Tuesday, February 5, 2008

You can tell we’re all getting a little tired and worn out from this trip. We just spent the day within a 5 block radius of our hotel. Taking it easy. Tomorrow will be a big day though. Tomorrow is the Chinese New Year.

I think that if I was to make the rest of my life a backpacking adventure, there are a few things I’d change:

• I’d make a more regimented, logical daily schedule. Nothing that has strictly adhered to but one that will make it so that my first meal of the day is not at 6pm - where I don’t wake up at noon one day, go to bed at 3am and then expect myself to be able to function like a regular human being when I have to wakeup again at 5am. It’s really no wonder we’re starting to feel burned out.
• I’d carry a lighter, comfier bag that has a water bottle holder on the outside.
• I’d set aside one or two days specifically for resting. No expectations or grand adventures. Just a little R ‘n’ R.

There’s an ice bar just down the street from the hotel. The whole entire thing is made of ice: from the walls, to the chairs, to the shot glasses. It’s supposed to be modeled after the Russian stereotypes.

There was no Starbucks in Harbin that we could find. We did, however, find a USABUCKS. We figured we’d take what we could get. Besides, the resemblance between Starbucks and USABUCKS is really quite uncanny.