The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and surrounding buildings are said to be located in the exact center of Beijing.  In ancient China, the Emperor would travel twice a year from the Forbidden city to the Temple to pray on behalf of his country for good harvests.  It was believed that the smallest of mistakes made during these ceremonies would mean a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

Check out the detail on these buildings…

I really enjoyed just walking around the grounds.  The park was filled with lots of people.  Some just sat and observed.  While others participated in various activities.  A group of old men kicked around something that looked like a hacky sack.  Some people were selling things.  We strolled along, casually, taking it all in. Serenity

Later that day, we swapped tranquil for bustle when we traveled to the Olympic sites in Beijing. In my next post, I will show some pictures of the infamous torch and the Cube…

Well, I guess I could blame it on my busy-ness.  But, instead of sharing every detail of my schedule with you (that’s what the Christmas update letter is for), I’ll share my evening at The Melting Pot with you.

Wednesday night was ladies night at The Melting Pot.  Sounds fun, right?  My friend Heather made reservations for 7:15 PM.  A group of us were to meet there, have dinner and exchange Christmas ornaments.

I had never been to The Melting Pot, so I didn’t really know what to expect.

When I first arrived, I got a front row parking space in a very crowded lot.  I knew this was going to be a good night.

Upon entering the restaurant, I was immediately overwhelmed by the mass of women standing by the door waiting to be seated.  It was ok, though.  I was just glad we had reservations.

Or did we?

Heather insisted she had set reservations for 7:15 PM.  But, once 7:45 PM passed us by, we began to question.  Not long after that, we were finally seated toward the back of the restaurant, near the kitchen, with only one neighboring table.

Our waiter took our drink orders and returned promptly with drinks in hand.  He asked if we wanted sit and chat with our drinks for a while or if we were ready to order.  I promptly responded, with my water in hand, “bring the food, please.”

I realized a little later into the meal that a nice thing about The Melting Pot is that they don’t rush you through anything.  Which, of course, is why we didn’t get seated right at 7:15.  The meal experience lasts for several hours per table.

Our appetizer was a white wine/sherry based cheese sauce that included a shredded cheese blend, blue cheese, spice of some kind and shallots.  I’m usually not a blue cheese fan.  In fact, I loathe blue cheese.  So, when he dumped the blue cheese into the pot, I felt my heart sink.  But, I decided to give it a try.  And, much to my dismay, I actually liked it!  We had bread to dunk in the cheese, as well as apples and an assortment of vegetables.  The apples were my favorite.

As we ate our appetizer, the table next to us (four “ladies”) became increasingly loud…which of course coincided with the amount of liquour they were consuming.  Martinis, if you must know.  Anyway, it wasn’t that bad at first.  They were talking about mild things…like anti-aging cream.

After we finished our appetizers, the waiter cleared the table and then delivered the freshest of salads.  It was a field greens-type salad with cubed pieces of mango (or something like that) and hearts of palm.  It had a citrus vinagrette dressing.  It was perfect for clearing the palette.

Meanwhile, the group next to us continued to get louder.  They shared things that I wish I had never heard.  I’m glad they have healthy sex lives with their special someones.  I truly am.  But, really.  I don’t need to know the details.  I don’t need to know what turns them on.  I don’t need to know to what degree of pleasure they’ve, um, experienced.  I really don’t.

The entrees were brought out once our vegetable broth had come to a boil.  We had two large plates of meat that included chicken, shrimp and sirloin.  There was also a few stuffed ravioli on each plate.  And, we were given a bowl of vegetables that included potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and squash with a “search and rescue spoon” in case food items fell off the fondue forks while cooking.  The waiter also gave us all kinds of sauces to dip our food in.  We had a curry sauce, a teriyaki sauce, a barbecue sauce, a Gorgonzola sauce, a spicy cocktail sauce and a green goddess sauce (a house favorite).  They were all delicious.

While we were enjoying our entrees, excitement rose at the next table.   Apparently, one of the ladies found a hair in their food.  Naturally, the discovered hair led to another delightful conversation.  Again, I don’t care to know where these ladies did and did not have hair.  It’s not table conversation.  Their waiter and manager soon returned to their table offering a free round of drinks.  Great.

