The Beijing Sojourn

I am terribly scared of flying.  I hyperventilate, my feet sweat, I have a bum stomach days before the event and I even sometimes get sick. Last month I went on another mid-range flight with hubby, Jove, friends Milet and Lyndon and three other friends of Milet - Carrie, Jann & Heath, whom I met for the first time.  Carrie's husband joined us the day after. You could just imagine the pre-flight jitters I was experiencing.  Surprisingly, the flight from Iloilo, all they way to Beijing, was, in my anticipated-nervous stage, smooth.  We were a cozy bunch =)

The freezing air greeted us when we got out of the airport.  Well, freezing for me. Our guide, a petite lady was named Mary. She was quite chatty, considering that it was already way past midnight. Oh, and persistent, too.  We’ve already pre-booked her for a few tours and she was trying to sell us a couple more.  I have to give her credit, though. She was good at what she was trained to do.  In the end, common sense prevailed and we were able to refuse her offers.  Make that, we made Milet refuse her offers haha!

Please be warned that this post won't be a great source of travel information if you plan on  checking in at Beijing any time soon.  It’ll be mostly a peep into my insights on this trip.

My first impression of Beijing was that the whole city looks so sterile. Its like a mountain of detergent was drizzled over it.  I wondered then if people ever have fun there he he!  Do they ever let their hair down and dance like crazy to the tune of “Dancing Queen”?  The sterile impression was probably a combination of the nippy air and the bright sun. We probably just came at a good time. Where was all the smog and dust that has been reported to fill up every nook and cranny of Beijing? But I can’t get over how clean the place is.  A dream for OC people. It somehow made me think that even the government has this supreme control even on inanimate objects.  The litter practically cower in f—r.

The next morning, we were left to our own devices.  Weather was perfect.  Nice day for a walk in the nearby streets from our hotel. We were smack right in the middle of Beijing, a stone’s throw away from the Forbidden City! One alley proved to be fascinating. It was selling all kinds of Chinese delicacies – scorpions of different species, beetles, lizards, cow innards, side-by-side with candied fruits. Definitely not for the faint-hearted. Good thing we had a full breakfast or I would have been tempted. Yeah, right.

After long hours of walking and taking in the sights the whole day, dinnertime was always something I looked forward to there. We always did hurried lunches so a long and indulgent meal at night was a downright treat for me.  It has to be a restaurant that offers Peking duck because that was what everybody was asking for. Save for me, that is. I don’t eat duck.  Whaaat?!?  I’m in China and I’m not even the slightest bit hungering for DUCK? Yup, you got that right.  The  Peking Duck Café (I hope I got the name right, it was written in Chinese, you see).  The resto’s menu book was a treasure trove.  See my favorite below. I’m practically laughing my head off inside my head.  It’s so, so funny!

Due to hunger, we ordered a ten-course dinner.  Gutom-mata, in other words.  We were bloated by the 7th course. Oh, and in China, rice is usually served towards to end.  The servers probably thought we were a crazy bunch to demand that rice be served by the second course.  The dinners that followed the succeeding days were quite decadent, too, but none measured up to the Peking Duck Café.

There’s a lot more I’d like to share here but they will have to wait ‘til my next post. Ciao!