Category Archives: Food

Day 304 in Beijing: Let’s Get Physical! Physical!

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Maybe the bars keep the kids in when they want to run away?

Maybe the bars keep the kids in when they want to run away?

Jill and I were wandering our Sanlitun Village and noticed some music blaring out from around the corner.

This isn’t unexpected as there are many clubs and discos around this area but we were surprised because it was Chinese music and not Western.

As we rounded the corner, we came upon all these high school kids in the blue track outfits.

They were doing aerobics and getting a good workout.

I have to admit, the track suits look to be incredibly unforgiving in heat and can’t imagine wearing them to run in or work out in during the summer.

At least it is Spring right now and quite nice.

The view from Luga's restuarant.

The view from Luga’s Villa restuarant.

This second shot is from one of our favorite restaurants, Luga‘s Villa.

The restaurant serves Italian and Mexican food and there is a second restaurant, Luga’s Pho Pho, that serves Vietnamese food.

The manager is our buddy, Deniz, and his girlfriend is Seda.  They are both Turkish but they grew up in Germany.

They are wonderful people and is just another reason why Jill and I love traveling so much.

We get to meet so many amazing, and exciting, people from all over the world.

Each day is a chance to do something new, see something new and meet someone new.

If we have a boring day, it is only because we choose to have a boring day and not explore.

Here is to one more day of exploration and living life to the fullest!

 

Day 298 in Beijing: Jill Loeffler, Professional Journalist.

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Sonoma Sips by Jill Loeffler!

Sonoma Sips by Jill Loeffler!

 

Jill has her own websites, SF Tourism Tips and All About Red Wine, but has wanted to expand her reach here in Beijing.

So, our dear friend, Sarah Ting-Ting Hou connected her up with the City Weekend: Beijing magazine and she was asked to write a 180 words blurb on Sonoma County Wines.

Sarah actually wrote the article about Air Quality in Beijing right beside Jill’s article.  How cool is that!?!

Jill spent a day or two, and I spent a day also, looking for Sonoma County wines here in Beijing.

That is not an easy thing to do.

It seems that American wines are very heavily taxed, while Chinese, Chilean, Australian and some other countries wines are not.

France’s wines are but they are well known and therefore easier to find.

It was almost impossible to find Sonoma County wines.

When she did find them, it wasn’t a large selection so she did the best should could to get a decent selection.

I’m proud of her and that she is now a published journalist in Beijing, China.

Cheers to Jill!

Day 290 in Beijing: Xalapa!

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Xalapa is a restaurant that Jill and I visited when we were hanging out with our friend, Nick.

I wrote a very nice blog post about it but it seems to have disappeared.  I have no idea why, I have no idea where it went, and I have no idea what I actually wrote.

I have to say I’m a bit bummed out about it but as Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “So it goes.”

And so it does.

So, I will post some pictures and let you see if the atmosphere, food and fun was worth your looking at it.

It was for Jill and I and we will definitely return again!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Day 285 in Beijing: Man Behind The Screen.

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment
The man behind the screen.

The man behind the screen.

I went to dinner with a co-worker of mine, Magda.

We were having dinner before we went to a weekly meeting of therapists here in Beijing.

I was going to be discussing using behavioral therapy with clients suffering from psychosis.

As we sat and ate Japanese food, Magda received a phone call and left for a few minutes.

I’m pretty sure I was the only person in the restaurant.

So, I just started looking around at the staff and what they were doing.

Most were on their cell phones, talking to each other, and just sort of wasting time until the business picked up later in the evening.

A close up of the man behind the screen.

A close up of the man behind the screen.

I noticed this man, who I’m guessing is the owner or manager, working behind a bamboo screen.

He continued to stare at the papers in front of him, seemingly totally devoted to understanding what was written, and barely moved for 5 minutes.

I decided to grab a few shots because his actions were so different than the rest of the crew.

Hopefully it is clear enough to see him through the screen and get a feeling for what he could have been thinking.

It seems, to me, he was quite tired and possibly stressed out from the positioning of his head and his hands.

Day 276 in Beijing: The Experiment 1.0.

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
The Experiment's menu.

The Experiment’s menu.

As you have probably noticed, Jill and I are pretty outgoing people.

We have made a lot of friends in Beijing and we are loving our life here.

One of our favorite restaurants is Big Smoke.

Big Smoke is not only an amazing restaurant but it also houses our favorite brewery, Jing A.

The story of how I became friends with this group is a bit long but, I think, quite interesting.

I arrived in Beijing in June.  I was trying to figure out how to make friends and build a community.

I always loved beer, wine and going out so I looked online to see if there was a beer festival anytime soon.

Luckily there was a Beer Geek brewer’s festival that weekend.

