Bei Jing Kau Ya (Peking Duck) - Popular Food in China

Peking duck is lightly smoked and eating only the skin complemented by pancakes, sugar, and dipping sauce. This is a popular food in China and customers will be able to witness how the chef cut off the crispy duck skin before serving it.

The tastefully decorated restaurant might appear to be expensive, but this is not the case. They offer standard price for the Peking Duck. Half duck is at 99 yuan and for the entire duck it gonna cost around 200 yuan.

The crispy looking duck skin slices melt perfectly in the mouth and you will never stop asking for more.

Freshly-baked-from-the-oven pancakes are made to suit the delightful taste of the duck skin.

Mouth-watering duck meat complements with bud-tantalising crispy skin. You might wanna slow down on the meat because it's rather oily. You were warned.

An erhu player is performing to create a peaceful environment


Sorry for the low video quality. I have shaky hands. Prolly  I was too hungry by just looking at the skin. LOL.

9-Day Glorious China Trip - Part 4

Resume Trip to China post

Part 3: http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-3.html

Part 2: http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-2.html

Part 1: http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-1.html

Day 6 (2nd December 2008)

Just wanna do a brief update on China trip here. So hope that picture tells a thousand words. LOL

So finally we are here visiting the Embassy of Malaysia. The people who actually work for the embassy welcomed us with big smiles plastered on their faces. LOL. 

Making an entrance into the spacious building which looks so similar when placed next to Putrajaya.

Interior - typical Malaysia design. Looks like some kind of court. 

Okay....fugly, fugly, fugly

After finish with our business in the embassy, it's high time for us to leave for Tianjin. It took about 2 to 3 hours ride to reach Tianjin. The bus driver is a psycho I would say. He drove in the emergency lane to cut short the travelling duration! Siao....

Tianjin University 

 Our Malaysia hostels should feel inferior to China varsities hostels. Nice!

Mirror check. Okay...I am not living in Lady Gaga's body. Just that I am not used to being welcome by swarm of people even before I managed to make an exit from the bus - not limousine.

By the standard of the design you see here, you will not think twice if people told you that student from this university designed The Olympic Stadium, The Bird Nest.

China long-existed artwork - paper cutting. It is used to decorate doors and windows and become more popular during the festive seasons.

She is cute, ain't it? And she's only 20 years old pursuing her master's degree already! Malaysia students are so pathetic. We are 22 and still haven't complete our degree yet.

Beautiful view of the lake but I remembered I saw a few ducks a moment ago. Perhaps they wanna hide away from my lens.

I am so in love with the guy standing next to me. No, he's not Edison Chen if you thought he is. They look so alike! Btw, he is the Deputy Chairman of Student Council in Tianjian University

Welcoming delegates from UUM (us) 

Delegates......

Nankai University

I can lie to my friends using this picture already. Weeee....I was graduated from Harvard University

Entrance of Nankai University. We gathered in front of the main entrance to wait for the arrival of the tourist bus

It's only 5pm and the sky turns dark and the coldness of the weather is uncompromisable

Continue the next post tomorrow. Another lackadaisical posting tomorrow. 

Some Useful Tips of Bargaining When You're Travelling

I have been travelling to a few places around the globe and there are some bargaining skills that I have had  developed across the timeline. Here is a few guidelines that you might need when you out there mouth-battling with the seller on those bags you like.

1) When you're at the bazaar or flea market, please make sure with your tourist guides or locals if the spot allows you to negotiate about price. Not all bazaars welcome buyers to talk about price.

2) If can, please bring along a small calculator. It will come in handy when you're negotiating price because you're talking about two different currency here.

3) Beware of replica goods such as bags, clothes, shoes, etc. Certain countries have excellent craftmanship in imitating branded goods that you will not see the difference between the original and the replica ones. i.e. China. Knowing that you are a tourist, and you are interested in one of those LV bags, they tend to mark up 300-400% of the actual selling price assuming that you did not know that the bags are fakes.

4) Do not jump into conclusion purchasing your favourites without making a survey with other similar stalls. Who knows the stall next to the one you standing can actually offer you lower price for the same item.

5) Often when you interested with the particular item, the seller will ask you how much that you can pay. In this case, ask back the seller how much that he can offer. Take it from there. Negotiate the price the lowest possible that you think the item might worth.

6) If the seller insisted not to accept your suggested price (must be reasonable), walk off. He will chase/shout/call you back if he's able to lower down to your price.

7) Do not bargain or even ask for the price of the goods if you have no intention to buy. Your act will tick off most sellers and you will get yourself in trouble (if you unlucky enough).

