This might be crazy to some but what do I care. It's known as managing your time and planning effectively. From my previous post, I just came back from my Christmas holiday in Hong Kong but I'm going away again for New Year in Beijing. It was planned in a way that I'll be able to go with my god-brother before we start our hectic schedule in 2013. Plus, it's the first time that both of us went on an all-out tour package all thanks to the cheap offer by Groupon. Our total trip cost us about 50% of actual price inclusive of taxes. The package includes flight via Air China (SIA was fully booked), 5 star hotel stay, major attractions and meals. It was a good deal and I can finally cross out Beijing out from my trip list.At first I thought that flying with Air China was mistake and my flight out of Singapore was excruciating, the worst flight by far. I was uncomfortable for the whole flight and there wasn't an individual entertainment console. I was suffering for that overnight flight. Thank god the returning flight was better with more comfortable seats and individual entertainment console.
Upon arrival to China, we weren't able to get a local data SIM card so we had to rely on tapping into wifi spots. Apparently, China blocked a handful of site such as Facebook, Twitter and Blogspot. We were totally lost especially Hakimbo. We're weren't able to check-in except on Foursquare. No lost for me except I can get my dose of Running Man whenever I'm bored.
The first tour for the day was riding along the Hutong (old alleyways) on a rickshaw. Our cyclist was kind enough to cover us with a warm blanket (thank god, I was freezing by then). They brought the group to a house deep within the alleyway where we'll have lunch. After lunch was the next torturous attraction.
The guide brought us to the well known Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. Yes ah! I finally get to be there and got to see the huge Mao Zedong portrait. But Tienanmen Square was so bare that cold wind were gushing at every angle. Hakimbo mentioned watching people battling in the cold wind where they hunch forward to proceed. We didn't expect to be doing that but we did. Luckily there were peddlers selling winter wear and I got hold of muffs and extra gloves to keep myself warm but it help only a little. I had to fool around to keep myself warm.From Tienanmen Square, we crossed over to the Forbidden City. I remember from my Korean trip that it's no different than Gwangbukgong Palace in Seoul and it sure was. It almost felt similar as Gwangbukgong but I was still astonished as I'm typically there. We had a little kids in the tour group and they too were suffering from the cold. We had a anonymous vote to rush to complete the tour and get on the bus. I didn't fell a lost as it truly was quite repetitive for the buildings in Forbidden City.
We were brought to a tea house for tea demonstration where we learn the ancient Chinese way of drinking tea. You might just hook up with the tea demonstrator by holding the cup wrongly. After dinner, we were brought to explore the 2008 Olympic venue, the Bird Nest and Watercube which is mostly a stadium and the swimming pool. We weren't allowed in so we just took pictures outside.
After which, our first day tour ended and the guide brought us to check into the hotel. We stayed in Ramada Beijing North Resort which was too secluded without any shops nearby for unknown night snacks.The hotel resort was great and comfortable but our room were away from the main router of the hotel so we did not have WiFi connection in our room. There is a Spa too but we seemed to return late and the spa closes early. For day 1, we didn't need any extra source of relaxation as we were up the whole day from our flight. After washing up, we crashed for the night at 8pm. It was also to prepare for the next day trip to the Great Wall of China.