First, thank you Dave and April for a wonderful time in SZ! This wonderful time began with a tour of the city. Dave and I walked through the parks watching people perform tai chi, fan dancing, badminton, playing hackysack, karaoke and more! The most interesting place Dave and I accidentally stumbled upon was the English Corner...which we weren't aware of until we were encircled by 30+ Chinese asking us questions such as "Where are you from, What is your name, How are you, Do you work here?" And then rattle off the cities and states they are familiar with in the US. Dave was very good about making our escape! Phew!!!
That evening I experienced my first deep-fried shrimp (with legs attached) on a stick covered in cayenne pepper...it was delicious!! I just had to trick my self regarding the legs...yeah I don't want to think about that anymore. That dinner was a typical spicy Sichaun style dinner. Post-dinner we stopped by a lounge for a drink and some great reggae music! Next stop, 3D bar! We sat outside for a few hours sipping on some drinks and checking out the locals...Dave and I had a good time giving out scores!
The next day the three of us (Dave, April and I) checked out Fairy Lake Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful and nice and quiet...a good break from the noise of the city! We hiked and hiked and hiked and finally we arrived at the top of the temple to a pretty cool view of the area! Afterwards we hit up the foot massage center. First your feet are soaked in a tea bath while you sit on an ottoman your neck, shoulders and back are massaged and my girl was droppin some elbows in my knots...oooh it felt soooo good!!! Next, off the ottoman and into an oversized lounge chair for the foot massage. Again my girl was very strong...and of course I was a wuss and had to tell her to back off a bit. In the end my feet felt rejuvenated!! Just another fabulous evening in SZ!!
On one of my last days in SZ it rained colts and phillies all day long!! So I sat in Dave's apartment getting laundry done and watching movies. Eventually we made it out for a friend's (Jamon's) party! The party was great because it was a reminder of home...first of all Jamon is a Pitt Alum...woohoo PITT!!! And secondly there were a bunch of Americans!! So the night only began there and ended at U-bar with a ton of dancing and drinking!! We had such a great time!! We were out until the sun came up!!! I can't even recall the last time that happened! So needless to say a late start for the next day! We enjoyed dim sum, which is like having a tapas style brunch, then moved onto the sauna...oh which was my favorite place. I spent some time in the steam room and then in the dry heat room and just a few mins in the ice box room and then finally off for an hour and a half massage at which point I fell asleep...sigh! How lovely! It was a lovely way to leave SZ and begin my volunteer experience in Thailand...
