Tianjin Exploration

We got to the hotel and decided to go out- twice. The first time we went to the "mall" which is literally right next to us. It is more of a supermarket than a mall- maybe a little like Fred Meyer- no "S".

We went at about 2 and stayed a bit more than an hour. There was a KFC- that Mary told us was good- so we went there for lunch-ish. The kids were sleeping on the tables so there was hardly any room to eat. We haven't done anything aerobically so I can feel the weight climbing off the plate and sticking right to me and we've only been here 2 days; they may charge me an overweight fee to get on the plane.

Here are some pictures from that adventure.
The ladies pick through every nut before they put them into their bag- making sure it is good.










If you want to take coffee to work this might give you enough.
I hope nobody has anything sharp around me or I might pop.









Bulk chicken necks- hand selected by each customer.









Then we went out and thought we would explore some more "off the beaten path" kind of places while it was still light out. We went over 1 block and just started to walk down the street- visiting each other, not the Chinese- and taking pictures as we went. Here is what the streets look like-






We stepped into a local market just see see how the locals live-



Notice- one is a rooster.













Back out on the street it is bitter cold- the wind is pouring through the tall buildings and funnels down to the sidewalks and it is really cold. Here is a typical meat market on the street. Notice I got dreads since coming here- it was Teresa's idea, she did always want me to have a pony tail like her dad- not kidding about that one:) Good things I was at LS so I had to keep my hair short.









Even though we were only 1 block over, and I didn't want to see the same thing twice- so no backtracking- the sides streets don't often connect with the main street so we had to walk a long way around to get back to the hotel. It was starting to get dark, making it harder to figure out the landscape. I had the room key- with the hotel name on it- so I knew even though we can't speak more than 2 words of Chinese we would somehow get back, but that we interesting. Americans stick out on the back streets of Tianjin. I hope to stick out that much from being a vertical foreigner. The traffic doesn't especially stop for pedestrians, so getting to the other side of the street, especially after dark is a bit of a thrill.

Thanks for all your comments. I can't believe you actually like hearing about this boring stuff. T said, "Our life is kind of crazy I guess compared to some people. We just go half way around the world and it's not that big of a deal, but for some this might be really crazy". I hope if you're not this adventurous that all this boring stuff will make you feel like you can travel, or maybe you are traveling vicariously through us- which is fine.
I did wake up at - I have no idea what time- and almost choked to death. I must have swallowed wrong and it was sort of like getting the wind knocked out of you- I knew I wasn't dying but it takes you by surprise. Strange addition to the post.