Uffe and I did some old school blogging while drinking strong stuff from a cheap glass, this time Ulf hade managed to find something that I would rank among the top three worst smelling alcohols. It was absolutely hideous, not that bad taste though, standard cheap oily stuff but the smell gave me goosebumps in the bad way.

Alex, Rhys and Helen were off to a christmas dinner so we were off to our own finding a place to eat for the night. Would it be a shabby place or something more fancy? After some strolling we ended up jumping in cab and calling one of Alex sisters who pronounced the address to Bellagio which we knew nothing about.

It turned out to be an interesting place where all the waiters where women with their hair cut short (very rare here) and humongous deserts. The idea of bringing in starters to start with and then main course to follow had not reached this place though and as we were finishing up they served the rice.

Rhys joined us later for beers and we decided to try some local spirit as well. We should have sensed something was wrong when the waitress couldn’t hide her smile and double-checking that we wanted that. Also the usual interest from neighboring tables (chinese do not find it at all strange or embarrassing to literally glare at you, be that you eating, shopping or just existing) increased at that point. It tasted and smelled rather bad, what’s worse is that it wasn’t strong. We actually gave it up after a while and decided to find a place called Angel which was supposed to be a nice club.

A lovely 10 € entry fee and me not being allowed to bring my camera got to indicate how good the club was. Or not, the music was awful, the drinks tasted water when we finally got them (despite some guy “taking care” of our orders). We were nice and had some shots, some beer and ordered some shots again. This time they mixed the shots with ice and water and gave us in cocktail glasses. The drinks wasn’t cheap either. Well well, at least we gave the club a chance.

We’ve seen a lot of people spitting in a way that would gross out most people and after breathing the fresh air of Beijing I’m starting to realize why. Apparently they are going to temporarily shut down all factories in Beijing for the upcoming olympics in order to fix the air (among other things) since the athletics never could compete in this.

Luckily one can hide from the smog by going to markets; we started early by going back to Yashow for some tailoring. It ended up me leaving my coat for repair, ordering two three piece-suits, two extra vests and three shirts. Since I left my coat I’d to buy a winter-jacket. Alex’s knowledge of prices again proved invaluable when it was time to haggle. I bought a nice warm olive green Peak Performance parka for 35 € and the last 5 € was since the seller could pronounce the price in swedish. Starting price was 85 € after we revealed that we where guided by a local, usually the price was 120 € (but of course).

After that we went to some student-market, there was less yelling and most buyers were locals (which was reflected by the lack of english skills for the sellers). However most of the clothing was for ladies so the guys got tired rather quick of the shopping. I managed to get a nice white shoulder bag though. The last market for the day was “black market” where electronics, stolen goods or power tools were to be found. Nothing that caught my eye here though. Now back at the hostel writing this and trying to organize some photos.

After being rather drowsy at “Pink Loft” which was a nice thai-restaurant someone suggested we would go to Hooters to scientifically investigate some biologic claims put forth by Rhys, Alex’s boyfriend. I was against the whole idea but Helen and Laura convinced me it would be fun. The following two videos speak for themselves.