Day 1 in Sichuan

June 7

Today I left for Sichuan at 0730. It was a hazy but very beautiful morning. Woke up a little earlier than usual to see the sun rise, but it had already rose. Went to go see the exotic wildlife around Breakthrough Village and found some very interesting creatures. Had a crabby door man greet my morning arrival, accompanied by a very pretty species of caterpillar.

Our drive to Sichuan was long and grueling. Though it was a 3 hour drive, it was still a beautiful drive out, but I had slept most of the way. Think of it like this, Calgary to Edmonton. Long and boring, but a lot more green and rice fields to see. The arrival was less than inviting and accommodating. Trying to shove 70 people in a hotel lobby fit and made for only 10 was just wrong. I’m claustrophobic so that wasn’t fun.

Nonetheless, the hotel was very nice considering that is only a 2-star hotel. I guess it is kind of considered as a 1 star hotel in Canada, but the difference was it was REALLY nice. It literally looked like a 4-star hotel. Everything was adequate and wince we were only usually staying for the night, it worked well.

Dinner was way more than adequate. Only located a few steps away from our hotel, the entrance was located steps behind a normal street level entrance. There was so much food. Compared to a regular Canadian Chinese set dinner, you get roughly 10 medium sized dishes. Here you get roughly double the dishes and one-and-a-half times the size for a table of ten. The restaurant looked 3-star and everything there was considered “mildly” spicy. Mild to me meant jalapeno spice mixed with Tabasco sauce. I’d almost say it’s pretty close to a Malaysian spice without the stinging feeling. The spice took its toll on me early on in the meal and I kinda went a little crazy, but it took its toll more than 1 way. :D

Did a little after dinner wandering around our section of the city and found some pretty cool stuff (video included). Wish I took a picture but I guess you’d all get the saying “What happened to Bugs Bunny?” pretty well. Drivers here are so crazy! They’re not as civilized in Canada as we’d think. I was in a little bit of a culture shock now. Drivers have the right of way here; pedestrians cross at their own risk, or so I think that’s how it works. There really aren’t any crosswalk lights for pedestrians. Cross at own risk would be the term that I’d label. Not to mention, drivers turn from 3 lanes to one and I’m not talking a left turn. I’m talking about a right turn. Yes, from the far left lane into the near right lane. Not really cool. People here honk like crazy, but it’s not because they’re mad or in a rush. Most of the time they’re honking to either A: warn pedestrians they’re not stopping, B: tell the driver in front to move or C: you’re driving too slow.

Found a lot of cool things wandering the city and shops close relatively early here. 8pm would be closing time but it’s still relatively late. Wish they could stay open long but we’re not in HK so I can’t complain.