Leftover Chinese

Sam and I after climbing up the million stairs of the Temple to Heaven.  My nice afternoon in Beijing turned into ugly, sweaty exercise.

I turned a broken luggage wheel into a reason to shop.  Sam insisted he would do all the negotiation for me.  He was disgusted with my lack of bartering in Hong Kong.  It turns out Sam is quite the negotiator.  He got the luggage down to $20.  He got my fake Ralph Lauren sweater down to $10.  My fake Ugg boots (FUggs - fake Uggs) down to $15.
When I wanted a high end lighter he and the shop keeper yelled for a few minutes then Sam abruptly walked away, waving me to follow along.  I never got the lighter.  I'm sure he walked away for the US equivalent of $2.  He never told me what the amount was.  Sam is a negotiator of conviction.

Travel monkey loved the famous noodle place that Sue Su took us to.  It is apparently owned by someone famous, although they didn't tell me who.  To get to the restaurant we walked down a scary alley, past garbage.  We walked in the back door past a bedroom, into a tight kitchen filled with open food, squeezing past hot stoves and rough looking cooks.  I don't know why we entered that way but it certainly added to the ambiance.

I don't know which was more of a flirt, my hat or travel monkey.

I almost lost travel monkey when Sam gave him to Sue Su.  I did lose the hat.

Sue Su owns it now.

We got caught in a mini typhoon.

Sam was fascinated by this protest.  To me it was a little political rally that looked like any mid size town political gathering.  But in China, these democratic type parades don't happen.  We were told by shop keepers that we may not want to stay on the road in case anything erupts.  It didn't, but that bit of advice was a reminder that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.