nasi lemak heaven!

our fellow Singaporean Linda invited us to her place (actually I invited myself when I heard from Robina that nasi lemak was being served!) for a sumptious lunch! thanks to Aunty (Linda's mum) we feasted on nasi lemak, sambal prawns, beef rendang, sambal ikan bilis and rounded off with bubur hitam. I felt like I've died and gone to heaven (this is a desperate Singaporean speaking!). the melt-in-your-mouth rendang and tembok sambal belacan reminded me how much I missed Singaporean food (as I write this all the wonderful image and taste of the food is being replayed in my mind). Thanks again Linda and Aunty!

Dog Show

Last saturday, we dropped by at the dog show organised by the Beijing Kennel Club. We dragged Sally there to met and play with other dogs. The weather was so hot and humid that it was almost like being in Singapore. It was interesting to see so many dog breeds and fellow dog owners in Beijing.

Art Work

Robina and I visited a gallery near my work place. we saw this stunning work (above) that was the centre piece of the gallery. It is the work of a contemporary Chinese artist Lao Jia. His paintings of pastoral scenes of horses and herdsmen were vibrant and energetic. You can also feel the horse leaping out of the frame. This is the original piece so the price was way beyond what we can afford (RMB29,000)! but we picked up a cheap collotype reprint (see below). hey, we just want something for the living room!

we also picked up a cheap reprint (S$50) by another artist Yang Gang. His works are also scenes of the steppes and horses since he spent a year as a herder in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution. Robina like this piece very much. I find it very zen-like and like the misty or dusty effect that shroud the horses. The distant mountains also provided contrast and depth.

Song & dance

we had a makan session with Singaporean colleagues at an ethnic xinjiang restaurant on Saturday evening (although there is a Penang restaurant serving teh tarik, prata and bak kut teh is just round the corner!). Xinjiang food is an intriguing mix of turkish and central asian influences. For a Singaporean, it is an familiar enough to ring a bell but yet different enough to be interesting. For instance, the lamb kebabs are a bit like satay, same concept of meat grilled on a skewer. but the spices and the tender lamb is refreshingly different. They also have naan but thicker and of more biscuitty texture than the North Indian version that we are more familiar with. The other dishes, like spicy stews seem more like some Turkish dishes that we tried in Singapore. Their handmade noodles is somewhat like pasta with their tomato based sauce.

Apart from the ethnic food, the highlight of the restaurant is their entertainment. A band (two guitarist and a bongo drummer) alternates with two nubile belly dancers. The two guitarists (especially the bassist) were excellent and likes to launch into frenetic strumming and jamming with the drummer. The drummer plays on a ethnic uighur drum, a bit like the bongo. Their music is a blend of ethnic uighur, flamenco, latin and country western. Even Robina thought that the lead singer was "cute" since he was quite charismatic and had the "rocker" look (a bit like Adrian Loo!). in between performances, Moroccan or Turkish MTVs were played on a big screen behind the stage. Robina and I were debating whether the singer was the same guy featured in the MTV. turns out I was wrong, he is not Arken the famous Uighur singer. (but Arken and his band is playing in a pub nearby. we will pop down to see them play one of these days). An amusing interlude was the presence of an enthusiastic "groupie". A young boy (must be 8 or 9) would be screaming his head off and cheering the band's performance. Even the lead singer was slightly embarrassed. but it must have made his day!

the dancers performed a few uighur dances and belly dancing. there was a dance where they balanced a stack of bowls on their head and pirouette gracefully. It was quite a display of poise and grace. The dancers removed the bowls one by one towards the end of the dance.

another Great Wall climb

After taking the easy way out the previous time, Robina and I finally trudged up the Great Wall on our own steam. We were on an excursion organised by our apartment to visit the Commune by the Great Wall. That is a collection of prize-winning architectural designs of resort villas situated right on the foot of the Great Wall. After a heavy lunch, we climbed along a dirt track behind the resort leading right up the Great Wall.

It reminded us of our MacRitchie briskwalks and how badly out of shape we were! but we managed to huff and puff our way up the 45 degree gradient to the wall. One lady even went up and down in dress and heels! This stretch of the wall is not the restored tourist area. The plus point is that there were no hordes of tourist in the summer holiday season. We had the whole wall to ourselves. The sections of the wall was broken down and overgrown with vegetation. But the view of the landscape in the foggy atmosphere was excellent.

Beijing lashed by rainstorm

like Singapore being hit by sumatras, Beijing received its equivalent yesterday afternoon. By 4pm the sky was dark, gloomy and ladened with clouds. This was very unusual since it does not get dark even after 7.30pm. before you know it, the heavens opened up and was raining cats and dogs. it was a torrential downpour like those we get in S'pore.News reports said that Beijing had not experienced such a heavy storm for more than 10 years.

Aparently, it rained 75mm in two hours and it has been raining since then. more than 200 flights were delayed at Beijing airport and some flights were even diverted to Tientsin. The heavy rain flooded many main roads and wrecked havoc on traffic. On some stretches, cars were almost submerged. Many commuters had to abandon their buses or taxis and walk since they were stuck in jams for a long time. On most roads, the traffic was quite atrocious. But, on the bright side, Beijing's air has never been fresher. The weather should be cooler for a few days at least and it will be a welcome respite from the 35-36C Beijing furnace.

Sally has been quite content lying on the bed, but she must be missing her walks around the neighborhood. Robina is also stuck at home since the wet weather meant not being able to ride her horses. well, we can always hit the DVDs...