Innovative Footwear

Yesterday my friend and I were meeting some people for dinner in a courtyard restaurant just off of Goulou Dajie.

However, as dinnertime approached, the sky got darker and it began to rain -- hard.

My friend was determined to make sure his shoes with a mesh top wouldn't get soaked, so he wrapped them up in plastic shopping bags.

I chastised him for wearing bags on his feet, and opted not to make that fashion faux pas by wearing my tennis shoes.

But when we got outside, it was absolutely pouring, as lightning and thunder flashed and loudly crackled in the sky.

Luckily the trolley bus we wanted to catch was in a covered area. However, the seats on the bus were wet as the windows weren't closed when it started raining...

So far my shoes were holding up well... until we got off at our stop and the small street where the restaurant was had turned into a river. I had no choice but to step into the rushing water and my runners were soaked.

Less than an hour after we arrived at the restaurant, the rain stopped and after we finished eating, the river outside the restaurant had disappeared along with most of the puddles.

While I had to deal with wet feet in my soaked runners, my friend was very pleased to have his shoes completely dry.

Sometimes it pays to more practical than stylish, especially with thunderstorms in Beijing...