’t win.
My father-in-law took each of the older boys out by themself to go food shopping at the store, he wanted to buy them a gift they pick out. But when it came time for Aidan to go, he insisted the older brothers come to help. Don’t get it.
Today we are going to Wangfujing Street. I don’t remember coming here. I looked it up, 2 bookstores on this street. Once we get to the part of the street for people only we only get half a block for our whole visit. First stop bookstore. They have a food court in the basement and we see Subway so we eat there, free drink refills! Not as much meat on my spicy Italian sub, but it’s actual salami not chinese salami so I’m good with that. They only had a table of 8 chairs as their sitting area. Another foreigner sat for their lunch. A German who’s lived here 11 years, has a Chinese wife and a dog. I told him I was amazed how well the dogs behave not being on leashes. He said many run away because they are not on leashes.
After eating we venture into the book store. It was either 6 or 7 floors, I realize I have been here before, but I remember always going to a different bookstore. Kids books were on the 2nd floor. We spent hours there. I couldn’t find as many books with Chinese and English in them as I was hoping. But I found a few and a few Chinese painting books and picture quilting books. If you buy in Chinese it’s so much cheaper. I saw a few quilting books in Chinese that I’ve seen back home for $20-25, they have for about $6. The imported books are expensive, the ones not wrapped in plastic are well worn, the covers all bent and pages all wrecked.
There is a whole floor for calligraphy. The books, brushes, paper, ink, everything you would need. If you are looking to study English you can find cheaper books that have both Chinese and English in them or a set of books one in English one in Chinese that are cheap. They just happen to be older books not for kids.
Finally we left the bookstore which started to fill up with people sitting everywhere reading. And then I remember 5 years ago going to a bookstore on a rainy day and it being packed, people everywhere reading to get out of the elements. Then we stepped out side into the heat.
A few paces we could see down a side street with a big fancy gate, where all the people were. I thought it was shopping like Qianmen. But it was mostly food. I did see meat on a stick 2 for 10 yuan. They had live scorpions on sticks wriggling about wanting to strike, the vendor waiting to fry it fresh for you. Besides the scorpions on a stick, they had snakes, sea horses, and starfish on a stick! When you thought you were standing next to an outhouse, you found the stinky tofu aka fermented tofu.
As most of the stores when you want to buy something, you need to take the slip to the cashier, once stamped paid you take it back and trade it for your item. Well if you buy over a certain dollar amount they swipe it from the cashier so you have to follow them to the jewelry counter at the back of the store where they give you a free gift(scarf or bracelet) and a scratch off coupon. Well I got the big discount 900 yuan off whatever I wanted in the cases. They showed me now others normally only got 300 off. I did see a peach and white agate looking bracelet. They told me it was jade and have the laminated certificate proving authenticity for each items in the cases. Well after my 900 discount it would still be 400 yuan. Naw, can’t spend that much. I say 200. No. No. No. Okay. They showed me the receipt book of others paying only getting their 300 discount. Too bad. I’m sure I still overpaid for them, but I liked it. At another store I was also the lunch 900 off winner again. I told the boys I’m sure it’s rigged, that I got a big discount. I didn’t buy anything here, but I saw pretty necklaces, jade with a gold overlay like we got in Korea enroute to Japan.
We walked around a few back streets from here and found the famous rickshaw statue and took pictures there. Saw another older German visiting family and talked with them a few minutes. After we got home I got a call from a cousin to make plans for this weekend. I said we are free anytime Sunday. Okay he will let me know. I let my father-in-law know we have plans on Sunday. I am not free all day Sunday, of course they made plans for us and didn’t tell us. The twin girl cousins will meet us in the morning for lunch and bring their children. Each has 1 daughter. It would be good to meet them because......(they are family and you’ve never met them and they are twins. Is what I’m thinking. No.). .....because they both have a good job and maybe in the future they will need to ask you for something or you will ask them for something. Huh.
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