On arrival into Beijing we used my APEC card to get through immigration, collected luggage and the fun started….getting a taxi that would take all our luggage. Not an easy task when none of us speak Mandarin and their English wasn’t the best. We were told to take a van at some crazy cost, and were close until he man behind us in the line said it was very expensive. So off we tried to get the luggage into a normal taxi, no such luck, so we were back to the drawing room (with everyone looking at us). We spied a bigger taxi so decided to give it a go and within a few minutes were off and roaring down the highway. On arrival at the hotel he gave us his business card in-case we needed him over the weekend.
Checking into the hotel was easy, and I was most impressed with the service and attention given to the girls. The duty manager had them fill in their own check-in cards, then gave them each a panda.
Chilled in the room for awhile, I was loving just staring out the window and watching a busy intersection. Decided on having Peking duck for dinner. Had the front desk make a reservation for us at the same restaurant Ann and Patrick at eaten at on their previous trip, on arrival realised it was at a different location to they had been too. It was in an area with lots of other restaurants, bars and stalls surrounded by a lake. Finally found what we were looking for and was told not so nicely that we were 15 minutes late so missed our table - buggar! We stood waiting for a few minutes then thankfully was seated. Mental note for tomorrow and Saturday night, do not be late for our reservation.
After a few small translation speed bumps we were enjoying our delicious dinner. After dinner walked around the area, Ann and Patrick had been here previously (as we found as as we walked more). They couldn't believe how much they got hassled last time, when they didn't have the girls. We seemed to get by easily, just had lots of people stare, more so at the girls.. Getting a taxi back to the hotel was a little bit of fun – a couple of taxis refused to take us, either they had no idea where the hotel was; the hotel was too far away or there was 5 of us. In end it was all good and we were on our way back to a/c.
Friday morning we all slept in, in fact Ann and I were up before the girls which I was amused at. The black-out curtains are definitely helping with this. We had breakfast in the hotel, then met our driver from last night. We are off to the Great Wall of China – ye ha! Even though I’ve been before, I really wanted to return. It’s an amazing site and one I hope to return to later in life. We decided to go to the Mutianyu part of the Wall, which I had not been too. It was around 90 minutes drive from the Hotel and really wasn’t too bad, traffic was a little heavy getting out of town but then we were off speeding down the highway. The road signs kept me very entertained, not so much the words but the pictures that went along with them – don’t drive drunk; don’t overload your car so it’s too heavy; don’t make your load too tall; wear a seat belt; don’t litter; don’t talk on your cell phone.
On arrival our driver walked with us to purchase the tickets, pointed to where we had to go and left us to it. We had somehow managed to tell him we will be back in 2 hours. We took a ski chair lift up the mountain then set foot onto the Great Wall. We had decided to go up on a Friday in the hope that it wouldn't be as busy as the weekend, and thankfully that paid off. At times we were the only people around - pure bliss! Lots of photos were taken then after awhile headed back down the mountain, this time by Toboggan. A little scary at times given you control the speed. I'm sure I was told to slow down at least once then at some stage honestly thought I had come to a stand still.
Managed to met up with our driving and were off heading back into the City.
On arrival back at the hotel went swimming in the hotel pool. We knew it was an indoor pool with a big screen at one end playing black and white movies. A shame it was indoors but given the winters are crazy cold it means that hotel guests can swim all year around. The one huge negative was you had to wear a swimming cap and as none of us had them we had to wear a shower cap - very silly but hey its the rules :(
Had champagne in the room before dinner in the Italian restaurant (which had very good reviews). We were very disappointed by the service, actually lack of service and the length of time it took us to get our food. Very disappointing for a 5 star hotel. We complained to the restaurant manager, who really didn't do much then headed up to our rooms. By this stage the girls were fast sleep and both had to be carried. Ann and I saw the duty manager (who had checked us in) so said something to her as well, more so just to let her know how disappointed we were. On arrival back to the room Patrick told us we had a bottle of champagne waiting - very nice...however only with 2 glasses. Did they not see 3 adults at the table???? Within minutes of being in room the restaurant manager came up with another 2 glasses. They clearly didn't put two and two together and realize there was 3 adults at dinner. They had slightly redeemed themselves however I was still very disappointed, totally not what you expect from a 5 star hotel....oh well time to move on.
Saturday we slept in again, thank you black out curtains. Breakfast in the hotel before taking a taxi to Tiananmen Square, on getting out of the hotel I was overcome with how crazy super hot it was. I have a feeling our plans will be changed due to the heat. We managed to walk around a small amount, took a few photos then were off again. The plan was suppose to be the McGinley’s would go to the Forbidden City and I’ll go off on my own and we would meet at the Hard Rock Cafe for a late lunch….yeah no the heat took over that plan.
So we decided to head to the Hard Rock Cafe now and hope there A/C was on super high. We were all amused how long it took to get there, it seemed to be on the other side of China. On arrival found out it was closed for a private function (wedding), Patrick was disappointed. So after a trip to the shop we were off in hunt of a lunch place. Hard to know where to go when this wasn’t in the plan and it seemed like nothing was really around. Noticed the Sheraton hotel close by so went there to regroup (in a/c of course!). Decided on another American place for lunch, TGIF’s. Was wonderful to be in A/C again. Back to the hotel and I went swimming, the others just relaxed in the room.
That night we went and saw a Flying Aerobics’ show, which was very good. I would definitely recommend it to people visiting Beijing. After the show walked literally across the road to a restaurant which had been recommended to us by the hotel. We got in there just before they closed which was perfect timing.
Thankfully they had pictures with their food so we were able to point. Patrick went to the beer fridge and did the pointing to get a beer :) Food was very good.
Sunday we slept in again, went down for breakfast then back to the room for a couple of hours – relaxing and packing, before checking out. Ventured out to the famous Lilichang Jie street where there were lots of art galleries and shops selling a million different types of paint brushes – it would be an artist dream, along with other nik naking shops.
We went into a few shops, more so to get some A/C and be out of the heat. I headed down one of the side streets where there was a Hutong and enjoyed peering into the open doors, differently a different world and one I am very glad I do not need to live in. From here we took a taxi to one of the cities favourite bun places, the tables turned here and instead of us taking photos of Beijing and the locals we were now having our photos taken. The language barrier was huge, lots of pointing and smiling and within a few minutes we had our buns. Good but for me not the best I’ve had before. The restaurant (if you can call it that) was part of the pedestrian area, had a wonder around then headed down an alley way where live, yes I repeat live, star-fish and Scorpios are sitting on sticks waiting to be cooked and eaten. Not my cup of tea thank you very much!
Back to the hotel, quick freshen up then out to the airport with our driver. It had been a great long weekend, but I definitely won’t be returning in the summer – just far too hot to be sightseeing!
I’m now back to work for 7 days then off…..location still TBC.
No comments:
Post a Comment