date nite

we pop in before the crowd does and have the upstairs bar to ourselves and the lone guitarist singing his heart out.

after dinner on a rainy night a nice tenor and mando-canto-pop. good stuff.

photo opppppp

we visit yulong shan

 which is genuinely effortlessly gorgeous

and appears to be wedding photography central

of bangles 'n stuff

you'll know a woman is spoken for by the jade bangle she wears on her left wrist, the guide says. she will only take it off after in separation. i look at mine and smile at HOM. some of us will not take it off because the hand has grown coarser than the bangle!

goodbye dali!

• gorgeous views. 风花雪月is real. (although we catch only a fraction)
• great food. cos i tend towards vegge-heavy preferences so we match 
• plentiful jadeite silver indigo-cloth souvenirs but little of good quality
• bumpy roads. perhaps also poor vehicle suspension?
• awful (malodorous and unflushed) and sparse public loos
• solid internet connection and continued meituan access

dallying in dali (not)

i wish they would let me dally. dali is pretty and the flowers are a-plenty but the tour guide is most task-focused in getting us to cover as much ground as possible. da-ka has become the word of the day, i notice. nooooo, i want to protest. i don't need to mark my attendance and confirm i have been to any place! what i would like is to sit idly at a nice spot and shoot the breeze, itinerary be damned.

fortunately it is dry and hot today.

dallying in dali

we arrive 3 hours early due to judicious and serendipitous hustling. this next stop has been mercifully dry so far. am i glad to leave behind 3 days of incessant rain and constant damp!

really wet day

we take in the sights of teng chong. that is to say, the guide tries hard to help us appreciate the sights.

the sights are pretty enough but unfortunately much marred by the unceasing rain because no matter how you look at it i am just not a diehard tourist i am a city girl who needs my creature comforts and i like them dry.

if the rain continues tomorrow i might need to park meself in the van.