More Trouble with Buses

Matthew and I have been having quite a bit of trouble with the buses recently. Normally Matthew and I look the address up and then put it into Google maps to see what buses will get us there. In the past we have not had any trouble doing this. We wanted to go to the post office because it is the only place to get postcards in Kunming as far as we can find. We made a list of the buses that were supposed to take us there and we got on A2 and it went right over the road we wanted to be on. Beijing Lu seems to be a bad place for Matthew and I to have as a destination. We ended up going to far on a different road and having to catch a different bus 26 to go back. We did get postcards, though, when we finally got to the post office. They are not the best by any means but they will work.

After the post office we went up to Wenlin Jie, by Green Lake and had lunch at a cafe called Prague. It was really pretty good. I had a pizza. They didn't have anything Chinese on the menu so I picked something that sounded good to me at the time. I have developed a taste for soda here. Sprite, to be exact. I like to get it when we go out. I think the main reason I get it is that I don't want to spend 15yuan on a juice or 20-30 on tea. Soda for some reason is cheap here.

Me at Prague Cafe in silhouette

Matthew has been wanting a haircut for a week now so we went to a barber. Part of the Chinese tradition of Spring Festival, the Chinese New Year, is that you don't wash or cut your hair for the first three days of the new year as it is considered to be like washing or cutting away your good luck. They also don't clean the house during this time. As a result of this tradition all of the barbers were closed and have only just opened again. We walked into the barber and even though we couldn't really communicate Matthew was able to say he wanted his hair cut and he wanted the 19yuan cut. There were about 4 options with 19 being the cheapest. However, we don't know what the other options were as we couldn't read the sign except for the price. While Matthew had his hair cut I went and walked around. When I was sick I lost some weight (not my goal and I hope to gain it back), and now my pants are loose. I thought I might see if I could find a pair of jeans I liked but after wandering down a street I found a bookstore. I went there when I didn't see any clothing stores I liked. The bookstore was two floors and the second floor was dedicated to English books. I really like going to bookstores and just touching the books. I know this is strange but it is nice to know they are there if I want to read them. I looked around and headed back so that Matthew wouldn't be waiting for me after his haircut. When I got there they were just finishing. He got it cut short, which is what he wanted.

When we walked back down the alley near the bookstore we found a place with DVDs. We looked in and saw Jeeves and Wooster. It was only 40yuan for seasons 3 and 4 and we couldn't help ourselves so we looked around a little more and discovered that single DVDs are only 10yuan. I picked out about five movies I wanted to see and Matthew had about five too. We only got one, The Hurt Locker. I hope it isn't too hard to watch.

We went to Paul's and got some food. I found bagels. I was really excited. I miss bagels in the morning.

I had my first experience with the public toilets. I don't want to have to repeat it unless absolutely necessary. They were really dirty and I had to pay 3jiao (0.3 yuan) to pee. It was a good thing I did though as we had another adventure on the bus. We got 101 and it looked like it was going the right way and then it just went in the wrong direction. We trusted that it would turn and head back int he right direction but no, it dropped us off at its terminating stop somewhere. I really don't know where. At the stop we saw the A2 which we got on as we knew it went back to our apartment. However, we still felt like we were going in the wrong direction and sure enough, "This is the terminating stop all passengers must depart" so Matthew and I get off and look for the stop where we can get back on. It is across the road so we walk over and get the bus.

It gets dark really fast in Kunming, and by the time we got back it was about that time when the sun just seems to drop out of the sky and it is suddenly dark. Matthew and I ventured to Wal Mart yet again for more peach nectar. I think we might need to find a new juice or buy more at once so we don't have to go to Wal Mart as often. When we got back to the apartment it was dark and almost 8pm.

In case you thought the fireworks had ended, I would like to inform you that I saw some really nice ones walking back. There are not as many of them now but they are still going off every once in awhile.