This is where Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hung himself after losing the Forbidden City.
The cutest old man I've found
Incense filled my lungs as I ventured through the Lamas Temple. Many people bowed and prayed to giant statues of Buddha. Many also took pictures. Medicine Buddhas, Vajra, and God of Wealth statues were being sold in small shops on the fringes of the temple. I didn't want to disrespect the Chinese people so I refrained from taking pictures inside the shrines. Inside one of the halls, I looked down to check the time and my KO Watch was glowing in the dark. I had no idea!
Went to the Pearl Market next. I heard it was cool. However when I arrived, I was uninterested. Having been here over 2 weeks, I've very tired of all the touristy shops and fake jewelry stores. They had a food court with McDonalds, Subway, and Chinese fast food places. I wanted real, authentic Chinese food. The kind you get on the street and have no idea what you're eating but it's delicious.
Found my way to a spot overlooking the Forbidden City and the rest of Beijing. Definitely a sight you have to see for yourself. I took a lot of watch pictures here as well (Daniel Wellington and KO Watches). Exhausted for all of the adventuring, I went back to my hostel, took a shower, and a nap.
I woke up to the sound of poring rain and my heart leapt. I instantly grabbed my camera, borrowed an umbrella, and ventured out into the night. I stopped into a restaurant called 159 and ordered white rice, spicy squid tentacles, and some kind of sweet chicken. My mouth burned like the fires of Santa Clarita, but it was delicious. The chicken was the best because it was sweet like syrup and it almost tasted like it was candied. It also contained onions and shrimp which really enhanced the flavour. I swear I would eat this every night (not the tentacles because they're insanely spicy) if I wasn't set on trying as many different foods as I could. The Yanjing beer saved my life with the spiciness. Seriously though. I was thinking about how this food better be in heaven or else I don't think I want to go. This is death row last meal worthy. I would probably cut off a finger in exchange for eating this the rest of my life. Yes I'm weird. The sauce literally dropped off the meat as I was picking it up. Not like water or some nasty oil, but like a thick maple bourbon caramelized syrup soaked in honey. This meal was like spiritual tastebud warfare. The most heavenly sweet chicken I've ever had in my life paired with tasty tentacles from the spiciest pits of hell. Someone please scatter my ashes here. Guess how much I spent on that meal. 85 quai which roughly converts to $13. With a full belly and empty sinuses, I continued out into the rainy night in search for some photographable moments.
Ok my at back I decided to try one of the new McDonalds deserts, the Yogurt Oreo McFlurry. Definitely not a fan of anything yogurt. The Oreos were good though! Earlier today I bought a small white bottle thinking it was some kind of milk drink. At first I was confused because it was difficult to suck through a straw. Yeah definitely not milk. Oh well, you live and you learn.
After getting back to the hostel I saw Marcin and Diana siting on a couch in the lobby. Marcin was eating snails and Diana, dragon fruit. We talked for over an hour about the differences between Poland and America. I had to explain a few things to them like Netflix and Beer Pong which surprised me because they had seen House of Cards (which was made by Netflix). Anyway, we eventually all headed to bed.
