To Gym Or Not To Gym

My apologies for the last post. After reading it today, I hung my head in shame. It is most definitely not my best work. I should never fly and write.

Right then.

Today was the first day at the Canton Fair. Like most trade shows, it consists of thousands of consecutive vendor booths perched on top of cement floors. I was doing my best Johnny Cash impression by dressing entirely in black and I finished the outfit with a fabulous pair of sandals.

Darling, eh? I thought so too but by the end of the day, after walking 12,543 steps ON UNYIELDING CONCRETE, they were about as cute as a fork in the eye. Late afternoon, I spied an old guy asleep on one of the benches in the center of the concourse. His feet looked to be roughly the same size as my own which I took as a lightning bolt from God. Really. My feet are size snowshoe so you understand how rare it is to find an Asian whose shoes I could steal borrow. Unfortunately, the authorities have been skittish this year, worried that some foreigner might unfurl a "Free Tibet" banner so I thought better of creating a scene. Several hours after kicking off my shoes, the outline of each one of those straps is still embedded in the top of my foot. It's a very attractive look for me. Nothing screams middle age like water retention.

From a business perspective, it was a pretty good day. We got a lot accomplished. From a diet viewpoint, it was a train wreck. At lunch, we ventured down into the bowels of the exhibition hall to the fast food court. There is a McDonald's and one of my work mates casually suggested that we dine there but I have standards and if I'm going to eat shit, it had better at least be indigenous crap. So we ordered dumplings, greasy fried noodles with ham and congee. It was a veritable carbohydrate festival. Which got me wondering how the Chinese stay so damn skinny. Practically everything they eat is loaded with carbs. Congee (rice porridge) for breakfast, rice, noodles, big buns filled with pork or sweets and then deep fried!! How, I ask you? How in the world do they stay stick thin?

Ah yes, they exercise.

Daily.

Rigorously.

And they walk, like African tribesmen.

We were on a bus coming back from the trade show. It was pouring down with rain because we are in the middle of Typhoon Neoguri and there were still gobs of people out on bicycles, pedaling furiously in the downpour. Some were even steering with one hand and holding an umbrella with the other. I don't believe there is a North American alive that would hop on a bike in this weather. No way. We'd peek outside, shrug our shoulders and walk only far enough to get a napkin to catch the donut crumbs.

So, I have made the decision to haul my lazy ass down to the gym in the morning. I have no sneakers and no socks but I do have a lovely pair of hotel slippers that ought to do the trick. See how dedicated I am? Impressed?

Or, I could just roll over and get an extra hour's worth of sleep.

It's a coin toss.