Qingdao – Day 5 of Sailing

August 13th

Started day with a run on the treadmill. It is so incredibly hot in the gym and you are inhaling cigarette smoke the whole time, so it is very enjoyable!

Stayed in this morning – didn’t feel that great. Did some laundry in the bathroom sink. Here is my “dryer”

I can’t wait to use an actual washer & dryer again – not to mention Snuggle! I was able to find Tide, but no Snuggle.

I have observed that everywhere you go, there are attendants cleaning and wiping things down. However, it still smells and appears dirty. I have come to the conclusion that if they only added some bleach, this place would be sparkling clean and smell free!

For example, I see them vacuuming all the time in the hotel, but the carpet is still dirty. And there has been a hair on my shower wall since the day I arrived. I look at it everyday and wonder if the housekeeper will get it today (and who does it belong to?).
So bottom line, they make it seem like they are cleaning – when in reality….

Work went fine. 4 races got postponed until tomorrow because of there were a lot of delays today.

Looks like there are starting to set up the staging area for the medals ceremonies.


This is something that is rare – seeing a Cavaliers jersey! Actually, I am pretty sure it is the first one I have seen in China. If you see anything NBA here, it is the Rockets. (And even though you can’t tell from the back, he was Chinese.)


I need my nails done. I don’t know if they will make it another 2 weeks! I could get them done here – but I fear the spas don’t have the same health standards as I am accustomed to. So I am gonna try to wait it out.

Have I mentioned how hot it was here?
Did you notice in the photos from yesterday our uniform shirts? Long sleeves!
We are the only venue that was issued shorts – so we are super lucky!
However, the girls on our crew were not issued shorts, only pants. How sexist is that?
But, I will admit, because we are hours away from Beijing, our venue managers allow us to all wear shorts and ANY shorts – not just the uniform ones.

After work I went to the Hisense Mall. Which is a super fancy-schmancy mall. I mean the kind of stores you only see in fashion magazines (Prada, Versace, Gucci, Tiffany, Hermes, and all sorts that I don’t know how to pronounce or spell!) Not at all like Easton or Tuttle!

There was a fancy supermarket in the basement. Again, a high end version of Whole Foods – which fascinates me – because to me – Whole Foods is the grocery of all groceries! I wanted so much to buy a pineapple – but what would I do with it? I have no way to cut it. If only they sold the fresh precut version (like Publix, Kroger & Whole Foods)

I bought some cheese and orange juice because they are things I miss and things they had U.S. versions of (Land O Lakes & Dole)

The intriguing thing about this mall was the parking situation. They have all these girls in white dresses and huge white hats directing you where to park your car or bike. 2 girls chased me down to make sure I had locked my bike. The first one mimed locking my bike and I nodded ‘yes’.

They all have like secret service headsets and microphones – so the next girl stopped me and radioed the another girl to check on my bike to ensure (again) it was under lockdown before I entered the mall.


Didn’t feel like going out. Hoping to get out of my ‘funk’ tomorrow.

Ate dinner alone the hotel – but had asparagus and it was fabulous! It is one of things I have missed over the past few weeks. (Ok, if had ordered “as is” off the menu, it would of come with fried quail eggs. (what?) But have any of you ever known me to EVER order something as it comes on the menu?)

Even though I am here 12 more days – which seems like an eternity – I need to take advantage of the opportunity to take in the sites.

Tomorrow is a new day :)