Suddenly came to the realisation I havent updated this space in forever and this post has been sitting in my drafts for quite a while with all the photos uploaded. Real great chore to format every single photo into the size I want it to be so it has been really lazy of me. Its like already 1/4 into 2017 and it is only now that I'm finally coming up with this post. Really into Dayre now too so going to shamelessly promote it dayre.me/natalepls
So many different online outlets to post everything, I am so indecisive which one I should focus on
Anyways onto the real gist of this trip, It is basically a school arranged immersion programme to China, mainly Beijing and Tianjin but for this post it would just be on the Beijing leg because it would be a pretty lengthy post if I do include Tianjin in one post. Will try to do up the Tianjin one before my Semester break ends
Was pretty excited for this trip because I was more of planning to enjoy myself and play instead of being serious since I will not be using this to replace my modules. Although had to team up with a group of people I am not closed to for projects, I would say I am most fortunate for my group.
Our flight was a super early flight where we had to reach the airport at like 4am. Which was way too early honestly. We took a transit flight on Cathay which I am so thankful for because I want to buy my dried mangoes at HKIA.
Meal on board is served and I got the chance to sit next to Syirah. She got the pre arranged muslim meal and honestly, I think her meal looks way better than the normal options you can get and you get served first.
Got the porridge this time! Had the western one on my previous flight on Cathay to Korea and it was bad. Learnt my lesson and got the chinese option. Warned the friends but they obviously didnt listen and were adamant about it and regretted.
Spent quite a while at HKIA customs and didnt manage to have time to get my dried mangoes because we were rushing for our transit.
Pasta isnt that good but the rice option looks even worst so... and I am quite surprised that they dont change the menu. Thought there would be haagan daaz ice cream though.
First time in Beijing Airport and I would have to say the problem here would be WiFi ??? Thank god we were distributed SIM cards the moment we gathered. Although we had to get it cut into micro sim and even used nail clippers to trim it LOL. We were given like 2 SIM cards, one for data and one for calls but I totally didnt even use the one for calls. Not sure how the internet plan here works because everything was pre arranged.
Our first meal location in Beijing. It seemed a little weird because it was more of an office building ? Had my first try of egg plant here after everyone saying its damn good and it really is ??? omg and I hate veggies but it was abit too oily la but everything else wasn't really good so I just kept spamming the eggplants.
Our hotel had some complications just before we arrived. Apparently the hotel we were supposed to stay in had a very strong paint smell being new and all so the tour arranged us to stay at Huang He Hotel. Honestly, a really shady hotel in my opinion. People actually drink at the lobby where there is this convenience store just right at the lobby.
Also because we were here on a last minute notice, we were given small rooms as there were insufficient for everyone to stay in larger ones. The small rooms were in this alleyway away from the normal hotel rooms where you had to go through this dark corridor before entering into the lit alleyway for the rooms. Didnt manage to take a photo of the room but it was super small and the TV was pretty old too. Creepy part was the cupboard where the lights inside would flicker and all. Most weirdest part was when me and XY were going to find the guys so we could go get stuff from the supermarket and we had to walk pass their room's alleyway and like 2 room doors were opened and like half naked belly protuding uncles would be seated at the edge of the bed and creepily look when we walked pass ??? omg was so scared something would happen to us.
Breakfast buffet but the food all looked weird or just way too chinese for breakfast. Had this thick soup which I discovered and spammed the vinegar in it and it was alright, which means I basically had that for breakfast everyday.
Arrived in the University where we will be hanging around for the next few days. Realised this Uni has loads of foreign students. There was a whole group of them welcoming us and joining our groups as our buddies.
First time seeing these bikes which are the ones that are in SG now too. Was super amazed at how you can just use the phone app and they will generate the passcode for you. But now it is in SG too so not that amazing already.
After a series of talks by their professors, we were given our own free time to have lunch. Supposedly our buddies (a china girl and a korean guy) were supposed to bring us to the school canteen to have food. But our korean buddy said there is better food outside and he was planning on bringing us there so of course we agreed and followed along.
The food was amazing. We managed to order for ourselves and we ordered this amazing barbecue fish which we requested for it to be less spicy. No idea what type of fish we ordered because we were allowed a few options of fishes. Every dish was so darn good compared to the food the tour brought us to have. We also had to do the customary polite fight for the bill and we managed to pay for it. Really affordable meal too although it is a restaurant. The bill came out to be around RMB250-300 for 7 people and we ordered quite alot of dishes.
Photoshoot in the Uni when we went to roam around.
Back to horrid food where the tour brought us. Just look at that whole plate of veggies which I cant even. I need my meat. Its funny how some dish is like a veggie stir fry with specks of meat in it but we only ate the meat and left the whole plate of veggies.
Apparently this place had this opera show which was okay. Not very interested in this kind of things. They sold souvenirs too. But not attractive enough.
We decided to take a photo just outside the restaurant and didnt even know Ms Lynn photobombed us.
