Day 44- out on the town

I started Day Four of Golden Week by FINALLY sleeping in!  It felt glorious :) I woke up to a beautiful blue sky, and an AQI of only 22, so I threw open the windows to air out my apartment.  It was breezy and nearly 70 degrees; it felt like a spring day.  That set my cleaning wheels into motion, so I washed all the windows and screens inside and out.  Oh my.  You don't realize how bad the pollution really is until you see the black grit that comes off those windows.  It took four passes, on BOTH sides, inside and out, to finally get them clean.  I am so glad I splurged on buying a Blue Air purifier.  I can't imagine what it will be like this winter when the AQI is 400-600.  No wonder the windows were filthy on the inside, too.  At least this winter, I will be able to breath reasonably clean air in my apartment. Whew.

After spring cleaning, I did lesson plans through the end of the month.  By then, it was time to get ready for a night out on the town :)  Rob was playing in a band with Ms. LuLu performing, over in Sunlitun.  A group of us decided to go out to Ganges (my new favorite Indian restaurant) before the show.  I invited Esan to join us. She is my friend from Indianapolis (by way of Turkey) that I met the first time I went to Haidian Christian Church.

So, here's the 'after' picture from the salon.  It was my
first night to dress up to go out on the town here in Beijing.
We are going to "The Parlor" which has a dress code.
I love the occasional reason to play dress up :)

Me and my new friend, Esan.  I <3 her.

Cheers, y'all!

I had this crazy delicious drink called Lost in Thailand.  I didn't even care
what was in it; I had to order it for the name alone :)

Hank enjoyed his scotch and cigar; Esan and I enjoyed catching up!

The first band to perform was this jazzy chick

from Quebec- fluent in French, English, and Mandarin-

and she played an accordian- and spoons! Very cool.

Up next, (though not until 11:00pm) was Ms. LuLu.  Our friend, Rob,
was filling in on bass, as her usual bassist was gone for Golden Week.

Not only is Rob an amazing pianist, guitar player, and
bass player- he has an incredible voice, a beautiful
falsetto, and he can harmonize like no other.
I was super impressed!  I had so much fun,
I danced my heels off- quite literally :)

Group picture after the show :)  I love Carlos' look- too much scotch!

Me and Ms. LuLu looking creepy under the stage lights.

Though Esan, Rob, and Carlos called it a night, the boys wanted to go across
the street to the beer garden.  Since we were sharing a cab ride home,
(the subway had long since stopped running) I tagged along and had a Coke.
These guys were a lot of fun, as always, and we drug our sorry selves
home a little before 3:00am.  There's a reason I don't play dress up and
go out very often- I'm getting too old for that nonsense, lol.

G'nite, y'all!