8) Show them the money. If the goods you bargain is about 100 yuan (RM50), show them 100 yuan. This help to soften them to sell you at your price.

9) Be smart. Some cunning sellers might want you to pay using your own currency if they know you have insufficient cash in their currency. You might have to pay higher than ever using your own currency esp for travellers from Europe countries. Try computing yourself whether it is worth paying or not.

10) Sometimes it is okay to lie which I do most of the time. Go to a stall, and you offer your price. If they cannot accept the price, try talk your way out by telling small white lies. Say, the stall at the end is selling cheaper at this price (which is not true) and why can't you? For some sellers, being under pressure means they do not want to lose their business to their competitors. And might fall into your trap. LOL. But sometimes this won't work because they have reached a consensus which the lowest price you can go for the item is that price.

11) Be patient. Do not rush into buying anything unless you got the best price. If you appear like you in a hurry, you will be duped by them without you knowing it. Remember, all sellers are businessmen. They are good in dealing with money.

12) Befriend with them. You can negotiate easily when you are having a friend-to-friend conversation. Some sellers can be soften by having striking up a friendly conversation with them. I was supposed to pay 200 yuan for a handbag but I spent 30mins in her stall and it ended up good when she gave me at 100 yuan.

Here is an equation that it might work in country like China.

Your purchase price = Initial seller price / 2 / 2

Meaning to say if the initial price is 500 yuan, then divide it by 2 to 250 yuan and again divide it by 2 to 125 yuan. So your purchase price should be around 115-125 yuan.

9-Day Glorious China Trip - Part 3

Resume post

Part 1 :

http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-1.html

Part 2 :

http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-2.html

Day 5 (1st December 2008)

Already the 5th day in China, my taste buds didn't seem to like the exotic taste of China food. Not quite to my liking but I can tell most of my friends were not able to get used to the odd taste. Practically, we have almost the same thing every morning that was plain porridge coupled with prickles which were so darn salty that most doctors will blame them for hypertension. Yucks! Sometimes if we were lucky enough, they will provide us mantou for brekkie. This...yucks as well but better than the prickles! My eyelashes seem so little now!!!!

My Hungarian friend seemed to get thinner cause he just cannot chow down on this Chinese food

And our next destination was The Great Wall of China and the journey from our hotel to this historical place took us about an hour or two. It is purported that the wall can be seen from the space with orbit satellite. We were greeted by somewhat gigantic digital thermometer which reads 5 degree Celcius at the time. It was so freaking cold out there that I need to dig a hole to hide. My so-called winter coat cannot withstand the extreme weather in the rocky mountain area. Can someone please ask the wind to stop blowing? It's too cold here.

So who is that ugly looking fella there? Yeah, that's me! LOL

So you tell me the distance is short but you're wrong. I need more than 30 mins to reach that peak. When I was almost there, I am as good as a dead. Look at the lady in pink. I bet she's a local. How can she withstand the climate with just a jacket? Jesus!

Shhh!! Do not distract me. I need to focus or else I will be rolling down the flight of stairs like a pumpkin.

Yooo hooo....i have conquered the peak. No la....still very far to go but I will put this mission to a halt before I lose a pair of my legs.

I didn't overexert though to push myself further to the end point. I felt like I was torturing my legs despite I rolled reached the bottom unhurt and was still in a good-shape to enjoy the hot steamy coffee. Then we headed to the nearest town for lunch. What's for lunch? Steamboat! Nice!

See all the hungry soldiers from The Great Wall are capable off? Nothing left.

Next, we travelled a few kilometres more to Yiheyuan (Summer Palace), the largest royal park in China and most noted classic garden in the world. In this garden, seated two marvelous places which are the Kunming Lake and The Longevity Hill. According to the tourist guide, this palace was served as platform for the emporers and family to rest and entertainment. Here, you can see the world most magnificent craftwork using fine materials and unique scenic views.

Saw the girl in the blue? Yeah, that's me syok sendiri even though the climate was untolerable.

The distinctive construction along the corridor

Behold! Nothing can compare the tranquility and serenity at Kunming Lake

We were warned by the tourist guide of buying food from the street because there were cases where many people suffered from food poisoning due to lack of hygienic issue. The food may look tempting, smell good, and pocket-friendly but most of Chinaman do not have eye on quality. Nothing is unethical to them as long as it will generate profit and the product is fast-selling.

Later in the evening, we were literally "transport" to one of the park in Beijing. After a long day of walk, we were all lethargic and cold. At this kind of untolerable weather, I would be glad enough to pamper myself sipping hot chocolate, kangkang-ing on the sofa, watching Pokemon or do chanel surfing.

