Veggie

I seem to have found myself in this odd position where I am always one day behind on my blogs. I always write yesterdays blog today, if that makes any sense. Talk about being lazy.

Guess who finished her paper yesterday? That's right, me. 1500 characters. And I still have more to write, and I still have to edit it. Sometimes, i surprise even myself. I never thought that I would be able to finish it. I didn't think that I would have enough to write, or that I would have the willpower to sit down and actually write it. I get bored easily, so sue me. There is still time though. This weekend, the plan is to edit it. Lovely lovely.

I spent most of my yesterday writing my paper, and watching movies. Maybe it wasn't the most effective plan, but it works. I got it done. My paper actually was not as hard to write as I thought it was. As soon as I finished the background and history part of it, and got onto the story part, it was smooth sailing. My biggest problem was using the grammar and words that we have learned in class. Obviously, we are supposed to use our newly learned grammar, but it's hard to apply grammar to stories when said grammar most commonly used for economics and world problems. I'm not a magician!

The weather was absolutely wretched today. It rained on and off, and the smog plus the rain made the air so bad that buildings even 20 feet away seemed distant and impaired. Needless to say, I stayed inside. Sure, I could have gone to a tourist spot to see the sights, but it wouldn't have been beautiful, and it would have just been a chore that I would have to do, not something that I wanted to do.

When dinner time rolled around, I had big plans. Originally, I was going to get a massage and cupping, and then go out to dinner, but because I wanted to wear a backless dress to dinner, I decided to hold off on the cupping. Can't go walking around in a backless dress with sucker marks on my back. That's not attractive at all. And I would probably be sent to social services as the victim of domestic violence.

I never get to get dressed up, and wear pretty clothes, so it was fun to have an excuse, the first one in a long time. My friend Grace and I were going out to what is supposed to be the best vegetarian restaurant in Beijing. And it was amazing. It took us a little while to find (we were in the right building, but we just didn't know where the restaurant was.) But once we found it, it was amazing. It had a Buddhist feel to it. When we walked in, one of the serves poured rose water into our hands, so that we could wash them. These servers were amazing to look at. Even though it was a very zen and beautiful place, the servers outfits were wearing these amazing silver sparkly dresses, with white pants underneath. I can't imagine who thought that that was a good idea.

It only got ritzier as the night went on. We were seated in this 1900 esque wooden box basically. But it was special. It was elaborately carved, and fit for a queen. It was like an escape from the rest of the world, and we got to sit in it. On the wall was an old fashion picture of some high up aristocratic woman. Talk about a flash to the past. Opium Wars, anyone?

Our plates were abalone shells (I probably fake, but good fakes) on a lotus leaf as the place mat. Talk about fancy. Grace and I weren't even sure if we were allowed to use them, but we did anyway. Why not.

I normally don't like eating only vegetarian, but I swear, I don't mind anymore. The food was absolutely incredible. They gave us these huge menus(they were 3 feet long and a foot wide. I kid you not. Huge.) to pick our tea and dinner from. Tea first, dinner second. There was one tea that was $206 for a pot (well, at least you could refill it for free.) And no, I did not write that wrong. 206 dollars. It must the best tea in the whole bloody world.

Right. The food. The menu was so extensive that it took me a while to decide what I wanted. Grace and I decided that we would each order two plates. That should be enough (as it turns out, it was almost too much. They had generous helpings.) I got pumpkin soup and a spinach and yam dish. The soup was the best that I have ever had. It tasted like coconut and pumpkin soup, and it was to die for. Seriously. I would push over old ladies to get to it. LOVE. The yam and spinach was pretty good, but I think they substituted taro in the for the spinach. I still haven't decided if I liked it or not. Good enough, I suppose.

Grace ordered a tofu dish that tasted like miso soup. Heaven. For one of the very few moments in my life, I actually enjoyed eating tofu. Shocker, I know. We also got a bamboo and noodle dish (that was a little sour and a lot spicy, and surprisingly good) and a glutinous rice ball to share. Topped off with our tea, it was definitely a meal to remember. As soon as I have the pictures, I will post them on here. My description doesn't do it justice. It was the best meal that I have had in Beijing. And it was certainly the most impressive. This is one of those places that you bring friends when you want to shock the pants off of them. Or maybe a date. :O

At the end of the meal, after the waiters cleared the tables, they brought us a complimentary platter of watermelon. But they put in a jar that, when they brought it to us, was overflowing with smoke (the kind that comes off dry ice, not cigarette smoke). I don't know how they did it, because it wasn't dry ice, but still impressive. It made eating fun.

We ended up staying there for two and half hours. At the end of the meal, Grace wanted to ask the waiters some questions for her Social Studies project. After the questions, we decided to leave, and go back to the college. On our way out of the restaurant (with waiters bowing us out) the host gave us each a purple lotus flower, and thanked us for coming. It was the best restaurant going experience that I have ever had. And not nearly as expensive as you think it would be.

That was my night. I got to get dressed up in a nice dress and heels, and go out to an amazing dinner. What more could a girl want? And don't answer that.