This Is Not Water

Earlier this week, I wrote about the cheap hats you buy in Florida and take to other places, as well as an aquatic ninja warrior experience with Liam in the Adriatic Sea.

This had me thinking about some other travel stories and one that came to mind right away was our first trip to Beijing with Liam. It is memorable all right but also infamous.

Liam was young, couldn’t have been more than 3-years-old. On a Sunday morning, we were about to have an early lunch at Xiaoli’s mom’s house. Her mom was preparing the meal and Xiaoli’s sister and brother-in-law were there as well.

We realized that we were out of bottled water and I was drafted to go to a nearby store that we had shopped at previously.

Given my limited sense of direction, not going to lie, I was feeling pretty good about myself when I found the store without any issues. I asked the cashier where the bottled water was and he pointed in the general direction. 

I wasn’t positive the cashier knew any English but he had responded affirmatively so maybe he understood. There were quite a few choices at varying prices, all which seemed a touch expensive.

I should point out here, probably not surprisingly, that I have no aptitude for currency translations. The bottled water seemed expensive, but it was possible I did not convert the price correctly. Regardless, it wasn’t that much money and we needed the water.

So I paid more than I thought I should and returned to the house. One other mitigating point for what transpired next – beyond my interactions with the cashier – was that no one in Xiaoli’s house commented on the purchase.

We started eating and pretty soon Liam asked for water. I poured him a glass and he instantly spat it out. I wanted to reprehend him but his face was still in shock.

I decided maybe I should try the water myself.

It only took one sip to realize this was not water but cheap Chinese alcohol. I can only imagine what was going on in Liam’s little head.

So, the next time you are looking for the best Chinese alcohol to serve your young children, you know how to find me.