Beijing Biz Trip May 2011 Day 1 P3

Met up with Owen at the Clubhouse and it was time to head out for dinner.

Owen brought me to Donghuamen Night Market, located at the northern end of Wangfujing street. An array of Chinese food delicacies are on display, with people bustling around to experience them.

Started the food journey with dumplings. Nothing fantastic here though, the plus point - SGD$1+ for 8 dumplings.

Seahorse available on a stick, anyone dares to try?

After the seahorse scare - which I don't have the guts to try - I was relieved when I saw this stall. At least, it looked decent enough with popiah, vegetables and pork.

Ok, this definitely don't go well with my stomach, cuz firstly, lots of vegetables! I keep chewing on the greens. And the vegetables are quite hard, you keep having to chew till I suffered from muscle-ache. Not kidding!

Owen had a go at the lamb skewers.

It was getting dark but the streets were still bustling with people.

Having a go at their desserts, another chew-till-ache experience :(

Proper dinner @ Quan Ju De (全聚德) - known for its trademark Peking Roast Duck and its longstanding culinary heritage since its establishment in 1864. There is a meaning behind the name "全聚德" - "Quan (全) means perfection without a flaw, Ju (聚) means gathering without departing, and De (德) means virtues to be supreme." Therefore, Quanjude together implies perfection, union, and benevolence.

Quanjude was established in 1864 during the Qing dynasty under the reign of the Tongzhi emperor. Hence, it is not surprising that the decor of the restaurant still preserved the strong affiliation to the elements of the traditional architecture of ancient chinese.

Watch the peking duck being sliced before your eyes by the skillful strokes of the chef.

First comes the skin, framed for the layer of juicy fat which lies under the crisp golden-brown skin.

I must drink lots of tea to curb the oiliness of this dish.

The way Peking duck is served in Beijing is very different from that in Singapore. In Beijing, each patron will have to order the "set" which comes with cucumber, spring onions, hoison sauce or sweet bean sauce. SG's version is a thin egg crepe while BJ is popiah style. We normally will be served with the ready-wrapped peking duck - mostly the skin and a bit of meat - all ready to be devoured, while in BJ, you are expected to DIY :) Honestly, I prefer SG's version of peking duck, as it is not as oily, after tasting this dish.

Yup, ordered a table full of dishes :) Was quite disappointed at peking duck till Owen promised to take me to a better place for peking duck.

Beijing Biz Trip May 2011 Day 1 P2

Will be staying at Hong Kong Jockey Club, Beijing Clubhouse for this trip. The Beijing Clubhouse is situated in the prestigious Wangfujing area, in the heart of Beijing City. This was a members' exclusive clubhouse & I was fortunate to stay here, thanks to Owen.

My "home" for the next 5 days.

The room occupied a spacious 53 sqm! Gosh, that's like half of my entire house - this is what happens when you live in land-abundance countries.

Even the toilet is bigger than my bedroom, with walk-in closet (yippee!) and equipped with rain shower.

Cheongsam top to blend in with the locals, haha!

They even prepared a bag of essentials for female occupants, which contained lip balm, sanitary napkins, stockings, body lotion etc.

Best of all, they are using L'Occitane, one of my fave!

Stumbled upon this on the study table ..... initially, I thought it was some chinese martial arts book for bedtime reading.

Such an exquisite box just to contain stationary.

Postcards for the loved ones back home.

Since Owen had yet to arrive from HK, I took a walk around the clubhouse, to familiarize with the surroundings.

Ma Zhanchun, an artist who creates art works for the clubhouse, has created over 1,000 art works for the Beijing clubhouse; the 'Hundred Horses' picture hanging in the hall is one of them.

The architects of the Beijing Clubhouse have chosen to blend the traditional courtyards of the Ming and Qing Dynasties with contemporary architectural concepts to create a masterpiece of modern aesthetics.

The four garden courtyards are themed according to the four seasons, mirroring the harmonious union of the earth, humans and the celestial. More coming up!

Beijing Biz Trip May 2011 Day 1 P1

Was supposed to blog about BKK trip with Leecher, but I couldn't find my pictures! Gosh, I hope the pictures are somewhere in one of the many thumb-drives that I have and not missing :( Guess I have to be more organized in saving my pictures into the dedicated external HDD. Anyway, went to Beijing for business in mid-May. Virgin trip to China and all I could think of was ......... beijing duck!

Departure from T3 this time round. I have a bad habit of not checking my flight details, apart from the timing. Thanks to iChangi, I get to check my flight details on the lift down to the lobby while waiting for the taxi to send me to the airport :)

Light breakfast as I wasn't feeling very hungry.

Departure gate with a snack bar! Should have ate my breakfast here instead.

Can't help but always sneak a pic of our national carrier. Speaking of which, I have yet to try the A380! Boohoo......

Companion for the journey.

Hungry ~ where's my lunch? Travelling alone this time, but meeting up with another colleague in Beijing.

Stewed chicken, vegetables and rice. Call me weird, but I do have a special liking for airline food.

The long journey from SG, almost 6-7 hours flight.

Yeah, finally landed!

Beijing Airport is similar to KL Airport, where you will have to take the Airport Express to the main terminal for immigration clearance.

Airport transfer provided by the clubhouse

It was a 45 mins journey from the airport to the clubhouse, where I will be staying for 4 nights. My "friendly" driver of the day wasn't in a chatty mood, which worked for me as well, cuz I was feeling tired from the long flight. So we pretty much traveled in silence.