Surprise Surprise, I get to visit Beijing for a while last week! Ha! Tiring because I was the tour guide for my family but it was worth it. A sort of brief nostalgic trip that depleted my energy.

I had to stop over to the newest huge mall around Chaoyang District. It was called the Village. It was literally a stone-throws away from Yashow (the buidling where we used to shop and haggle clothes in Beijing, one of our favorites because they sell overruns I like)

A hangout that I would have liked because if you get sick of the haggling, you can now visit the Village where branded stores like Uni qlo, Nike, Adidas, etc have huge stores inside. I also saw Hatsune branch at the top floor in one of the buildings.
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One of the tourist spots in Shanghai is called Oriental TV Tower. It looks similar to Macau Tower…and it also offers tourists the view of the whole city. It is located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district, by the side of Huangpu River, opposite The Bund.

When we visited this that time, we didn’t go up the tower already since I urge my friends to just go to Grand Hyatt hotel for the view of the city. I saw there are different observation levels where you can choose to view the city. There is also a revolving restaurant there similar to Singapore’s Prima Tower Revolving Restaurant.

At night, this is usually one of the visible sights around the city. We walked along The Bund and see the shiny spectacle of light just across (Oriental TV Tower lit at night). It must be very nice to have dinner at their restaurant.

The fee for going up the tower shoot up after Olympics I think. I saw last time it was around 70rmb. If you want a cheaper cost for the view, you can always choose Grand Hyatt Hotel and sip some brewed coffee on the hotel lounge while you relax.

A photography contest! Something about Beijing! Wow..this must be very interesting because Foreigners get to show how they view Beijing…

I would join if I were still in China…this will be quite interesting!

The mechanics goes like this (from the website):

Events Introduction

Foreigners ?? watch Beijing Beijing Chao photography competition activity NOTICE

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China, so that foreign friends know, feel the changes and the charm of Beijing, the Beijing Municipal People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Affairs Office of Beijing Municipal People’s Government, Beijing Municipal People’s Government Information Office, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education, Beijing Foreign invested enterprises Association in March 2009 to July co-sponsored aliens look ?? Beijing Beijing Chao photography competition.

The theme for the competition the new face of Beijing, mainly reflecting the new face of Beijing, Beijing’s new life; including the author in Beijing sightseeing, leisure, life and work experience; and Beijing Friendship Get along with members of the public scene and to reflect contrasting Beijing’s Past and Present works. Foreign person may participate.

To encourage more outstanding entries, the organizing committee composed of relevant experts will be invited to the panels of judges, selected 400 finalists primaries excellent after check selected 50 winning entries. Award the first prize is set to 2, 15,000 yuan bonus; 5 second prize, bonus 5,000; 10 third prizes, bonuses 3,000; Excellence Awards 33, 500 prize money and receive outstanding works photographic album . Bonuses for pre-tax income, the organizers of Inland Revenue in accordance with the provisions of the Beijing Municipal pay personal income tax withholding.

Entries as follows:
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Out with the old, in with the new…
During my time, which was around 1 and a half years ago…the best restaurant in Beijing was Alameda but nowadays, lower batches of Filipino Chinese crave for SALT.

Their lunch menu is quite appetizing and value for money. You can check their website for the intensive menu list.

I am hoping to try this when I visit Beijing again!

in this holiday season, I want to greet everybody MERRY CHRISTMAS!

In this chilly weather in Beijing, you’ll probably want to defy nature and try something adventurous! One autumn-turning-winter day in Beijing, my friends and I dared to eat ice cream outside in the almost negative temperature open. Crazy crazy but very good! I was jittering the whole time but eventually my temperature normalized as I force myself to believe that mind can rule over the body! Even if I think the effect was rather psychological contrary to what my friends said, I had a weird sensation like the feeling of blood rushing through my system…maybe doing crazy things make you feel more alive!

Must-try are:
1. Mcdonald’s sundae cone– Best Mcdonald’s version of ice cream (creamy-licious!)
2. Yogurberry - This one I wasn’t able to try but my friends went here to lounge. This originated in offering frozen yogurt, shaved ice desserts etc. The ambiance looks great! It’s located at 2/F, Bldg 8, Wudaokou Xijiao Hotel, Wudaokou.

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Maybe it’s not my favorite cuisine but they were good to try. Last time while we were studying in BLCU, we would crave to dine in this Muslim restaurant inside campus. I didn’t catch the name but I guess it’s called BLCU Muslim Restaurant (just beside the cafeteria). This was where I saw Xinjiang people..I was actually oblivious of the other ethnic groups in China..pretty interesting. The servers were actually impatient when we visit there (one actually told us that we Filipino-Chinese usually come as a noisy crowd, then he actually asked for a one peso coin from us for his collection).

Anyway, you can actually ignore their not so good customer service and just order on. I’m not a fan of lamb kebabs but I like theirs. They’re actually called Yang Ro Chawr . They also have this kind of bread (huge round ones) which you can dip in yogurt. Don’t forget to try their apple caramel dessert. This is actually a retreat from the usual Chinese food around the campus.

You can also try a famous Indian restaurant around Haidian district. It’s called Ganges. We heard they have lunch buffets there but we failed to try. Try this if you opt for Naan, Curries, Masala, Mutton Samosa.

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My current company is having a branch in Shanghai so it made me reminisce the restaurants we tried in Shanghai during my short visit there.

I’m not sure what is considered Shanghainese cuisine, I only know their well known food is Xiao Long Pao. But we got a That’s Shanghai magazine that time (we really made sure to get one) and we got to choose one of the best restaurants there. It’s called Shanghai Uncle.

When you enter Shanghai Uncle, there’s this sense of regality as it might be considered a posh restaurant in Shanghai (though maybe it is commercialized). Red walls with streaks of golden curtains surrounds the place. The red lattern was also lit so it would complete the vintage chinese look.
In the back of my mind, I was wondering if I had dressed properly for the place. We all look young, fickle and out for adventure kind of non local Chinese visitors. I felt so out of place but I honestly didn’t care much! And also, I saw the difference of Beijingers and Shanghainese locals when they dine in this kind of place, Shanghainese care more on how they look.


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