Kaya Dorey: Lightning Strikes Again…

Waking up at 10:10am this morning was a nice change from our previous 6:00am wake-ups on most of the previous mornings on this trip.  I rang room 206, Frankie’s room, to make sure he was up to work on our project for Jorge.  He wasn’t…but now he was.  We hurried to get ready since we wanted to grab a bite to eat before heading out for the day.  Later, we realized this was a mistake since we were heading straight to lunch after our meeting.  Oh well, you can never have too many dumplings!  We had our meeting with Jorge then went across the street to get our daily dose of dumplings.  Not as good as the sketchy dumpling stand from the day before but still noteworthy nonetheless. Although my stomach was feeling the effects of the hottest noodle bowl in history and a beer too many from the night before, I still managed to eat half of the dumplings respectfully. 

The next stop was lunch.  Yes, 20 minutes after eating dumplings.  I somehow managed to ignore the increasing pain in my stomach and eat what was, for me, the best meal in China yet.  Highlights from the meal were definitely the deep fried sweet and sour fish as  well as  the chicken which Jorge ate probably half of.  After lunch, we continued on to the Chen Family Temple where a little Chinese boy, I mean girl, followed us around wanting us to take pictures and give her candy the whole time.  We clung to our bags and valuables understandably.  The torrential downpour, thunder and lightning show ensued.   Soon, the courtyard was filled 2-3 feet deep with water within about 15 minutes. As we stood watching in amazement, the little girl continued to beg us to take pictures and make conversation with her. Only a couple people brought umbrellas, so a few more of us had to buy some to reach the bus semi dry.  I just accepted it and went sans umbrella.  I needed a shower anyways.

Collaboratively we decided to continue on with the tour even though it was all outdoors and the storm had not yet come to a stop which eventually it did.  Our next stop was to Sun-Yat Sen Memorial Hall where I bought two necklaces made out of ivory nuts (not real ivory don’t worry).  Apparently they are “lucky mascots for people who always uses  computer and cellphone” according to the information card that came with the necklaces.  Side note: spelling and grammatical errors are a common occurrence in China.

Next stop was Huacheng Plaze which is a plaza surrounded by some of the most spectacular and unique architecture I have ever seen with my own eyes.  Each building was extremely ornate and almost unimaginable.  The lighting and thunder had still not ceased which worked in Gill’s favor when she was captured in a photo with lighting striking the tallest tower in the background.   Cranes rested on most of the surrounding buildings roofs demonstrating the vast amounts of construction that continue to take place.

Finally, we reach dinner time would have been one of the most exciting times of the day for me had it not been for my lingering stomach issues.  Once again, I attempted to block out the pain and eat dinner since it had been a while since we ate last and I knew I should eat something.  Highlights were definitely the squid and the bok choy.  Half of the group decided to hit the karaoke but I knew I should be in close proximity to the washroom in case of emergency so I forfeited.  It is now 12:11am and I have to get up at 5:45am in order to make our complimentary breakfast so I bid you farewell.  Hoping I feel better than the “karaoker’s” tomorrow morning.