Jennifer and the Olympics Part 2

Friday August 15

Today was Athletics and our trip to the National Stadium (Bird's Nest). took the subway there and there were a lot of people on the lines...even in the hall beneath the street....Made it Olympic Green...there was a great deal of security...people were not able to get in or close to take pictures unless you had a ticket...Corporate sponsor like McDonald's were a little miffed because they were expecting way more people but if you didn't have a ticket you couldn't even get to McDonald's ...it was called being BOCOGed....screwed by the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games Lots of walking…J will attest to that. What a fabulous stadium miraculous stadium......not a bad seat We were 24 rows up in the lower level and got to see the 100 m heats, Ladies Heptathlon, Hammer throw, shot put...one bad part of it was it took at least 30 minutes for service for a coke or chips...Waves of clapping as runners or participants would go by.....the wave was quite something when 90,000 do it...the view from the upper level was awesome.


Henry and Michael and Sam went to the ball game....6-5 in extra innings…..USA lost to Cuba. The crew met up with us in Hohai at the No Name restaurant ...a lovely place with bars and restaurants around a lake......J left her hat and sunglasses.....Henry tried to drink some cocktails and was having a hard time after a couple...it was a beautiful evening...there were lots of people out...we let for home early, a little tired and we slept well.



Saturday, we got up early, too early for Silk Market so we went to Steak and Eggs for best breakfast so far....at least according to Jennifer...good old fashioned western breakfast..just like it says......J is starting to buy..... and spend her money.…bought some shorts, and some glasses, some Bling for Keslyn and a necklace for Kim. We were off to Tiannamen Square but we were not allowed on the square proper not sure why...maybe with Henry it was too dangerous. we went into the the Forbidden city. Jennifer took lots of pictures there...and we did lots of walking, again.....J got an Audio tape. My umbrellas hat seemed popular as I had several pictures with several Chinese women and a cute little bugger who was about 2 years old. we came home early again on the subway so that we can rest and recover! Yahoo!!!!! a gold and a bronze from our wrestlers…..the ones that are staying on the same floor as us here at CIS. Gave them a Sask pin…stuck it on their door I reserved made a time for a massage for the evening.....

Ok so much for the rest and recovery......met up with Michael, Henry and Sam and went down Stinky Alley for out good food and a fun time. Sam and Henry were gumbaying, which means you drink all the geer or whatever in your glass....Henry lost badly and said he was taking one for team China...he was even a little drunk just after one beer....Michael decide on a foot massage with us. He could be one of the amigos as he was quite a funny guy. Jay had a hard massage too, Reg’s Lili..and my lady…2 ½ hours and it was good…after a long day of walking it was fitting…both in the same room…Jay said it is the first time that she has heard me stay quiet for a such a long period of time…said our good byes as Michael and Sam are leaving tomorrow early. They were fun.



Sunday

Jennifer slept in until 9:30. the massage was good but she said she was sore on the shoulders but good everywhere else. I went to Ron’s and picked up the bike. Talked a lot with him and he said he had a great time golfing. We may just go golf together in the best course in the world...??? Hills and may go there for the weekend. I came back for a small breakfast and moved back into 609 after being in Reg’s room and then J and I headed out to the Yashow market to exchange some clubs and mail them to Canada for Rex and Barry. Another different experience for her at the Post Office....We went to the local open market where she almost gagged coming in. hte smell of fish was overwhelming to her….did some local shopping…..."no thanks Dad…I will really appreciate Safeway now" We got home and went to the local restaurant again and then back to watch some Olympics on tv and spend the evening there.

Monday

A good sleep. Got up at 6 and ran for 30 minutes. MAY run in the local marathon and MAY run in the Greek one.....in Beijing you may run in the Bird’s nest and in Greece you run from Marathon to Athens and run in the Olympic stadium….so that is what I am leaning toward.

Thought I could move back into my room today and start to put some stuff away. Nope. Guess it will be another day. We had a good morning as wewatched some events on tv. Then off to the local shopping market so that we could get some purchases. I took back all the watches that were not working….warranty work…hahaha and bought about 5 more. J needed a couple and Jan wanted some…..got about 10 purses and some t shirts and a couple of bunny hugs (Abercrombie and Fitch) and another jacket…Jennifer actually started to bargain. Less in your face there. We took a couple of pictures and then came back home with the ½ ton full of stuff. A light lunch and then we went to the China World to see how the other ½ lives......real honest to goodness Louis Vuitton stores and others, saw the ice rink in the lower level, and most importantly Jennifer got a real COFFEE at the Starbucks. Then off to the Friendship store to buy some Olympic stuff…got a backpack for Kenzie…..took the subway we thought to the HoHai district…thought it would be a walk to the park…..NOT… a 15 minute cab ride after we spent about a half an hour trying to follow directions supplied by local Chinese who don’t know how to give directions…..or we don’t know how to follow…whatever…..found the No Name restaurant and retrieved Jennifer’s Rider’s sun visor and glasses…..took a trip on a paddle boat and then headed for the Soccer game by taxi…what a traffic snarl….spent way too much time in the cab…very poor organizing with buses and traffic in general…finally got out and walked….at a brisk pace Jennifer said….to get through security and into the Workers Stadium just in time to see the opening kick off…..big crowd......51,000 and they were pro American.....USA defeated Japan 4-2.....well played and some got scoring chances.....not as boring as I have seen before.....went over to Rosamunds for a nightcap as she lives just a couple of blocks away...... another late night......