Beijing 101 - Visiting Forbidden City, the Palace Museum

What to do in Beijing? Two of the must-visits when in Beijing must be Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China.


This is part two of my Beijing 101 entry on my visit to Beijing...
(Check out the first one on local food that I tried: Beijing 101 Local Food at http://ginsengtonic.blogspot.com/2011/04/beijing-101-local-food.html)

Unfortunately due to time constraints, I had to choose between visiting Great Wall of China and Forbidden City as I only had one full free day to see the city. Well, if you have one free day, you could actually visit BOTH, if you want to. They have tours to do that. 


But if you... like me... don't like the rush of a tour group and visit for the sake of visiting kind... it may be better to take a pick... I actually spent four hours at forbidden city!


Took quite a few pictures.. so looks like I'll be breaking it into a few entries...




Here are some of the views from outside the palace...
The waters were really still at time and it was a beautiful sight watching the reflections...
And it's still the outside only.. you don't even pay anything yet...

Forbidden City exterior - ginsengtonic.blogspot.com

More pictures...

Forty Hands Weekend Brunch - Worth it?

Forty Hands - a much delay post on its weekend brunch which I tried with Wifey some time back... 

forty hands

forty h4nds shop front

It was our 2nd time there.. the first time we were just there for coffee..
After finding out they serve breakfast/brunch.. we decided to try it out...
So we were there again on a Saturday Morning...
And the place was pretty crowded both times...
So be there early if you wana try...

Interior of forty hands

forty hands interior

Turning into a Transvestite?

If I ever.... 

ever.....

become

a transvestite...

It will all be Wifey's fault!!...

Why?

.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Especially to....

(from L-R)

My Mum... The Future mum of my kids... My Mother-in-law

and my Sis!

--Ginseng Tonic Maker-- Mothers are the greatest...

Beijing 101 - Local Food!

One of the must-do things for me when I travel is always to try the local food!...
So it was no different when I visited Beijing earlier this month...


After visiting Forbidden City... (a must-visit!... but will blog abt it later... MUCH later coz there're lots of pics....)... I went searching for food....

This shop caught my eye...

Looked local enough...

Unfortunately my Chinese isn't so good...

Totally regret not studying harder for it in school...

Beijing Food

Local Beijing Food

So what does the shop sell?

Give someone a reason to smile - Operation smile

Celebrate Mother's day with a good deed... (or just enjoy the cake)


Give more kids a reason to smile!
A 45 minute surgery can change a child's life for the better forever... 

From this...

Sweet Enchantment - All natural rock candy in Singapore

Sweet Enchantment is a rock candy store tucked away in Vivocity #01-159.
Wifey and I decided to drop by and check it out one of the weekends.




After checking the directory..... we found the all natural rock candy store.. it is just beside OCBC bank..

Sweet Enchantment Rock Candy Store

The sign at the front of Sweet Enchantment says it all...
All natural... no artificial... handmade...

All natural rock candy

Here's a look... up close at the rock candies of Sweet Enchantment..