For June 26, 2007

Thank you (or should I say xie xie) Tyler. I have now selected my new favorite coffee shop, CAVA Coffee, which is much less crowded and much less pretentious than Tous Les Jour (which according to Nancy is a Korean bakery). The familiar and much loved smell of coffee and cigarettes (10 points for the first person who names the band that did this song) wafted throughout the dimly-lit haven. Reggae played in the background and best of all, I had my choice of tables and all the wi-fi I could handle. The wait-staff and I will be on first name basis by the end of this program. The mango smoothie is to die for as well.

Tim and I explored a bit more of Wudaokuo and grabbed a snack of sweet dough. The treat was made before your eyes by a machine that constantly rotated as dough was squirted into little circular cast-iron molds. It came out with the dough in the middle still gooey and piping hot as is evident by the burn marks on the roof of my mouth. Like most Asian sweets, the taste was subtle. I've gotten used to thinking red bean paste is pretty sweet. Later Tim and I broke down and enjoyed some much-coveted pizza. Hey, we held out on being American (I almost said white, hah) longer than most, okay?

That's all for now. I needed a chill day to catch up on blog posts anyway. Send me your addresses so I can start doing the postcard thing.