Checking in or something

Well I just had a close call with a motorbike that whizzed by me by inches, good thing I didn't step out into the street for a second...

Anyway, our apartment's internet has been non-existant for the past couple of days so I have to make occasional visits to this internet cafe down the street.

I make frequent visits to the Texas Burger fast food place in town, most often to enjoy their good, cheap ice cream. Last night Rebecca and I stopped in for an ice cream and they gave us each a discount card. Must be for going there so often -anyway it gives us a discount on some food and ice cream, so it's pretty awesome.

Yesterday I decided to eat at an authentic Chinese place, just any one of the billions in this town. So we stopped by this one place just down the street from the school and they served us a bowl of dumplings. I now have a new favorite place to eat, and I've visited two more times already. I believe it is the only dish they serve there, but it is amazing - it makes it real easy to order food if they only have one thing. Did I mention that they have peanut butter at this place, and that peanut butter and dumplings is a good combination?

The less-than-50 cents dumplings.


I don't mean to talk crap but using the squat toilets here in China is really not all that bad. It is essentially a glorified hole in the bathroom floor, so no porcelean throne to sit on. You simply roll your pant legs up and squat all the way down so your chest rests on your knees basically, and do your business. It's much more sanitary than a Western toilet, since you don't touch anything. Also, it all seems to move much faster - must be something with the anatomy and the body position. To flush, with our set-up, you simply fill a bucket of water and dump it in to flush. We also shower in the same room, and the toilet acts as the shower drain as well and sorta cleans the toilet when you shower. In the bathroom is our propane tank which provides gas to our water heater for showers and the small cooking range in the adjacent room. It's all a pretty nice set-up, I just always wear flip flops in the shower.

Planning another trip to Meizhou this Saturday - hope the weather is nice again. It's a tad chilly and bit rainy here currently, but nothing too bad.