Deliciously Roasted Gratitude

I may be living in Beijing, but today I celebrated my first American Thanksgiving. I went to Lily’s American Diner in Sanlitun with Liz and her co-teacher, Jessica. Our starter was a salad, followed by a turkey dinner and an apple pie for dessert. It was delicious and definitely a treat to have turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, as I won’t be returning home this Christmas for my traditional-roast-dinner-fix.

In the spirit of the event, I considered the things I feel thankful for. I have whittled it down to the following list:

• Having a loving family.
• Having great friends all over the world.
• Having a good and interesting job.
• The opportunity to travel to new places.
• Living in a place where I frequently experience/learn something new.
• Low pollution days!

It’s very easy to be happy and grateful for things, but sometimes the stress of everyday life can get in the way. I will try my best to take stock of my blessings!

Hôm nay tôi tổ chức Lễ tạ ơn. Hiện nay lễ tạ ơn được tổ chức vào ngày thứ Năm tuần thứ tư tháng 11. Bữa ăn Lễ tạ ơn có món gà tây quay mềm ngọt, béo ngậy.

感恩节快乐！

The whole world in a park

Last weekend, I visited Beijing World Park (北京世界公园 Běijīng shìjiè gōngyuán). 

Not since my students introduced me to Baigoogledu (a dual search engine simultaneously displaying the results from Baidu and Google; and more importantly sounding like a funky cockerel) had I felt so excited about a new and unknown China experience.

The park boasts replicas of famous landmarks and buildings from around the world. “What better way could you spend your weekend?” I hear you ask…I may need some more time to answer this question.

From the moment Liz and I arrived outside the park, an eager lady wielding a camera greeted us. “Hello! Photo!” she beamed, as she purposefully placed us together and individually for a number of shots. Then she disappeared while we bought our entry tickets. As soon as we made our way to the gate, we noticed the lady sprinting back in our direction. She was on a mission. Once she caught her breath, she hastily and proudly revealed two small photo keyrings. After our wonderful tacky souvenir from the Watermelon Museum, Liz and I knew we had unwittingly already gained our memento for our latest adventure.

Stepping into the park, I was more than happy to see that the usual drove of people appeared to be occupied elsewhere. The park was (by Beijing standards) very peaceful!

Eat your heart out, Phileas Fogg! Eighty days to travel the world?! Pah! I managed it in an afternoon. Following a brief stop in Moscow, I was stunned and distracted by a rather humorous sign. English errors are a common occurrence here; however this one is certainly a favourite of mine.

It seems that some of the landmarks are more impressive and preserved better than others. Of course, the replica of The Great Wall was quite striking.  
Travelling through Europe and the Americas, we passed by the pyramids in Egypt and finally took a welcome break in Africa. I sat down on an elephant while contemplating where to go next.

The White House!

The journey then took us on a trek through Asia and down to Australasia. 

Taj Mahal

Angkor Wat

It was only when we got closer to the exit that we realised we had not been to Rome and Italy. Thankfully we rectified this blunder. It may be a cliché, but this photo with the leaning tower of Pisa was a necessity.

Had to be done!

It was definitely an enjoyable day and each replica came with a short description of the landmark and location. I was happy to see a famous landmark from Hanoi and made sure to have my photograph taken next to the One Pillar Pagoda.

Leaving the park, Liz and I waved by to the camera lady who was still loitering and hoping for further victims. We walked towards the subway station and grabbed a couple of roasted sweet potatoes from a street vendor. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon! It was made even better when we managed to get seats on the long subway journey home! Score!

Om nom nom!

YES! Seat on the subway!

Tacky souvenir? YES!

Cuối tuần qua, tôi đã đi Công viên thế giới Bắc Kinh. Hay quá nhỉ! Tôi có thể đến thăm những cảnh đẹp nổi tiếng trên toàn thế giới, ở một công viên! Bạn có nhận nơi này không? =))

Shortumn and Kimcheese

I have always liked Autumn. So it is unfortunate that Beijing has long hot summers and cold dry winters, with a very brief Spring and Autumn. Autumn in Beijing, or “Shortumn” as I have now decided to call it, offers comfortable temperatures in which I don’t end up a hot sweaty mess or a cold shivering wreck.

