Chapter 187

I woke up around 11, I’m letting myself go these days. I looked at my messages, the Belarusian and the Amazonian were still in town and they were about to eat at a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant with a new friend. It was a bit over 4 km from the Hutongster’s pad, so I leashed the dogs and got on my way, making sure I put on my stupid useless fayssah mursk for the 20 meters or so I had to cover before getting to the street.

After passing the Drum Tower, I got a rent-a-bike. My dog is now used to run as I ride a bike, but the Hutongster’s dog didn’t seem too on board with the plan at first. Her fear of that weird wheeled thing soon got conquered, and she trotted along like a champ.

I was a bit surprised that the shaved heads at the Buddhist restaurant didn’t allow the dogs in. I thought they liked animals?! Who would have known that Buddhists are hypocritical NIMBYists? So on that day, for the first time, I got refused access to a restaurant because I had a dog with me, sometimes, often even, they moan a bit but offer a compromise, like sitting in a corner or outside. No such luck this time. I can’t be too mad though, they were polite and all, it just sucked not to be able to have lunch with my old pals before they take their train back to Jinan. They hung out with me a bit on the restaurant patio (not equiped for dining) and then we said our goodbyes.

I walked home, not wanting to put too much stress on the dogs. They like running but it’s a hot day, and the asphalt is even hotter. We stopped at a small eatery, I was craving something simple, like fried rice smothered in hot peppers. I accompanied that with a beer and a chicken thigh, it was delicious and inexpensive. There was a park on the way with red-faced men working out on calisthenics structures, I did three sets of pull-ups and three sets of dips, I can’t slack off too much.

I then dropped the dogs, got my bag of now clean laundry from the Hutongster’s second floor, and went to drop it at the car so I wouldn’t have too much stuff to carry the following day. There was a paper slipped under my windshield, I feared the worst but it was just a leaflet explaining how to pay for parking on this street, by scanning a code. Hmmm, a warning then? The prices were extortionate, at 2.5 yuan per 15 minutes! I decided to just move the car a bit further down the street and try my luck, hopefully none of those parasites will come back by tomorrow when I leave.

I went back home and relaxed in the AC. I had time to watch a movie before the Hutongster was to come back, I watched a 2018 sci-fi flick called Mute. I then saw it got a lot of negative reviews but I liked the dystopian near future universe and the main character was intriguing.

Then my pal got home, and we went for a walk, ending up at a dog-friendly bar. They had their own dog on the premises, he was quite friendly but also extremely horny, humping air and trying to get our dogs to join his little skin-slapping party. They denied rather aggressively but the little fella kept trying hard. I was a bit hungry so after getting my Great Leap IPA I perused the menu, most of it was Vietnamese but they also had poutine, for some reason. Now, I’m far from a culinary orthodox, but I’ve never had a really satisfying poutine outside of Quebec and Eastern Ontario, without the proper cheese curds it can be an OK substitute, but still not the real thing. I still ordered it, and it was not bad at all, the gravy was flavorful and they used homemade curds that had the consistency of Indian paneer cheese.

Then we bounced to another bar in the area, the original Great Leap Brewery location. I had been a few times to their big flagship brewpub but never to the original über-hipster hutong spot. They had an outdoor seating area and were welcoming to quadrupedes, we downed a few pints talking about the state of the world right now and the historical events that led us here. The Hutongster is a history teacher and is surprisingly well versed in the history of Quebec, we talked about the relationship between French settlers and Native Americans over the centuries and how incredibly complicated and nuanced it is, much more than both sides of the political spectrum would like us to believe. I like such conversations.

We went back to the first bar, where we had learned it was pub quiz night and assembled a team in the meantime. Socratease and Up The Butt joined us, and we competed against two other teams of hipsterish expats over trivia questions. We lost every round except the last one in which we got 10/10, and got six Heinekens and a round of tequila for our efforts. Good times.