Venturing Out Again

My cold having subsided to a deep hack, I go out to sign my contract today. I need several passport style photos for the visa application so one of the girls from the school's office brings me to a photo shop - small and busy, with three girls working on picture files at large monitors along the right wall and a counter at the back. We go upstairs and the office girl and photographer act much more like they are taking a studio picture, tilting my face and adjusting my hair (note, I am wan and limp-haired from illness). Downstairs, one of the girls at the monitors opens up a very large copy of my picture and evens out my skin, erases the circles under my eyes, and touches up some spots on my face before getting the pictures printed out. I have an appointment for a physical tomorrow which is supposed to take an hour. (I've never had a physical take an hour - what on earth are they going to check?)

My roommate had some cold medicine which is supposed to be for getting rid of heat. OK, TCM stuff, all about the balance of heat and cold in the body. But how do I know if my cold is from too much cold or heat? I do some internet research and conclude that it is a too much cold cold (I have no fever) and therefore I need more heat and should not take the medicine. But, the manager of my school tells me that coughing is from too much heat (maybe I shouldn't have drunk all that heating ginger tea over the past few days) and I should cook a Chinese pear slowly in rock sugar and eat it every day (I think this is a cool thing, not a hot thing). I will give it a try but might be negating the effects with everything else I ate today (chicken noodle soup, some really gummy zhongzi with a bony piece of some kind of bird and egg yolk inside, a greasy fried pork stuffed pancake, and some whiskey with honey and hot water at night, for medicinal purposes.)

There is apparently a shopping festival going on, and a food festival this week too. I am going to check out the food festival as soon as I can smell properly again(maybe Friday or Saturday). Here is a nice smoky smelling booth in the shopping festival area:



Lots of these guys in the central area of town (they are more for short rides, or when you are loaded down with shopping).