Odds and sods....

We hit the ground running after our return from Beijing. We got back Thursday night and Hannah had a Halloween party at preschool. This is a photo taken of her with her school friends left-right : The three witches : Isidora, Cirrus and Hannah.

On the 31st Oct it was a BEAUTIFUL day so a friend and I took our girls to South Bay for a swim. This is only a 15 min cab ride to get there. It was very warm. Our timing couldn't have been better as it was really the last day that we could do it as the weather has really changed. I've been in jeans a couple of times since then as winter has finally found it's way here - YAY !! Makes for a nice change to be cool and comfortable....but I digress... Back to South Bay - we had such a fun day. So pleased we did it.

The following photos are just random ones that have been taken over the past few days.

Hong Kong is very big on not using plastic bags at the supermarket - we take our own. This bag actually says Green on it. So we have our own Clean Green monster....

Having fun - Hannah's skirt has bags and shoes on it....hmmm not sure if good thing or not !!

The girls....

Beijing...Part Four

There's been a delay in getting the last part of our adventure up as I've been sick. The girls have been sick. But we're all getting back on track slowly. It's been a rather FUN week !!!

One of the highlights for Paul and I was going to the Great Wall. I never thought in a million years I'd get to see it let alone stand on it. It truly was an amazing moment and so pleased that we were able to do it together and with the girls. Not that they really appreciated it but there are photos (quite a few actually) of proof that they were there.....

There are 4 areas of the wall that have been restored so that you can visit and walk on them. We didn't go to the most popular one, Badaling, but went instead to Mutianyu. This was about an hour and a half drive out of Beijing. We went up on the Weds and it wasn't a great day for long distance viewing as was rather hazy BUT it was still amazing. This section of the wall wasn't that busy and it's a 20-min hike up (and I mean UP) to the wall. We didn't do that we got the cable car instead, which the girls LOVED !! According to our guide this is one of the oldest restored sections of the wall and is thought to have been built over 500 years ago !! CRAZY !!

We decided that it would be better for us to go on a private tour as opposed to an organised tour. It meant that we were the ones in charge and were able to dictate times etc especially when the girls had had enough. Was the best thing we did !!!

Our very first view of the Great Wall

Walking through the markets to the cable car


Our first glimpse of the Great Wall from the cable car


The Great Wall of China - a little part of it anyway !

Family Shot

Standing in front of the sign

On the wall itself

The view on the wall from the other direction. If you look closely on top of the hill you can see the guard towers. Apparently the distance between each guard tower is the distance an arrow could have been shot.


It really was such an amazing feeling to experience. It was the same feeling as when I saw the pyramids in Egypt for the first time. Very fortunate to have been able to see 2 of the Great wonders of the world !!

Our last day saw us with abit of time before our flight. So we spent some time wandering around the Hutongs. This type of housing is becoming a part of Beijing's past as many of them are getting knocked down and redeveloped. The hutongs are the alleyways and off them are many courtyards with the housing being built around them. It was so quiet wandering around here that you really forgot that you were in a huge, busy city. This took us into Beihai Park which was amazing to walk around and is one of Beijing's oldest imperial gardens - it was HUGE and it is situated beside a rather large lake. Apparently this lake freezes in winter and you can skate on it.

In Houhai before wandering around the hutongs


There's one of these everywhere !! Victoria spotted it and yelled "Coffee Shop". Sad that a 2 year old recognises the Starbucks logo !! Funnily enough at the Great Wall where we were there was no Starbucks but rather a Subway. I didn't get a picture of that though - it was just opened !!


The Hutongs


Beihai Park

No Hannah as she refused to have her photo taken. She'd had enough of everyone else taking her photo !!

