Roasted Sweet Potato

I had two bananas for breakfast and the guys had hand pulled noodles. I actually ordered noodles myself but mine came with onions when I asked for none. It also came with meat broth when I asked for none. I just couldn’t eat it. The guys ate it instead. Joe can’t live without noodles and Hiyohe can’t live without rice each meal and I can’t live without vegetables.

We took the bus to Ling Yan Si where JiGong was ordained. We did a quick run and as out of there really fast. We got onto another bus to the Historical Street for lunch. We had a late lunch at a restaurant. I passed on food and just drank tea. Both the guys were feeling very sorry for me at this point. I must have looked really pathetic. Joe bought a roasted sweet potato from a street vendor for me to eat. All of us ate it. It was really good. It was the first solid food I was able to eat. It made both of them very happy to see me eat something.

On the touristy Historical Street one of our main attractions was to visit a Chinese Medicine Museum. It was interesting. We also watched people perform pouring of tea Beijing style.

We strolled around West Lake some more just to have something to do. But the cold wind arrived yesterday for the official on set of winter and it was cold. We were so cold that we decided to go find a coffee shop to sit and hangout. Well, we ended up in KFC because we wanted to be left alone once we sat down. We really just needed a warm place to hang out.

Then we stopped by a market to pack for our journey tomorrow. Joe had a long train ride back to Hong Kong. Hiyohe was heading north to meet up with his friends to head off to Korea together. So they both ended up packing the same kind of food for the road. I picked up nori and more fruits for my bus ride to SuZhou tomorrow.

When we returned to our room another bunk mate moved in. He was asleep. I looked at this older man and listened to his breath which was heavy and in distress. His body was in tension from anger and frustration. I felt sorry for him. What he brought to the room and the air was a kind of stinky, slimy, intoxicating, thickness. He had drank earlier before bed.

The three of us packed at night so that we would not have to rush the next day.

Barf! Barf! Barf!

I woke up this morning at 3:45am in pain and rushed to the toilet to throw up. I continued to do so for the next 11 hours. I kept track of the number of times I threw up until the 15th time then I lost track after that. It was all very gross and a terrible thing to have to go through. It really takes so much energy to throw up, I would just crawled back into bed. I was sweating hard without a fever. My back burned as my kundalini kicked in to help with the healing process.

When I first threw up I thought about the people who do this regularly to stay thin on purpose. I just can’t imagine anyone wanting to do this on purpose. I was sad that Princess Di lived this way for years on a daily basis.

In the afternoon toward the end of my endless barfing sessions, something was ripped out of my chest. Whatever it was, it was very old, and it clung onto me for lifetimes. I think all this barfing had to do with that. It was purging all the toxic poison that was buried so deep and long in my chest. It was a good thing. My digestive track did not agree it was a good thing though.

I can’t believe what had just happened in the last 24 hours. I can only recall two times in my life that I threw up. Once was when I was 4 or 5 and I was on the verge of exploding with Chicken Pox. The other was in 5th grade when I had a fever of 103 plus.

The guys did West Lake together on bikes. I had done my West Lake tour yesterday. They checked in to see how I was doing. I was feeling better in the evening and we went on a cheap internet café search. We came across one that was right next to a fruit shop. I bought fruit to replenish the many losses of the past 20 hours.

Strolling Around West Lake

It didn’t rain this morning. I got up late to recite and meditate. I didn’t officially roll off bed till 11am. I went for food at the Historical Street and checked it out in day light. It was Sunday and all the locals showed up as well. It was quite a fair and fun to watch people.

I really like the steamed pastry with red beans in the middle. I also liked up for hand pulled Silky Candied Caramel. I took photo of the workers making it. One of them assumed I was a journalist. The candy when eaten fresh was crispy, flaky, and fun.

I went to walk West Lake. It was overcastted and grey on the verge of rain again. While walking I slipped on mud. Something I normally don’t do especially with the camera on me. When I fell, the camera on my neck hit the ground too. I think that hurt more than my body. The odd thing was, earlier I even had trouble with the camera itself.

I walked the West Lake, all around. I think this is not the season to see it. I hear spring is really gorgeous. Most people who do the whole circle do it on bikes. I decided I could see more on foot. It’s really easy to miss things when going on wheels. There is a very relaxing quality to the whole feel of the place. I can see why people of the past wrote infinite poems on West Lake or while they were hanging out here not wanting to return to their home land. I walked around looking for a good spot for tea but I didn’t locate anything to my liking with a proper view so I passed.

After returning from my walk, I met my new bunk mate Hiyohe who is from Tokyo. He went to Canada for college. He is traveling searching for inspiration. Hiyohe wants to write philosophy books and change the world that way. His is a Leo and says he can’t live without having rice in every meal. His thing in China, is stir-fry rice with an egg. The other new bunk mate was Joe from Hong Kong. He is on vacation for a weekend. He works at a copier center. The two guys are from different islands but they are similar in manner, tone, and in general all over. The three of us hit it off alright. We all have similar bed time habits, which was to read and write before we rolled in to sleep.