Yilun in Beijing (7th July 2007)

Busy day today. Went to get my ATM card done and went to quanjude to get ripped off having beijing duck. Most eventful thing has to have been getting around all by myself all the way to tiananmen square today. Honestly, the place looks pretty grand from the outside although I had no time to take a look in it or the forbidden city. Hopefully, I'll be able to go in there soon.

Anyway, people in Siemens are at least as warm as those in EY. I took the company bus to hepingmen for the duck and was, as expected, pretty lost. I had little choice but to have to ask my colleagues on the bus, none of whom i had met before. Of the three people I asked, two gave me more detailed instructions than what I asked for or dared expect and one even gave me her namecard. It feels good to know that there are such helpful people when you are travelling alone in places you have never even seen before.

Quanjude sucked. Their Peking ducks were force fed and oilier than Exxon Mobil. turns out their core competence was force feeding instead of duck, they served all 12 dishes in an hour and expected us to pay 4700 rmb for thirteen people. SO not going there again.

Going there did let me travel half of Beijing alone on public transport. My familiarity of the place is growing by the day. Taking the train really lets you cut through Beijing really quickly. Travelling here certainly doesn't make you feel like the place is 20 times the size of Singapore. Makes me wonder why Singapore has been unable to control its traffic situation when a city with as many cars as Beijing can.

Talking about Singapore, I think that Singaporeans are way too arrogant and controlled by the pap. They are NOT doing a good job. Taking the train today, I saw a woman who collected plastic bottles. Guess what, she could afford to take the train home. Not possible in Singapore. In fact, there are much fewer people collecting cans and bottles here than in Singapore. At least the Communist Party ensures that its citizens do not starve. It also manages to keep prices low for the people. And did I mention that even at 0.40 rmb I don't have to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus? I am usually lucky if I wait only 10 minutes for a bus in Singapore.

The only bad thing is the pollution. Its impossible to live a healthy life here. Haven't even been able to find a gym either. Definitely not a place I would want to settle down in but still a heck of a place to be. Just wish Sandy was here.