The Return to The Beautiful

• Today we went back to Pearl Market to show James and Quinny around. I was nervous that we wouldn’t remember where to go but Cat and Tony (who led us there last weekend) gave great notes and Nate has a good memory. We started the day slowly and left around 12:45 pm (after watching Kahi play soccer!). We talked the whole subway ride into the city and learned a bit about each other’s families. James tells very detailed stories about everything so it’s always interesting to chat with him. When we arrived, we grabbed lunch at the food court and it was really delicious! Everything is buffet-style there and it’s really nice that you can see the dishes in front of you before purchasing. Nate and I had some Indian food. Chickpeas are quickly becoming one of my favorite foods! After lunch, we headed to the “new” market, which is where all of the secret shops are. We followed Cat’s directions and went to some that we hadn’t made it to last weekend. Plus, James is apparently the perfect person to have at a secret market, because he just went up to any door, knocked, and opened it (if it was unlocked) to see if it was a shop. We found several that way! (Quinny says she's often saying "No James, don't do it" but he does whatever it is anyways and always turns out wonderfully.) One shop owner was from out past where we live and spoke really good English so we chatted with her for a bit. We grabbed a few items that we’d passed on last weekend and I got convinced to buy some jeans (but they fit really well!). After we’d finished shopping, we got outside – it was a beautiful day, with low AQI and clear, sunny skies. We went across the street to the park that houses the Temple of Heaven. We were too late to get in to the landmarks but we were still able to wander around the park. By the time we got there, the temp had dropped to a lovely (and not humid) 75 degrees and the number of trees in the park totally dampened the sounds of the city around us.

This was as close to the Temple as we could get but we'll be going back!

We chatted more as we walked...I love not running out of things to talk about! I feel like it doesn’t happen often for me so I love when it does. After a while, we headed out and towards the nearest subway stop (which ended up not being so near) and rode the train back to Shunyi. James and Quinny wanted to treat us to dinner for taking them around (so sweet!) so we decided to try the Korean BBQ place at Shine City. Someone told us it was not as good as the one at Jindi (which is where we went for our anniversary) but I loved it! Soooo delicious and definitely up there with Tomukun :) We will be going back! It was a wonderful day with wonderful company.

• There was only one bad thing that happened today...I finished a chapstick and grabbed a new one but put both in my pocket. And I accidentally threw the new one away!!! :( :( :(