Beijing Part 2

Saturday: We decided to go to karaoke after our big meal and we picked a pretty well known chain called "Melody"... in English at least. It's a massive four story KTV venue and there are only private rooms as is the custom in Asia. So we booked a room with a minimum alcohol requirement, which was a bottle and a mystery drink and several mixers. The room we got had a leather sectional, huge coffee table and big plasma. Once I shook off the nerves, I was belting out some tunes. I had fun, but would fall asleep on the couch every few songs and wake back up for one I liked. Jim, our French friend, was alive! He had dance moves for every song he sang and he kept us entertained. At one point, we went out in the hallway with the mic and serenaded a few guests that were on their way in, or out, not sure.

Sunday: I was anxious to wake up because there was talk of going to one of my favorite restaurants in Beijing, Maison Boulud by Daniel Boulud for brunch. But that was quickly squashed when no one else seemed to stir before 11am and I had another appointment at 2pm. Ben even made reservations, but no one in the Fernando household was prepared. Anyways, we had a great cozy brunch in a little hutong in Nanlouguxiang instead. Fernando recommended this place after he had walked in and seen "egg, bacon, and mayonnaise sandwich" written on the chalkboard. And there it was so Chase and him ordered one each and then split another with twice the bacon and twice the eggs. Nothing screams, "gimme comfort food" than that. I had a tasty asparagus sandwich (sounds strange, but it was good and garlicky) and shared a pot of tea with BeiBei. Next, Chase and I headed over to Costa Coffee in the Raffles City mall to meet some of my old co-workers for tea. The mall is quite nice and it was opening the week we left Beijing so we didn't get a chance to visit. But it's a great space with middle-range stores that I can afford. Most of the other western malls in the city are top-end luxury brands only. I had a great time chatting and catching up on my friends' lives in Beijing since we've been gone. They both have children who were in my class so I always like to hear about their progress because with teaching I literally form huge bonds with children in my class like they are my own so it's good to know how they are doing.

We fit in a quick appointment at the tanning salon and then I was off to the airport. So that's the end of the Beijing trip. What I liked the most was that I got to relax. There's something about going to a different city. You can't check email or get sucked into surfing the internet for a couple hours. We slept soundly, woke up, read our books in bed, and did what we wanted all day and spent times with friends.