Tea and Chinese biscuits

I am very sad to tell you, I am no longer lying but the beach but sitting on my bed in Beijing eating Chinese cookies and drinking tea. I got busy the last couple of days and I wasn't able to tell about the wild Balinese dance we saw. It was actually more like a chanting opera. Maybe there were words but it just sounds like a bunch different clicks and pops made by the throat and it told the story of one of the Hindu gods. At the end there was even fire!!! It was about 45 min long. I do not know how those guys kept that singing/chanting up for that long. After we were able to get our pictures taken with the dancers. That was a mad house...... Geezz, I am forgetting stuff be/c it's been a few days. Prior to the dance we had to enter the temple. No one was allowed to show their knees. Whoever was wearing shorts or a skirt had to put on a sarong and everyone had to wear a sash. We got dressed at the entrance and started in. We were warned about the monkey thieves but nobody really believed until one of the girls got her glasses snatched right off her face. A local retrieved them for her and of course wanted a little compensation for his services. I don't know if someone actually gave him any money though. These monkeys were so use to humans, that you could get within a foot of them. I got some national geographic worthy shots!!! The cliff that the temple was built on was breathtaking!!!! I finally realized where I was. At the bottom of the cliff there were waves crashing against the rock and the sun was fading in the distance. I am so thankful I got the opportunity to go!!! After the dance, our tour bus took us to one of the nice beaches for dinner. We had two longs tables set up outside with flags and tiki lamps and they even put a flower in our hair as we came in the door. But then, the rain came with loud thunder and lightning. We moved inside just before it started to pour! As they were bringing the food out, the electricity goes out too!! It couldn't have been a better time!!!! Though, it was awfully romanticy to be spending it with a bunch of youth. :-) Candlelight dinner on the beach during a thunderstorm. (Everybody say it with me "aaaaaawwwwww.") haha.......................... The next two days I didn't do really anything exciting except work on my tan. Which I am very sad to be wasting in winter clothes!! That brings us back to Beijing. I arrived this morning around 6 to the airport and took a cab to my little bed and breakfast hotel. The cabbie didn't speak English but I had the print out of the address. He looked at it so many times, I was a little worried we weren't going to get there. We finally turn down this tiny alleyway and I see the sign for my hotel. I am only slightly nervous about staying in an alley. Well, I knock on the door and wake up the guy working there. It turns out the heat wasn't working at that place and they are moving me to their other hotel. THANK GOODNESS!!! So, I had to walk to the street and hail a cab to this other address, he had written it down for me. Hailing a cab here is much easier than New York though they seem to not know their city very well. So, my first cab driver looked lost (he even past the place and had to back up down half the alley) and then this guy doesn't know at all where to go. I finally found my phone so I could call the hotel so someone could talk to him. They got it situated and we were off. I finally arrive to the hotel close to 8:30 a.m. but my room wasn't ready. So, I left my stuff here and walked to the market that was 2 blocks away. I am THE ONLY white person around. It is funny getting stared at like you're an alien. I walked up at a pastry stand of some kind and the kid spoke English. I think he was excited that he got to use it. He told me what I bought was good and it was interesting. It looked like a simple roll on the outside but it had all kinds of layers of bread on the inside and the taste was a little strange but I ate it. Then I walked to the fruit area and bought some oranges. I was so proud of myself for just getting out there and doing it. By the time I got back to the hotel my room was ready. I forgot to describe the hotel. It is a traditional Chinese hotel, the street door opens into a courtyard and the rooms all face the stone courtyard. It's very nice! I hung out in my room for a bit and then headed to Beihai Park. If only I was here in the spring or summer, it looks like it could be beautiful. This apparently is a big tourist spot for even the Chinese. So, again, the only white person. I did finally see 3 more couples but it is very interesting how much people stare as if they have never seen the white folk. I spent a couple of hours in Beihai Park and then my battery dies in my camera. It wasn't worth walking around without being able to snap shots. So, I left and just started walking back to my hotel. I thought I remembered what street to turn on but I didn't. I eventually had to get a cab and call the hotel so she could give directions. I had just gone down too far by 2 streets. So, I was almost right. hahaha. Before I came back to my room, I went to the tea store and the grocery to get some sweets. I walked a lot. I deserve it. :-) Sorry this was a long one!!!!