Day Seven: We Saw Heaven, or at least a big ole Buddha

Friday, January 1, 2010

(Reminds me of "The Little Mermaid" when Ursula rises out from the ocean)

"What do people think about when they're bowing/praying/waving incense to Buddha?" I asked Xie Yichen hoping to get some general Buddhist prayer as the answer, but it's just wishing for good things; wishing and hoping and thinking and praying.

(We did the incense burning/bowing, too, but then we had to get warm.)

That question was the main thought floating through my mind as we wandered around the shrines in the Lama Temple Park (which is the place where Buddha makes your dreams/wishes come true, or so they say), that, and what would happen if I lost all my toes to frostbite/do they make toe prosthetics? (yes, or special orthopedic shoes) -- This of course happening after the longest brunch, ever. It may have been Western food, but it was served in Chinese style - aka, whenever one dish was ready, regardless of order or other plates. C'mon. It was slightly amusing, but somewhat annoying. Patience. Patience is a virtue, and one I'm still working on.

Oh! After the Lama Temple we headed over to some giant market place - oh no! I know, more haggling, but it was okay because we had Xie Yichen with us. And that was a really good thing, because there were many a time that she saved me from a dumb deal. The whole place had airs of the NYSE, the booths as brokers with the yelling and promises of future deals... something like that; it was a mad hosue.

Also, there's total trickery in compliments. There was a purse lady who tried to blindside me by saying she was giving me a good deal at 85 because I was beautiful. I talked her down to 70, Xie Yichen said I should've paid 60, but I couldn't help my excitable mouth that quotes prices higher than necessary, like saying I would pay 80 as a fair price. Yikes! Too soon, too soon.

A lazy day for the most part, but good in preparing for the Great Wall on Saturday!!