I had been flying here and there for the last little while … everywhere but China. LOL! It’s too complicated to explain. There were a number of things that took a little lot longer than everyone anticipated.

But I am finally in the YVR airport. With all my bags packed and all.

One of the things that made things took so long was that I had problems with … (more…)

Hi Honey:

It was what I call a productive day. I took a couple of hours nap at the hotel after a full day of roaming around Beijing. The day started very early at about 7AM and by the time I got back at 4PM, I had covered the Beihai Park, the Lama Temple, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower.

Surprisingly I did not sleep long. I think I was beginning to get used to long days on the feet. For dinner that day, I took a 10 minutes walk from the hotel to the Little Sheep Hot Pot.

It is the familiar logo, isn’t it? We have a Little Sheep Hot Pot in Richmond and I had even blogged about it here. One thing I find puzzling is that while in China, this chain hot pot restaurant is called Little Sheep while the restaurant in Richmond is called Mongolian Hot Pot. The Chinese name and the logo remain the same too.

This green round logo is so familiar too. There were quite a number of Little Sheep restaurants in Beijing. They all look high end and expensive looking, unlike the one we have in Richmond which was just so-so.

Yeah, I was kind of worried not knowing what to expect. The restaurant was quite posh. It is certainly one of the more fancier hot pot restaurants I had been to. Everything is sparkling clean. It looked like an expensive setting.

The menu was exciting. It was unlike the small 1-2 pager menu we have in Vancouver. It is like … (more…)

Hi Honey:

I got scammed. I remember reading about it online but it just did not click until it was too late … or kind of too late.

After the Lama Temple, I was thinking about where to go have something to eat. After walking so much around the Beihai Park and Lama Temple, I also needed somewhere to have a proper seat down too with a cool drink or something.

It was then I remember a lot of people I spoke to recommend that I go to Houhai (the “Rear Sea”) because they have a lot of eateries. My friends at work too told me how great it is and how I must definitely go. Then the Beijing folks I work with the week earlier also recommend the same place. And finally, I remember a rickshaw puller who approached me a few days ago also offered to take me there.

So without hesitation, I hailed a cab for a short ride there.

When I told the cab driver to drop me off at “Houhai” and I want to “chi dongxi” (eat something), he dropped me off on … (more…)

Hey Honey:

From the Beihai Park, I took a cab to the Lama Temple. Since it was mentioned as a must-see place in the guidebook where they devoted two pages to this place, I thought I go check it out. The guidebook did not mention about the size of the temple and so I thought it would be a small compound. I did not realize it was actually the size of a small palace.

Moreover, I was curious about this place because of the word Tibetan in the name. I do not know much about the Tibetan history in the context of China’s history. I know a lot of people are against Tibet being part of China but I do also know that for hundreds of years, Tibet had long association with China in one way or another.

The taxi driver dropped me off on the main street. There were a lot of shops selling Buddhist prayer paraphernalia, like 90% of the shops here sells Buddhism related things. A lot of them sells joss sticks. There were a number of Buddhist monks around in their yellow robes who garnered quite a lot of respect from the people there. Many of the monks do look like they are Tibetans with their darker complexion and weather worn faces.

Entrance was 25 RMB ($4 Canadian) and the audio guide was … (more…)

Hey honey:

This is the third day of my real vacation in Beijing. It is a Monday. I was mindful of this as this is a working day. I figure that today would be the day where the tourists spots are going to be a lot more quieter. This is unlike the previous two weekend days. So I was looking forward to a more relaxed and slow day.

So I got out of the hotel a little earlier today. It was just past 7:00 AM. I wanted to take the time to have breakfast and to read about the sightseeing for the day. Yeah, I was winging it for this trip. If you recall, I had just less than two days notice to come to Beijing and how quickly you got the guide books for me from the library. For this day, my aim was to visit the Beihai park.

People do seems to start work very early here. Even at this early an hour, a lot of people were already out and about streaming in and out of the subway station. I walked a little past the subway station because I had seen a few small local restaurants there. True enough, they were opened and they were deep frying things outside the restaurant. Lots of people were there getting something for work.

Since I did not know how to order, I had to wait for an opening when they were quieter. Everyone seems to be in the rush and I was kind of afraid to get in their way.

They have a big bucket of tofufa or at least that is what I think it is. Hehehe, I tried to hide the fact I know little Mandarin and just said “Geh woh yi wan, xie xie” which simply means “give me a bowl, thank you”. And then she asked me something which I could not understand and so I just said “how lah” which means “OK”. I guessed then she was asking me if … (more…)

Hey honey:

I spent a long time at the National Art Museum of China. It is not that I was getting much out of it as the exhibits are all in Chinese but that I was still dead tired from all the walking in the Forbidden City the day before. I largely sat there and catch up with some reading. Hehehe … also took a short nap too out in the foyer. I would have stayed longer if not that they were shooing people out to setup for some ceremony for a big shot. They rolled out the red carpets and all.

