The much anticipated moment has arrived. It had been almost two months since I saw Ben and now I am visiting him in Beijing.
It was time to go to the airport. The flights to Asia are mostly red eye flights. I am not sure why it is almost always red eye flights. Anyone knows why?
My flight departed at 2:50 AM. So, I had to be in the airport before midnight. I took a cab from home to the airport. Although the distance is just about 10 km, the trip costs $30, including tips. Anyway, just remember this $30. I went to the airport early just to make sure I did not miss anything and in case I need to rush home to get anything. Every thing did go smoothly!.
There were two meals on the direct flight to Beijing on Air China. The first meal is a breakfast. I opted for western breakfast which the main item is an omelet. The other option was Chinese and it’s main item was porridge. The meal was ok.
The second meal I had was beef with noodles. I did not finish the food because Ben reminded me to save some room for Beijing breakfast. Yeah, he was telling me all of the places that he wanted to bring me to eat. I was excited to say the least.
I arrived very early at 5:30 AM. The airport was not busy at that time. It was the first time …I went to Beijing and frankly, it was also the first time I travelled so far on my own. Not fully familiar with what I need to do, I just followed the people and went through immigration smoothly and went to pick up my luggage. Waiting for the luggage was quite long. After all, the Beijing airport is one of the largest and busiest airport in the world.
I was so excited to see Ben after almost two months since he left home for his assignment in Beijing. The above were some of the pictures from the Beijing airport. We took a cab back to Ben’s suite to put down the luggage and set off immediately for breakfast. I wanted to get out to get as much of sun as I can so that I can overcome the jet lag as soon as possible.
Remember my cab fare for 10 km in Richmond was $30? Well, the cab from Beijing airport to Wangfujing was about 30kms and it costs RMB 87 (about $15). It’s 3 times the distance and costs half the price. Things are a lot more cheaper in Beijing than in Vancouver for sure.
I like bread and pastries. So Ben brought me to one of his favourite bakeries. There are a lot of bakeries in Beijing that it is impossible for me to try them all! I got a Peanut Butter bun from Ben’s favourite bakery, the BreadTalk which is actually a Singaporean bakery.
This is not really cheap according to Beijing standard. It was RMB 7 which is about slightly more than $1.
This was my first taste of Beijing street food. These carts are opened for business in the morning for the morning crowd.
It’s a kind of fried bread sandwich. You can have it plain or with meat. The above with meat was just RMB4 (about 65 cents). It was served in a plastic bag and your hand will get greasy eating it. Always bring your own napkins everywhere you go.
While looking for a place where to wash my hands, I actually went to a public toilet. It was a huge mistake. There are no stalls in the toilet and people just do their business like that. It”s beyond my wildest imagination. I don’t even see a basin to wash hands. I got out as fast as I got in. Never again, I will go into a public toilet there.
We ended up at Yonghe King for more breakfast items and to use the washroom there.
We had freshly made soy milk, porridge, youtiao and another jian bing. All the above for RMB18 (about $3).
Before we headed back to the hotel for a rest, we stopped at another snack place and had the above snack. I’m not sure exactly what it was. It was some kind of vegetarian snack which shaped like fried fish.
It had been a very long day for me and I just need some sleep before we ventured out for dinner.
Glad to see you re-unite with Ben, 2 months is a long time. Hope you’re having a good relaxing trip and give our best to Mr. Chowtimes !
Have a great trip and enjoy your time with your hubby.
When is Ben coming back?
Hi Tintin: I am coming back in mid-January. But at the way things are progressing here in Beijing, I won’t be surprised if the company will ask me to stay for a longer stint next year. I love the job and the role I am playing here in Beijing … but it comes with a heavy price of being away from the family. I’ll cross the bridge when I come to it next year. Ben
I used a public toilet once. There were stalls but the doors were so low you could actually see people inside the stalls while you walked by. But Suanne, bet it’s not as bad as those makeshift toilet in the countryside I had tried before.
Hi Lissa: It just so happened that the first toilet Suanne went into was just holes on the floor with no partitions at all. Not all of them are like that. The newer ones are a bit more acceptable. Anyway, the public toilets generally are pretty squalid places. In my time here, I had managed to avoid these toilets with careful planning. 🙂 Ben
So glad to see you get a chance to spend time with Ben! Long distance is not easy…
That breakfast with the jian bing and fresh soymilk looks delicious!
The best suggestion to get over the jetlag when you are in China is to have decent foot massage before going to bed. My usual time of arriving HK or Guangzhou is by late evening, take a shower and have a light meal then head out for a foot massage, some hotel has that facility inside the building. The massage really relax you as I always fell asleep while they massage my feet.
i am not as venturous as you guys are.I don’t eat street food because of the sanitary and food safe reason.
I always found Shanghai has much more quality restaurants than Beijing, If you have the time, take a high speed train to SH, it is only 5 hours away and it is a different world.
Oh! Lovely, you guys are both in China now~
I can’t wait to read more of your reviews~
BTW, if you guys have a chance to go to HK, you gotta try the famous Pig Oil/Soy Sauce on “beggar’s clay pot” rice.
It is #1 on my list from HK.
I heard that this is the one and only restaurant that serve it~
http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=6952
=)
Hi Lily: Too bad. We did not get the chance to visit HK. China is a huge country and will take a lot of time to visit them all. The Pig Oil.Soy Sauce on beggar claypot rice sound very delicious. I wonder if they have this somewhere in Beijing. Ben
Hi you might be surprised to know that Yonghe King is actually a Filipino owned franchise owned by Jollibee Foods the largest Fastfood group in the Philippines owned by the Filipino Chinese Tan family.If you get a chance to try Oishi,the largest snack food manufacturer in China also Filipino Chinese owned.We Pinoys love our food
Hi Pinot Gourmet: Oh wow, I did not know that Jollibee owns Yonghe King. Is there any Yonghe King in the Phillippines yet? Ben
Hi, Ben & Suanne:
Glad to see you in Beijing. I am in Shaoguan City, in the northern Guangdong Province of China. I’ve just been to a local department store and it’s got the biggest food section I’ve seen, even bigger than T & T, Safeway and the supermarkets back home.
Have fun and enjoy the adventure;-)
Gan Bei!
Hi Ben Unfortunately none yet.Enjoy Beijing in the winter,less tourists but more pollution from the coal burning.
Have a great time in Beijine Suanne! 🙂 Who’s gonna feed your kids fried rice now?!
Hey Suanne,
Glad to hear you’re reuniting with Ben after two long months! You’ll love your stay there cuz there’s so much to see/explore and most of all EAT!!!
I’m so glad you’re still keeping Chowtimes alive since Ben is too busy now. I really enjoy reading all your post, so plz. take more photos & share!!!
I was at Costco the other day and as I was sampling their food, I couldn’t help but think of what Ben once posted about him actually having a whole meal there from all the food samples!!! LOL. I ended up doing the same thing and saved myself at least a good $20 cuz I would’ve gone out somewhere to grab a bite ;p. So yeah, Thanx Ben for that awesome post on Costco!!!
Enjoy U’r trip Susanne and stay safe!!!
Alice