Wholesale market in Beijing

A visit to any part of China would not be complete without taking a look at their famous handicraft mostly made of stones and jades. Joanne brought us to a wholesale market one morning, mainly selling art, stone statues, jade and the like. Since it was a wholesale market, there was very minimal or no price haggling involved.

The most complete collection market in China

Upon arrival, we were greeted with many stone statues placed across a large open area. Most of the statues were those that we could see in temples, namely statues of lions, Buddha, pagoda and so on. They looked very solid and extremely heavy to me.

The God of Mercy was also in the collection, although her 'home' seemed to have cracked.

God of Mercy

We proceeded to walk inside, under the very cold weather, and saw rows and rows of shops lined up. Of course, for a Chinese-blind person like me, I had no idea what those shops sold at first, until I had to walk in to discover them myself.

Rows of shops

Notice how those chairs were empty? Because it was freezing cold outside! Anyone sitting here would be crazy!

Empty chairs and tables

We came across numerous stalls selling various stones that resembled jade.

Stones

Girls would love it here because there were plenty of jewelery sold here made from precious stones or jade. If it wasn't for the cold weather, I'm sure the business would be more brisk.

All kinds of bangles

Oh look, they also have a stall selling Chinese stone stamps! You could probably ask the seller to carve your Chinese name onto the stone and use it as your personal stamp. :) Very elegant and royal.

Chinese stone stamps

I spotted this bicycle full of goods, wondering whether they were doing a delivery? If they were, I'd say it looked pretty dangerous and fragile to me, especially since the goods all looked expensive and delicate.

Delivery?

More and more shops greeted us as we walked further inside.

More shops

And my mom was attracted to one of the crystal shops, displaying lots of brilliant purple crystals. They were all so shimmery and pretty and huge!

Crystals

My mom was almost tempted to purchase one, if only they didn't weigh so much. A small one was already weighing at about 15kg, which was almost reaching the limit of our allowed luggage weight. The price there was relatively cheap, because for the same size that my mother was looking at, it was selling at about RM1.5k in Beijing, whereas my uncle bought a similar one in Malaysia for about RM3k.

Brilliant crystals

As for me, I saw these very cute jewelery boxes made of porcelain and they were oh-so-pretty! Each box came with a mirror as well, for us vain girls. :) I'm going to use them to keep my earrings!

Mini jewelery boxes

We only stayed at the market for a couple of hours, even though there was still much to be explored, because it was simply too cold to stay outdoors. I couldn't feel my feet when we were on our way back home. Thankfully, by the time we reached home, Joanne's worker was already preparing lunch for us. It was a huge bowl of home-cooked noodles mixed with amazing pork gravy and mushrooms and loads of vegetables. Yummy!

Home-cooked noodles

Lots of green vegetables

The texture of these noodles was very alike that of the Zar Jiang Mian I had a few days before. The Beijing noodles were simply delicious and tasted much better than our own yellow mee in Malaysia. I wish there would be noodles like this sold here in the future!

Delicious noodles

After lunch, we took a cab and headed to the Summer Palace, which was gorgeous! Look out for the post soon!

All kinds of Dumplings in Beijing

After the heavy lunch near the Great Wall of China, we were still feeling full come dinner time. Fortunately, our hostess suggested a rather light dinner option, which was also a specialty in Beijing. We were headed to a restaurant to eat dumplings and only dumplings! Dumplings (sui kau in Cantonese) are very traditional and they're compulsory to be served on the first day of Chinese New Year in Beijing families. In fact, when I was watching the television in Beijing, I noticed that there were many advertisements on frozen ready-made dumplings where you could just steam them before eating. And those advertisements were focusing on the Chinese New Year celebration which was, at that time, around 3 weeks away. Anyway, we were brought to this restaurant in Beijing, yet another name that I could not comprehend.

Dumplings restaurant

My host, Mr Liew ordered this drink with a cute name. I heard him ordering 'Lulu' to the waitress, and I was curious to know what it was. It turned out to be a canned drink of almond milk. What a funny name! So if you want to order almond milk when you're in Beijing next time, just holler 'Lulu'!

