These Days

No visit to Beijing is complete without seeing the Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City/Palace Museum.  It was our first stop on Day 1 of the tour.  Unfortunately, we were not able to enter the square because it was cordoned off for an official event.  We just took photos from afar, then proceeded to the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the fourth largest city square in the world (440,000 m2). It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. ( From Wikipedia ) Fobidden City/Palace Museum The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty. It is located in the center of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost 500 years, ...

I was in China 2 weeks ago.  It's my 5th time in the country but first time in Beijing. The first 4 times were for work in Shanghai, while this is all for leisure.=)  Em is close to finishing her graduate studies in China so Papang and Mommy took this opportunity to visit her.  I was the willing chaperone. I will post separately on the places we visited but here's a rundown of our itinerary.  The first 2.5 days were supposed to be the compulsory tours but our guide was able to compress everything to 2 days.  The rest of our all-Filipino tour group wanted to go to the zoo on Day 3 but we had this planned for a later date so we opted out. Day 1 Arrived 1AM of Day 1, tour started 9AM Tiananmen Square Forbidden City/Palace Museum Lunch Temple of Heaven Tea House Wangfujing Street Acrobatics Show Dinner Day 2 Jade Factory 1 Great Wall at Joyungguan Jade Factory 2 + Lunch Chinese Herbal Center Silk Factory Olympic Park Dinner - Shabu shabu D...

Last week, our team at work had dinner at Relish at Ponte along Valero St., Makati.  It's right next to Shakey's but I haven't noticed it before.  I was pleasantly surprised that a pretty restaurant is just around the corner waiting to be discovered.  I liked the decor and overall setup a lot - bright and inviting. I don't know the name of this salad but it was so good! My order, Baked Salmon (P495).  Salmon is always my default choice.=) Beef Belly Pork Belly Lamb dish Another lamb dish Chicken Most of the entrees cost P350 - P550, which is reasonable considering the serving size.  I got a taste of most of these and they're good but tend to be oily.  Nakakaumay. If you order a meat dish, have a salad or soup as well to counter the grease. What started as a team of one (me!) in 2009 is now 11.  I am blessed to be part of this group.=)

Read these books in the past few days and I liked all of them.=) Hollow City by Ransom Riggs #10 for 2014 From Goodreads : The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London the peculiar capital of the world. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with never-before-published vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reacting experience. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd #11 for 2014 From Goodreads : Hetty "Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed o...

March 30, 2014 will go down in history as the day Neil learned to bike without training wheels.=) We got his first bike when he was 2, then upsized one year ago .  In between, we also got him a 2-wheeled scooter.  He's really fast and agile on the bike and scooter, and we thought it's time to remove the training wheels on the bike.  Nang Lani did this for Luke a few weeks back so we thought Neil would be ready as well. R's first strategy was to remove one training wheel.  That didn't work because he just leans to one side and not really balancing so we removed the other wheel.  We thought it would take a few days but he was able to balance in less than 15 minutes.  Richard was running alongside him for support but eventually Neil got the hang of it. First failed attempt at BGC Attempt #2 on the same day.  Success! Following day Ayala Triangle on Sunday