Beijing Travel Bug

Retracing the steps that made me love Beijing while studying, I ought to have a closer look at their famous Hutong which we rarely visited. Hutong is much loved by photographers as well as tourists, We braved into the unknown and step into the realm of ultimate nostalgia. Beijing still has this kind of beauty within its cosmopolitan city.

While wandering around, I was curious about those small little cups locals where eating. I followed the source and discovered that they are eating MILK PUDDING. I had to try and it’s quite addicting though I could not finish it.

An art district that was once a famous hangout place of the Beijing youth is 798 Disctrict. Noticeably, this was a worn down factory/industrial area that once were. I’m such a movie junkie that this reminded me of movies located at the Bronx or the likes. All those graffiti makes a good pictorial place.

Another off beat place we went to was the hotel located near the Great Wall of China which is called Commune by the Great Wall. We had to pay for a day tour within the premises but interestingly, this seems to be very Westernize. A very private area, you can rent a room or better yet a whole house.
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I vividly recall my first experience in Tiaanmen Square with some regrets. I thought I could just get away with some thermals and jacket…as it turned out, my mind went blank, shaking vigorously to the beat of the first Chinese anthem of the morning.

The sudden rush of Lei Shir classes (Chinese history) surged my mind, those flashbacks of vague list of names and events that I regret not understanding because I was too lazy to listen.

You see, I used to study Chinese in school..all my 13 years of pre university schooling. Not just those conversational ones, we were taught hardcore Chinese..from early civilization history of China till the very end of their dynasty era..all those difficult four letter words that I invented the pronunciation. It’s quite embarrassing to mention I could not recall those classes/lessons I took. I was fond of memorizing…then trashing them all after the long exams.
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I was channel surfing the other night..I chance upon Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations) talking about Chinese heritage and culture. Chinese? Travel?…I worked my way back to that channel I love (Travel and Living).

The first image that popped up was Liqun. I suddenly missed Beijing…the oily food, the unclean tea glasses and chopsticks I’ve encountered, Peking duck…*drools* Unpretentious, straight to the point…that’s what I love about this type of restaurants. Anthony was not his usual self in Beijing (he looked bored and sick but still had to enjoy his vices). If I were the local, I would have drag him to the places I miss..!

I like to check out that Noodle Loft they went to…

I get to have pictures this time!! I dragged my family to dine here at Quan Ju De and experience my favorite Peking duck around Beijing. I miss it so much that I stuffed more than 3 pieces of succulent Peking duck skin inside the wrap.

Last May, my family and I went to Beijing then Shanghai, I opted for Agoda’s deal of Service Apartments as I scouted for better deals.
Here’s a detailed account of our stay in each service apartment, Wanderlust Diary.

It had a kitchen, pretty decent bathrooms, cozy living room area, table for laptop (free internet), huge clean beds. Overall the place was great to go back to after a long day of tourist attraction walking.

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Well, there’s Breadtalk around Singapore and Philippines..quite commercialized nowadays. However, during our stay in Beijing, we were craving for Tour Les Jours, a quite relaxing place to hang out. Actually, I notice more Koreans before. Later, I researched about it apparently, it wasn’t a French bakery like its namesake. It is operated by a South Korean company.

“Tous Les Jours means “every day” in French, and the name expresses the bakery’ commitment to making fresh bread every day.”

It still looks cozy inside…warm during the winter.

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