Finally we were upgraded to a bigger room and oh my goodness this is way better, and we were beside Mae and Syirah. Problem with their rooms is that the toilet door cant be locked. Like there is no lock and lights are based on censors so you have to stand in this particular area and wave around for the light to come back on. A real pain when you are in the shower and have to go stand in another corner to get the lights back.
Visited this Innoway where it houses many innovative entrepreneur ideas, where small businesses usually locate themselves.
Office visit and basically they rent out office spaces for small businesses to have a physical space to carry out work instead of doing it at home or getting a legit office space to do it. Way more affordable this way and they even have meeting rooms for rent as well.
They even have a small bar and coffee area at the entrance.
Finally something western. Waited quite a while to get this, because the guy was really slow and he was working alone. Actually saw customers enter, wait and left because the wait was too long.Real life serving food game really.
Another meal but food didnt taste very great either. Our group was also trying to make other groups jealous of our previous day meal because they ate in the canteen and our food was way better. Kwan kept repeating it and made the others really salty about it.
We were given time to go around in this mall before our next office visit and omg their Paris baguette actually sells YG bear cakes.
Oh and they do sell the original packaging strawberry milk ??? Why no banana though.
First Miniso sighted here. Remembered how Miniso housed all the cheap stuff when I went to China the previous time. But it also opened up in SG, but you still cant compare the prices because China's is way cheaper. Bought a neck pillow because RMB15 only ??? thats like SGD$3 what in the world. Really needed it because we had loads of long journey rides and it would be way more comfy to sleep with one.
Visited DHgate where they had talks and also this awesome vending machine. Havent seen such a system before.
Finally a better meal. Was kind of looking forward because it is supposedly a dumpling feast and dumplings cant taste bad so enjoyed this meal quite a bit.
If you are in China, you should really use Baidu Maps because it helps you to source out the various types of restaurants near you. Like you can just search duck and they will locate the nearest along with reviews, abit like Google. This was introduced by our chinese buddy who shared with us all the chinese apps she use.
Visited the convenience store beside it while we waited for our order and these drinks! It is like advertised in all the popular chinese dramas where they drink it everyday as if there is no product placement.
Got kelvin to help me take a photo of this Tao chips because it was dusty and I didnt want to put my hands on it.
Our Beijing Duck ! Finally. But not exactly what i was expecting because SG's one is always like just the skin but this was very satisfying too.
Another shop visit where this time its about sportswear and how they were on a online basis and offered offline services as well.
Went back to the restaurant near the Uni because we had to bring everyone there after making them jealous and everyone agreed it was a super good meal.
This mantou with condensed milk is super good!!! But not sure why it came first although it is more like a dessert.
This stir fry pork was ordered by the korean buddy the other time and it was so damn good. Never tasted something like this before but super good with rice
Another barbecue fish and still so damn good !! Especially with the potato noodles.
Went back to the same duck store and ordered this plate of fiery crayfish because James wanted to give it a try. Super spicy/
Ordered this premium version of the duck which was like slightly more expensive and this time its the duck skin ! It even came in some premium box ??? But way lesser meat than the previous time. Ordered a fried rice and it was not bad. This duck was really bombs though.
Because it is mid - autumn festival our tour guide gave us each mooncakes.
Since it was a public holiday, we couldnt go to the university nor go for office visits so instead, we went for tourist sites. First stop, Great wall of china. What is a trip to China without a visit to the great wall. Toilet is pretty clean here too :)
Our cable car ticket to the top of the great wall.
The amount of people at the great wall though. Think everyone is here for the public holiday and it was horrendous. The steps were super steep too and I just sat down halfway because it is too much for my legs and I was too scared I would fall. Then the friends had to pull me up and make sure I got to the top with them. Although it is a wasted trip because the top wasnt that magnificent and there was way too many people.
At the top and we totally dont even have much space to stand nor have a photo taken without people in it.
Descended back down and took a photo. We took consecutive 3 photos and omg. Didn't realise this until we came back but that bee. Still remembered we stop taking photos because the bee was too close and we had to shun but didnt know I managed to capture it in my photo. Seems abit fake and photoshopped right ? But it is 100% real.
We had such a tough time finding the entrance to the cable car because you have to go a super big round and my legs were too tired.
This menu board is quite a joke. The english translations are really funny. But apparently their drinks taste weird so, it is the cafe you will see when you alight from the cable cars.
Our lunch stop was one of those tourist scam places but obviously none of us are interested in this kind of products so we just missed it and went straight for food.
Again, the meal wasnt really fantastic.
Next stop is (in my opinion) another scam tourist place. The lady showed us the different types of tea as well as letting us sample the tea. Obviously I tried a sip and hated it because I hate tea, all types. So obviously, I didnt get anything here as well and the others bought loads and their prices would keep changing so obviously its a scam.
And we made our way by foot to the olympic park. Super hazy day so you cant really see it that clearly.
Such bad air quality.
