Observations: The Northern Capital

I was in Wangfujing a few hours ago. After a very exhausting climb up one measly portion of the Great Wall, my wobbly knees yelled "Keep the shopping short!" On the topic of the Great Wall, one cannot help but be impressed by the will of ancient China. I went to the stretch nearest to Beijing. What a sight to behold in the evening! Fit as a fiddle, I pranced up the v-e-r-y s-t-e-e-p steps. Of course the prancing lasted a grand total of 5 steps. Then I realized that my folds of excess fat ain't exactly doing much to help me. Heave ho, heave ho, I plodded upwards. Step up. Breathe breathe. Step up. Breathe breathe. Look left. Aiyo, old bent lady with a walking stick overtook me. Damn. Aiyoyo, older bent-er lady with a child in tow overtook me too. But my determination and drive set me afire. And I hiked up all the way to the first tower. They call it the Tower of Heroes, if I'm not mistaken. I think it's a bagi muka name. As many more in my group reached the fourth, fifth and sixth towers. The actual name is probably the Tower of Weak-Fat-Good-For-Nothing-Chinese-Dungus-Who-Are-An-
Embarrassment-To-Themselves-And-The Imperial-Dynasty. Or something like that.

Weird names indeed these Chinese had. In the Forbidden City, you have the Hall of Earthly Enlightenment and the Pavillion of Heavenly Spirituality. Man, what a mouthful! Yeah, I'm sure it all sounds lovely in Chinese, but the English translation sucks. Maybe I'll call my house the Home of Second-Hand Glory. When you enter my Gates of Stubborn Rustiness, be sure you take a look at my Garden of Weeds Eternal. Ease yourself at my Showers of a Thousand Leaks. Hmm...

Back to Wangfujing, I hurriedly went to select a few choice tea leaves for my parents, trying to sound as local as possible in a language that I hardly use. Rule of thumb, choose any tea that has more than 4 syllables to the name. Since they took all that trouble to come up with a complicated name, that tea must be worth its weight in renminbi.

Without wasting anymore time (as I only had an hour in Wangfujing before tucking in to the world-famous -yea, yea- Beijing Duck), I went down the junction where there was a long row of food stalls. Mind you these stalls are clean, and in a much nicer condition than our pasar malam. The peeps even have their own uniform. According to Sally, along this row I'd be able to sample the various street fare.

Sure enough, there were lotsa foodstuff - starfish, seahorse, worms, crayfish are among the more exotic ones. Iced fruits, tong shui, and other colourful desserts. Carefully making my choices as I did not want to overeat and jeapordize my rendezvous with the Beijing Duck, I bought some kau zhi (meat dumpling), which was 8 for RMB 5 (RM 2.50). Yummy. I ate 3 and threw the rest away. Then I bought some stir-fried meat wrapped in a pita-bread lookalike for RMB 10 (RM 5.00). I finished three quarters and disposed of it in the conveniently placed bins beside the road. Last but not least, I had to try for myself the siu loong pau which came in a mini bamboo dim sum container, with a straw stuck in the pau! Had a few sips of the tasty soup, but I knew I wouldn't finish it.

I walked towards the nearest bin, and across the divider, a scruffy-looking man in clothes that had not been changed in a good two weeks reached into the bin, wildly rummaging through the contents. As I looked, he chanced upon half-finished noodles (probably thrown by unappreciative brats who could afford such acts, like myself), and quickly devoured it there and then.

I passed my almost untouched siu loong pau to him. Not for charity, or to feel better. It's plain common sense: why let it go to waste? He mumbled his thanks - for surely the soup would warm him up immensely this cold autumn night. So little he has.

My table couldn't finish the two Beijing Ducks we ordered, amidst the other dishes that were significantly too much. Conversation around the table was on different destinations of the world, different prices for jewelery, different discounts for branded goods. So much we have.

Reminder. Be thankful.