Sunday Excursion

Jan and I went to Giac Lam Pagoda, which is apparently one of the oldest Buddhist temples in the city. This pagoda, which I think is a stupa to house relics (It's amazing how much I know about Buddhism now, what with the book I'm working on), is one of the tallest buildings in the city, at 7 stories. That gives you an idea of the shortness of the places--no skyscrapers here. And it's pretty flat, like Chicago.

Anyway, the temple itself was a little disappointing; there were a lot of statues of Buddha and a TON of incense burning, but I think we felt like we were imposing. The best part: an older monk walking around smiled at Jan and gestured to his own face, and then made the thumbs-up sign. I think he was saying Jan has a handsome face, which of course I interpreted as "Omg, Jan! I think that monk just hit on you!" To which Jan was like, "Hey cool, whatever." He's a
pretty laid-back dude.

We walked in, hoping to be able to climb to the top, but the stairs were gated. Then an older woman gestured for us to go on up, starting the typical exchange of us gesturing to say "Are you sure? It's ok?" And she kept gesturing "Go, go." So we went. And this is the view of the city. This is not the direction of where I live, but it's the nicest shot I got that gives a good impression of the city. We just barely missed seeing the sunset, but I got a good picture of the post-sunset sky.

Then we descended and felt hungry, so we went
to--wait for it--KFC. Yep. Got some fried chicken and ice cream, and enjoyed it. I don't think I've had KFC in the states since middle school, when we had it for hot lunches. Jo and I did get it once in Paris, in a moment of weakness. And we both felt terribly guilty about it for a second or two, and then we tore into our drumsticks and felt better.

In any event, that was my Sunday. Pretty cool, I think. And tonight I'm going to a pub called Le Pub (very original) where they have a Trivia Night! And it's on Tuesdays, just like the one at the U of C Pub. Weird, huh? Although, Tuesday night here is Tuesday morning there, so it's not exactly at the same time, but still. I think it's cool. So I'm going to go to that and hopefully drag Jan and Ruth along with me.

Gotta bone up on my useless knowledge.