meeting Adrian in Beijing

met up with Adrian and his colleague, Junior in Beijing. they are in town for work. we brought them to shop for cheap pseudo dri-fit T-shirts and shorts. they were amazed by robina's bargaining skills. got scolded by salesgirl when we walked away. brought them to try Yunnan food. since they were quite game for exotic food, we got them to try deep-fried bamboo worms (caterpillars) which went well with local watery beer. after dinner we walked them to the MRT station to brave the Beijing MRT line. they should have no problems navigating bacck to their hotel since they had survived much tougher cities than Beijing.
Junior and Adrian with their MRT tickets

Robina's sports craze

Unlike before when she hardly did any sports, Robina had been going thru a very active phase. apart from her horse riding sessions, she had been playing tennis, blading as well as more sedate piano lessons.
Robina dusted off the rollerblades that we bought eons ago in Taipei.
learning from Sherry and Winnie.
Robina is learning how to balance on the blade
Robina and Sherry. photo by Ethan!
Robina starting on tennis.
the girls starting to learn with a tennis coach
together on Tze Tong's birthday!

the girls at Hong Kong

some snap shots from the girls' foray into Hong Kong. tucking into desserts. they were so distracted by shopping that they did not have much time for makan and Hong Kong style desserts!
shopping from ear rings and trinklets. Robina got a pair.
trying out the dresses and clothing at fashion outlets.
at hotel room, preparing for girls' night out. Robina getting her water transfer tattoo!
at a pub in Lan Kwai Fong
beer taking effect?
a fire engine appeared that evening at LKF. the place too happening?

the girls raided Hong Kong

Robina just returned from a weekend shopping raid to Hong Kong with the girls. they had a fun time and returned with lots of booty. even before taking off from Beijing, they were in a boisterous mood so much so that the stewardess came by to remind them to quiet down!
the girls had a hectic time roaming from shop to shop, don even have time for dinner. but they managed to visit a pub in Lan Kwai Fong and was hip enuff to have their photo taken by tourists...
some of the moon cake and pastries brought back by Robina. some as gifts and some for ourselves.

national day

just came back from the national day reception. Robina and I are dead tired from all the standing (5-10pm!). but the turnout was very good with many Singaporeans, Chinese and foreign friends showing up. the food was pretty good with local favourites like chicken rice, prawn mee, laksa, teh tarik and chicken curry.
the girls had a lot of fun dressing up in glam dresses and snapping endless pics. Robina suffered from the tight kebaya (so tight that she could only waddle around!).
check out the photos here.

food prowlings in Beijing

just went to the English pub, John Bull last evening. as pub food goes, John Bull is quite alright. their fish n' chips were quite good. we gobbled it down before snapping a pic. their chicken pot pie was delicious with crispy crust and nice chicken fillings inside. only downside, no house brew ale, closest thing was Kilkenny.

good news for Singaporeans in Beijing: Prima Taste opened a food outlet in Oriental Plaza (Beijing equivalent of Takashimaya Orchard mall). Their chicken rice was pretty decent. Robina found their hokkien prawn noodle soup and mee siam quite good. their rojak was authentic and tasty with lots of prawn paste. downside: their waiters apparently warn local customers that the rojak taste "weird". They told us thinking that we were locals. I think they are being helpful in case the Chinese are not familiar with the taste of "proper" rojak but it just came out the wrong way!!?

Beijing rage

someone has obviously been staying too long in Beijing and was starting to have thots abt mowing escalator obstructors to the ground.

yes, Beijing does that to you! u feel the rage bubbling up from the pit of your stomach and eventually become a tsunami!

even Robina's fuse has been shaved so much that there's no fuse left...she needs to get out of town every 5-6 months to some gracious-living place like Taipei or Hong Kong. yes, it's all relative!

one of Robina's agitated frens wanted to pick fight with Silk Market sale girls. she was fired up after their (Robina and frens) lousy Salsa teacher refused to refund part of their dance class fees (he can't dance and can't teach). she was told by their Chinese physician to take some herbal concoction to tone down her temper...

another of Robina's fren (one of the most mild manner person I know) recently felt like scolding people after having a bus door slammed in her face...

maybe having bloodthirsty thots are not so bad after all. some form of mental catharsis can prevent us from going "postal'...