Finally We Go Beijing: Day 9, Nanlougu, Shichahai, Home Sweet Home

This was our last day in Beijing. Unlike when the kids were younger, they would just be happy to spend time with their parents and hope that the holiday lasts forever. Now, the kids have their “life”, they wanted to go back to their friends and life. Maybe not exactly, Zaky said that he wanted to stay in Beijing for a long time so that he doesn’t need to go back to school. Lol. Me too. Even though I had enough of Beijing’s cold, I don’t want to go back to work and reality. T.T

Nevertheless, bfast must be eaten and my last chance to use the 饿了么 app. I ordered from a different shop this time and spent a little bit more money but ended up with a lot more food. Too much, in fact.

Then it was packing up and checking out. We had the day to roam before catching the midnight flight. 

I then remembered that we had not done our online checkin and did so while leaving the hotel. I don’t remember the seats that I have booked but they shouldn’t be that bad. 

Our 1st destination for the day was the 南楼鼓街. It is a famous/ touristy 胡同, aka neighbourhood. I saw on 百度 map that it is about 1km from our hotel and my plan was to use one of the 小蓝车. Alipay worked! 

I had asked everybody to download Alipay before the trip. To rent the bicycles, we would still need to enter our passport details, which Daddy Lim did with a lot of grumbling. Zzzzz. But then, he was happily riding the bicycle after that. We ended up only renting 3 bicycles while I jogged alongside, just nice for my morning workout. They nicely matched my pace. 

I did get crazy looks from passerby; I was afterall jogging in the cold in my jeans. It didn’t take us very long to get to our destination. The kids said that the bikes were lousy and it was very cold. #beijingbucketlistchecked

I don’t know what to expect of the 胡同 actually. We saw some shops, and many of them were not opened yet. Luckily, we chanced upon the main street and there were a lot more interesting shops and food. 

It was very cold. We had to buy heat pack. I hesitated as it was our last day in Beijing. I was glad that we bought them bcos those were life savers, and made walking in the open more tolerable.

While exploring the 胡同, we found this Michelin star 炸酱面 and of course we must try. 

We were supposed to add the suave and whatever vegetables to the noodles. Extra noodles and sauce come free but we were good bcos there were a lot more other snacks available. Hoho. Eat some more.

We got to 什刹海. The lake Wes supposed to be frozen and we were planning to do ice activities but the plan failed, bcos… not totally frozen ah. Why like that?

We ended up hiding in a cafe. The warmth was to die for, the cake and coffee as well. Hoho. 

We hid in the cafe for a long time bcos it was so comfortable and we still had a lot more time before our flight. We finally left at about 4pm to explore the other part of the 胡同, the 烟袋斜街.

The shops were similar kind and we ended up strolling one big round, admiring the views. 

The timing was just nice; it was time to head back to the hotel. This time, we walked back. I got this 烧饼 along the way. I had been wanting to try this but it was so-so only. 

This was our last dinner - beef noodles and rice. 

Time to go home. We got our luggage, and a didi to the airport. We were so eager to change out of our heat tech and vacuum packed all the big ass jackets to checkin, without realising how super cold the airport is. Then, the kids reminded me that I should embrace the last bit of Beijing’s chill before we come back to Singapore. Sob. 

It was finally time to board after tolerating the cold and we made used of my Elite Sliver priority boarding privileges. Luckily we did bcos it was damn cold in the tunnel; I had to run from the gate to the plane door. Then we realised that our 2 by 2 seats were like 2 rows apart and on opposite aisles. Lol. I duno, I duno. I got to sit with Zaky. 

He was super tired and was dozing off soon after we boarded, asking me to wake him for supper/ bfast. Did I? Of course. Some years back, I tried waking him up for flight meals but failed and he was upset with me after that. Lesson learnt.

The flight was tolerable; we were drifting in and out of lala land and soon we were back in Singapore. Noooo!

