Remember when I said that Da Dong Roast Duck is probably the fanciest meal I will ever eat and feature on this blog? Well scratch that. This is the fanciest meal I will ever eat and feature on this blog. I’m sure of it. I swear I’m getting more and more spoiled with every trip to Beijing. I’m being taken out to eat at more and more pricey places. The last time, my aunties took us to the famous Da Dong….
A day in the life: Beijing, China
In my last post, I announced that I’m headed back to Malaysia soon. As my days in Beijing are quickly drawing to an end, I would like to share what they have been like here. It may not sound too exciting, but every single day has been special to me. The alarm on my phone goes off at 9 am sharp. Usually I like to naturally wake, which means I end up sleeping in til late, but in Beijing at my grandma’s,…
February 2016 travel re-cap: change of plans
Where we left off at the end of the last month’s re-cap, I was just starting my solo stint in Malaysia. I had 6 weeks planned by myself: 2 in Kuala Lumpur and 4 in Penang. If you’ve been following along, you’ll already have known that things didn’t exactly pan out this way. I was a little bit nervous to be alone, but it made it better that D was with me in KL for the first two weeks, so…
Chinese New Year: the first seven days
Happy Travel Tuesday! I’ve been in Beijing for a week already. I don’t think I’ve been this cold for a lonnnng time! I’ve borrowed a coat from my mom’s friend, a sweater from my mom, and wool pants from somewhere, and I’ve literally been wearing these same few pieces of clothes every single day (which you’ll see in the pictures below). But nevermind the weather, I’m loving being back at my birth city with my favorite people. :) And Chinese…
[Beijing] A Chinese New Year feast
This is the first time I’ve ever been in Beijing during Chinese New Year! (Except for when I lived here as a little girl, that is.) During the week of Chinese New Year, the city empties as the transplants all return to their hometowns, the usual horrendous traffic disappears, and for these few days, Beijing belongs only to the local Beijingers. Truthfully, I never really realized what a huge deal CNY is. Growing up in America, this holiday is not recognized…
The Great Wall Simatai Section in photos
One negative side effect of constant travel is that after a while, you become more numb. Things don’t appear as glittery or exciting as when you first start out. White sands and turquoise waters aren’t exactly a novelty anymore, nor are ancient churches and dazzling skyscrapers. Perhaps it sounds haughty of me to say that it’s hard to be truly surprised anymore. Believe me, I treasure every single place I visit, but it is true: there are few things that…
[Beijing] Da Dong Roast Duck: probably the fanciest meal I will ever eat
Thanks to everyone who supported more food posts on this blog! To start off, I am introducing you to Da Dong restaurant in Beijing. This is probably the fanciest food post I will ever have on this blog. Be forewarned: the following picture-heavy post may make you very very hungry. Beijing’s roast duck is perhaps the most internationally acclaimed Chinese dish ever created. And so when we went to Beijing, aside from cravings for my favorite childhood dishes from my…
April & May 2015 travel re-cap: the months of homecomings
I didn’t get a chance to write my usual monthly recap post at the end of April so this one is a 2-fer. I had my Lasik surgery at the very end of April and I may have slightly underestimated the recovery period. I thought I’d be back on the laptop in 2 days. But my (new, improved) eyes had other plans and decided that they didn’t want to look at a screen until a week later. And by then,…
I can’t believe I’m not in Holland! – Tulips in Beijing
Ever since early April, it seems that my blog and Instagram feeds have been popping up with pictures of everything spring. As we’ve been hanging around tropical countries for the past several months, we haven’t really noticed a change in season. But for the rest of the world (okay, just the northern hemisphere), it appears that spring has truly arrived, bringing with it blue skies, pastels, and of course, newly blooming flowers. I may be a tad late to the spring party…
One month in Beijing: a summary
Wow, I don’t even know how to start talking about my month in Beijing. The short version is: we were in Beijing for a month and all we saw was the Great Wall. The longer version is that we were so busy seeing people and eating food that in the end, we only had one free day left for sightseeing, so we picked to go to the Great Wall. Visiting Beijing is not just traveling to another city. It’s a homecoming. This is the city…