One visitor got very angry when told that they are closing early. She was really fierce and shouted to the poor young man who tried to explain unsuccessfully why they had to close early. Me, being the usual busy body, moved closer to see the action. I wanted to take pictures because she was so animated but on second thought I better not. She could turn her attention on me!

Since there were a few hutongs around the corner from the art museum, I decided to just go check it out and see for myself what the deal is with hutongs and all. I read about that so often. Basically they are where the old traditional courtyard homes are located.

Although there are numerous all around Beijing, they are being torn down one by one in the name of progress and development.

Hey on the way there, I came across these little parks where they have exercise machines. I see them in quite a number of places and they are almost always used.  Some of the users were elderly people. I was impressed that they are so fit and agile despite their age.

In and around the hutongs, especially at the entrances, there are small neighborhood eateries and shop. Since it was time for lunch, I thought I brave it and eat in one of those eateries. I know, to many people the cleanliness of places like these are suspicious. But then, these sort of places and food is not something new to me. So I won’t even consider this a risk to tell the truth.

Sometimes the best places to eat is just places like these — where … (more…)

Hi honey:

I must be getting too old. After that long day at the Forbidden City, I thought I would be OK after a good night rest.

I woke up really late at 9AM and yet I was still dead tired. I decided to take it easy for the day. I decided to stick to indoors places. You know, places where there is air conditioning. I decided to go to the National Art Museum of China. I walked past it the previous day on the way to Wangfujing.

For breakfast, I went to the food court about 5 minutes walk from my hotel. It was a food court by the Guomao subway station. They have big floor to ceiling posters of their food plastered on the subway and I thought I go check it out. The food court was strangely located at the end of a deserted underground complex. There was nothing there except at the end of the corridor is the food court.

That food court was quite big. Only about three stalls were opened for breakfast. It was still early and they have not completely opened for lunch and dinner yet. I had half a mind of turning around but I did not know where else to go. I did not want to walk. I had enough of walking already the previous day!

I got the noodles above. The stall lady asked me if I want “la” which I thought she meant spicy. So I said yes, give me “la”.  Turns out that she asked if I wanted pulled noodle. The noodles overall was OK. I like the noodles but did not care much for the so-so soup and beef slices. Like I said, the noodles in Beijing is much more tastier than those we have in Vancouver.

I also got this pancake thing. Do you consider this jianbing? The way they prepared it looks the same except that they added a … (more…)

One thing about the back end of the Forbidden City, where you exit, there are no subway stations. There were hordes of taxi drivers and rickshaw pullers harassing me to take their transport. Not to mention too, the other people who were selling all sort of souvenirs. Gosh. They were all so persistent despite me saying repeatedly “Bu Yao” (don’t want).

So I kept walking. I was afraid of getting fleeced. I kind of regret walking too because it is so far from where I wanted to go. On the map, Wangfujing seems like a short walking distance but it was not! So it was quite a tiring walk after all the walking in the Forbidden City.

I wanted to go to Wangfujing for something to eat before I head back to the hotel. I actually wanted to go to Wangfujing to see for myself the famous snack street where they sell scorpions and insects.

On the way there, I saw something really funny. All around the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are soldiers in military uniforms. They are always standing in attention or when they walk they will march. On the way to Wangfujing, I saw four soldiers “jaymarching” across the street!

The soldiers were marching in formation across the wide 8 lane road, stopping in between traffic waiting for an opening before marching forward again.

Anyway, these soldiers all looked very young and so clean cut. It is like they are fresh out of school or something.

It must have taken me 20-30 minutes of walk. My bag was killing me. It was because … (more…)

Hi All:

I am sooo sorry. I mean, being absent AND silent for so long. It is just that I was overwhelmed with so much things going on that I decided that something just got to give. I am now back home in Vancouver for a week already. Although I had a great time in Beijing, truth is, the weather got to me finally and was not feeling well. With demands at work and feeling under the weather and dealing with jet lag, I dare not even open up chowtimes as I know it will suck me into it. I am so busy I could not even all emo over the drubbing Vancouver received in Boston. Hey, we are back in the driver seat!

Anyway, what is important is I am back. Please excuse me while I speak to Suanne, OK? You can stay if you want.

Hi Honey:

There are only two things I really, really want to see and discover in Bejing — the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. So, I am excited to finally going to the largest palace complex in the world. I knew this will take pretty much the whole day and it sure did. At the end of the day, I was so dead tired. Yeah, next time I bring you here, we will definitely be more prepared.

I knew the Forbidden City is big but I had no idea it was THAT big. I should have brought more water and some snacks on my own. You can get drinks and snacks inside the Forbidden City but it’s not always you see the shops.

A pair of good walking shoes is a definite must. For sure.

That day was quite a beautiful day. The air was cleaner but still not quite. It cleared up a lot the next few days with blues skies and everything.

BTW, the above is one of the most enduring image you see of Beijing. But this is not even the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is quite a bit of a walk more past these gates where the huge Chairman Mao’s portrait is.

This is the Tiananmen. People know this as the Gate of the Heavenly Peace. This original gate was first built … (more…)