daydream believer: Wonder of the World 2: Great Wall of China and Beijing Memories

so yes, hou hai is apparently an expat and tourists hang-out, with its rickshaws and tandem bikes and plentiful shops.

there were a lot of interesting-looking restaurants and bars.

we went to nuvem, a portuguese restaurant. we initially wanted to go to an asian restaurant (we were in china, after all) but it was closed.but nuvem did not disappoint.we were very satisfied with their seafood and beef offers.

we continued our stroll and passed by this alley full of souveneir shops

we passed by the drum tower which was closed that time because that was when a chinese man ran amok and killed some tourists in the area.gasp!

we watched with interest this pond made to house ducks! yes, the ducks have their own little island.haha.

perhaps one of the highlights of our trip was the visit to one of the tea houses.it was just nearby the duck pond.mr t and i were actually tired and thirsty from all the walking that we immediately ducked (hehee) in the tea house.i just wish i can remember the name of the tea house as the staff were very friendly and accommodating.

the owner even approached us and asked how we were.we were also lucky to watch a tea ceremony at the table beside us.it was pricey so we did not order for it.we just watched for free!bottomfeeders!

tea house interiors

we took the subway again to head to olympic village, hoping against hope to get tickets in any of the ongoing events.this was where i sat down by the edge of the road while mr t scouted around for tickets.

soon we saw some people hawking tickets (which was illegal by the way, but everyone turned a blind eye).we went up to one person who was selling a pair of men's 100 m finals tickets.what the hey, this was a catch.it was up to us to play the haggling game with him, to the delight of the crowd around us.since the guy could not really comprehend where i came from (just guessing i was asian), he gave in finally and we got those tickets just a fraction higher than the actual price.we were supressing our jump of glee and as soon as we entered the venue, we were almost shrieking with delight.

inside the birds nest

view outside

men's 100 meters finals venue

breathtaking.awesome.

olympic torch

before the actual event was a series of women's relay event which was fascinating for me as i haven't seen one in full play.

we watched, astonished when usain bolt won the gold medal in a world record time of 9.69 seconds.after bolt crossed the finishing line, the crowd errupted into a huge, maddening cheer.