Smile, Lion!

The album for Beijing is up!

IMG_3592A, originally uploaded by Technical Tango.

紫禁城 Forbidden City

Uploading in process....

Flickr : Bonk! xx files did not make it..

Me : This is so traumatising!

I have spent almost one whole day uploading the photos and I only managed to get 62! I even went to the extent of compressing the photos. Still! W.H.Y?

See this urn or vat. It is coated with real gold! (In the past they store water in these vats so if there is a fire, they can use these water to put out the fire).

IMG_3523A, originally uploaded by Technical Tango.

Our itinerary
First day - Weather was really bad ; heavy rain and temperature went down to 14 degree Celsius! Frozen! In the evening, Fen's brother took us to a Sichuan restaurant. Business was so brisk that they do not accept reservations. One of the many dishes that they ordered; I do not know what this is called but this is really power!

Second day - Weather was so much better and warmer. We visited Tiananmen and Forbidden City which are two of the "must-go" places in Beijing. (I am still trying to upload the photos to Flickr).

Third day - We reached the National Museum in the late morning but it was closed!! So we went to the wholesale book stores and medicated halls as Fen needed to get the stuffs for her TCM course. After that, Fen's brother took us to this hype shopping place where they have a 3 storey Uniqlo!

Fourth day - We visited Great Wall! It is a dream came true (for me). 不到长城非好妹. I am a 好妹 now. It was very misty and not a good day for photographs. But I enjoyed the wind and that "meng(4) huan(4)" feel very much

Go Beijing must eat Beijing duck right? We had dinner at 北京大董烤鸭店. It is very nice; much better than all those Beijing ducks that I have ever tried in Singapore.

Fifth day - We decided to visit the National Museum again but it was closed for a special event!! No luck again!

We have a very laid back itinerary. At times when we were not doing something touristy, we chill out at Fen's brother place watching cartoons by Hayao Miyazaki. Anyway, if you have time, do visit Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven; also one of the 'must see places in Beijing".

My checked-in luggage on the return trip was 24.8KG!! Madness! I think it is likely due to the yuan yang hotpot, 10 peaches and one frozen beijing duck. 

C is for Civilisation

I am back from Beijing (and just in time to attend Oktoberfest at Swiss Club on the same night).

One of the must-do : eat Beijing duck. Yums!
from  北京大董烤鸭店 

Another must-do and also my main purpose for this trip : Climb Great Wall of China  八達嶺長城

A heart-warming scene where the son held tightly to his mother's hand as they climbed Great Wall together.

We see these banners everywhere "civilisation for a better society". In my humble opinion, China still has a long journey to civilisation. 10, 20 or perhaps another 50 years. We witnessed children poo-ing on the streets (just opposite Tian An Men!) A mother held up his toddler for him to pee into a dustbin. And that dustbin is situated inside the shopping centre. An upmarket shopping centre with international brands like Gucci, Chanel, etc. *shrugs* As usual, there's the massive spitting on the streets. It is akin to a mine ; hard to avoid.

I will must post pictures soon!

Counting down!

4 more days to Beijing! Today, I also reserved air ticket to Shanghai; have to be there in the second week of October for training.

Side tracked - I had been craving for hotpot for weeks!! Last Sunday I had steamboat at 食唯天. The herbal chicken booth is yums!! We also had the tom yum booth which was average and not really spicy. I find it abit too sweet. We also ordered zi char - Deep Fried Chai Poh Fish, Salted Egg Yolk Prawns (my fave!!) and Guiness Stout Pork Ribs. I did not bring camera and it was really a waste! The ambience of the restaurant is nostalgia to the max!!!! 

Busy bee is in town

June is a busy month!!
4 days of seminar in TOWN *shreks*
 If I can find some time, I will drop by my previous company at City Hall and give my ex colleagues a shock surprise. Hur Hur...
1 day of leave
5 days of work trip = 1.5 days of 'me' time + 2 days of meeting + 1.5 days of flight time.
Flight time is 14 hours (one way) and there is a time difference of 6 hours. Looks like I can do another movie marathon.

This week
There are my cousin's wedding dinner, lunch date with gf and dinner gathering with my old classmates. And I want to watch X-men this week!!!! Find me time please!

Travel plans
Barcelona in June

air ticket - issued

hotel - taken care of by HQ

I will have a day to do some sightseeing and shopping (if I am not too tired). I need to start planning my itinerary. The colleague from China will be arriving on Saturday night and she is getting the tickets for the opera on Sunday. Cool!!

Beijing in September

air ticket and hotel - taken care of by Fen. She has already bought the air tickets! Her brother has offered to help us plan our itinerary. Nice! *grins*