If we had known the crowds that would surround us as we attempted to maneuver about on New Years Day, we surely would have stayed inside! As it was, we headed into town, oblivious to the masses as we stood on the Guang Di bus (that already should have given us a hint!). We met one of my old boyfriends and his parents at the Starbucks of a well-known mall. It was great to meet up and catch up on each other’s lives, as well as to introduce him to David. We enjoyed a great meal at a Brazilian-style BBQ restaurant. David and Jp really enjoyed all the meat, although David couldn’t help comparing it to the real Brazilian Churrascurias!

We completed our meal with some ice-cream from a NZ company which funnily enough, Jp hadn’t even heard about! We were planning to see some of the sights, but Jp was called away to buy a real sleeping bag for his upcoming trip to Tibet. As we entered the metro station, we realized there was no way we could see anything…unless we wanted to see a sea of Chinese people! Literally, you could not see the floor, there were so many people! We gave up on that idea and headed home instead, enjoying the comfort and space of the bus! Aaron’s housing estate runs a bus hourly to and from the down town area for everyone who lives there. It is a great way to make living in the suburbs possible.

At about 8:00, we met up with Miriam and Heather to go for street food in what they fondly call “the ghetto”. Sure enough, we were whisked out of the garden estate through a hole in the wall into the back streets of Guangzhou. Looked a lot like the back streets of Dhaka, small stores opening into the narrow alleyways, laundry hanging out to dry, tiny one-bedroom homes, rubbish piles everywhere, a small market obviously closed up for the night where the smell of fish still pervades the air. We made our way to a big supermarket and chose our food from a stall standing opposite. They grilled, or roasted or cooked our food over a coal grill. Cheap food, but man, was it good! Meat kebabs, green beans, the best roasted corn and sumptuous little breads, all served on a skewar and eaten with chopsticks. We are definitely going to try to make it there again before we leave! After stuffing ourselves for little over $4, we walked around to experience the night life of the ghetto. The boys and I had a go shooting balloons with a pellet gun, and the crowd we attracted must have at least doubled or tripled that man’s business! The girls and I also stocked up on some gummy candy from the supermarket.

But the best part of the night was to come…David’s “New Year, New Hair” campaign. Miriam came over to watch a movie with Aaron and David set up camp on the couch with a pair of scissors, a towel and a plastic bowl. The process was complicated (randomly hacking at his hair with the scissors), and hilarious to watch! I think a couple of photos will express it best!

And the final stages…

All in all, David is happy with his new “no-hair” hairstyle….definitely takes him a little less time to do his hair in the morning! At the time of this post, his hair has already grown 1mm, and now it feels soft and fuzzy! More news to come…