You know when you're in a Hostel when.......

The interior design is comprised mostly of beer bottles (*insert local brand name).....

.....and the incoherent outpourings of many a beer-enthusiast.

You sleep in bunkbeds....thanks for that drunken rocking of me to sleep last night Sara, twas most soothing.

The local dishes are pushed to the back of the menu, whilst burger, pizzas, pasta and cocktails are front and centre.

There are so many more, I'll have to think about it!

'Operation Beijing' went smoothly, apart from some initial trouble which I'll label simply as 'digestive' and let you imagine the rest for yourselves.

My first experience of the Chinese people was on the second leg of our flight, Doha to Beijing. The fellow sat next to Sara and I took one look at us and decided he was off to sit elsewhere. Actually, it was after I took my jumper off. After extracting a reasonably believeable promise from Sara that I didn't stink like a ferret, I decided that he must be an undercover monk, and that sitting next to me in a low cut vest would be too much for him to bear. Let's face it, it was for both of our sakes that he moved......fact.

We arrived in Beijing on time and Sara managed to find the hostel very quickly thanks to her carefully copied down instructions! It's a bit cold here.....when I say a bit cold I mean it's quite (very) cold. Who knows how I'm going to cope in Harbin, though I'm itching to get those skipants on. I think I'm going to put on every item of clothing I have and mince around like some horrendous Michelin lady, the best impression to make to hundreds of Chinese people who have probably never met a Brit yet.

I've forgotten one very important item for this cold weather, lip salve. I currently look like I've been snogging a rusty old lorry chassis, it's a sexy look. I finally found some lip salve today and shall be applying with wild abandon, most likely only exacerbating the hue issue in the short term....adding a nice dash of orange for good measure.

So....we braved this icy weather to set off to Wan Fu Jing, the streetfood area where I was promised all kinds of weirdness and wonderment. I wasn't disappointed.

Wan Fu Jing Road

Starfish? Scorpion? Cricket? Grub of some non-descript origin?

Yes, those are tarantulas.......delicious no?

No? Really? Ok.

Unfortunately the aformentioned problem kicked in big stylie, and, feeling as though my stomach was about to drop into my arse, we fled the scene soon after indulging in some rather nice fried dumplings. I'm wondering whether I can convince myself to return at some point and try something small.....maybe a cricket? Or a scorpion. It's less than likely, but you never know! I'll be sure to get a picture for posterity if I do.

Here are some pictures of nice buildings I took on the Magical Squit Journey Home.

Entrance to the Forbidden City

Pagoda in Tian'anmen Square

After an early night I woke up the next morning absolutely parched. I felt like a strip of beef jerky, drying in the wind of the heat coming from the AC unit. With a mouth feeling like the Gobi desert, I staggered off to buy 2 bottles of water at the hostel café and gave one to Sara as I walked throught the door.......downed mine in about 2 minutes, and then promptly stole Saras back off her.

It's the thought that counts. Speaking of which, a big thanks to Sara for pretty much single-handedly arranging this trip! Whilst I've been blogging all afternoon she's been looking up train times! Thank you Sawa!!

Feeling dehydrated again tonight...but for entirely different reasons, delishiz alcoholic reasons! :o). That's for the next blog post I think.

Big snogz xxxx

Random Pancake Picture

This is basically for the benefit of any good-cook mates of mine who are particularly susceptible to subliminal messages. Call Armadillo's at Gatwick, I want the recipe perfected by the time I'm home.

Kthxbai!