Beijing China 2011

Too many things to write about my China trip. So I will do my best to summarize the points. Basically, its a land of many people - people - people everywhere. Please beware when crossing road, as even with zebra lines or green light for pedestrian crossings does not necessary guarantee safety. I almost got knocked down while legally crossing with the green sign of a walking man. Yeap, drivers in Beijing do not stop

Anyway, that said ... my trip almost covered every worthy visited place in Beijing. So, let's start with some pictures ... Mind you I did not upload the entire hundreds of snap shot. Well, I am a cam whore... so here's a few good ones :

Arriving at the Temple of Heaven




Then, some random street pics



National stadium - Birdnest ... and the Aquatic Arena - Bubble hut :P




Chang Ling tomb, visiting the late Emperor Yong Le ... big lo his kubur.






Pillars are made of singular tree, cannot be burnt due to the wood type. Apparently, wood takes 700 hundred of years to grow.


Gate of hell. Not suppose to cross over, a common Chinese belief of leaving soul at the other side.


Some alley, perfect shooting point for model wannabe like me!



Great wall of China!!!



The wall of course is very long and have a few spots to start for the climb. Our tour choose "Ba Da Ling". Sounds like Petaling ... LOL







The fastest record ever to finish the entire wall, from the head to the tail ... is 2 months and 2 days, achieved by two british climbers. Salute!





TinNanMen and entering Forbidden City. Not that forbidden la ... with the amount of crowd galloping into the palace, would believe Mr Watch that soon the palace will sink into the ground.





I like this pic. I look good in it. So random hor ... haha







Lucky to have gotten a pic, without people in the scenery.




Then decided to go into smaller alleys to avoid the sheep instinct and crowd. My objective was to find for ancient toilet. Of course, many places are not allowed for visitation




But found the abandon project of crystal palace. The place was supposed to be filled up with water to showcase fishes. Imagine aquarium, in the size of that structure. China boleh!




Imperial garden




Outside

Then it was to ... Wang Jing Fu. Shopping! Sadly ... very exp!



I also went to Liu Li Chang (Antique street, but did not take any picture because was rushing ... as they were closing down the market).

The pictures below are from this cultural street ... but cannot remember the name. Damn! MC help help ... if you are reading :P







Bought most of my souvenirs at this street. Do visit for local designers inspiration too. There is a corner with smelly tofu too. Really stinking one lo



SUMMER PALACE - Must visit lo. According to trip advisor la. I like the place anyway, its like a palace with little town in it. Can you believe that a palace actually has a water way with streets next to it. Mini Venice like...







I cannot help but dine. Pricey but for the experience, worth it man!!!











The famous never ending long corridor walk





Some how, summer palace is more beautiful and laid back compared to the real palace -aka- forbidden city




The marble boat. Damn the emperor lo ... dunno why he need that also







Konon la mahu jadi model macam Chanel ad. Tak jadi



Quiet ... scary


Lama Temple. Got Guiness book of records - single tree carved buddha statue. No pictures allowed, so you gotta go see yourself la. Or google.





Love spring ... leaves getting greener



To end things. Beijing english is also very special.

1. Beware of slippery fall ... in beijing is known as:


2. Caution of steep stairways ... in beijing is known as:


There are more... but I laugh too loud each time, so have to escape the stares from the public thus at many times did not manage to capture the signage.

Well ... I wanna zzz le ... tomorrow flying off again.

Food from Beijing

FOOD

Spoiler ahead. Food pics. Food post. Food review

I am back from the capital of China. As you guys may have already known, I had an awesome time over there. One of the highlights of my trip is of course the food I have. Although Beijing is not famous for the dishes, MC did a good job to keep the meals fresh, new and in many ways entertaining ... except the time he tried to be funny on street food.

MC also wanted me to rank the places that he took me to, apparently he feels that I am kinda fussy and must sort'ta recommend certain places should anyone plans to visit the city. To be honest, I think Da Dong is one of the most pleasant experience. I literally do not eat duck but MC talks me into being a big fan of Peking Quack. To drag me to the dark side, it was no other than the famous wooden roasted duck at Da Dong.



Me at Da Dong restaurants. Had the place twice since I had an orgasmic experience there.


Cant remember the name of this dish, but its like chili oil with peanut sauce with chicken. You can actually taste the peanut lo. Incredible I tell you!


Famous chicken dish with almond slices. Must have when there. It taste abit like Kong Po Chicken but without the spicy tangy chilis. Apparently a famous local dish


This dish is particularly new to me. Its like ginko dates with tofu and egg. It looks like some dessert, but its actually a main dish. Think of soup. Thick soup. Very filling ...


