Beijing Beckons

Ed's birthday weekend was spent in Beijing as we attempted a spot of apartment hunting and to acquaint myself with this historic city. It was my first visit and I had an overly rosy vision of me stepping into this city and just sighing at the cultural richness of this place. Unfortunately, all I breathed in was smoggy air as I made my way to the hotel in painfully slow traffic. *oh well*

House hunting wise, we were not able to decide this time round as most landlords were looking for tenants by September. However, we did manage to see a variety of living spaces (service apartments versus condominiums) in various locations (ranging from CBD area which is near Ed's office to their main shopping street) to get a better feel of where we could make our new home.

Although the idea of having hotel services was appealing, the service apartments were less homely and we figured out that hiring an ah yee might be better value for money. Location wise, accessibility was a key factor and we decided to stay nearer Ed's office where there was also a subway station for my 45-min train rides to school. Thus, the good news is we have eyeballed the desired neighbourhood, it's just a matter of waiting for an apartment to be available.

Sights and sounds wise, we did manage to check out a few interesting haunts like Sanlitun and 789 Art Zone which I look forward to exploring further. The Forbidden City (故宫), while an impressive structure was too crowded to be fully enjoyed. According to my brother, I had missed the key highlight: to climb Coal Hill in Jingshan Park (景山公园 ) where we would get a bird's eye view of the entire area. *bleah*

Rich culture aside, the equivalent of Orchard road - Wangfujing was a nondescript street and the subway system (especially the older lines) was slightly nightmarish when the crowds were fighting their way in. Overall, I had quite a mixed experience of Beijing.

Checking out Hunan cuisine at Sanlitun: this was one of our better choices and I really enjoyed the stewed cabbage. Spice wise, it wasn't as ma la as we feared and the fried rice was a great complement to our mapo tofu and grilled beef. 

Having duck at the famous Da Dong: while this was what we came here for, I felt this was one overhyped dish and the meat wasn't as tender or tasty. In fact, Paragon's super peking duck might do better justice to this traditional dish. As people have expressed astonishment at our lacklustre reviews, might just give this place one more chance.

Da Dong Part 2: Pretty presentations aside, the other dishes were more palatable for me and I rather enjoyed the beef shank while Ed's fois gras fried rice was really scrumptious. Although the Lobster noodles were a waste of calories, the XO stir-fried scallops were decent. 

Sampling Sichuan: This was a supposedly famous restaurant where we waited for 45 minutes before finally getting a table. Honestly, it's not worth the wait although it was VERY GOOD VALUE in view of the price we paid for all that we ordered. My favourite dish here was the fried prawns with pickled vegetables and the spicy long beans while the roti prata lookalike was a sinful treat. The 水煮鱼 remains too oily for me to fully appreciate.

Lovely art sculptures we chanced upon in The Opposite House and quick shots of street food as well as the Forbidden City.  Next time, I need to get there earlier for better pictures.  

Snacks at 789 art zone and an unexpected teabreak where we had excellent yin yang as well as ice cream toast. Liked the way the thick toast was cut into bite-sized buttered bits for easy spooning with the vanilla ice cream. 

We decided to splurge alittle for the St Regis experience which was sadly a let down. Not only did they NOT know what a long black was, we even found a juice stain on my glass of water. *tsktsk*
Having given the management our feedback, do hope they beef up on the training and fix the service gaps. The highlight for us was the daily evening rituals i.e free flow drinks and snacks while I'm glad they at least remembered Ed's birthday with a yummy blackforest cake. 

Although this was a good initiation to Beijing, I was alittle underwhelmed in view of all that I had heard. Perhaps it might be a lack of familiarity or a case of over expectations. Nevertheless, this is a city which I will call home for the next 3 years and who knows, I might really come to like it.