The air has been atrocious this winter. Multiple days labeled severe pollution. I was going to buy an air filter for the apartment, but all of the more 'economical' ones were sold out. I then asked Sky where I might find one and he said, "Hey, I've got an extra one still in the box." And there it is above. Free is a very good price! They talk about all the side effects of such bad pollution and I really can't attest to them one way or the other. All I can say is that I miss going out and seeing the sun and breathing fresh-smelling air!! There has been no precipitation this winter and on most days the wind is calm - perfect conditions for haze...
I saw my 2nd Chinese movie (English subtitles) on New Year's Eve. I think it was called Tomb's Legend or something like that (the translation is often totally different then the Chinese title). It reminded me of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Kind of the same story line. This one was in 3-D, however, and I must say the effects were some of the best I've seen in a 3-D movie. It played on a huge screen and the theater was sold out. At midnight (yes, I was up, but that's only because the movie was so late) there were some fireworks that people blew off - nothing spectacular but definitely higher than the 6 feet allowed for fireworks in Portland!
On New Years Day a few of us went to an attraction here where it involves some good puzzle solving and challenges to get through. There were 5 challenges to pick from, I think, and we chose the one called Alcatraz Island. They locked us into a couple cells and then the objective was for us to figure out how to get out. There are clues scattered around, but they tell you absolutely nothing. You have 1 hour to get out. We were slow in getting the hang of it, but gradually picked up speed. It was very challenging and not easy in the least. I'm sure they must've imported it from the US... We didn't make it out in the hour, but were probably 3/4 the way through. I would recommend it if you've ever heard of something like that...(you can pay for more time to finish, but it gets rather spendy...)
Then we finally made it to some hot springs. Not the kind of hot springs we usually think of, but a punch of pools (man-made) of various sizes filled with water to varying degrees of hotness. Some of the pools have medicinal herbs in them or other stuff for 'health' purposes. It is in a nice setting where it is quiet and we could actually look up in the sky and see a couple stars (and I mean a couple). We were there at night and it was very cold when you got out of one pool and raced to another!! I'm still thinking that somewhere here in China there must be some natural hot springs...
And to finish off the 3 day holiday there is a new German restaurant that opened in the mall that just opened close to my apartment. Had some breaded veal cutlets with good veggies, and ended with delicious apple strudel (unfortunately no ice cream). Do we really have to return to school tomorrow?
Oh, and lest I forget, I found a woman who can 'cure' toenail fungus!
It only takes a year of treatments. I'll let you know how that turns out!! I have to give her credit, though, she attacked my big toenails with gusto. It practically takes a chain saw for me to cut them. They're still bandaged up, though, so I don't know what they look like. I'm supposed to go back in a month for more...
Happy New Year everyone!!!
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