the MONK CHASE

Liu Family Explorations 2

Day Seven. the MONK CHASE

Today in our second episode of LFE (Liu Family Explorations, which i forgot to introduce yesterday. Basically it's just our family's field studies), we went to HanShanSi, a buddhist temple. Let me explain.

So today, bright and ready as we were, our family was scheduled to leave last (at 9:30am). we took an early start and headed to the bank where we exchanged some more money (which we would need). (Of course we didn't forget our regular morning popsicle.) We then asked directions to the nearest bus stop and headed there, and then we searched on the big board for the stop that would take us to another stop which would take us to HanShanSi. (we followed these directions diligently.)

We walked awhile, as usual, until our feet started to hurt again, and then we made it to a gate that showed we were on the right track. A sign confirmed this and our spirits were relit. To our surprise, scattered all around the temple was a bunch of little stores with loud shopkeepers and people yelling back at them. What were they doing?

Bargaining!

Instantly we got into our shopping mood and explored a bit, with Clayton already spending some on a string of beads (commonly seen on monks) and Clare and Maya being interested in little peeing monk figurines. All you had to do was pour water on their heads, and as their name suggest, they'd pee. (Very amusing.) Before we started buying more, however, our consciences took over and we dragged ourselves towards the temple entrance, where we purchased tickets and then asked a woman to help us with some of our questions.

Just like yesterday's police officer guide, this lady did help, but of course she costed a lot of time because she kept laughing at just how stupid we were. (I thanked her through gritted teeth and wanted to cackle maniacally at something she wasn't very good at, but i never got a chance.) A few monks passed us by and we all pointed. "Look MONKS!" Then we all went into HanShanSi.

First we read off Kojo's checklist of stuff to get.

Kojo's Checklist of Stuff To Get

__ a HanShanSi ticket

__ a HanShanSi map

__ some incense

__ postcards

__ a picture with a monk

We asked a nice lady where to find some incense, but she looked over our checklist and then warned us that we should find a monk before anything, because monks slept early because they woke up early. (In other words, we didn't have long before all the monks disappeared to bed.)

Suddenly something in us snapped awake, and desperately we all ran around searching for any bald-headed guy with a robe. "HERE MONKEY MONKEY!" we called. Everyone tripped over random things and threaded through various crowds that had their hands pressed together and were furiously bobbing their heads up and down. We barely even slowed down when we passed the interesting little incense burning stands.

Now WHERE were they exactly?

I mean, we found some earlier!

Where are they now?!

COULD THEY BE SLEEPING??

(As we ran around i mentioned that i needed to use the bathroom, but Amy said the monk chase was first priority. I'd need to hold it in for the time being, and I was afraid I'd never get a chance to use the bathroom at this rate.)

Eventually we ran into a little room, poking our heads in for a brief second before all standing in the doorway and gasping.

A MONK!

He was a friendly and nice one, which we didn't expect. Monks were mostly quiet and stern we thought. This man answered us willingly and smiled quite a bit, considering he was young and could be out there doing something else with his life.

Relieved that most of our work here was done, we left to check out a gift shop and I went to use the bathroom. =) When I came back we had yet another task to do--whack a bell! We paid an entrance fee to this tiny tower, and at the top there was a ball and a long stick you had to hit against it, specifically three times. Each of us did and then left HanShanSi. We had other things to do.

Outside we hunted for the two things left on Kojo's Checklist of Things To Get: incense and postcards. We asked around and eventually ran into tiny shops that sold them, and got them quickly before looking around some more at the little shops and heading for the next destination, FengQiao, an old bridge. Of course there was also another pestery woman who wanted to be our guide until we finally let her, only when she told us that there would be no extra cost and she needed it for a living.

By now we were starved, and it was about 12. The lady assured us there would be food inside, and when we did go through she talked nonstop about things like the corridor was built using sticky rice between rocks. Of course this was distracting us from our real goal of finding food, and we dismissed her.

Looking around there was actually only one place we could eat at, and at the end of its name it said "XiaoChi", meaning 'Little Eat'. WE DIDN'T WANT LITTLE EAT. WE WANTED BIG EAT!! I felt like yelling at the lady guide. She left us there and the only real thing to eat was little patty things that were about the size of my palm! We each bought one and sat down to finish up some Kojowork, discussed some things, and after that we went to the big pot in the center, which was like a wishing well.

In the middle of the wishing pot was a frog with its mouth wide open, and apparently if you managed to make your coin go in there, you'd have good luck. All of us stood around it and tried our luck with little worthless coins. The only person that managed to make it in the frog's mouth was ME! We all screamed and cheered for joy.

Soon we were exploring again, and we spotted an archery booth. the boys jumped for the bows and each played twice, with them both winning at least one prize each. Clayton was surprisingly good at it.

Finally we were finished with Kojowork, and we all wanted to escape from the roasting sun. Getting out we asked for directions to the nearest bus stop, walked an amazingly long route, and then took the bus, walked some more, and then took another stop. From there we asked how to get to LiDa, and a man showed us, and then we asked a woman, and she told us we were going the wrong way.

*sigh!*

We were already late. Kojo wanted us to meet up with him at 3:30. But what were we supposed to do if we couldn't walk fast enough?! after all we didn't even have lunch yet, and we were running as fast as we could. Then we got to a familiar street and Amy led us to delicious potstickers and pork buns and chinese pancakes, which we snarfed down hungrily on the way. Then there was this silver car that drove by us and started honking like crazy. i snapped back, "WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" but then the driver rolled down the window and revealed herself as AMY'S HOMESTAY!

She let us all pile into her little car, with Amy in front and five little kids in the back. We squeezed in and out, and she dropped us off in front of LiDa, where we gasped for air (and relief). We were late, but better late than never!!

~~~Reporter Poh