Jinlongtan Hotel Beijing

... my Mandarin phrase book and ordered mineral water). For dinner, we ordered half of a Peking duck, which is eaten with various condiments and thin, moist pancake-like bread. In addition, we had ordered the following dishes: amaranth with mushroom soup, satay sauce and lily bulb of duck heart, and sliced fish and spicy black bean sauce. All in all, the food was delicious - one of the better meals that we have had during our vacation so far. We also ...

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Left-handed paranoia - I can't help but be paranoid of being left-handed when I am eating. Historically, everyone is supposed to be right-handed. In fact, it was disgraceful for children to be left-handed and they were forced to change their dominant sides. So when eating, I am always looking around and wondering if people believe I am a disgraceful child. =P

More to come soon!

... thing to measure temperatures. Thankfully, everybody was within normal range and we were all allowed off.

Beijing is an amazing city, although I'm not sure how to describe it. It's a little overwhelming being on the highways, as it's smoggy and simply gigantic. There are highrises everywhere, and some amazing architecture.

The hostel is fantastic - absolutely everything I could wish ...

... calls me his little duckling which I found very romantic in the dark of our room. Michael and Helen showed us a wonderful time. She and I became fast friends as we walked arm and arm sharing confidences while I overheard Marty giving fatherly advice with Michael. I wanted to wrap her up and take her home. I am still trying to get her to ditch work on Monday and come to the Great Wall with us. She said, "I wish you were my bosses."

... expensive trip back home to secure such documentation." In any case, in many countries, the administrative procedure to supply such a document does not exist. Even if it does, it's unlikely to be issued by "the local police station" in countries such as the United Kingdom, most European nations, and the US and Canada, where the registry of criminal offenders is maintained at a national, not local, level. The latest work visa measure comes barely five months ...

... benches for scenic rests, etc. I went from feeling powerful to feeling incredibly stupid. It was about 30 ft. to the temple, and from there I got some amazing shots. The other parts of the palace were very nice, long ornate bridges, huge palaces, but like all of the other Confucian and ancient Chinese architecture, it was the same, even the color scheme. The one other main feature I saw that rang a bell ...

... for en hundrings paa markedet? Nei, vi ga dem litt tid vi, kan jo ikke skade aa bruke dem litt lenger, er jo bare aa bruke tights under! Jeg begynte aa gaa med den andre buksa mi(wow, jeg har to!) men naa har den bare en av tre knapper igjen, og har revnet i skrittet. Tilslutt maatte liv mari krype til korset og kjoepe et nytt par. You're a bad woman. Men will look at you. (dama vi proevde aa prute hos til liv mari) Sans ...

... away from my plate Xiaojing's Mum has piled more food on my plate. When I notice and look at her she gives me a little smile. Everything I try tastes wonderful, but my favourite dish has to be the red bean spring rolls which taste so much better than I had ever expected. After dinner I hand out the various presents that I have brought from the UK. The presents seem to go down very well ... especially the teddy for Xiaojing's niece, Helen. Xiaojing and her ...

... Had it been this hot? How long did it take to get them all set up? And what did they do if they needed to use the bathroom? The Forbidden City is truly city size - 183 acres to be exact, with 9,999 rooms. Once you get past the vast squares and impressive structures of the Outer Court there are many smaller, more intimate courtyards and buildings. I really loved the names of some of them - Pavilion of a Thousand Autumns (complementing the ...

We spent most of the day visiting Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. The place is HUGE! Lots and lots of walking with Nicolas again as our escort. Amazing buildings and history. We had to get our shopping fix in again, so we got dropped off at the busiest foreigner shopping street in Beijing - Wangfujing Street. We also found it to be very expensive and decided to bail early after a lunch of corn on a ...