Day 3 in Beijing…making it alright solo – had a nice guy – Mr. Law – friend of my friends in Hong Kong – show me around for a couple hours yesterday morning so I had to get to a 5 star hotel to get an English version map – now I’m good to go…even though NO ONE speaks English – hotel, police, subway, etc….but I am good at sign language haha…
Yesterday swung by the Palace and Royal Garden…..massive….huge Moat still surrounds it….this stuff is older then USA looking at the floors, sculptures, so much history for so many thousands of years…blows ones mind when you think about it….
GOT A NEW LCD monitor – 1400 RMB (about $185 USD at a exchange of 7.5) 15 inches…but hey, I dont know what I am gonna do with this after I leave China…may leave it to a friend here…can’t take this on the plane…too lazy to try to pack it…but now I can see what I am typing….
Felt like a moving target at this electronics bazaar I bought it – my friend Mr. Law text messaged me in chinese the address…so much traffic getting there I got out on the highway and walked the extra 300 yards…I walked there through freaking gridlock…upon arriving – this bazaar is half the size of NYC Chinatown but vertical…its 8 floors…and I was the ONLY WHITE BOY in the place…
“DVD IBM GOOD DEAL WHAT YOU WANT DVD DVD DVD” they were literally grabbing me, pulling my backpack to get me to visit their booth (all the independent shops inside a massive mall like building) man its frustrating…I was soooo tired just getting these guys begging me to see their booth….when I tried to buy, NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH….I just wanted the CHEAPEST FLATSCREEN MONITOR….I had to point at all of them, write a math equation on scrap paper saying “down arrow – 1400 RMB” then they understood…but most of the monitors were between 1800 and 2100 so they didnt like me much……took about 5 booths and 3 floors of wrestling with all of them and I got what I wanted….a bare essential flatscreen for under $200 USD…