Days off...

With the Chinese New Year comes not only fireworks but also time off from work. Very nice after 3 weeks of non-stop action. We have really taken advantage of this and been out around town. Celebrated Chinese New Year on Wednesday after a huge sleep-in. Thursday was spent sleeping and working for me. Had to go to work for a little while. Celebrated one of our colleague's birthday. Went to Goose&Duck, a sports bar in the area. Great place!! Live music, great food and 24 hour happy hour!!!! They also have their home brewed beer. Cheap and good! Zach showed his skills with the dart board while the two-piece keyboard band did their best to entertain the audience. Took a cab to a place called Cargo...seems that there is a Cargo bar in every city. Very nice place, seems to be the popular hangout for Beijings young elite. Plenty of bottles on every table. It is cheap to buy bottles in bars here in Beijing. But they do not have the real RedBull. Fake one of course...Stayed until the place got to packed with drunk youngsters and business ladies. Tried out another place...Maggies. Apparently very popular among Expats (foreginers working in Beijing). Was partly closed due to reconstruction. Place was half empty. We will be back when its getting closer to the Olympics.
Friday was spent on the road. Had a late wakeup again! Took a cab downtown to Wangfujing Shopping Street. It was brunch/lunch time so McDonalds was our first stop. Absolutely crazy!!! It seems that there is an unlimited desire for fast food here in Beijing. Fast food restaurants are everywhere and always packed. After lunch we explored the Oriental Plaza, a huge shopping mall in central Beijing. As always, droves of shops offering everything for the not so price sensitive shopper. We could only watch and dream.....we instead made our way up Wangfujing street stopping at local shopping centres, especially a very large toy store. And guesss what they had...remote controlled helicopters!! Zach just had to buy one. He has been trying to learn how to fly the last couple of days. Stumbled upon the (famous) Dong Hua Men night market. Business was good even though it was mid afternoon. Tempting to try some stuff out but we decided to pass. Dont think our stomachs can take silkworms, caterpillars and scorpions yet. We have to wait a few more weeks...? Made our way towards the forbidden city and the tiananmen square. We found a shop selling all kinds of police vehicle lights!!! Zach is so coming back to get one to take home. Finally reached the tiananmen square. Very big and very cold. It is so vast that it was difficult to see the other end. Military and police everywhere. We just walked up to the gate of the forbidden city and then across the square. Will be back when the temperature have risen a little bit. In a half-frozen state we finally got a taxi to take us to Yashow Clothing Market close to the Sanlitun Bar street. Finally a place for our wallets. Got some shirts for a reasonable price after some bargaining. Zach picked up jeans, shoes, shirts and t-shirts and I got shirts and a pair of gloves. Think we have found some reliable dealers that we can do more business with in the future. Home cooked food and some movies finished off a good day.
Saturday got a late start as always. Got ourselves some late lunch at the American Cafe. A hearty meal to get us going. Also made a visit to Shin Kong place, a large new shopping centre. Same kind of stores as everywhere else. Got a "real" coffee at Starbucks and also picked up some supplies at the supermarket. Taxi back to out place and relaxation for a few hours. Too lazy to cook so we ordered food from the American Cafe together with Cedric, our French flatmate. Got some visitors later....Susanna and Gero! We took them to SOUK, the place we had been to on Tuesday...great place! Very chillout!!! Live music!! Also tried out Bar Pepper, a place famous for their bartenders...their skills! Just made it for the cocktail show. The scene was like taken from the movie Cocktail. Great skills!! And a very nice place. Reminded us of Scarface...marble pillars, red velvet couches and chandeliers. Will be back soon!! Finished off the night at Block 8. Club was completely empty. Had a quick drink and left.
Today will be preparation for tomorrow. Mentally and physically. Might have a massage later. And I have to do some work. Until next time.... /Martin