Luckily, this year, Shortumn seems to be lasting a while longer which is a welcome surprise because the central heating in Beijing will not get turned on until November 15^th. When the air quality was good, I managed to take some photographs of the leaves changing colours. Beijing’s many parks are a beautiful place to be at this time of the year. With APEC preparations underway, people in Beijing can hopefully expect a short but happy period of clear blue skies.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a craving for kimchi (fermented cabbage dish), which I had not enjoyed since visiting South Korea during the summer holiday. So I was overjoyed to see that my local supermarket sells a kind of kimchi. I decided to pair it with something else I had been craving…cheese on toast! I feel that I may have created something quite wonderful here. I have dubbed this culinary masterpiece kimcheese on toast. Not one to brag, but the spicy and sour kimchi formed a happy partnership with the cooling properties of the melted cheese. There will be another story in a similar vein to this exciting development in a short while, but for now please view my delectable dish…

More recently, I visited Glasses City in Panjiayuan. I felt it was time to update my specs. There were so many glasses to look at, including some suspicious brands that could be referred to as “Calvin Clones”. Some shopkeepers were a little too pushy and there wasn’t much English spoken; however, if you take your glasses prescription or a pair of your own glasses, they will provide you with the correct lenses. I am now a proud owner of a new pair of glasses! Woohoo!

Later that day, some friends and I went to Palms LA Kitchen and Bar which is situated in Zhangwang Hutong. This restaurant specialises in…Mexican and Korean fusion food! Yes, my kimchi craving would be satisfied once more. The food was so tasty that I was unable to take any photographs because I was too busy eating. Perhaps it was a subconscious decision so that I will have to return in order to get evidence of the experience! The kimchi quesadillas were possibly even better than kimcheese on toast. My kimchi senses are tingling and telling me that a return visit is on the cards soon.

Công việc của tôi gần đây hoàn toàn rất khó...

Vào giờ này tháng sau, tôi đang đi du lịch ở Seoul để chúc mừng sinh nhật thứ 30 của bạn tôi.. Tôi thích các món ăn Hàn Quốc ☺Tôi yêu mùa thu!

One great wedding and a giant panda sanctuary

Apologies for the lack of blog updates. Work has continued to be busy which in turn has limited my adventures and therefore blog-worthy content. However, two weeks ago, I visited Sichuan Province to attend my friends’ wedding.

I worked with Omar and Lyra in Beijing for two years and they recently transferred schools; moving to her hometown in Chongqing.

The wedding took place on October 1st, which is during China’s national holiday. I was given the great honour of being asked to host the wedding alongside a Chinese host. The wedding ceremony itself reflected the coming together of Eastern and Western cultures.

I have been lucky to attend weddings in the UK, Poland, Vietnam and now China. All of the wedding ceremonies were completely different but all had the common theme of celebrating love and union.



I particularly enjoyed how the wedding day began. After a photo shoot, the groom followed Chinese tradition and visited the bride’s residence. There, he had to persuade her bridesmaids to allow him inside the hotel room through giving them red envelopes containing money (红包 hóngbāo). Nothing says love like bribery. Once he gained access to the room, the Omar had to complete a set of dares (with the help of his friends and family).

The first dare required him to choose cards that listed an exercise and the number of times he had to partake in that exercise. After doing the plank and squats, Omar had to finish one hundred push-ups. Unfortunately, despite already being sweaty from the humidity, I had to pitch in and did my set of ten (while hoping that the sweat patches faded before the ceremony began).



Next, the groom had to play a game similar to roulette. A number of cups were filled with different liquids, which included soy sauce, orange juice, vinegar and bai jiu (Chinese rice wine). This was to reflect the different tastes of marriage (sweet and sour etc). Again, the groom called on his friends for help. I think I drank the soy sauce. I then innocently asked for a biscuit chaser. After eating the Oreo, I realised it was wasabi flavoured. Rookie mistake. These games certainly created a happy and fun atmosphere.

