Just for combs..

The front of the shop had ads of combs. I had a closer look and saw that the shop only sold combs of various sizes and shapes. I didn't have a chance to go in as we were busy looking for a lunch place. The shop is located in Xidan.
When we found the lunch place, we chanced upon another shopping mall selling clothes. There is a wide selection of winter clothes at reasonable prices.

Smoke and Puddles

It's starting to get colder here.. Temperature was about 20 deg cel and windy. The first photo is taken near the school in Dawanglu. This was at about 3pm when I was on my way to Shin Kong Place (shopping mall) for lunch. I believe the 'smoke' must be from some manhole. This has been happening quite often the past couple of days.

This is the road that I have to walk to get home. The men are walking out while I am headed in the opposite direction. Have to walk this path carefully as that huge puddle is always there when it rains. :(

Beijing's Underground City

I wish I was writing my blog daily but am sometimes just too tired to write. I went for an aerobics workout today.. and have sore muscles again.

Anyway, yesterday went to visit the Underground City (Chinese: 地下城; pinyin: Dìxià Chéng), also known as Dixia Cheng. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovations. The 'city' is a bomb shelter comprising a network of tunnels located beneath Beijing. It has been called the Underground Great Wall because it was built for the purpose of military defense. Read more in wikipedia..

More photos and description here

Temple of Confucious and Guozi Jian

More sightseeing today. Visited the Confucious Temple and Guozi Jian (the Imperial College).

The Temple of Confucius was initially built in 1302 and additions were made during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It has a total area of 22,000 square meters (5.4 acres). It is the second largest temple constructed for Confucius, the greatest thinker and educationalist in ancient China, ranking only behind the Temple of Confucius in Qufu, Shandong Province.

Guo Zi Jian (Directorate of Education) is on the left of the temple; both were originally built in 1306.

Mid Autumn Festival

Been busy still trying to settle the class schedule with the school. Finally it has been sort of settled. Today, went to Longtan Park to view the light up for the mid autumn festival. The musical fountain show was also very spectacular.

Capital University of Economics and Business

Today had lessons at the main campus (west campus) of the university. It took just 30min to get there from the east campus, shorter than I had expected.

Morning coffee

Today was the first day of school. Just had 2 hours of briefing about Chinese law and school procedures. Had to have our morning cup of coffee. There are about 70 Starbuck outlets in Beijing. These were bought from the ShinKong Place shopping mall near the school.

Xidan Bookshop

The titles at this absolutely vast bookshop (Běijīng's largest) are largely Chinese, but the basement is home to what might be the city's best selection of English-language titles. There are all the classics, Austen, Dickens, Hemingway, Twain et al, but there are also books on China that have slipped past the beady eye of the censor, as well as an expanding range of new fiction.

Subway

Subway lines are well-labelled in English. Announcements are also made in English.

Small but strong

Er guo tou "second distillation" (literally "head of the second pot") is a clear, potent spirit and takes six months to produce. 56% alcohol. This tiny bot is 10yuan.

Workers Stadium - 工人体育场

Workers Stadium (Gōngrén Tǐyùcháng) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Chaoyang District of north-eastern Beijing, China. It is mostly used for football (soccer) matches.

Under the bodhi tree

Had a chinese traditional massage today. It was painful at times but I felt very good after that. The Bodhi Therapeutric Retreat is comfortable and has a good ambience.

Summer Palace

Visited the Summer Palace today. It was a clear blue sunny sky so a good day to be out. With so many photos, it was hard to decide which one to post.

Here you see the Tower of the Fragrance of the Buddha. I didn't go up there as the ticket I had was limited to the palace grounds only. Will defintely visit this place again.
Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Carrefour, Beijing

Finally arrived here in Beijing this morning at 7am. Didn't sleep much on the plane. After getting to the apartment, i was off to Carrefour to get some groceries. It was just about 15 min to walk there. This is going to be one of the places (or maybe the place) that I'll be going often. It's always comforting to have familiar settings... (there are two Carrefour stores in Singapore)

Four way push to raise Singapore's birth rate

Recently. there has been a lot of discussion here as to how to improve the birthrate in Singapore. Some feel that we should adopt the schemes offered in other countries. So here's a look at what is offered here and in some Nordic countries.

(The Straits Times, 22 July 2008)

Water Boarders

in East Coast Park.

Colourful

Today I was on a 45min bus ride to East Coast Park (beach and cycling area) and I happened to notice this colourful building and I immediately clicked. Very unique.

Then I saw another one, a paler arrangment of colours. It is not so common to see such patterned housing apartments.

Finally, this was in Toa Payoh towards the evening, red, orange and yellow. I think it is some sports club house.

Caution! Dark Chocolate Ahead!

The other sign reads, ' Caution! Dark is Delicious.'

See chocolate?

At Dhoby Ghaut MRT, amidst all the escalators, do you notice the top of a chocolate ice-cream sticking out?

Singapore Flyer

Took the free shuttle down to Singapore Flyer. Didn't get many photos as I was in a hurry for an appointment. But I like this show with the flyer and the moon.

IPod Cofffee

Last weekend along Orchard Road, people can show their ipod and get a free cup of coffee.

Plaza Singapura

All bright and inviting. A shopping centre near Dhoby Ghaut MRT.

Crowded!!!

It's been two weeks since I've been here and what I miss about Finland is the space. The trains are crowded especially just after office hours, the shopping centres always seem to be full of people and it is the same everywhere. Well, the above article indeed proves that Singapore is getting crowded but the government is keen on increasing the populuation further.

Below are some other facts and figures: (The Straits Times, July 11)

Beijing Olympics here

Omega is one of the sponsors of the olympics.

Remember to pay...

the correct fare. Failing to pay the right fare results in the above penalities. Well, this is still less than Helsinki where the fine is 88 euros. (~ SGD$140)

Another MRT station

Another look at a subway station here. Yes, all the stations are always kept that clean and shiny.

MRT station

MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) is the subway system here. People refer to the stations as MRT stations and the vehicles as trains. In most of Europe, including Finland it is known as metro.

Toa Payoh

Took this on the second day of my stay in Singapore. This is a typical public housing area: high rise flats in Toa Payoh. I took this with my new hp. Was fiddling with some of the functions and got this clipart enhanced photo. ;-)

It's my birthday...

and I had this pandan kaya cake from Bengawan Solo. This flavour is not found in Finland so it was good to have a bite of this again. ;-)

Sushi Teh

Had a birthday eve dinner with friends at the Big Splash Sushi Teh in East Coast Park. It was a cool breezy evening. Some of the house specialities there was the mango topped sushi called golden roll and the wasabi caterpilla. Don't remember the exact names but they were very good.

Fishball noodles

First from an indian stall, then malay stall and now fishball noodles from a chinese stall. Nothing fancy, just a bowl of dry noodles accompanied by a bowl of soup from a Kopitiam. (Coffee Shop = place where several different stalls are found under one roof)

F1 Fever

Had lunch with a friend today and had noodles Malay style. (Bee Hoon). Then went to Plaza Singapura and happened to catch this Singtel F1 promotion.

LRT

Light Rapid Transit train in Sengkang.

Bee Hoon Goreng

Yummy fried noodles for dinner. That's cucumber with tomato sauce on top.

Arrival in Singapore

Changi Airport Terminal 1.