Beijing, Beijing, Wo Ai Beijing (kind of)

I was rushing around so much last week that I didn’t get a chance to post anything… and then the weekend, (Halloween & Kanye), was such a shitshow that I never even made it out of Jing… even though I’m supposed to be in Shanghai right now and even had a 400 kuai train ticket.

Backing up, I spent all week frantically rushing around packing, shipping things, cleaning etc – all in all extremely boring and not really worth mentioning. Two things though:

1) I made In-N-Out... it was actually very easy, but it didn't taste quite right because I used extra sharp cheddar cheese and so the cheese had too much taste. The sauce tasted pretty good though - I just mixed Thousand Island with sour cream to make it a little less strong.

Animal style fries... Beijing style

2) On Monday I went to the US embassy to VOTE because my absentee ballot had gotten lost somewhere in the Chinese postal system – somehow they are still managing to thwart democracy even if I am not a citizen of the country. The address from the website was utter crap and completely wrong, so I ended up having to call the number to try and find out where the feck it was because at this point I had been wandering around a back alley with donkeys and rubble for a good 45 minutes, wondering why the US would put their embassy in such a shithole. I called the number and got a recorded options: number 1 – to report the death, arrest or kidnapping of a American citizen, and option 2: more information. Option 2 was just more recording and completely worthless, so I decided I would just push 1 and profusely apologize for abusing their system when the person came on the line. Pushed 1, and I got: AN ANSWERING MACHINE!!... good to know that if I’m reporting someone being kidnapped or dread it goes to voicemail.

PS: VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

Below are just some pics of the olympic venues and the forbidden city.. which I finally went to go see - I'm such a bad tourist.

Birds nest...

Water Cube
More water cube...

More birds nest

Pretty weather!!!
Ugly smog...
Forbidden City from the hill at the end..
More Forbidden City..
More..it is very large..

OK next post will be HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEN

Justification for going home for xmas

I said that I was not going home for xmas... but my desire for in-n-out overcame my desire to lounge on a beach in thailand. I'm kidding, I'm not completely heartless, seeing my family is really my number one reason for coming home. Here are some others in no particular order:

1. In-n-out
2. Blackbird Toast / Soup
3. Clean ocean air
4. The water
5. Mattress that is not a box spring (it actually bruises my ribs, no joke)
6. FRIENDS
7. Jalepeno Poppers from San Carlos
8. Ferry
9. Double Tall Nonfat Latte w Irish Cream
10. Gordo & Slink
11. Seattle / Browers Fries
12. Ovens / Dishwashers / Driers
13. T&C lunch breaks with the dancers that turn into all day and night adventures
14. The Pub
15. Hot tubbing with Gardiner & Anna
16. Having a selection of non-asian men to choose from at midnight on New Years Eve.

I am very excited for all of the above.

Right now my plan is: Thailand 18-23, stopover in Seoul for 10 hours (i'm really excited to explore), Seatown 24-30, SF 31-4. If you are going to be in any of those places any of those times lets get loooosthee.. I need to stop talking like an aussie. I think their slang might be better than ours though - Especially the blanket kangaroo noise of Yeeeeooooooww, which can be used in every situation; there is also an accompanying dance.

Fun site of the day: Getmooh.com
this site is awesome, I am going to use it next time i need to get off work early or something... ooops sorry Ray, but adam has burned down our apt, I have to go.

Other useful knowledge of the day, more for people from BI since we all actually do outdoorsy things, between campaigning for Obama and shopping at Whole Foods: The Ten Essentials. I've heard many different lists over the years, but I did some digging around today and this is I think the most pertinent to the PNW. I think you many be able to substitute sunscreen for space blanket since we have no sun, unless you are going snow climbing, then its pretty important and you should also bring an ice axe.

Ten Essentials:

1. Water / Treatment device (there is always so much water around that a treatment device is probably the best call)
2. Map
3. Compass
4. First aid kit
5. Knife w multiple functions / blades (preferably one with a corkscrew for opening your end of hike wine and beer)
6. Light / extra batteries
7. Fire starter / matches
8. Extra clothes, especialy a hat and gloves / Space blanket
9. Sun protection
10. RAIN GEAR / poncho / tarp

I've already told Nat that we are hiking in the snow to the hot springs out on the olympic peninsula..... i'm pretty stoked, but I think it will be a hike on which all the ten essentials are actually essential since A. we have bad luck, B. people from Seattle are not used to the snow and anything could go wrong, and C. it is winter in WA, you never know, I don't really want to die. We are also going to bring the 11th essential: beer since it will be cold out... forget the fire.