Le Cool Ice Rink

Yesterday we had skipped most of our school work, so today was back to the grind. By lunch we were finished so off we went to one of the nearby restaurants. We decided to forego the pig's intestine in sauce, and the donkey meat, but settled on a very spicy chicken dish that had lots of hot peppers and garlic in it. It was a bit hot for the girls although they did enjoy a bit of it. They had some noodles with a tomato and egg sauce.

After lunch we headed off to the Le Cool Ice Rink. The 20 minute walk to the subway has become pretty routine at this point. The tunnel under the road, the smelly public washrooms, the restaurants and shops, jumping out in front of traffic to cross busy streets, the guy roasting nuts or corn at the side of the road, it all seems normal now.

The ice rink was in a big mall inside the China World Trade Centre. Nadim skated for about 15 minutes, but he was concerned about his feet because the skates didn't fit his orthotics, besides which he couldn't get used to figure skates! I fared a little better and skated for about half an hour or more, before the very uncomfortable skates got the better of me. The girls lasted for well over an hour. Roya had us timing her to see how fast she could skate around the rink. We had brought sweaters and thought we would be cold, but somehow they had it heated so we ended up in our short sleeves!

We were feeling our leg muscles a little after yesterday's Great Wall climb. I think everyone is happy to have a relaxing evening at home. I hope they have a good movie on HBO.

CM