An Episode

Today’s the hottest I’ve ever felt in Beijing. Weather report claimed the highest temperature reached 26C, but noon was warmer than it is in Singapore!

After two and a half months in track shoes, I was happy to let my pair of sandals see daylight. My feet didn’t quite agree. Arggggh…now I have two HUGE liquid-filled blisters…boohooooo…!

A couple of weeks ago, a pretty nurse on an advertisement caught my attention. Taking a closer look, it turned out to be an abortion ad by a hospital. To say the least, I was shocked and angered by how the ad described the entire process as painless and simple.















On the bus towards 五道口to fix my hair, I saw a similar ad, but this time, it dawned upon me that this has really got to do with China’s one-child policy. In such a populous country, have human resources and LIVES been taken for granted?

Now that BICF no longer provide shuttle services from PKU to church, we have to take a half-hour walk to and fro. Along the way, there would be middle-aged women standing around asking, “要盘吗？”. This referred to the illegal sale of pirated DVDs etc. I couldn’t understand why there were also women selling 发票 (receipts), until Jiasong explained that people in business could pay less tax by purchasing these receipts. Oh.

Through Ee Jin’s recommendation, I went to 五道口’s 名哥一族 to get my hair dyed at 96rmb. As Jin said over sms, Le Tian was indeed a “sweet-talker”, but I didn’t suspect any “gay-ness” as she did. I am lousy at conversations with hairstylists, and sweet-talking ones are even more intimidating. For most parts of the one-sided conversation, all I could do was smile. =] Awkward. Embarrassing. I-don’t-like.
































Thankfully, an assistant was roped in to help, and he was quieter and we clicked a little better. I didn't get his name, but he too was from Harbin. Standing slightly above 1.55m, he lamented about not being able to enlist into China's military school cos of his height. What a difference...

After four hours and enduring same old comments on my thick hair, white hair, dry hair, why-don’t-you-rebond hair, I walked out with a reddish-brown head (which didn't look much different from before I stepped in).

Next time, I must be sure what I want before I visit the salon. Hmm, at least I learnt that brown is called 棕色 .

gRacE =)