The Adventures of Lee, part 1

I haven't given up my exploration, just in case you wondered. I have become more comfortable as the week has progressed, and as I figure out where more things are. Some examples, and the results, are described below.

Yesterday was the best. There was a group going to a wholesale clothing market, but Hannah was still napping when we were supposed to leave. We had the phrase "Please take us to Wau Shao Gong Market" written in Chinese, so I said, "You guys go on, we'll meet you there." About 30 minutes later we are ready to go, so I tell the bellboy where we are going, and he communicates this to the taxi driver and off we go. About five or ten hair-raising minutes later the taxi driver stops and makes a motion as if to say "Okay, get out." I paid him and we hop out. I knew that this was supposed to be on the fourth floor, but there were just a bunch of shops all along this street. I show the phrase to a person who points around a corner and says something unintelligible. I showed it to another woman on that street, and she made a motion which I could only interpret to mean that "This is it." We just started walking, and finally found a sign and some stairs. We found the market, but no one from our group was still there. We walked around for a while and found a couple of things.

Across from this market was a McDonalds. Yippee! Jaycie certainly deserved a Happy Meal. She has had a really hard time finding food that she likes. We probably should have brought another jar of peanut butter and more cereal bars. So McDonalds was a welcome sight. After lunch we shopped a little more and then walked back to the hotel. They had a huge pedestrian street full of all kinds of shops. We weren't looking for anything in particular, so we just walked.

When we got back to the hotel, I decided to go out again. I was in search of a cup of coffee, and there was a coffee shop down the street, so off I went. You would think that in a country that has invented coffee gum I wouldn't have trouble keeping the caffeine flowing. I walk into the coffee shop, and fortunately they have a menu with English. I didn't see any designation just for a cup of coffee, and it was a little pricey, so I settled on a Caramel Macchiato. It took a while to make, so in the meantime I asked the waitress to teach me to say Caramel Macchiato in Chinese. Let's just say that I'm not going to be ordering anything without pointing anytime soon.

I think that Caramel Macchiato is Chinese for "Drink of Two Surprises." The first surprise was the size. It was in a little cup a tad bigger than the Dixie cups in your bathroom. I think it was about 5 ounces. And I paid $3.00 for this? Oh well. So I take a sip. That was surprise number two. It was cold! Who makes a cold Caramel Macchiato? Now I know the answer. Blech! From now on I'll make the coffee bags in my hotel room.