I decided to go by myself and make the choice to meet new people and see how it would go.

Well, it went wonderfully.

I met Kris and Alex, who are the head brewers at Jing A, and talked to them and we became friends.

Kris is from Canada and Alex is from the USA.

I also met Eric, who is a writer for the China Daily, and Kat and Mandy, who are (or in the case of Kat, were) editors for the same publication.

About a week later was the Craft Brew Festival for all of China.

I actually met the brewmaster for Boxing Cat Brewery, Michael, who had worked at Pyramid Brewing Company in Berkeley and now lives in Shanghai.  He used to work with my buddies, Dave and Brian, who now own Elevation 66 in El Cerrito and it was my hangout before I moved to China.

A small world, indeed.

I also met Richard Ammerman who ended up being the third part of Jing A Brewing Company.  He was incredibly generous and showed me around, introduced me to new friends, and made me feel incredibly welcomed.  I owe him a lot.

After a month or so, I went to The Big Smoke to try the food and have a bit of Jing A from “their home base.”

I was blown away.  The food was amazing.

I took Jill there for her first meal when she arrived in Beijing.  Nothing like a little home cooking after a 12 hour trip!

I also met the manager, Gordon Kutil, and I knew I was home.

Gordon and I have become incredibly close and we are almost like family.

We joke around, hang out, and have a world view that is extremely like minded.

He is from Tennessee originally but has loves to travel and experience new things.

I later met Che Che, who is from the Philippines and is the matre di.  She wonderful, sweet and always smiling.

At one point, Gordon introduced me to JP, who is the chef and is from Juarez, Mexico.

Finally, I meet Kris, who owns The Big Smoke.  He’s originally from Australia but has lived in China for over 17 years and has owned a few different, and all successful, restaurants.

On top of that, the staff is all Chinese Nationals so there is a huge mix of cultures at one small restaurant.

I love how all these different nations come together to make a community.

So, to make a long story longer, The Big Smoke guys and the Jing A guys decided to do a beer pairing dinner.

It is called the Experiment 1.0 because it was the first one they had done and there, “An experiment.”

It was amazing.

My friend, Eric, who writes for China Daily, also came with a friend of his, Mike.  Gordon’s girlfriend, Sarah, showed up with another friend also and we sat with Richard and enjoyed every minute of the dinner.

You can actually see Eric’s wrist, wearing a beaded bracelet, in one of the pictures below.

The food was incredible, and since Gordon and Kris know we are vegetarians, they changed our menu to not have any animal products and we were blown away.

The beers were great and everything was paired perfectly.

All I can write is that this is how a life is made: Great food, Great drink, and most importantly, great family.

Not friends, but family.

Because when you are an expatriate, your friends become your family.

You become very close to them and are also cognizant that they will leave at some point in the future.

The knowledge that this death is imminent makes the family you build even more important than one could imagine.

I’m glad I have my family, all over the world, that allows me to connect to them and they to me.

And, each day, my family grows larger and larger.

I’m thankful you are a part of it also.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 260 in Beijing: Turning 45.

By | | , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Kenn, Martin, Jill and me cheering my birthday at 12:01 am!

Kenn, Martin, Jill and me cheering my birthday at 12:01 am!

I turned 45 yesterday.

It hasn’t really struck me yet because I tend to believe that we are as young as we believe and we act.

I have always been young at heart and will continue to be that way, hopefully, until I die.

Which, unless you haven’t heard, I don’t plan to do for a very long time.

I have way too many places to visit, people to meet, and things to do.

Jill and I went out to one of our favorite haunts in Beijing, The Local.

We are buddies with the owners, Kenn and Martin, and love their positive attitude and sense of joy about almost everything that comes their way.

From what I can tell, they try to laugh off negative events and find a way to be positive and figure out how to take advantage of the issue.

Since they brew beer there, I’d say, when life gives you barley, make beer.  And they do!

We hung out with them until around 2 am and drank their beer, ate great food, and just enjoy their company.

I also won 1st place on Mario Cart, which they let us play at their bar, and that is a first for me because i’m usually horrible at that game.  Kenn and Martin have renamed it “Beerio Cart.”  I think it is fitting to say the least!

I’ve become addicted to playing the game, as has Jill, and it is a wonderful way to spend time with friends, hang out, and just relax.

Especially the night before I turn 45.

And then to have a birthday “Cheers” at 12:01 am on my birthday was a perfect way to bring in my 46th year on this planet.

Stay positive, be kind to others, and things tend to work out.

I wish you all a wonderful life.

Day 256 in Beijing: How to be a vegetarian in China.

By | | , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Buddhist Beads=Vegetarian

Buddhist Beads=Vegetarian

This may sound easy to most people not living in China, but it is quite difficult to be vegetarian in China.

Obviously, Jill and I speak very little Mandarin so that is a major issues in our trying to order food here and help the servers to realize we don’t eat meat of any type.  We also don’t eat fish, shrimp or any shellfish.

This makes it very hard to eat at any restaurant that isn’t a Western based restaurant because so much of Chinese food has loads of meat in it.

There are the customary pictures on the menu that usually provide some relief but many of the sauces have animal or fish sauces and so our vegetarian ideals are crushed.

On Chinese New Year, we happened to run into a 7-11 type store here in Beijing as we were hungry and the party we were going to attend wouldn’t start for another few hours.

Almost every restaurant was closed and a 7-11 rip off store was all we could find at that time.

It was an auspicious start to the Year of the Horse now that I look back on it.

There was an America order a steamed bun and he was speaking fluent Mandarin to the clerks.  They were laughing and joking around as Jill and I bought some potato chips and nuts to eat.

He left and then came back in.  I asked if he had forgotten something and he said, “Nope, these buns are just delicious!  I want another one.”

We told him that we also wanted some but are vegetarians and don’t know what to say.

He laughed and said, “I’m vegetarian too.  I have tried to get people to understand that being vegetarian means no meat at all but they usually tell me, ‘It is just a little bit of pork’ after I’ve started eating.  It is hopeless to try to use Mandarin to tell them what you want.  They just don’t get it.”

We asked him how he does it and he responded with, “Buy a set of Buddhist prayer beads.  Wear them on your wrist.  Then, when you order, point to them and they will immediately understand since Buddhists don’t eat any living creatures.  You won’t even have to say a word.”

We thought this was genius and started laughing at the simplicity of it.

I’ve a firm belief there is almost always a new way to “hack they system” and figure out a more efficient, and inventive, way of doing things.  It is only when we get stuck in a linear thought formation that we stop ourselves from seeing the other possibilities to change.

We exchanged information and thanked him for his help.

By the way, we each had one of the vegetarian steamed buns and he was right, the were amazing!

We will now be able to order more of them since we know how to order and not get steamed buns filled with meat!

Day 240 in Beijing: Chinese New Year

By | | , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Please ask your friends to "like" this page on Facebook or subscribe by email!

Please ask your friends to “like” this page on Facebook or subscribe by email!

Jill and I have been told about the awesomeness of Chinese New Year fireworks for a few months.

We weren’t sure if we’d stay in Beijing, or China, for it as it is a massive festival and most businesses shut down.  Also, if one wants to travel around China, there are about 200,000,000 people traveling back to their homes and the trains are jammed packed and quite chaotic.

Speaking of travel in China during Chinese New Year, Jill and I watched a brilliant documentary on this migration titled, “Last Train Home.”  I would recommend it to anyone that wants to have a better understanding of what an average Chinese worker goes through to survive in today’s world.  It is very powerful and moving.

We were told of a rooftop party at a restaurant near Houhai Lake.  This is a beautiful area and I have a blog coming out, in a few days, when we went to watch people ice skate on the lake.

Luckily it is a quick subway and then bus ride to get there and we planned on grabbing a taxi home since all the buses shut down around 11 pm.  One of the joys of Chinese New Year in Beijing is that almost everyone else has gone home so the subways and buses are almost empty.  It has never been so easy to get a seat as it has been in the past day or two.

Amazingly, it wasn’t that cold and we were able to walk around in just our jackets and didn’t even need our hats or gloves for most of the night.

We arrived at The Orchid and sat down for a few drinks.   It was an all you can eat and drink menu for 300RMB (about 50 USD).

Not a bad way to say goodbye to the Year of the Snake and welcome in the Year of the Horse.

We waited for our friends, Nick, Deven, Nic and Jason and when they showed up we moved upstairs so we could look out the windows and watch as the festivities started.

Another couple arrived and we invited them to sit down with us since they looked like they didn’t have anyone else to celebrate with at this point.

As we talked with our new friends, we found out that he originally Eric was from Half Moon Bay and Kimberly was born in Santa Rosa, California.

For those that don’t know, I’m from Healdsburg, California.  It is a beautiful little town in the middle of the wine country.  Santa Rosa is about 10 miles away and was one of our main rivals in sports and pretty much everything else.

As Jill’s and my world gets bigger, it continues to get smaller.

As midnight approached, we went on the rooftop but it was so packed we had to stand on the stairs.  I was worried about Jill and her knees being in pain and tried to figure out somewhere else to stand and still be able to see the fireworks clearly.

Jill noticed our friends on the top of another roof and we asked if we could come join them and they agreed.  We hung out with them and enjoyed the fireworks for about 30-45 minutes.

