Since my first visit to China in 2008 when I spent my birthday wandering the streets of Xi’an alone with a bottle of baijiu to 2018 when I was spending a night at Gorak Shep, my birthdays have long been very cold affairs. Even settled in China, the proximity to CNY usually meant that even if I wasn’t traveling, most of my friends were.
Hoping to make the most of it this year, my 本命年 (ben3 ming4 nian2, Chinese zodiac birth cycle), I had done a bit of groundwork talking up a hot pot dinner to the hostel regulars. Of course, when it was discovered that one of the other regulars shared the birthday, it was certain that there would be a decent amount of celebration.
In the morning, I was quite hungry and craving some sweat bread, but I couldn’t find an open bakery, eventually settling on a mediocre croissant and scone from 7-11. Midday, Yumin and I went to the Home Plus supermarket to do some shopping. Yumin, one of the long-term residents, had volunteered to bake a cake, and I wanted to pick up some alcohol. I also treated myself to a jar of Lotus Biscoff biscuit spread (which, if you’ve never had, is like peanut butter but made out of those cinnamon brown sugar cookies).
Back at the hostel, I had had two bites of my salad before I had to Skype my parents. I had barely finished my salad when I was handed a cell phone with a Chinese man on the other hand. He had called the hostel asking for more information and I was the only one around who spoke Chinese. I’m really curious to see how the hostel fares when there are no Korean or Chinese speaking volunteers working the customer service.
I cracked open my box of Chilean wine during a viewing of Before Sunset and after eating birthday cake (technically a brownie mix frosted with Nutella) first, six of us were reading to get some hot pot. I had scouted out a nearby branch of Haidilao (海底捞), but I was talked into another location that was supposed to be better value. It was good with a tripartite pot and decent condiment bar.
After dinner, the two hostel workers went back, while the Koreans and I went to the karaoke in the basement of the same building. We bought an hour, but the boss added extra minutes three times (totally close to a whole second hour). I really do prefer karaoke in China, where most songs (in most languages) are in their original version. It’s hard to sing over a tune that sounds like it is coming out of an Apple IIGS and the tempo is either too fast or too slow. I did attempt 1.5 Korean songs, spending about 10 minutes in the afternoon prepping. I hope I’ll have a roster of 3-5 songs I can keep in my back pocket by the time I move on.
| Pastries | 2800 W |
| Supermarket | 30870 W |
| Hot Pot | 21000 W |
| Karaoke | 5000 W |
| Beer | 4000 W |
| Photo Booth | 1000 W |
| Total: | 64670 W (391 RMB) (USD 57.9) |
Running Total: 4365 RMB (USD 646)
Daily Average: 272.8 RMB (USD 40.4)