Expats

This is the nearby expatriate bar and grill that we went to last night. It was our first taxi ride, and we got there by me writing down a bunch of Chinese characters and showing them to the driver. The cab ride was only 12 yuan, which is like $2. The minimum fare here is 10 yuan. The price per kilometer starts at 5 yuan, but goes down by 1/100 of a yuan for every second you are stopped. So by the time we got done it was 3.6 km at 3.3 yuan/km.

We ate outside, I had the seafood pasta bowl, which included octopus tentacles, and then we went in afterwards where Kris met some Germans, so he went and talked to them, as he is fluent in German, and I played pool and was the reigning pool champ for 3 games running. This British guy was there and was both the guy I beat to start playing and the guy who beat me. After I lost, I headed down 2 blocks to the Cold Stone, which is just as tasty, and just as expensive, as it is in the US. But it was a delicious way to end the night.


Nothing more until Monday now (Sunday night for all of you), as China blocks networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and, well, Blogger. So I write the posts on my computer in Word and then upload them quick when I get to work. The plan is to go to the old part of Suzhou and see the World renowned Humble Administrator Gardens and going wandering down the shopping street, Guanqian Street, filled with street vendors and stores alike.