written by JJ Lee

My fellow Earthlings,

As we near the end of our quest, one of which was an effort to obliterate barriers and complete trials and indulge on delights of ice and cream, I will write as much as I can to withhold this machine from Mr. Manakhov who took pictures of me napping.

After enjoying a great period of sleeping in with our usual 7:45 wake up call, the itinerary displayed a lack of mercy as the 8:20 AM train to Beijing from our current location of Tiayuan forced us to overcome the barrier of sleep, but the Circle of Life makes for a rather blasting 5:30 alarm. After my roommate, Nate Jones, gave me permission to clean myself, I did my usual routine of showering with extreme water temperatures, applying lotion, and packing my dearest suitcase, Lucas, without whom I would be at a complete disarray. To prepare for immediate departure after breakfast, I had to say goodbye to Lucas early at the bus.

I would like to take this time to personally like to thank my dear friend for being there when no one else was to hold my dirty socks. Lucas is the strongest friend I could have, having to constantly hold a 50 pound load, even on the occasional blistering gravel. I am sorry for having to separate ourselves by putting you in lower compartments on the bus this morning. It was never my choice.

After that emotional goodbye, I made my way to breakfast, which only consisted of watermelon for me, but some other delights for others. Nate for instance, had a great serving of noodles. After breakfast, we made our way back to the bus, which transported us to the train station. The 3 hour train ride was quite satisfying by giving us time to rejuvenate ourselves. After we arrived in Beijing, we were greeted by our gracious tour guide Katherine, and immediately headed to lunch.

Lunch was actually decent, especially for a hotel restaurant. Fried fish was provided, with the bones of course, as well as the addicting eggplants in addition to the usual pork, beef, and chicken with exotic tasting sauces. With a slight modification in our schedule, we made our way to the summer palace due to the notorious Beijing traffic.

After 3 whole boat rides, we finally made it to the Summer Palace guided by our generous Katherine. The emperors and empress really had it all from majestic views to a Buddhist temple to a foot massaging pathway that resembles a fancy acupuncture mat. I still don’t understand the need to undergo such torture when the longest corridor in the world is right next to it, providing shade and protection from the sun. Also, the paintings on it were pretty impressive, but I have to admit: ice cream was just as pretty of a sight in Beijing’s toasty weather as a few of us strayed away from the group to grab hold of these cold treats. Also, our status as celebrities disappeared as no one wanted to take photos with us anymore. As we made our way out, the excitement to see some cuddly creatures was in the air.

Our next destination, the Beijing Zoo, had an impressive facility containing various animals including the Panda. We were all excited to see these cute guys, but I have to admit, Pandas are just like us: lackadaisical and hungry. Out of the three pandas that we saw, one of asleep, one was eagerly waiting for his meal, and one was indulging on his meal with his colossal, soft back facing us. Nonetheless, the pandas were still cute. With some free times on our hands, I myself got to see some otters and penguins. The monkeys were especially fearless by having the courage to pee in the presence of the dominating Mr. Manakhov. The zoo was pleasant overall; however, ominous clouds drove us to retreat to our bus.

With some time remaining before dinner, we decided to stop by the silk shop, which truly had an impressive array of silk items and an even more impressive price tag. I now believe that silk to the solution to all clothing complications as one silk scarf had the versatility to provide outfits from the classic caveman to our dearest Little Red Riding Hood. Such power is best kept away from teenagers. Mom, you should’ve given me more money; I wanted that silk sheet.

Dinner followed, but not before the traffic. However, the hotpot was tasty. Various types of meat were introduced as well as some veggies, ready to be cooked in individual pots of boiling oil. However, the biggest filler was the fried rice, dominating nearly everyone’s plates. This was actually one of the more dangerous dinners with open flames cooking our meals, food poisoning being imminent, and arms barely missing the hot pots, which were indeed very hot.

After dinner, I started to write this blog post, which took up a whole bus ride and an hour in the hotel room. I know I couldn’t give every detail and I probably left some essentials out, but it’s been a very long day, and I’m tired. Also, Mr. Manahkov is about to hit the shower and he wants his tablet back. Goodbye, and see you in 3 days.

-JJ Lee

P.S. I am pleased to announce that Lucas is now best friends with Izhan’s Delsey. Truly a great friendship.

P.P.S. Such a white lie.. I was perfectly okay to give JJ as much time as he needed, but he was tired indeed… it was a long day. Mr. Manakhov. Oh, and here’s the latest batch of pictures from my personal photo album: Day 16 (June 8, 2015) . Pictures are downloading as I type this, and it may take few more hours for everything to sync.