4:06 PM, Nov 26, Bejijing

It is so croded in Starbucks that it took me a while to find a place to sit. Must be very easy to make money from Chinese. People shows up whatever kind of store you open.

Went shopping again with Zhaowei and Wang Anxian. They are so extremely kind I felt like a spoiled girl. It is very popular for the department stores to give out coupons for the purchase. We went to Jun Tai, who offers $180 coupon for $180 purchase. To my surprise, there are even coupon dealers trailing everyone. As I was trying that pair of beautiful boots, a woman came by and asked us if we want to have 50% off or get coupons. Instinct tells me not to accept the deal. We got the reciept, then kept on shopping to see if we could make the best of our coupon. There are stores accept only 50% of the coupon but luckily we found MK Klein who takes 100%. Wang had the take the English exam for a friend of hers (cheating), and met us in Jun Tai. She said sometimes it wasn't bad to trade with the dealers, and took out her cellphone to calculate for me. By the end I was very satisfied with the deal, except that I have to loose some weight on my ass in order to fit comfortably into my new pants. They carried my stuff when I was digging and wang held my bags when we were done. Zhao's pregnant and we didn't want her to do anything involving weights. I love the girls.

We then went to the Lotus Lane in Houhai, a place around a small lake close to Jingshan. Whoever started the bar/restaurants biz there is a genious. I fell in love with the atomasphere right away. The buildings along the lake are all of ancient style, even the Starbucks at the entrance. I took a pic of it to show to my colleagues back in Canada. We went to a restaurant called 茶马古道，with Yunan cuisine. The dishes are tasty and nicely presented. One of those we ordered is frog meat. The frog was cut into small cubes, mixed with onions and bellpeppers, sit on top of a thick layer of green onions, which was put on a metal net. The net was put on a deap plate containing some sort of oil. The waitress lighted the oil and the fire heated the green onion, bringing the fragrance into the already cooked meat. The 米酒 recommended by Anxian was delicious as well. It was a milky liquid instead of the opaque one I knew. Sweet with a smooth taste of alcohle.

We talked about our lives, the classmates, Zhaoyangqing... They aren't that happy with her. She seemed to be quite self-centered in their eyes. I didn't make too much comments on that. I wanted to live in China but on the other hand I am afraid that my optimism will disappear. I don't want to see the lawyers bribe the judges, the officials steal the donation from the poor, that the sick is turned away because they don't have money, that I become indifference to the panhandlers.

There are so many things to buy but I don't have time.

Went out with mom and dad to 菜市口百货 to make some earrings of the stone they bought in Brazil. Really don't have much to talk about wih dad and wished he could stay at home but at the same time blame myself for being so cruel. Don't have any fond memories with him of my childhood. Always felt he didn't like me, until Wang De didn't take his advice when he graduated from the university to get a position in the Foreign Affair Ministry. And I couldn't bring out the love toward him when he talk to mom with that impatient tone. We met a nieghbour downstairs. She complained that she had to cook so much everytime her adult children came for a visit. Dad said why not ask your daughter-in-law to come and help first. Mom blurted out, in a low voice, that why should the daughter-in-law? I exchanged an understanding shrug to mom. He insisted mom to go to Wuhan, knowing she won't be happy there. I couldn't even stand the three days no to mention mom who are not as close to the grandparnets. That apartment is a information desert. It isn't fair. But divorce is out of the question.

Going to see 暗恋桃花源 with Chun, hope we could cheap tickets from the dealers. Tonight is the last show, although the review said this version is not as good and the ones at Taiwan, it is still a classic.

Have to go.