Healthy rice. It looks black ... but in actual fact, it is purple. Some kinda grains la. But they fried it with salted fish which is yummy! Not to mention that the rice has a very nice texture


Peking Duck condiments, with the ABSOLUTELY YUMMY DUCK. The skin is crispy and duck taste is very nicely roasted. They actually show you how they do it at the entrance of the restaurant. Then a live presentation of slicing it into thin pieces. A dish I didn't knew I would fall in love with.

That said, I think Little Sheep which sells hot pot soup is quite fun too. The service is top notch and super friendly. You order it like the local steamboat but their highlight is of course the yin yang soup as below, which is infused with strong herbal taste! The compliment to the soup of course is the variety of vegs, meats and things you can throw into it.

The interesting thing is of course is the sheep meat you can eat. LOL. Ok, it is the lamb you can order. The sesame sauce also kinda heightens the taste. One new thing I found is that they actually give you the raw meat where you have to roll them yourself into balls to be put into the soup. I had a good laugh doing it.





I did not bought an apron, nor it was part of my wardrobe. Most of the patrons were given it to substitute napkins. But I look cute in it, so I actually wanted to take one home. Of course, MC talk me out of it. Haha

One piece of advise, never dip vegs into the red hot soup unless you are up for some real fear factor challenge of handling breathing, taste and hot scalding oil in your mouth. Smoke gets in your eyes!

Then of course, there are the average food that we had. I cannot continue to specifically blog them cos I am already having my saliva dripping down the side of my lips. So, here's a brief :


Cha Jiang Mien!


This is what I call grass. Only cows eat em. MC humoured me with this dish, thou we finish it.


Pork slices that you wrap with onion and wanton skin. Superly greasy


Chives pancake. One of my favourite ~ kinda overkill thou. It is as big as a small size pizza. So better count your heads before ordering it


Onions with lamb. Super greasy too.


Honey candies. One of my favourite snack while watching CNN


Crispy pan fried "Da Long Pao". Self named. LOL. Careful of squirting soup


and their sweet and sour ribs are ... heavenly! You can get them anywhere!

To end the post. We also had a trial on fine dining in Beijing and for once, everyone was nicely dressed, speak pleasantly well english and had dining etiquette. We were at this place call : Maison Boulud.







The price are seriously not absurd and with the portion, it is actually value for money. Still, prepare to spend about RMB600 for a 3 course meal. Mind you, must be in formal too :-)

Overall, they have quite proper food and restaurants, except some are pretty run down. Avoid street food cos apparently, south east asia and west asia is different in that sense. Do bear in mind that Beijingers eat proper meals, so don't expect supper or any like small stalls selling food in the middle of the night. I had problems with that cos I was always hungry, mouth itchy, lips itchy, tongue itchy ... whatever you put it. But I have a reason to it ... cold weather, boy needs energy!



So yah, try all the food. Be adventurous. But avoid : "CLICK ON PIC TO READ THE LABELS!"



and sea horse which I had no heart to take the pics... skewered !!!

In conclusion, food are typically greasy. North bound states. So bring some charcoal pills or even pack up constipation meds if necessary. Do visit their grocery store or supermarket and enjoy the variety of milk (ie; red date, black sesame, green bean, red bean and my favourite barley flavoured)....

Hungry already ... :-D

A start that comes a great end

As I sit, looking out the glass wall (yeap glass from ceiling to floor - jealous nya!) overseeing the cityscape, lighted naturally by sunlight and typing away on the Macbook ... I cannot believe how much I will miss the little things I have encounter. The trip has indeed been a great escapee and to be honest with you, I kinda look forward for work and the battle against impossible draconian bosses.

What some will put it, vacation well spent.

That said, I have also spent numerous hours drifting away and often wonder how life would be like for me sitting across the other side river. One things for certain, I love the cold weather. No doubt about that, cos I get to dress up and often cuddle warmly in bed while enjoying the natural chilly winds whispering into the room at night. How I dread sleeping through my aircond back home coughing with a tingling sound

The balance of cultural learnings, historical visits as well as comical jokes, talks and laughters, to top it with mild shopping has definitely cast a comforting effect. The luxury of having a great friend with open arms and touring you with endless non-complaint photo taking has been the tip of my trip! Thanks MC

So as I am ushered to quickly depart ... I cannot wait to blog about my trip in sight-seeing, the lifestyle and culinary experience I have shortly endeavored. I shall do it tomorrow. I promise :-)