Lackadaisical effort - writing..

Bravo! How the senior citizens past time in the park - singing

Aunty, please don't get yourself tangled in the ribbon

The tai-tais: Wooo hooo.....if you have it, you flaunt it. LOL.

The ah peks: Hey, I can see that. Don't try to cheat in this game. We are watching you

The rest...to be continued. I think I need to go at the bullet train speed in the next blog. China is extremely big. Stay tuned for Part 4.

9-Day Glorious China Trip - Part 2

Resume from Part 1 - http://cynkim.blogspot.com/2009/11/9-day-glorious-china-trip-part-1.html


Day 3 (29th November 2008)

The weather is getting colder and colder as we are now already in Beijing. When the PA system in the train announced that we were almost near Beijing, everyone is so busy putting on their winter jacket and wrapped themselves in scarf. The temperature is at 5 degree Celcius. Can you imagine how people living in tropical climate 24/7 withstand that coldness? Brrr.....I can't. My thick fat didn't seem to come in handy in winter time!!!!

Busy, busy, busy. Vain, vain, vain. Gals, gals, gals

Then we were brought to our hotel and we were given our free-and-easy time. Brrrrr....it's so cold out there. Gawd! We took the liberty to patronize the leather shops (selling boots, jackets, scarves, long John, etc) and we managed to get ourselves some boots at only 90 yuan (RM45). So so cheap. I bet you cannot get that kinda price in Malaysia. Meanwhile, we chowed down on these popular food in China, mai ya thang or fruit in caramel. One stick is sold at 1 yuan (50cent) and for extra toppings it priced at 2 yuan (RM1).

I guess i had almost 10 sticks of this in just 5 days. So shveet!

It was only 5pm in Beijing when the sky turned dark and we can no longer see the sun. Most of the shops are closing at that time too. People were seen parading down the pedestrian path to rush back for dinner. And we too did the same.

Day 4 (30th November 2008)

As early as 5am, we were woken up to frustration because the hotel room phone will never stop ringing (wake up call). Little do I know, I was shivering and freezing the moment I stood up. Damn! The heater wasn't functioning!!! Cold, cold, cold. We (me and my roommate) quickly wrapped ourselves in the proper winter gears and hop immediately into the bus. Well...at least in the bus is not so cold.We wil be visiting Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Square and The Forbidden City. All of us were so ecstatic and could wait to see the places.

This square at one time can accomodate 1 million people and this is one of the largest square in the world. Many pro-democracy protestors were killed by the government here.

Visitors are forbid from smoking, spitting, and even to have a drinking water etc. I figured the reason for this limitations is to keep the site clean. The building that stood strongly still since 1419 is the Qianmen (Front Gate) was the front gate of the ancient Beijing.

Next to the Tiananmen Square is the Zijin Cheng (The Forbidden City) where it housed many emporers namely

Ming and Qing Dynasty for centuries. This city is city for many cities including Inner City, Outer City and Imperial City. These cities are protected by thick high walls and all the gates ware guarded for security reason. Visitors were allowed only to walk and visit the certain parts of the inner city and most of the areas were closed and sealed.

The Outer City was served as a ceremonial place during the emporer's time. The distance from Outer City to Inner City is quite a distance.

Swarm of people thronging this historical place is not an uncommon sight everyday.

Still located in Outer Court, the throne was used by the emporer to discuss about the states affairs and some ceremonial events.

One of the walkway that links to the Inner City through a gate.

The crystal stone found in the middle of concubines terrace rooms is believed to hinder bad mishaps from happening. The energy of crystal will bring harmony and peace among concubines in the palace.

Next, was the Yu Hua Yuan (Imperial Garden) which served as a place for the emperor's family to relax, children to play, chess playing, meditating and sipping tea. In the garden located a souvenir shop selling food, refreshments, and gifts as remembrance.

The end point of The Forbidden City is the Yu Hua Yuan (Imperial Garden) with most trees and rocks aged 400 years old.

We spent a solid 2 hours walking from city to city, passing from a gate to another and finally we reached the end point. It was tiring long walking journey but the experience and knowledge are priceless. Then we were brought to have our lunch and of course, it's time to shop. Trust me when I said shopping in China is cheap and you would not believe with only 1000 yuan (RM500), you need to get another new luggage to 'store' your stuffs!

