Where did all the time go?

So, I had two free days until registration. I spent it watching chinese movies on CCTV5, some of which were very fun, and silly, some of which I consider to be works of art. (Lethal Hostage, a Chang Er film.) I started and finished both Jim Butcher's Cold Days, a pulp-fiction collection of snark and fantasy. The absolute trash kind of read that countered my homesickness. I skipped a lot of passages, without missing anything. It was a pretty good story, too, but there was too much talking, in order to give characters facetime. I also read The Order of The Scales, by Stephen Deas. That was a work of art, as fantasy goes. It is a book in the same vein as George R.R. Martin's Fire and Ice series, but without the massive amount of characters who just get in the way with their own, albeit interesting, but unimportant stories. Ach, all my prejudices about fantasy are coming out of the woodwork here. Anyway, in a beautiful tragedy, that actually made me sad, the book ended with a finality I've not seen recently. Far too often, people either don't know when to end a story, or don't want to, so leave open ends, or drag it out. Stephen Deas bites the bullet and cuts the arm off right when it needs to go.

But more about China.

I worked up the courage to meander into a cafe known as 'Blogger's Cafe,' in English, without my Ipad. The irony is rusting up my insides, I promise. I could easily have been in a cafe here in the states. I had beef noodles, which were good, and two cups of coffee, which were ok, but each cost more than the noodles, go figure.

I also visited SingKing BBQ. It boasted an impressive menu of various kebabs and meats. I tried the mutton, which was mouthwatering delicious, and the beefballs, which were not. The place seemed more designed for nightlife, with an impressive selection behind the bar.

Then there was Lakers, a pub down the lane, offering american style food, burgers, pizza, hotdogs. Apparently, that's american cuisine, our contribution to the global food scene. Anyway, they had heineken, so I got a heineken, and a burger. The burger was meh. The heineken was a heineken. But what was most interesting was the people at the bar. There was one pair, of your typical male, non-frat guy, with their large ballcaps and loose, overlarge jackets. They were trying to order, making a minor mess of it, nowhere near my imaginative fiasco. They did lean over to one table nearby with cute girls at it and ask them for help. They obliged, but didn't bite the hook when the guys asked them, is it shei shei? (Its she-eh, she-eh, for the record) to say thankyou. At this time, next to me, some new girls came in with cups of dice they were betting on, a game i've known so long I've forgotten it. They ordered a 3 foot tall pitcher thing of beer. I'll take a photo next time I see it to share. I was quite excited by it.

Next there is Sculpting in Time cafe. The first place with wifi I discovered. It's quite nice, like Coffea in Lexington, but with a more open feeling, and higher ceilings. People were smoking inside, something I haven't seen for years in Lexington. Businessmen greeted each other next to students relaxing for the day. Their password for the wifi was ilovebeijing.

Directly across from there, through campus, is 猫眼, cat's eye. A small, cosy cafe seemingly designed for couples. Even though I wasn't a couple, I discovered their pizza is pretty damn good, and it was the first place that had real coffee, not just lattes and diluted tea. Where is the drive for purity in caffeine! Anyway, that's about that for the days leading up to today. Sould be caught up now.