"Okay Laila, Dad and I are going to take Ben to Hip Hop Camp. You'll be staying with Uncle Danny this weekend. We'll pick you up on Sunday night." "Yes Mom." "You have all of our contact info right Danny? Danny? Can you stop looking at your hair and goatee for a few minutes and listen?"  "Yeah, yeah. She'll be fine, won't you Lola?" "Her name is Laila." "Since when?" "Since always. Sigh! Have a good weekend and have fun with Uncle Danny. Oh, and try to behave." "I will" Laila replied. 'I was talking to your uncle."

"Uncle Danny, I'm bored." "It's 11 o'clock at night. You should be asleep." "I know but I watched a show about panda bears and it got me all excited. They're my favorite animal." "Well, I don't have any here so go to bed." "Where are they from?" "I think they're mainly found in China. Listen Laila, if I don't get at least 10 hours of sleep I'm not myself the next day." "Okay. Good night Uncle Danny."

Unable to fall asleep, Laila decided that she wanted to go to China. She packed her bags and called a taxi. "Where to Miss?" "Take me to the airport please." "Will do. So where are you headed?" "I'm going to China to meet some panda bears." "Sounds like fun. I hope you have a good time. Hey! You're just a kid! How old are you?" "I'm 27. I look really young for my age." "That's good enough for me."

"One two-way ticket to China please" Laila said to the Ticket Agent at the airport." "You look pretty young to be flying all by your self?" "I'm actually an International pop singer named Lady LaLa." "Wow! A famous celebrity at my booth. Here's your ticket. You will be boarding at Gate 7. Can I get your autograph?" "Got a pen?" Laila got in line with the rest of the passengers and boarded the plane bound for China.

"Something feels a little strange but what could it be? OMG! I know. I forgot to moisturize before bed! Oh well, back to sleep."

Laila's plane touched down in China after a long 12 hour flight. Thankfully she was able to nap through most of the trip. When she wasn't snoozing, Laila had quite a few interesting conversations with some of the passengers on the plane. This gave her a good opportunity to brush up on her Mandarin. Laila retrieved her luggage and hailed a cab. Her first stop was The Great Wall of China.

Laila couldn't find the entrance so she ended up having to climb. "Hmm, I guess walls don't really work after all. Time for me to find some cute panda bears to play with. But first I need to find something to eat. Excuse me Miss, do you speak English?" "Yes I do. Can I help you with something?" "Do you know where I can find some Chinese food?" "Uh, yeah. Anywhere. We're in China." "Oh right" Laila laughed. "Follow me. I know a great place in Beijing called 'The Hungry Dragon'. You'll love it."

THE HUNGRY DRAGON RESTAURANT

BRUCE LEE PLAZA

"It sure is crowded here" Laila noticed as the streets were bustling with large groups of people. "That's why we're going to cycle to the restaurant." "But I don't have a bike." "You can borrow my brother's bike." "Will he be upset?" Laila worried. "Nah. He's a good big brother. He can be a goofball sometimes but I love him." "I know what you mean" Laila smiled as the pair began to cycle to The Hungry Dragon Restaurant.

The girls were seated at their table and given menus. "There's so much to choose from. Why don't you order for us?" Laila asked. "Okay. I'll probably order what I usually have. My name is Mei Ling by the way." "I'm Laila." "What brings you all the way to China Laila?" "I want to meet some panda bears." "There's a lot to see and do here in China but I'm sure we'll run into a few pandas." "Yippee! Here comes our waiter with your leftovers. He sure is short."

"Wow! You weren't kidding. There sure is a lot to see here Mei Ling!" "And there's still so much we haven't seen. We've seen The Forbidden City, The Terracotta Army, The Temple of Heaven and you got to meet Jackie Chan." "This is all very interesting but where are the pandas?" "They're at The Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center." "Let's go!" an excited Laila shouted. "Okay, but we'll need to take the bullet train. It's a long trip."