*Stay tuned for Part 3. China is really too big.*

9-Day Glorious China Trip - Part 1

Destination: Guangzhou, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Cangzhou

Date: 27 Nov 08 - 5 Dec 08

Season: Winter

Temperature: Day - 2-5 degree Celcius, Night: minus 10 - minus 15 degree

Total budget: RM3K (partially subsidised)

Winter gear: Winter coat (possibly long to cover lower part of your body), Face mask, Bobble hat, Sweater, Boots, Gloves, Cotton scarf, Thermal earmuffs, Long johns, a pair of jeans.

 

China is not always in my destination list if you asked me but for some reasons I am glad that I was given the opportunity to be in the delegation in support of  China cultural and educational exchange. The core objectives of this programme are to strengthen ties between China and Malaysia universities and at the same time foster the long-term collaborative efforts, educational and cultural resources that will benefits involved parties. 60 delegates including lecturers were all set to go on 27th November 2008 (almost a year ago).

 

*I spent Day 1 and Day 2 mainly on travelling so it might be a little dry for Day 1 and 2*

Day 1 (27th Nov 08)

After the press photo-taking session, the delegates were divided into two buses and off we go to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) for catch the flight with AirAsia.The return air tickets were not too expensive mainly because we gained sponsors from university, private companies and donations from the public. After 7 hours of bumpy ride in the bus, we finally arrived at LCCT. If you have extra time before boarding, there are a bundle of facilities that will buy you some time off. Do check out the eateries (Mc D's, Coffee Bean, KFC, Mary Brown, The Chocolate Boutique, Old Town), duty-free shops, convenient stores (7-eleven), foreign exchange counters and most of all......"space" for people like us to shoot a few syok sendiri photos.

  Ladies, just smile and wave

Day 2 (28th Nov 08)

We spent 2 hours making a bee-line thronging the check-in counters for our luggages. A decent amount of RM10 will be collected as your luggages are being sat on the conveyor. After a long tiring hours, finally we boarded Airbus AK114 at 5am. I have to admit flying on budget plane is definitely something not to my liking. The aisle is very narrow, the seat is small and the feeling of being a Siamese twin with the person next to me was totally an unpleasant experience.

 

View outside the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

After 3 hours of flying, I landed in the sub-provincial city, Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is as crowded as purported and to my surprise most of the employees speak Cantonese. And I will go ??????!!!!!!!!!!???????? tiu. While waiting for our tour guide (ground arrangement from China) to collect all her "babies", we headed down to McD's. Yum yum. I paid 12.95 yuan (about RM7.50) for a set of China McChicken version. They have other meal selections like pork burger, nai cha (milk tea), yam and peach pies and etc.

Majority are locals waiting for the passengers to arrive. Can you see the Mc D's sign at the far end?

After 2 hours of long waiting, we travelled on a bus to Guangzhou Railway Station. I could not agree more if someone were to complain about the road traffic in Guangzhou. You go horrified with terrible traffic . We managed to bypass the bumper-to-bumper crawl scene to the railway station. The moment we put up at the designated place, I was startled dumbfounded to see the overwhelming crowd making a bee-line just to board the train! I have been praying hard enough for stampede not to happen that day.

The pontential stampeders getting ready for headlong rush

Then it was our turn to get into the train. After a crazy morning, battles through the jam, we were already in the train. This time, I was not dumbfounded but devastated to see my "pigeon hole". The room is utterly small, the aisle is ......... speechless. Or maybe it is trying to prove that I am fat!

These carriages travel at 110km/h for 22 hours to Beijing.

The walking aisle in the carriage is very limited

 P/S For those who want to get to Beijing, AirAsia now offered direct route from LCCT to Tianjin. Take a bus or cab to Beijing which is about 2 hours ride.  

6 "pigeons" were squeezed into this "pigeon hole"

Basically, the food-selling concept was the same as AirAsia. There were three carts selling three categories of foods namely fruits, tidbits/junk food/cup noodle, and box rice/porridge. As a matter of fact, I do not eat beef, and mutton but in China, they only eat beef and mutton to warm up their bodies.

My breakfast - A cup noodle with minced beef and spicy soup costs only 5 yuan (RM2.50)

My lunch - Lunch box with cabbage, ham, egg, beef costs me 15 yuan (RM7.50)

By the time I can almost cleared up my food, I already plopped down on my bed and sleep. I can feel the carriage was getting colder as it travelled north. As exhausted I was, I dozed off to sweet dreams in a blink of eye.

Stay tuned for 9-Day of Glorious China Trip - Part 2. Next post will be more on the places of interest i.e. The Forbidden Kingdom, Bird Nest (The Olympics Stadium), Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, Wang Fu Jing Street.

Apologies for the poor photos quality because cheap digital camera ma!!! Enjoy!