Noodles

Sitting around a table with two British men, a young man from Vermont, and my sweet little friend from Russia, I realized what a wonderfully charmed life I live. Here I am on the other side of the earth, in a country where no one speaks my language (you know what I mean here), and I am blessed with a dinner table full of not only people who speak my language, but people that 4 weeks ago I did not know. Now we spend our weekends together and enjoy a wonderful dinner.

There was only one restaurant I wanted to visit here in Beijing. It is called The Noodle Loft and I have seen it on many Food TV shows. I had the lady at the massage parlor transpose the pinyin (English version of Chinese) into characters for me so that I could give the address to the taxi driver to take me there. The first 4 taxi's all said no. I realized it was because this place had to be close to my hotel and they would only get the set 10 kuai fare. Finally, I reached in my purse, took out 25 kuai and flagged yet another taxi,.

The driver unrolled the passenger window and I handed him the address. He was about to say no when I looked at him and said, "I know it is close, I just don't know where it is!" He didn't understand me, but his face lit up like a Christmas bulb when I handed him the 25 kuai. I said, "Please just take me there." He seemed to understand and motioned for me to get in. We were there in no time.

It was everything I had hoped it would be. Noodles flying through the open air stadium where the chef's 'show off' in a very classy yet lively atmosphere. I watched with joy as they made noodle after noodle, variety after variety. Our dishes were fantastic and everyone had a great time. After dinner they all suggested we walk home - Alan and Martin told me that my hotel was not far from there. We began walking and talking and within 10 minutes we were at my hotel. It is literally 20 blocks if that much. The night was calm and the air a bit fresher than usual. It was just a lovely night. I told them how happy I was with everything and they just laughed and said, "Yeah - but not nearly as happy as the cab driver who made 25 kuai off you tonight." :)