weekend walks.

The weekend was great.  Vincent had both day's off work which was really nice (since he works every second Saturday).  After making a healthy grocery list, we set out for Tesco on Saturday, but first we decided to get lost in the mall attached to it.  We weren't sure if it was because of the signs being most in Chinese, or if it is just a confusing mall, but we definitely lost our way a few times looking at shops and such.  We finally made our way to the food section to get everything on the list.  We decided to get a little more then usual to hopefully tie us over for a few weeks before having to go back.  The bill was definitely the most expensive so far - 340RMB, which in Canadian currency is about $30.  I think it was so expensive because we bought some imported spaghetti sauce and noodles, which was a great idea, when our meals have been mainly local dishes.  After getting the groceries put away we had a quick lunch and set out again for a walk.  This time exploring a new street.  We found a giant market full of fresh fruit and vegetables.  Greeted by those smells at the door was quite welcoming.  However the more we walked into the market, the smell changed as we entered the fresh fish and meat department.  We quickly left (to save my stomach from turning) and continued on our journey.  Not much else was interesting on the walk and we made it home by 5 to start making dinner, and a quiet night with some movies.

Sunday the weather seemed the same as usual.  Waking up to some grey clouds and a brisk wind, we still decided to go walking.  Although Sunday's seems to be the day when most of the town enjoys getting out and shopping.  On a regular day it is hard to make it through the sidewalks and roads, but Sunday brought a more challenging crowd, slowing our pace quite a bit.  After about 20 minutes of walking down the main street we decided to detour and maybe get a little lost, but instead we ended up a block away from the hotel we stayed at... So we tried once more to get lost taking a small side street.  This took us to a park, a nice looking one (except for the water that was an odd mixture of green and brown color with a bit of a fowl smell) but, it was still a nice park with some traditional Chinese architecture and ornaments around.  We crossed a little bridge to enter the actual park, to our disappointment it costs money to enter (we found out once we got home that it is only 5RMB... which is pocket change in our money), walking back over the bridge there was another building with a plaque with some english writing on it.  Turns out we found the Confucious temple we were thinking of visiting at some point (only the internet made it seem outside of town... meanwhile it was right downtown).  Again costing money , which we weren't carrying at the time, we've decided to go back next Sunday (weather permitting) and see what its like.

The wall out side the temple museum

After dinner we were debating whether to watch a movie, or go out again.  While deciding there was some random fireworks that didn't seem too far away, however, every time we decided to go find them, they would stop for a while... we settled on a movie.