We then went back to the party and hung out until around 2 am and were lucky enough to grab a cab almost the second we walked out the door with another friend we met tonight and shared the cab ride home, turned on our air filter to the highest power (it makes a grey noise that blocks out the sounds from the constant fireworks and firecracker explosions) and happily fell asleep after welcoming in the Year of the Horse.

I wishing you all “春节快乐“, which is pronounced “Chunjie Kuile” and means Happy New Year in Mandarin.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 222 in Beijing: First Class, Baby!

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment
First class all the way!

First class all the way!

We have just finished our 21 day vacation in Malaysia.

It was everything we could have hoped for and more.

Malaysia is gorgeous, people are friendly, and the weather is WARM!

We flew AirAsia both ways and found out about a wonderful little extra from our friend, Kean, regarding an upgrade that not many people know about on their flights.

There is a company called Optiontown.  It works with many low costs airlines around the world and give a great deal.

They give you a first class seat for about 75% off the advertised price if the first class or business class seats aren’t full 24 hours before take off.

So, we decided to try them on the way back to Beijing and we were rewarded with lay flat seats, full meals, and complimentary bottles of water, for about $65 US each.

We are talking about a 6 hour flight and going from economy to first class for $10 US per hour.  That is unbelievable if you have ever flown in the US or europe from what I’ve experienced.

Here are a few pictures from our flight.  If you notice, we had to board the plane by walking on the tarmac, then climb up the stairs, and get into our seats.  It was fun walking around with all the planes and automobiles flying by us.  It reminded me of what flying back in the days must have been like.

By the way, we also were given priority boarding so we were the first to sit down, in the front row, and the first to get off the plane.

In Beijing, that makes a world of difference as the customs and immigration lines are usually huge and take an hour or more because so many people get off and need to pass through them.  It took us about 20 minutes from plane to taxi this time.  A huge improvement and we will continue to do use AirAsia and Optiontown for every flight that we can take from now on.

By the way, a famous Chinese actress and singer, Tong Yao, was in our row.  I asked her for a picture and she was nice enough to oblige.  Here is a video of her in Singapore in 2010.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Day 219 in Beijing: Lily’s Vegetarian Kitchen.

By | | , , , , , , , ,
Leave a comment
Buddhist monk. Check. Blessed food. Check. Delicious. Check.

Buddhist monk. Check.
Blessed food. Check.
Delicious. Check.

Jill and I have decided it is time to start becoming more healthy and we’ve decided to try being vegetarian at this time.

It actually started on New Year’s Day, even though it wasn’t a new year’s resolution, and it seems to have been quite easy so far.

Strangely enough, we decided this before we went to a the Thekchen Choling Buddhist temple on New Year’s Day to hear the chanting that they perform for the new lunar month.  But that is blog post for another day.

Being that Buddhists don’t eat any type of animal, and I then read the wonderful book, Direct Expressions written by their Lama Thubten Namdrol Dorje, and agreed with his viewpoints on health, treating other creatures with respect, and not wanting to hurt others, and therefore not wanting to hurt myself, and it just all fell into place.

I’ve done stints of being a vegetarian for up to 6 months, and have found, when I set my mind to it, it is actually quite easy.

One of the reasons is that I was in a pretty horrific car crash when I was 4 years old and have no sense of smell because of my head injury.  I also believe that my sense of taste is probably at about 50% of what most people can experience.

The silver lining is that I’m not tempted by smells of food as I walk by stores and restaurants, and therefore, find the ability to follow through on this change easier than most people since they are usually tempted and it is harder to ignore those senses.

One of the restaurants we went to on our vacation to Malaysia was Lily’s Vegetarian Restaurant.  It was only 2 blocks from our hotel, The Sunway Georgetown, and it was fantastic.

We tried the local Penang style food, even though they had vegetarian fried chicken, which looked amazing, and were blown away.

Everything was fresh, delicious, with just the right amount of spices.  We also had soursop juice and lime juice for our drinks.  Jill has become addicted to lime juice and I’ve become addicted to soursop.  We have no idea how we will deal with the withdrawal symptoms when we return to Beijing in just a few days!

All I can say is if we can find vegetarian food in Beijing that is at all similar to the food we’ve found here in Malaysia, we will not have a problem staying vegetarian and being much more healthy in the upcoming year.

ps. If you’d like to read Direct Expressions, by Lama Thubten Namdrol Dorje, he has put it online in the form of a PDF.  I highly recommend it as it is a wonderful read and he has a fantastic sense of humor and humility.

Here is a direct link to his book:  http://english.thekchencholing.org/wp-content/uploads/direct_expression_eng.pdf

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.