Cindy and I are proud of ourselves. Now that school is out, we actually organized some things for our trip! First we met at Thanh Thao, an excellent old favorite restaurant on Hawthorne near 39th, and had shrimp noodles (actually noodles with shrimp in a big bowl with salad on the bottom- yum!). Then we moved to a venue where we could use the computer.
We ended up at Fat Straw. Why the name? you may well ask, especially if you are older than Generation X. Well, one of the new food fads is "bubble tea" which comes in the form of "milk tea" made with coconut milk, or regular tea. In each of these categories are various flavor options. But the most intriguing part is the "bubble" issue. It turns out they are not bubbles at all but bloby little tapioca pearls that have the weirdest chewy texture. Cindy got strawberry milk tea and I got pineapple milk tea. We felt very adventurous and figured this was right in there with our adventure of going to China:) Cindy decided that was her last and final time she was going to suck those blobs up through her fat straw (hence the name). I think I may need to go back for a Taro one - he gave us a sample and it reminded me of something from my childhood that I have not yet identified.
Aside from the Bubble tea and the fact that they carry Stumptown Coffee, one of the best, Fat Straw is a very relaxing space - lots of room and free wifi. We found a cozy couch and settled in for some decision-making. It was Christmas time and we were Santa. We went to a website that carries games, educational stuff and equipment for kids with disabilities and chose some games that are blind-friendly, including scrabble, a basketball with a bell and a pouch hangs on the basket and makes a constant beeping noise so they know where to shoot, Brailled playing cards, a rechargeable soccer ball etc.
Next it was time to find the right hotel for when we make our trek into Beijing from the Foster Home on our last weekend there. Toward the end of our volunteer work we will take a little mini-vacation in the city and go exploring. The question was where to get a hotel and how to know what to look for. I belong to a list called "Bootsnall Travel" and we found a list of "budget hotels" on there. There were a few that were not-so-budget, which is what we were looking for. As we nudge retirement age, we figure we will leave "roughing it" for the younger crowd.
After considerable rumination and looking up areas on a map of Beijing (where the heck is Dongcheng anywayz??) we finally settled on the Beijing Royal Garden Hotel. As I confessed to Cindy, Canadians can never resist anyplace that has "Royal" as part of its name. It is built into us to expect that this is the ticket to something regal and deserving of homage. We were both charmed by the bad English and the promise of "always obey the personalization and warmth service idea". How can you not love these promises:
"The whole feature of Beijing Royal Garden Hotel is the Chinese tranditional guarden type. Colourful painting attic, flickering lantern, wooden carved bed, antique style closet, Jingdezhen colourful porcelain basin, All of these enable you to enjoy the modernized advanced management service, at the same time you can feel the original Ming and Qing Dynasties character and style." But then, they had me at the word "Royal"
We clicked the button, and felt very proud to have had so much fun spending our money. One U.S. dollar is now worth 7.6 Renminbi (People's Currency) so that is a change from last year when the rate was 1=12. Still, you get a lot of bang for your buck in China, even in Beijing where things are more expensive and westernized than anywhere else in the country.
Stay tuned:)
