Baby Steps

A big event for me today. I went shopping in Beijing for clothes. This is something I have tried, and so far had successfully managed to avoid this trip. Why? Isn’t the shopping really cheap in China? Oh yesss it’s cheap, but it’s cheap crap. The fashion here leaves much to be desired, at least imho. I am not into sparkles and chains on my jeans. Nor am I really into having Billa-abong and Qiksilva tops. Especially when they have very poor quality prints on them (they look good, but after a few washes they come apart and totally screw up your washing load.)
But adventure into a shopping centre I did, in fact one that I have not been to previously. It was opposite the Beijing Zoo, and it was rather nice. Mainly because the sales people in there weren’t trying to shout and grab your attention. In fact they mainly ignored you unless you showed interest in their products. Fie! to you Silk Market. But anyway, nothing caught my fancy, so I left empty handed, although the girls picked up a few nice things.
We are travelling mainly by bus nowadays, which is an adventure each and everytime. You see a bus pull up and you think: “Ahhh damn! It’s full. I’ll wait for the next one.” And then you watch another 10 people get on the bus. You learn very quickly in Beijing that you CAN fit on that bus, no matter how impossible it may seem (except when the ticket lady tells you to stay off=p). You experience a range of sensations while on the bus, squeezed up against at least four other people. I seriously CAN wait till it’s winter and people are coughing and spitting constantly. Taxi please!!