Another Year, Another Place
Monday, January 07, 2008
So here we are - in the grand old city of Beijing.
We arrived on Thursday afternoon, none the worse for wear even though we had been on the road for sixteen hours. We caught a transit flight from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt and thereafter, to Beijing. As a farewell treat, I bought myself a small bag of Godiva to take on board. The flight itself wasn't half bad. We flew business all the way and it was very comfortable. However, if you're the Queen of motion sickness like I am - I get seasick, carsick, airsick, you name it - it doesn't matter what class you are on the plane, you suffer, albeit in varying degrees.
And as per our normal post flight routine, Hubs and Sonny-boy would go claim our luggage whilst I make a beeline to the nearest toilet and empty the contents of my gut.
Beijing, like all other big cities, is noisy and congested. It is fairly clean, cleaner than I expected, save for one aspect. People spit here. Alot. No really, I mean alot. Hygiene aside, it's really gross witnessing another human discharging fluid projectiles with deadly accuracy on the ground. Almost all the men do it here so I take it as 'one of those things'. On my part, Sonny-boy and I have been playing Dodge The Spittle when we are out on the streets. Over the weekend, I'v already been attacked by The Used Chewing Gum and while trying to remove it from the heel of my boot, cursed the fellow who spit it on the ground. I thanked heaven it was an old pair.
That aside, it's been rather nice here. We have a spacious hotel room which comes complete with a working kitchenette but with all the restaurants every which way you turn, damn if I'm doing any cooking. The one big thing I missed sorely in Europe was Japanese cuisine so for two straight days, I sashayed down to the sushi bar situated in the shopping centre below and sashimi-ed and sushi-ed myself half silly. And pig that I am, I can't wait to go back for more this week. I've been making mental notes of where and what we've eaten and am saving them for when I have access to our own computers and can download photos. It's just no fun talking about food when one can't show the pictures, you know?
The Dutchess of Cookalot whipped this up at 5:06 am