By the time our entrees were eaten, I was fairly full.  But, I could manage some dessert.  We had a white chocolate dipping sauce with chopped butterfinger (the candy bar) stirred in.  The dessert plates contained cheesecake, brownie bights, pound cake, oreo covered marshmallows, grahm cracker covered marshmallows, rice krispie treats, strawberries and bananas.  All were good.  The rice krispie treats were divine!

As we finished up dessert, the table next to us got eerily quiet.  I realized they were all trying to figure out their tips.   When their waiter returned one of the ladies felt the need to share her feelings regarding the Jonas Brothers with him.  I felt sorry for him.  He had to stand their and smile and pretend to be interested.  I wanted to tell him that they had already filled out his tip…he didn’t need to fake it anymore.

I was uncomfortably full by the time we were ready to leave.  But, I was ok with that.  If I’m going to spend $27 (tip not included) on a meal, I better be ready to pop by the time it’s all said and done.

All in all, it was a good experience.  The food was tasty and the service was great.  And, I have to admit, the ladies next to us certainly made it memorable.   I’ll be back.  Just not on ladies night.

For several weeks we had heard advertisements on the radio for “Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs” that was playing at the IMAX Theater at the Louisville Science Center. Kinda nerdy, I know. But hey, let’s be honest, Egyptian culture is fascinating. Anyway, we decided to go.

Wanting to make an evening of it, we, along with another friend, headed downtown one Saturday. We had intended on going to an early-evening showing of the film, but alas we were late. And unlike the movies at the local cinema, if you’re late to the IMAX, you’re not getting in.

In order to pass the time, we decided to visit some other museums around town. We had three hours to kill, after all. As we drove downtown, we started listing off all of the museums we could think of and almost everything we came up with cost money to get in.

So, I suggested we visit 21C Museum Hotel. It’s free, plus I had never been. For those who have never gone, it’s more like a modern art gallery. Some of the stuff in there was really good, other stuff was a bit too artistic for me, if you know what I mean.

After making our way through the gallery, we decided to visit Proof on Main (also located in the 21C building). We found a spot in the bar area to sit down in, relax and enjoy a beverage.

As soon as we walked in, I noticed the different art pieces on display in the restaurant. Atop the bar was a frightening mythical-like creature that seemed to offer his apple to all who passed by. I can’t imagine the kind of fear that thing would instill in someone after they had a few drinks. The wall directly opposite to where we sat was adorned with boobs. Thankfully my line of site was blocked by customers, tables and wait-staff, so I wasn’t quite as distracted as my friends. The wall to my right was lined with several painted faces. I thought the piece was quite interesting and found myself staring at it throughout the evening. I wondered what it would be like to have my face on a wall for all to see.

After Proof, we made our way over to the Science Center. For those who have never been, outside the center is a giant satellite dish-type of thing that has several individual square reflectors on it. When standing in front of it, looking into it, you see a thousand reflections of yourself. The dish has been there ever since I was a child.

Let me just pause to say a few words about my childhood memories of the Science Center. Every year, when I was in elementary school, we would take a field trip to the Science Center. It was, without a doubt, my favorite field trip of the year. I still remember the feelings of anticipation, the excitement of packing my lunch, the smell of the diesel fueled school bus. Those were the days!

Anyway, I was excited to walk around the Science Center to see what sort of exhibits still remained. The giant pendulum was still there. So was the bubble machine. However, I was pretty disappointed to find out that the sound room was gone. They had this room where you could speak into this hole and you could be heard on the opposite end of the room. It was the coolest thing ever.

They did have some other cool stuff, though. They have an entire section dedicated to brain activity and how we percieve things. For example, our brains often group shapes together to make whole objects. Isn’t that interesting? They also had an area dedicated to nutrition (I passed the quiz with flying colors). Of course my roommate found the exhibit on reproduction. It was just like being in 5th grade again.

The IMAX film was short, yet educational. We learned about Egyptian culture, religion, medicine and a few of the Pharaohs. I thought it was pretty interesting. So did the five hundred kids behind me. Okay, I’m exaggerating. The kids probably didn’t like it.

All in all, it was an enjoyable evening. The tour of the science center, along with the IMAX show only cost $15 a person. Plus, I learned a few things. What’s better than that?