My last Friday before the month vacation had a lot of relaxed fun, as well as lots of final notes being wrapped up.
When I went to go out the door with Dom at around 7 for heat transfer, I realized that I had forgotten my keys behind me, and as the door locks behind you in China, and if you pull the doorknob up, it doubly locks, I had an issue. I searched for them, realized they were still in the apartment, but Jessica was still sleeping, and I realized that I'd be fine as long as she was there when I got back, and if I stuck with Dom to be let back into the apartment complex.
We headed out, getting a taxi to the subway station. When we got off, it was almost 8, and with the walk, we knew that we were going to be a bit late for class. Rushing there, we made it in just enough time. We sat through both Heat Transfer and Embedded Systems, wishing the students a Happy Chinese New Year, and then we decided to go for Tex Mex.
We made our way down and around the streets, asking for directions to Casa Maya along the way. We walked into the building, and it was strangely like a college dorm. There was an elevator to take us up, but the rooms were reminsicient of apartments or dorms, but as you looked in, there were different types of businesses, from a barber shop, to a photography studio, to other restaurants (although one door did have a bed inside....). Getting there, we found that the restaurant was closed, even though the sign said that it should be open. We realized that it probably wasn't open because of the spring holiday, so we headed out to find other vittles.
On our way, we saw this tiny shop called "In Happiness" that had caught my eye on the way to Casa Maya. We stopped in, and I looked around, finding a lot of little trinkets, stationary, jewelry, house decorations, etc, a lot of it being handmade. I tried to ask how much it was, and only the one girl spoke English, so it was a little bit of back and forth, but I ended up buying two necklaces for myself (one blue and white pressed flower, and one blue owl). As I walked out, I said "Thank you", and the one girl responded in Chinese, but the other girl teased her that she was supposed to say "You're welcome!"
Totoro knick knack outside the shop
We ended up walking to a Korean buffet that Pablo had gone to last semester. He had gone by himself, so he said a lot of the waitresses had to help him get situated. In the middle of the table, there's a grill, and they also have a wide selection of uncooked meat. You're supposed to take a piece of paper, put it across the grill, spread oil on it and the meat, and let it cook for a while. They did have some pre made dishes though, like fried rice, and delicious ham and asparagus, as well as fruit tea, so we could eat while we waited.
A couple surprises though with the food: there were fountain drinks, which means that their water must have been clean enough to drink, and some of the sushi was dessert sushi, and had bananas in it...one of the two foods that I'm allergic to. I was weirded out by the whipped cream on top, and Pablo told me it had bananas in it. The second piece, I didn't realize until I tried it, but I quickly spit it out, and I was fine.
Around 1:50, they started clearing away a lot of the food, so we had to scramble to get our desserts, which was a ton of delicious cake and fruit, including a blood orange and a piece of dragonfruit.
Heading back, Dom and I took the subway. Then we decided to wander around the shopping mall near the subway station called Paradise Walk. Dom decided to wander into Starbucks (not a huge shock), and we talked to the barista for a bit. It turns out her name was Phoenix (which is my favorite animal) and one of the coffees for Chinese New Year had the animal on its packaging. She also had to work over the holiday, but only lived a few subway stops away. I got to try a little bit of the leftover coffee (asking for cream for it), and we gladly used the Western style restroom, which are very rare.
We headed into the shopping mall to look around, finding a lot of trendy clothes, which were still somewhat expensive for my taste. I also looked in a couple shoe stores, but most of them were either too small or not wide enough. The one pair I liked that fit were too tight, and although the saleswoman was persistent, I decided not to get them. There was also a shop with Chinese jackets that were more authentic looking, with dark blue fabric, and red Chinese designs. However, it was about $120 US dollars after conversions, and I decided to wait for a while until after we traveled.
However, I did end up getting a gold sparkly hat, and I have no regrets about it!
Spirited away knick knack by the bakery
Heading home, I talked to Jessica about her day, discovering that she, Nick, and Will had gone to a dumpling place near campus A after her classes.
The day over, I was excited for the break for Chinese New Year to begin.
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