Beijing Trip (25 - 30 Sep 07)

25 Sep

0015 – Boarded CA 970 to Beijing
0610 – Touched Down, GW came to pick us up
0745 – Reached 什刹海体育学校, brought our baggage to 国际公寓 where we put up.
0800 – Went down to hotel basement for breakfast
0900 – Took a nap in hotel
1230 – Met GF, GM, and GW for lunch at 日昌饭店.
1400 – Headed back to hotel, chatted with GW and GF
1500 – GF brought us to 北海公园
1700 – Went back to hotel for a short rest
1830 – Dinner at 格格府 with JY, GW, JY’s parents and GF.
2115 – Headed back to hotel
2300 – Lights Off

26 Sep

0800 – Reveille
0830 – Went down to hotel basement for breakfast
0900 – JY brought us to shop at 天意商场
1200 – Proceeded to 京味楼 near GW’s house for lunch with GW, JY and her parents.
1330 – Went up to GW’s house.
1600 – Went back to hotel for a rest
1730 – Headed for 王府井 for shopping and dinner
2200 – Reached back hotel
2300 – Lights Off

27 Sep

0730 – Reveille
0800 – Went down to hotel basement for breakfast
0900 – Met GW, GF and set off to 八达岭长城
1200 – Lunched at 狗不理 at foot of 八达岭长城
1245 – Left 八达岭, headed back to hotel to meet 刘大夫
1500 – Had a consultation with the doctor.
1600 – Went back to hotel.
1700 – GW and GF came up to our room for a chat
1800 – GW, GF left, we strolled down 地安门外街 ( Shopped at 地百商场)
1900 – Dined at 永和豆浆, continued our strolling
2000 – Headed back to hotel, en route 荷花市场.
2230 – Lights Off

28 Sep

0730 – Reveille
0800 – Went down to hotel basement for breakfast
1000 – GW came to pick us to meet YH, discussed about Lifestyles’ business
1300 – Walked down to a 老北京 restaurant
1400 – GW dropped us for shopping at 华联广场 and 新世界商场
1700 – GW picked us up and we went for dinner at a small eatery at the back alleys
1900 – Went back to hotel
2300 – Lights Off

29 Sep

0800 - Reveille
0830 – Breakfast in hotel room
0900 – JY picked us up, proceeded to 故宫博物院
1230 – Went down to 秀水街 for shopping
1500 – GW cane to pick us up
1530 – Reached GF mum’s house
1600 – Headed back to hotel
1700 – GW and GF came to our rooms, chatted.
1745 – Went to 日昌饭店for dinner
1830 – Finished dinner and proceeded to 天安门
1915 – Toured the vicinity
2030 – Reached back hotel
2330 – Lights Off

30 Sep

0800 – Reveille
0830 – Breakfast in hotel room
0900 – Went down 地安门外街 to shop at the mini天意商场
1030 – Went back hotel
1100 – GW and JY came to pick us up, GW fetched us to airport.
1200 – Reached airport
1355 – Flight CA 957 to Xiamen (Transit)
1700 – Touched down at Xiamen Airport (Transit flight scheduled for 1745 delayed)
2030 – Boarded flight back to Singapore

1 Oct

0140 – Touched down at Changi Airport
0230 – Reached home

Overall:

It has been a relaxing, yet memorable and fulfilling trip. I really appreciate the generous hospitality from my godbrother GW, godsister JY, godfather (GF), godmother (GM) and JY’s parents. Really wanna say thank you all for making this trip possible. Though the five-day trip was a bit short, I enjoyed every bit of it, from the shopping, eating, or even slacking the hotel rooms watching the myriad variety of television channels. Time spent traveling wasn’t bored for me too as I spent most of my time gazing at the sceneries and how the locals lived. I didn’t really bought much souvenirs though, but to me the experience that I had mattered the most. It’s been a worthwhile trip consuming 5 days of my leave, a great vacation away from army life, though ORD leave and off has already put my mood on vacation long ago. I really hope to visit China once again. There are many more places in Beijing alone which I did not have time to visit. This time round I’m not so emotional as the Guangzhou trip last year. But definitely I do miss the life there! The short stay has been enriching :)