Dueling Bicycles

IKEA and SOHO shopping:
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so we decided to take a trip out to IKEA again... and then to go out hunting again. Hunting those odd things that only we can think to look for... We are currently looking for a nice bottle of Sauternes wine. Knowing full well how difficult it is to find in Houston, we still look.

We headed out about 8pm. Late enough to miss rush hour in the subway. We headed out to a stop that Fan had suggested when we were out on Thursday. This stop dropped us in the SOHO shopping area. It had a Dairy Queen as well, and a lot of other things that were obviously catering to foreigners. I believe we saw about 4 coffee shops right next to one another... and a Starbucks on a second floor in a building just across the walkway from the other four.

We stopped at a Tai and Vietnamese place to have dinner. The food here was very good... but one of the dishes was far to spicy for either one of us. They seem to think Chili peppers are a vegetable not a spice. Ouch! The pork we did eat from this dish was delicious... just way too hot.

We finished our meal and left the waiter a tip... as we rounded the corner, he came chasing after us, telling us we forgot our money.... fortunately we were able to convey to him that it was his now... and we were on our way again.

Everything was closing down by now. We wandered back around to Dairy Queen, all ready for a blizzard, but they told us that their only choices were from the "Orange Julius" section of the menu... They were tasty... a peach and a Strawberry Orange Julius. Of course, it baffles me any time a restaurant closes their desert section before their dinner section...

So we took off and headed back to the subway... it was 10:15 by this point, and just about time for the subways to be on their last runs. We entered the subway station that was practically empty...as we walked down the halls, we only saw a few stragglers... until we reached the hallway for line 1.. the one we were taking... A horde of people swarmed in front of us...

The writhing seething mass of 100Watt power generators turned a breezy cool hall way instantly into a sweat box. We followed the crowd like lemmings... herded to our future as sardines crammed into a mobile tin box.....

Once inside the subway cars, the heat didn't subside... and neither did the crowd. We squeezed our way out at our stop, and decided that the subway was not the place for us....

Bicycles:
Today was another day of area exploration. The weather was still nice and cool... though it appeared to be wanting to spill it's guts again... it was worth the chance at dueling bikes....

Cullen got on Speedy Gonzales, and I hopped aboard Pokey (the GIANT brand bicycle). And we were off.

We went back around the IHEP community and found a little back street... it was very green and there were loads of people walking and riding today. As we progressed down the road, we found a small up-hill road that lead back into a different type of scenery. The houses in this area were single story, multi-family homes... but the roofs of these homes were covered in anything that would stop a leak. It was as if the roofs were initially made of wood shingles, but instead of replacing or repairing the roofs, they just started stacking things over the holes... there were loose bricks, rocks, sticks... anything that wouldn't blow away in a nice wind.. and they were just stacked haphazardly up there. There was no organization to the stacking... maybe those things had just fallen off of something and landed there.. there's not telling.. There were also brick walls around parts of the homes... like parts were sectioned off. It was as if we were seeing the part of town where the real people live, not apartment complexes near beautiful new buildings. There was only this one lane road, loads of people: half dressed men, babies with their mothers, and children playing.

I think this was one of the most beautiful places in Beijing that I have seen yet. It felt so real, and so alive...

While cycling, Cullen decided to stand up on his bicycle... we were already getting loads of stares from the passing Chinese, but when he did that... well almost every one had to look. There were smiles, laughing... children that said hello... Loads of fun!!!

We followed this road around to the point where it met with the main streets. More of the same beautiful green, and bicycle lanes. The bicycle lanes are great. We rode for quite a while after that... We followed the roads back to the general proximity of our apartment... picked up some screws at the hardware store, headed to the groceries store, and then ended the trip with some good, old fashioned bicycle locking.

Today was a beautiful day.