Nov 7 2013: Three Idiots

A free Thursday! So exciting! We even got to sleep in a bit! Around 8, though, I finally showered and played on the computer as we began getting ready to head into town. Like I said, it had taken us forever to decide whether or not to go to Tianhe Caves or shop with Abby at the market. Eventually we decided on the latter.

We were right on schedule and even got off at the right stop- only to find Katie had left her phone on the bus! Luckily a guy picked up and started calling numbers, including mine. Abby was able to talk with him since he didn’t speak English, and it took a while but eventually we realized we could meet him just three stops ahead.

Thinking it would be easy enough, we decided to walk them. It took a bit longer than expected, but eventually we found it and found the young man who had them. Abby asked him further directions and he was able to help us out once again. We thanked him and we all went our separate directions!

On the way there, we stopped for these brown rice pouch things- super good, and walked on where I found cold potstickers, super odd, and Katie got another breakfast burrito thing which was unfortunately cold and also extra spicy but still super tasty! We walked on and on and on until we found a DVD store in an underpass- a super legit one, by the way. They had these American movie packages still wrapped and in boxes for only 1 yuan. So we bought two…  And then we continued forward!

All the walking and twisting around, we got a little lost so we ended up hoping onto another 69 bus to find another 12, and we finally got there, and went to the end of that line because we weren’t too sure on the stop [the one before that], but that’s not a problem. We walked down the hill, found some super cute scarves, and then the market starts in a nearby alleyway. We had found it! Woohoo!

It had a banner thing overhead so that helped us find it. Definitely like a cool market- made me think of flea markets back home, because there were so many more random things. Not that touristy, because we found tons of fountains, pots and tools for sale. But still awesome with jewelry, beads, and many animals- bunnies, all sorts of birds, and later on, cats and puppies!

So we headed out onto the crazy paths, avoiding the chickens. We should have avoid the fish too, because one medium goldflish flopped out and tried to attack me- that was pretty disturbing but the lady realized it was out and managed to put it back in.

Abby was looking for metal bookmarks and kept stopping at some super fun booths, giving us the chance to glance around a good bit before moving on.  We saw some pretty flowers, random things… Katie went crazy over the puppies and I tried really really hard to resist- I only ended up petting two instead of about ALL of them, but there was one adorable cutie at the end whom I definitely would have named Chewbacca… I’ve realized that’s basically a little goal of mine. Find a cute little brownish puppy and name him Chewy. It would complete my life.

Anyways, then we looked everywhere for this bookshop inside one of the few buildings that Abby had been to before, and we walked around for a good while to find it and I have no idea how we had missed it or how we came upon it- I just know we finally found it! Seriously, the paths have no pattern or logic to them, you just have to hope for the best!

But we found it, yay! And it was super cool! Very small, but awesome. They had all these old art books and such, huge ones and little ones and all these other cool books. Abby ended up getting a super pretty colorful one about the minority costumes, which was very neat. Then Katie and I found these books filled with postcards and so she bought one and I bought… four. They were only 5 a piece! And every book was different! I even bought a Van Gogh one! And the other ones are totally Chinese, honest…

We walked around only a little longer after that, having had a good look and having found mostly what we’d like, so we eventually headed out and started looking around on the streets away, but it wasn’t as promising as it had seemed, so we crossed the street, and eventually got on a bus.

That one took forever, we weren’t too sure if we had gone too far but we kept going anyways and yay, we finally got back onto the street that intersected with 69. So after a stop or two, we got off, and then walked about 5 stops back to that really nice underpass to look for jackets- it was only about 3 and I had enough energy to get me a jacket, and the other two were up for that.

Unfortunately, the jackets were super cool there but also super pricey, the average price being about 200! That was ridiculous. Anyways, so we ended up turning back and getting on a 69 bus to go down to our favorite corner and look for more jackets! At one of the streets higher up, we went and looked at the super cute jackets, and we tried a few on before finally getting psyched and so Abby and I each bought one of the super cute trench coats that have lace on the bottom! Hers is tan and blue and mine is an orange red. It’s awesome! 150 for each, which is a bit much for me [okay yeah a good bit], but everywhere jackets seem to be pretty pricey and that’s probably one of the best deals I’ll be able to find for it, so I took it!

We kept looking because now I just need another thick one, better than my tribal hoodie that I’m wearing when it’s coldest. It’s just not very nice to wear to school or social events here, and I need to work on that!

 Unfortunately as we went through the streets, nothing really stuck out by any means. So we ended up going back up the street to a little boba vendor. No pictures and everything in Chinese, it was great to have Abby there and help us order chocolate drinks. Which were one of the best ones we had in China yet, it was super smooth and tasty and the boba was smaller and not too bad by any means! Anyways, that was awesome and my small was only 4 RMB which was the best deal we’ve found yet! Super cool! Then Abby and I grabbed dumplings to go. We waited forever for the bus which was super crowded. We’re getting better at pushing or there was no way we would have gotten on. That thing was freaking packed.

And it was crowded the whole way home! Usually by the last stop or two, there is no one standing, but the entire way, there was at least five of us still standing which had never happened. It was so crowded, pretty insane.

Eventually we made it back to our place, immediately crashing onto the couch and I ate my yummy little dumplings. Katie and I then pulled ourselves up to clean up a little bit and check through the movies we got- legitimate- and changed.

Then Nicole came over for a movie night! She showed us a Bollywood movie called Three Idiots- and it was so awesome! So much fun! There’s three guys who went through college and one of them was just super cool and creative and one of a kind always getting his friends in trouble with their teacher and stuff, and that’s the past but in the present they can’t find where their friend went and their enemy in school has tracked him down so they go to find him on this crazy adventure. It’s super sad, thoughtful, and hilarious! A very packed, creative, and incredible movie!