This marked the end of our 9 days super cold Beijing holidays, when so many Beijingers whom we met told us that this winter wasn’t as cold as previous years. The Singapore heat hit us immediately and thankfully, the housing agent had helped us with the aircon repair awhile we were away. 

As I had planned, Daddy Lim and the kids to each manage a luggage and I be served. Hoho. In the beginning of the trip, I was lamenting over the 3rd luggage bcos we had to keep looking for a bigger car. In the end of the trip, I was glad with the 3rd one, so that we were able to bring the 5 pairs of shoes back. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Finally We Go Beijing: Day 8, Unplanned Mall Crawl

When I was booking the last 2 nights hotel, I had tried to find one with a gym. I am sure that I saw pictures of a gym in Trip.com when browsing on Renjoy hotel. I kena cheated bcos they didn’t have one but they have washer and dryer, which we didn’t need as it was the last 2 days. 

I contemplated running up and down the stairs in the room 100x, or to do HiiT in the corridor or to jog around the hotel corridor. In the end, I did none. Lol. I don’t think my fitness will chui much by not exercising for another few days, though I can’t say the same about my waistline. Lol. 

The 1st thing that I did when I woke up was to try out the 饿了么 app to 点外卖. It worked! The shop must be somewhere nearby and the delivery took about 30 mins. 

Our hotel room is next to the alley way. There is a window on the loft that opens up to the street. In the morning, I heard the neighbours. 

The room was weird. When we 1st entered the room, the lower deck was super warm but by morning, it would be much colder than the upper deck. Strangely, we opened the window at the loft but it nothing to cool the loft. Hot air rises ah? 

The 外卖 arrived! 

Collecting it in China-style. We were very modest le. In the initial days, we met somebody in his bath robe to collect his delivery. 

I was very excited. It felt like unboxing. 

We were given a free 豆沙包. I was happy at the cheap thrill. Lol. 

Nana was barely awake. 

Zaky completed his bfast with the leftover dessert from yday. No dessert can escape him. 

Our plan was to head to the One Hop Mall in 朝阳路. I read on 小红书 about this indoor VR/ video sports amusement park. We took a didi to the mall. Then the scariest thing happened - the amusement park has closed down. Sob. 

Fortunately, there were plenty of teenagers stuff to do in the mall and a lot of food to eat. We tackled lunch 1st - 麻辣烫. Zaky and I shared a tomato soup based one. Nice!

For some reasons, the Chinese barely use spoons. No spoon never mind. 

There were multiple claw machines and arcade. 

The kids won multiple trinkets, which we gave to the little kids during the Christmas gathering.

The game credit storage card can be returned and deposit refunded. RMB 5 - hmmm… what do we do with the cash ah? 

We found koi. 

More snacking. This was a very expensive ice cream. 

Finally, Daddy Lim and the kids were sent to a cats’ cafe located in a pet shop. I chose to roam somemore. The cats were really cute.

I gave Zaky a mask and his allergies didn’t act up or maybe Mochi has already trained him well. Haha. 

We left the Mall after that and went to another mall. Hahaha. The kids weren’t too pleased, but the Uptown Mall that I was trying to go to was nearby. We got a didi over and was hoping that we would finally be able to buy cheap(er) track shoes. 

The mall didn’t disappoint! It is like our IMM and cheaper! The kids each needed a new pair of shoes for school and ended up with 2. I needed to replace mine too. In total, we bought 5 pairs for about S$250. I don’t know if they are knockoffs but we were happily, happily shopping. Hoho.

Dinner was hotpot at the same mall. 

Look at the amount of meat! Life is good! Hoho. 

I really wanted to eat fruits and got some from a shop opposite our hotel. These were so much sweeter than the red apple wannabe that we got from the Gubei hotel. 

Nana also grabbed the last opportunity to buy her 冰糖葫芦. 

Back in the room, the kids happily took photos of their loot and the toy won from the arcade.

It was the last night of our holiday. It was time to go home. Sob. 

Mummy Lim