back in Singapore

we've been back in SG since 27th. very pleasant change from smoggy Beijing. it's a joy to be able to open your windows and enjoy the breeze. In the morning, I could bask in the sun while having coffee in you neighbourhood kopi tiam.

perhaps the gorging on local food had gotten to me. seems like my system has adjusted to Beijing's heavy food. curry and chilli seems to go right thru me.

update: apparently 1 Jan was a blue sky day for BJ

two towers

nope, its not Minas Morgul and Othanc, although Beijing does resemble Mordor these few days being wrapped in a noxious cloud of fog/smog (optimists called this a fog, pessimists...). but the previously twin leaning towers of CCTV Building has been united into a twisted Siamese twin prezzel.
when work mysterious stopped for about one month in the middle of this year, Robina and I were wondering if the engineers had to stop to do some last minute calculations. Imagine, if the towers missed the joining by a few inches! It might be quite difficult to hoist a giant hammer up to knock the towers back...

Ethan's Birthday!

this was Ethan's birthday bash! Sherry got a balloon guy and magician to entertain the kids with balloon animals and the adults with "magic" card tricks.
with all the presents and attentions, the birthday boy was a tad camera shy!
the girls!

Sally misdemeanour

Sally made the big mistake of ransacking Robina's closet and dragging out her Kipling bag and her handphone. When we returned home to the crime scene, Robina screamed and Sally jumped onto our stool in fright. She received a round of scolding and a whack on the rump from Robina.
Sally moping after her scolding

Hui Yuh in town

Hui Yuh and her hubby, Kelvin as in town for a whirlwind 4-day visit. they fulfilled most of their plans for visiting various must-see tourist sights like the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace and Summer Palace. plus they managed quite a lot of loot from shopping. We brought them to try out Xinjiang, Guizhou food and Peking duck! We told Hui Yuh that they must come again, next time with baby Keagan to cover those sights that they missed this time round and for more shopping.

Hong Kong eating n shopping

Robina and I was in Hong Kong from 7 to 10 Dec for a short break. especially for Robina, she needs to detox and get away from Beijing. Even as we land we thot that the HK skyline was hazy from the smog. Hey, not much better from the Beijing pea soup that we are trying to escape from! turns out that the next two days were the worst in terms of pollution in HK for a long while. even a pollution monitor in busy Central district broke up (in protest?). but even with the pollution in HK, we still found the air much fresher then BJ. everything is relative, I guess.

Robina outside Times Square mall. Hong Kong is a shopping paradise (Robina) and makan heaven (for me). Robina went crazy at shopping joints like Uni Glo, Muji or even Esprit n Giordano. needless to say there was a lot of plunder. It helped Robina to fulfill her shopping for Christmas presents.

Me with what's left of our roast suckling pig. Food was a joy in HK. simple fare, like the ubiquitous Cha Chan Teng milk tea or Cantonese style porridge and wanton mee was delicious across the board. In between meals we could still stuff ourselves with Herbal tea, desserts and Gui Ling Gao jelly.