Sunday Snapshot: Coffee Therapy
The therapeutic potential contained within a good cup of coffee is truly astounding.
At 6:30 AM yesterday, as the sun began to greet the day, the team headed off to the train station for our “chase-the-blues-away” trip to Shenyang. The good news was we were able to find seats despite our standing only tickets. The bad news was the train we thought was an hour and a half long ended up being three hours long.
Which meant that when we rolled into Shenyang at ten, and promptly rolled into the train station McDonald’s, we had already missed the breakfast menu. And so, instead of the normal breakfast fare, we all consumed McDonald’s hamburgers. At 10 AM. And they tasted good. Oh how far I’ve fallen…
After visiting Ronald, we hopped into cabs for a quick jaunt across town to the walking street. Once there, we made a beeline for one of the few places in China that looks, smells and tastes just like home.
A steaming hot toffee nut latte? Comfy chairs? Bing Crosby serenading in the background with Christmas cheer? Time to just sit and be and laugh and chat and read? Utterly blissful.
While some lingered, others went out in hunt of an English movie, and ended up scoring tickets to the new Harry Potter movie. The boys ordered more coffee and the girls headed out for a bit of shopping before the movie. And I very quickly was reminded how much I hate European sizing. For the life of me I cannot figure it out. It doesn’t help that the sizes aren’t exactly standard in the least here. With the movie time drawing near, and the desire to pick up lunch beforehand (because we hadn’t consumed enough calories already) the girls abandoned the hunt for the perfect jeans.
After a stop at Subway, we nestled into a tiny little theater for a couple hours of wizardly entertainment…and all promptly decided that Hermione is the true hero of the flick. Movie finished, the boys headed to wherever boys head to shop, and the girls returned to the jeans hunt. After trying on a ridiculous, and I mean ridiculous, amount of pairs I actually–for the first time in six years–found a pair of jeans that fit me perfectly in China.
Satisfied with our victory, the girls met up with the boys for a leisurely pizza dinner. The pizza joint just so fortunately happens to share the space with a Baskin Robbins, providing a perfect end to the meal. Bellies full, and heart full of new resolve to get back to my workout routine, we all joined hands and in an instant were magically transported back home. Oh wait, that doesn’t work in real life. Unfortunately we headed back to the train station and were greeted with the news that our train was delayed, which was just the beginning of the bad news. The ride back? Not so idyllic. Actually far from it. But the rest of the day? Good food, coffee, and company? Just what the doctor ordered.
I live in ShenYang and it cracks me up that you come here for fun! We like it but people say it’s dull.
I am dying to know where you saw HP. My daughter thinks that it’s not showing in English here.