Then we travelled by foot to this shady restaurant at some underground place and oh my god. It is some Mao Ze Dong themed restaurant.
Loads of propaganda and even a performance going on for us. The food was terrible. I didn't have a single bite and honestly every tables' dishes were all plentiful when we left. Apparently this is food that the chinese had during some horrid period (I forgot what it was). But every dish was just plain bad.
Finally, we headed over to the shopping district - San Li Tun. All the international brands are located here and also our mission for dinner, after starving ourselves at the Mao Ze Dong restaurant. The adidas here has a total of 4 levels. Spotted NMDs here too oh my goodness. Kind of regretful that i didnt make the purchase.
Contemplated alot on buying this and even went back to the adidas store two times to see this and they actually have it in my size ?? But the sales staff was kind of rude like told me to confirm that I want it before she will go get it for me. SO kind of turned off from that and decided not to make the purchase.
Knew kris was advertising for adidas but didnt expect to see his face in the store itself. Managed to take a stack of his postcards that were for free too hehe.
Headed over to Macs to grab dinner and they didnt have at least half the items they offer on the menu. What kind of macs is this.
Had to take a photo with the moon since its mid autumn and we had such a good view of it.
Finally a visit to Tian An Men and the Forbidden City, once again loads of people and no rest spots ?? My legs were so tired. And the entire forbidden city kind of looked the same throughout and once again, I am totally not interested in sightseeing like always.
Headed over to the 798 Art zone. Had abit of the Haji Lane vibes. Super hipster here.
Saw this cafe advertising with bingsu so headed for it. Tasted okay but ice wasn't exactly bingsu material. More of just plain shaved ice.
Spent loads of time taking photos especially at this abandoned warehouse looking place. Super aesthetic spot for photos.
Headed over to this acrobatic theatre and tadah spotted Kris again.
Overall the show was quite cool !!! Adrenaline rush was real because some of the stunts were quite scary and super risky but it was quite enjoyable to watch. Although I did end up falling asleep for like 5 minutes because I was super sleepy.
Finally a trip to Quan Ju De which is the place everyone goes for their Beijing Duck. Super satisfying meal, although we already had our fair share of duck every night.
Once again, the hotel is super shady because there is this pub / karaoke place at the lobby and you actually see men leaving the place with girls in tow and like it is legit seeing an old man with two young girls helping him into his car.
Finally our last day in Beijing and we are leaving this hotel. Had a long shower the previous night because we were moving to a hostel and the sound of that already is making me cringe at the thought of their toilets.
We requested the previous day to be brought to somewhere where we can purchase like fake goods which china is so known for so our tour made the arrangements and brought us to this mall called Silk Street. Apparently previously it was a legit street and quite dangerous.
We actually arrived before their opening hours and waited for them to open up. Sighted quite a few tourists here as well. You really had to bargain especially if you were buying a few pieces. They had quite good quality stussy, obey, a&f, superdry fakes where you can bargain it down to RMB40, where originally they were quoting us RMB120
The basement was filled with various shoes. Like adidas and nike but totally not interested because the lowest my friends managed to bargain was still more expensive than purchasing from Taobao.
This pair of fake NMDs darren bought was around SGD40 mind you.
But you really need to practice your bargaining skills here and just walk away if they do not accept the price you quote them because the price that they first quote you would be way too high.
Headed over to this street which I have no idea what it is called but loads of yummy street food here !
We got a chicken cutlet which had pretty long lines.
I got myself a strawberry milkshake and this was super yummy !!! Super huge too ! Didnt expect the size to be so big.
The squid was good too but a bit difficult to bite. Especially when we were all sharing it.
Managed to get Rice cake as well and it was not bad !
Saw from the outside that this place was selling zaku zaku and I had to get it. Had it in Japan and it was so darn good
Didnt taste as great as Japan's but still not bad !
Super long queues going on at the Apple store for the new release of iPhone.
Know exo advertises for Kang Shifu tea and managed to see their advert ! Although its mostly NBA adverts at the bus stops for Kang ShiFu.
Managed to walk into this street just before our meeting time and really thank god we explored into this part of the area. Wished we could have more time spent in this area honestly. Because we couldnt even walk through the whole street of food.
Finally seeing fried and skewered insects but didn't really have the guts to try because I didnt want to end up with an upset stomach.
Watermelon Volcano was super popular during the period as there were the bazaars in SG. So me and Kwan decided to get us one to share and it was quite cool cause they cut open the top of the watermelon and just placed it on this mixer where it blended the fruit inside to make juice!
And of course, special mention to this strawberry which I had like 3 sticks. Originally bought one and went back to the meeting point but finished it and wanted more so i made Kwan walk back with me to buy another. Even ate the one someone else bought but I finished it oops. This is like Bing Tang Hu Lu but not Hu Lu and strawberries instead. The sugar coating is way too good. Others that bought the Hu Lu version hated it but the strawberries were so good!!!!