This was taken of the girls in the lounge at the airport while we waited for our flight. The reason I've included is that there's story with regards to the pink bag that is on the chair behind Victoria, which contains her Winnie-the-Pooh. We were in abit of a hurry to leave the lounge as we realised that our plane was boarding and it was abit of a hike from the lounge to the gate. We were rather lucky as we were part of the last ones to board the plane !! We got on and I started getting the girls settled. The girls and I were sitting in 3 seats and Paul was behind us and I realised that Victoria's bag wasn't with us. Panic set in as you can imagine and I told Paul what we'd done - left her bag with Winnie-the-Pooh inside it, behind in the lounge. Unfortuanately for me, Hannah was sitting beside me and heard what I said. Thankfully Victoria didn't !!! So here I am trying to explain to Hannah that we hadn't forgotten Victoria's bag it had gone underneath the plane with the buggy -and then she told me that wasn't a good idea as Victoria would want it. Sure enough, the question was asked where's my bag and Pooh ? I was dreading telling her it wasn't with us when I saw an attendant from the lounge walking towards us with a pink bag in her hand. I was so relieved and grateful for them to have realised that this bag had been left behind, wouldn't have been hard to work out who as we were the only ones with children in the lounge, and that they returned it to us. To see Victoria's face light up when she saw it was a great feeling - she then went promptly to sleep otherwise our flight could have been alot more entertaining for us and those around us !!!

Our Beijing adventure is now over. It was such an amazing city to visit and I'm just so pleased that we took the opportunity (as Paul had a few days off work) to visit. We're now working out where to next but until then it's the normal routine !!

Beijing...Part Three

From the Forbidden City we got a taxi to the Temple of Heaven Park. Had no clue where we were or where the Park was for that matter, just the Jockey Clubhouse's directory of places to visit - in English and Chinese. Showed the taxi driver where we wanted and then we were off.

This is one HUGE park with some very impressive temples. These temples were used to worship to the gods to make sure that there was a good harvest that year. One of the wow factors of this is not only the visual of these buildings but that they're still standing since it was build in 1420. Makes for pretty heady stuff - you know 2009 and it's still standing !!

This is the gate to the entrance of the park.

Walking towards the Temple


The entrance gate to the Temple area


The actual temple. We visited here on Tues 27th. This same photo was the front page of the english speaking newspapers in HK on Mon 2nd Nov covered in snow !!!



Walking across the bridge to the other end of the park. That was alot longer than we thought. We had very tired legs.

Having a rest after all that walking and before heading out for dinner...

The Peking Duck in Beijing is one of it's specialities and is a must try. There is a chain of resturants that do this and there was one not to far from us. It opened at 4.30pm so they worked best for us. When we got there it was busy !! We didn't have to wait for a table, which was good. I got the girls sorted and Paul got the food sorted. The duck is roasted whole over an open flame , presented at the table and then carved up to eat in front of you. You eat it rolled up in pancakes (asian style) with spring onions and plum sauce. And you are given everything to eat !! whether you do or not is up to you but only the skin and meat got eaten.... The girls tried abit but weren't that keen on it - they just wanted rice.

This restaurant is off the main shopping road in Beijing - Wanfujing Road. You can buy anything AND everything. ALL the names (and others) are here. You had to walk down this road to the restaurant and this caught my eye and made me laugh.

Here is one of THE jewellery names in the world and right beside is not another shop but KFC. Only in China.

On this street are some iron statues. It was worth taking a photo of them with the girls. We knew that we wouldn't be the only ones taking the photos - and we weren't disappointed. The first photo was taken on our way to the restaurant and the other was taken after we'd eaten. It was about 5.45pm and pitch black - we thought it was about 9pm.

Just at the end of this street are the Donghuamen Night Markets. We came across this by accident - we knew they were around somewhere just not where. Here you can buy anything and I do mean ANYTHING, to eat. They're mainly done in the form of a kebab. All the stalls sell similar items - fruit, meat, fish and of course the real delicacies..... It's such a buzzing place and it was great to find it and experience it.

Thought fruit was the safer option......

I was trying to be artie with this shot. This was taken just before the start of the market. It turned out ok but Hannah wasn't impressed - apparently the steam stunk !!!!

There's one in evey city....

But wait there's still more to come....stay tuned....