23:57, Friday, Dec. 06, 2013
0700
Slept in today and skipped class.
1245
Woke up. Did not feel any better. Still sick.
1300
Karmen knocks to take me to Shirley's. Tension still there between us.
1330
At Shirley's we just hang and chat. I eat an apple for lunch and I feel satisfied.
1600
We go to Bagou to eat at Haidilao, a very famous hot pot place. We shop around for a bit at some good stores which are cute and quite good pricing but still not cheap enough for me. I feel super dizzy and sick.
1730
The hot pot place has awesome service. The waiters and workers are super nice but frantic, perhaps because they have to face an onslaught of customers each day. They give us a hair tie to tie our hair, cloth to wipe glasses fog, ipad menus, free condiments, make the noodles in front of us, etc. etc. The waiting area is basically a restaurant itself, with chairs and tables and free food to eat. There is also a table to get your nails done for free, and you can get pandas and sakuras or glitter or whatever you want. The line was very long though.
I can feel Karmen tension between Clara as well so I feel less shit. It's because Karmen is a goody two shoes and proud of it, and it's come to a point where it's no longer endearing, and just plain annoying. The tension between us eases a bit though.
2000
As we get off our station, we see a book vendor--one of many we've seen before. Only this time, this vendor has a tonne of good books: Time Traveler's Wife, My Sister's Keeper, On the Road, Harry Potter set, Shelter of Stone set, Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, all these fucking classics and they're brand new. Probably dodgy mistakes or something, but still real.
We spend ages for a bit, and Shirley and Clara bargain a tonne and buy like 5 books each. Karmen buys a few, although completely out of our sphere of interest. Clara, Shirley and I have connected tastes, although Shirley is being her hipster self and buying classics and George Orwell and stuff.
I buy three books for 25 yuan after some negotiating: Norwegian Wood, Tuesdays with Morie and One More Day or something (same author as the 5 people you meet in heaven). I am intensely satisfied and I will probably be back to buy some more. Especially considering I opened them up and they are legit.
2100
Hang at Shirley's place for a bit. S has a lomo camera and we discuss a bit about film which is fun. You can get film developed here which is fucking awesome, and why did I never think of it. I'm going to bulk buy film here instead. We chat about movies and books and it's good for me, although I feel K is left out a bit because of her fobby interests.
Tension between us is less; we're not as close as before but I think I've found a good distance to stay at.