First thing in the morning we went to a nearby mall to do some quick shopping to save us from the freezing cold. When we walked in, it was as if we got ourselves a private mall. Weird coz we’re the only ones inside but we didnt care. we got ourselves new outfits:
Our first night in Beijing we went to eat the famous Peking Duck at Peking palace! In Chinese and Japanese the city of Beijing is called “Peking” (pronounced Pecking). It was really good, we all enjoyed a nice leisurely dinner and lots of delicious Chinese tea (which tasted and is, so much better than the normal tea we have here in the Phils)
Despite the wind burns, we managed to stroll around the streets with just leggings and jackets. People were looking at us like ”what-the-hell-are-they-wearing” kind of look and we’re like ‘who cares? we didn’t know it’s negative degrees here in your country. lol.
Day two, the cold was more intense which stopped us from visiting the historical Great wall of china. It felt like my ears and nose were dropping off any minute. We kept ourselves warm.. by trying Tsingtao. a Chinese beer which tasted like Heineken, only better, in my opinion. We had a couple of drinks. Clean fun with the captains and the rest of the crew. a lot of ‘laughing-out-loud’ moments. fun fun night.
The next day, we stayed at the crew lounge while waiting for the aircraft to be ready. We met some Pilots from other airlines like Macau airways and etc. They were nice and friendly.
At about 12noon, the aircraft’s ready. We’re all back in uniforms, went straight to the airport.. back to reality. Though we didnt get to go to the Great wall, we did get the consolation of seeing it from top view.
view from the aircraft after seatbelt sign off:
Overall a fascinating city. If you still feel like reading there’s only a little more, I promise!
Thoughts…
1. I didn’t feel I was in a communist country even in the capital city. Despite the large number of police we saw posted around the city, the uniform high-rise complexes of apartments, and the gray polluted haze that seems to coat the city I felt as though it was similar to many other modern cities. We went to Outback, Starbucks, McDonalds, and went inside a very western seeming mall. I don’t know how much information is still censored these days, but I do know bbc.com is restricted - and the one-child policy is still in effect.
2. Pollution was terrible.
3. I realized how polite the Filipino people are and how concerned they are with what everyone else thinks compared to the Chinese. The Chinese seemed 200 times more pushy, loud and plain rude. This is not an observation about the entire culture obviously.
4. I finally get to love Chinese food a bit cause i used to be a hater.
5. Crowne Plaza is such a great place to stay only that it’s far from downtown beijing but their rooms were great, very comfy and clean.
So that was Beijing, much of the city and the time we spent there was just great. we met our share of characters as well. I won’t elaborate. the Great Wall (the name doesn’t let you down, speaking from top view lol), laughing a lot with the crew and a lot more. the rest let’s put it this way,
”What Happens In Beijing, Stays In Beijing” :)
Note: The rest of the pictures will be posted on facebook.
