Lighting test tomorrow and Beijing: Part I

Long day ahead of us tomorrow. We’re being picked up at 10:30 and the lighting test begins sometime in the afternoon and should go until later in the night. Hopefully we’ll be out of there by 9pm, but I’m not counting on it.

Some kind of cold is kicking my ass, too. Stef had it bad yesterday and now I’m feeling a bit low and Matt is bed-ridden, I think. Him and I came home early today and he was out of commission for tonight. Him and Gregg have a budget meeting tomorrow morning with Tasman so it’s questionable whether Compton will be there or not.

Got back from Beijing on Sunday night. The trip was exhausting but it was an incredible experience. Our guide, Alan, who works at October Films in their Beijing office, was a godsend. She planned everything out for us and tried to keep our dumb American asses on a schedule.

Got to the airport in Beijing on Friday night and immediately hit STARBUCKS. So sad but so reassuring to be able to get the same damn cup of coffee everywhere on earth. Right next to KFC, too. I was so tempted to pick up a crispy chicken sandwich there but I somehow fought the urge.

Headed to our hotel, which was a little adventure. The traffic was crazy. Friday night rush hour in Beijing is just as bad as anywhere in the US. We get to our room and there’s a little sign above the sink that tells us the water isn’t potable unless it’s boiled.

This ain’t no Hong Kong, that’s for sure.

Out to the first of our fabulous meals, this one of the best Peking Duck place in Beijing. Alan knows her restaurants, man. Private room, great service and fantastic food. We were pretty tired but we still went to a little Cuban bar nearby called Latinos. The kids danced while the Chinese clientele wondered what the hell these American kids were doing at a nightclub on Friday night. But the kids had a blast, so what the hell.

Headed to the Great Wall on Saturday morning, after a visit to MCDONALDS for breakfast. Half way around the earth to eat breakfast at Mickey-freaking D’s. So sad, but man, was that BIG BREAKFAST tight!

The Great Wall was exactly as amazing and awe-inspired as I imagined it would be, except it was hot as balls and packed with tourists. My knees ached like crazy during the major climb. The kids got tired really quick and Stef and I had to carry them at least half the time. We also had to deal with stopping every five minutes or so so that groups of people could take photographs with our kids. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Especially Amelia, who got special attention because she’s in such a cute age and her golden hair, but all three kids got a lot of attention from the Chinese.

This ain’t no Hong Kong, that’s for sure.

Binks loved it. She said that she loved being famous. It was fun, of course. I mean what parent doesn’t love their kid being treated like something special? It caused a lot of delays, though. Gregg and I were saying that we should’ve set up a little booth somewhere and charged money to take pictures with the “cute whitey kids”. We could’ve made a fortune.

Anyway, much more to say about the trip but I’m freaking exhausted so that’s it for now. I’ll try to get back and finish the tale of Beijing.

Wish us luck tomorrow. Big day for figuring out how the hell this film is going to look like. Counting on Lam to make me proud.

Peace.

-ed