People from the office have commented that I looked like death, but instead of being bothered, I am somehow pleased about it. Rarely do I have reasons to be this tired, and the weekend that has just passed, despite leaving me looking (and feeling) like road kill, was in fact good fun.
Qingdao is a small port city located an hour's flight south of the capital. It sits right next to the sea so the expat crew from good old land-locked Beijing was more than happy to make their way to Qingdao for the weekend for some sun and surf. It was just icing on the cake that the city has just commenced its annual Beer Festival. (Yeah right! Hehe.)
I'm not a big beer drinker so I didn't join any of the drinking contests; I left that to the thousands of Chinese guzzlers who turned up for the festival and most of whom enjoyed gawking at our group because we looked like a United Nations contingent. 12 people, 10 nationalities. We had people from Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Turkey, Sweden, Kenya, Denmark, Tunisia, Australia, India and of course yours truly representing the Philippines. So I guess that freaked the locals out a little bit. Only a little bit.
Anyway aside from their fascination with beer, the locals also have a penchant for walking around the city in their beach wear. I guess that's what you get for living next to the sea. That also made people-watching a very enjoyable activity; the pace of life was not at all frantic and perfect for a relaxed weekend of strolling. Of course strolling takes its toll as well (case in point: today's muscle pain), but at least I just feel exhausted, not wasted.
All in all it was a fun weekend. We all need to get away from this crazy city once in a while. But now I'm feeling restless again... I need another project, or trip, something to plan. Or a haircut. Or maybe a new job. (Hehe where did that come from?) Anyway, photos to follow. Right now I have to go back to fantasizing about going back home and crawling into bed. An hour and a half to go...
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