Finally, the groom had to say “I love you” to the bride in 3 languages. He then ascended the stairs and met his bride-to-be.

I was rather nervous when reading the speech. I didn’t want to make any mistakes or ruin the ceremony. The speech included vows written by the bride and groom and also explained the order of the ceremony to the English and Chinese speaking guests. It was a wonderful, emotional-yet-happy ceremony and one that I will always remember.




After the ceremony, I felt that I could finally relax and along with the other guests, enjoyed a hearty lunch. Shortly after the meal, the newlyweds had their first dance. Later in the afternoon it began to rain, so many of the guests went into the hotel and played mahjong (麻将).



In the evening, some of us went to KTV (karaoke), which was the perfect end to a magical day.





The day after the wedding, we travelled to Chengdu – the home of the panda. It was quite a long bus journey; however, it was definitely worth it. The Panda sanctuary was very busy - probably due to it being the national holiday. Despite this, it was a great experience to see the giant panda and red panda. The giant pandas are really quite big, although I still secretly hoped that I would encounter an actual giant-sized panda roaming around. My personal highlight of the day was seeing the baby pandas. The word "cute" cannot fully describe them accurately. Even the way one of the baby bears happily excreted on one of the carers was adorable.



Although it was a fleeting visit to Sichuan Province, it was an unforgettable holiday and I sincerely hope that I will make a return trip there someday in the future.



Đầu tháng này, tôi tham dự đám cưới của bạn tôi ở Trùng Khánh. Đó là một ngày rất đặc biệt.

Ngày kế tiếp tôi đã đi Thành Đô. Tôi đã thấy rất nhiều gấu trúc. Bây giờ gấu trúc là một loài thú hiếm.

What a melancholy watermelon kind of day

Well, it could have been dull and boring, but watermelons helped to save the day...

It is often necessary to have a Plan B in Beijing. As mentioned in my previous blog post, the air quality here means you may have to change plans. I had originally hoped to visit The Summer Palace today (after two years of living in Beijing, I still haven’t visited it, but don’t tell anyone, I am sure it’s a criminal offence). However, the pollution levels were too high to spend a whole day outside, so a colleague and I decided to visit a strange yet interesting museum.

We went to the China Watermelon museum (中国西瓜博物院). It was a rather long drive from Chaoyang District, but it was definitely a unique experience on an otherwise grey, smoggy day. The museum is dedicated to educating visitors about the history, culture and technology of cultivating different kinds of watermelons.

Although most of the information there is written in Chinese, it was still a fun place to look around. Dotted around the grounds of the museum are some comical statues, including Zhu the pig from Journey To The West.

Trư Ngộ Năng!

We were surprised to enter the museum for free, as information online stated there was a 20元 fee. We were the only people in the museum during our time there. I think that somehow made our time there more enjoyable. To emphasise the science and technology component of growing watermelons, most of the museum has been given a “sci-fi” theme. On occasions it felt like I was inside Doctor Who’s Tardis (if it had been powered by watermelons).

There were melons of all sizes. Something for everyone...

A personal highlight was the satellite orbiting a globe (half planet earth, half watermelon).

We happily viewed a variety of watermelon seeds (who knew there were so many kinds?), photographs of random people enjoying watermelon and impressive carvings made out of watermelon. 

I have decided to spend the rest of my weekend hunting down watermelon toothpaste, which was given a special display cabinet in the museum. Hopefully I can find it in a local supermarket and test it out.

Muskmelons were also mentioned. No idea what they are so may conduct a little research after completing this blog entry.

Before leaving, Liz and I thought it would only be fair to purchase a tacky souvenir as a memento of our adventure. As we prepared to get in our taxi, Liz and I realised that the outside of the museum has been designed to look like a watermelon with wings. Genius.

Back in Chaoyang District, we enjoyed a fest in Baoyuan Restaurant. We ate broccoli, dumplings, sweet and sour pork, spicy tofu and an aubergine dish.

Mike 1-0 Air pollution. Ha.

Hôm nay tôi đã đến một viện bảo tàng rất tốt nơi tôi có thể học rất nhiều về dưa hấu… lạ mà độc đáo =))