Beijing 2012 II - prrrrl

Doggie condo

prrrrl — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Today I happened upon a doggie retreat on the streets of Beijing. There was a small 3' wide x 1.5' high cupboard raised up on bricks on the sidewalk. One door was ajar revealing dirty cushions. On top was a generous section of corragated fiberglass over hanging the open space to the left of the cupboard. To the left of the this sheltered space was an open air cushion. On top of comfy pad was the resident dog. The most worried looking pooch was tethered by chain to a stake in the Center of this set up. Above the doggie retreat was a communist patriotism mini mural giving the whole scene a rather surreal look. Picture coming soon!

Digesting is so over-rated...

prrrrl — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Since I've been eating again, post fever-induced forced fast, I'm tired. Digesting is hard work!

[And it's time for dinner...]

Beijing Dance Mama

prrrrl — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

When I first went into her store about 4 years ago she eyed me skeptically. Her employee loved me. I was buying dance shoes from a shop that specializes in dance gear for the Chinese dancer: minority costumes, cloth squares to twirl, tamborines, feather fans and more western toe shoes. The smiling employee helped me order custom shoes to fit my wide feet. She looked leery.

But I kept going back and I kept ordering shoes. The employee was missing, I noticed after a few years.

Monday I went there and manager saw that I had used packing cord in my fleece hood as a draw string. She thought this unrefined. She took two shoe laces, tied them together to make a long cord, cut the packing cord from my hood and with a safety pin threaded the black shoe laces through the hood of my white & blue fleece.

She took care of me! Now I know she's really lost her skepticality of this old foreign woman who keeps coming to buy dance shoes.

[And this trip I ran into her smiling employee who's jumped ship and working at a shop 3 doors down. It's a small world.]