Day 11: Classic Culture

(Anna's POV)

This morning we woke up with smiles on our faces and refreshed minds, after getting a good night sleep. We went downstairs in our pajamas this morning, because we woke up at about 6:30, so nobody else was up yet, and the dining room was empty. We have all been eating waffles in the morning for the past week, so we started eating Danishes yesterday, along with muffins. Kaitlyn and I had blueberry muffins, and Sydney, Georgia and Sadhana ate banana nut muffins.

After a delicious breakfast, we went back up to the room. We all got dressed and ready, in preparation for the day we had ahead of us. When we walked down the hall after exiting our rooms, it was almost as if we were back in elementary school, because for some reason, we were walking in a single file line. It was a great day that we all had waiting for us, because it was such a different experience. We visited Dr. Sun-Yat Sen’s Classical Chinese Garden, and we had no doubts about whether it was worth it or not.  Walking through the garden was so refreshing because of the fresh smell of the beautiful plants and flowers that were astonishingly laid across the field. All the shrubs were perfectly formed into all sorts of artwork and shapes. All the flowers seemed as if they were hand placed one by one with such perfection. It was hard to believe that anything like it was even possible on this earth.

The five of us took about an hour to walk and enjoy the amazing site of how great nature really could be, when treated will utmost respect. After going through the entire garden, we all sat and each had a cup of tea at the cafe they had on the property. We all were still enjoying the view even after sitting at the café for yet another hour. After we all snapped back into focus and reality, we all realized we were starting to get a little hungry. Not too far from the garden was a Chinatown, so we figured it would be cool if we could go check that out and eat there. We arrived about thirty minutes later and began looking around for where to eat. We noticed a little place called Bao Bei Chinese Basserie. We were not all too hungry after the tea, but hungry enough to get a simple meal. We all ended up getting buttered noodles. It seemed like such a simple dish, until the food was brought out to us. Our jaws dropped with such surprise of how delicious simple buttered noodles could end up looking. There butter was sizzling on the noodles, and there were spices thrown all over the dish. I was the first one to take a bite, and boy was it delicious! My eyes widened with such amazement when I tasted the cinnamon on the noodles. Who would have ever thought that buttered noodles would be good with cinnamon on them!?

 

After getting our excitement out, and finishing our meal, we paid the bill and left the restaurant. The five of us agreed to continue walking around Chinatown together, and explore what was out there. There were people on the streets doing all sorts of things. We saw everything from juggling fire, to climbing a tower made of stacked up chairs. We all loved what we saw, it was just phenomenal!

Loosing track of time, we all walked around for hours, stopping wherever we could to look around. Next thing we knew, the sun was starting to go down. That is when we knew that we had to start figuring out dinner. After discussion, we concluded that we would all eat dinner at Hong Kong Chef. We took a few minutes to get back to the car, and drive to Hong Kong Chef. The service was surprisingly quick, so we could place our orders quickly. Each of us ended up getting the same thing, which was ribs and eggs. Most people may say that it was a weird combination of foods, but it was good considering they cooked them perfectly. They brought out the eggs on separate plates form the ribs. The eggs were fluffy and very well buttered, which is just how I like it! The ribs were cooked perfectly all the way down to the core. The best part about the ribs was that they were absolutely loaded with barbecue sauce. I personally love a lot of barbecue sauce on mine.