Lulu almond milk drink

My hostess Joanne never started a meal without at least one cold dish. This was the cold dish she ordered that night, which tasted like jellyfish. As usual, I never had much preference for cold dishes, more so during the winter!

Cold dish

After placing our orders of different types of dumplings, I walked around and saw the group of chefs busy preparing the dumplings in the kitchen. They looked so engross and intense that they had no idea I was observing them.

Busy chefs

For the sake of those who could actually read Chinese, here is a snapshot of the menu board on display. I bet those last two Chinese words in each sentence was 'sui kau', but that's all. Oh, of course I could already read the price of 22 yuan. :P

Menu board

Finally, our orders arrived, all wrapped up nicely. From the looks of it, they were all the same and very dull, due to the same white colour. The difference was all in the fillings. This plate came with vegetables as the fillings. Very healthy and delicious too! Each piece was wrapped meticulously and with every bite, delicious gravy oozed out into your mouth.

Vege dumplings

Here is another picture of dumplings, with fillings of pork meat. This was very similar to eating 'siew long pau', except that the size here was much larger. The meat was marinated so the juice that oozed out was very tasty. I could eat a whole plate of this if only my stomach were bigger. :P

Meat dumplings

The secret to eating the dumplings is to eat them when they're piping hot, but I'm sure you all know that. When they get cold, the skin hardens and the fillings become cold, rendering the whole dumpling almost inedible.

Meat and vege fillings

Surprisingly, eating dumplings was not really considered 'light'. Each piece was either fully filled with meat or packed with vegetables. Couple that with the flour on each dumpling, you pretty much get full after maybe 5 or 6 pieces. Look at the remnants of our food that night! The 5 of us could not finish 3 plates of dumplings! We ended up packing them to bring home.

All types of dumplings

Once we reached home, Liew went out on his own saying that he wanted to buy something for us to try. Upon arrival, he came bearing this paper bag with the picture of an old man holding sticks of candy. He bought us 'bing tang hu lu'! It was the traditional candy that most period Chinese series would show.

Brown package

I had always seen them in the Chinese series and imagined these candies to be sweet. However, after the first bite, I knew I was greatly mistaken. These candies were made from shanzha (山楂子), also known as Chinese hawthorn or Chinese haw. They're sour, with a coat of hardened sugar on the exterior. I personally did not really like them because I never liked sour food.

Close-up

Anyway, it was certainly an experience to remember. Now I would know how the candies actually taste like when I see them again in Chinese series! :) I'd gladly say "No thanks".

Bing tang hu lu

The Perfect Valentine

Valentine's Day is over. Good time really flies huh? Without realizing it, this year is the 4th time I spent Valentine's with Saucer. My Valentine's day was filled with surprise. Very romantic. All thanks to Saucer. :)

How did you spend yours? ;)

Where did I lunch?

After the exhausting climb down the Great Wall of China, it was time for lunch! We actually spent a total of 3 hours just walking on the Great Wall itself in the freaking cold weather. Needless to say, our stomachs were growling by the time we descended. We were driven to a place about half an hour away (or more) for lunch, and I shamefully admit that I fell asleep in the car. It was a long time I didn't hike! *shifty eyes*

Anyway, the title of this post is as such because I can't read the Chinese words of this restaurant's signboard. Anyone care to translate it to me? It's so embarrassing. I can only read the word 'mian' in the middle, which means noodles right?

Restaurant signboard

Anyway, it was past 2pm when we reached, and the restaurant was rather empty. We were even given a private room to dine in.

Table setting

As usual, our hostess Joanne did the ordering, and she never missed out on cold dishes. The first dish that arrived was this cold dish which looked like a plate of noodles, but in fact, they're a type of vegetables. I kind of enjoyed this dish, surprisingly. The 'noodles' were springy and slightly crunchy, very similar to the feeling of eating black fungus.

Cold dish that looked like noodles

Then there's the black fungus, just boiled without any condiments. It's also cooled to below room temperature, becoming one of the list of cold dishes available.

Black fungus

Finally, the hot dishes arrived. Yay! This was the hot-plate beef, which tasted amazing. It's the most delicious dish of all in this restaurant. The beef slices were cooked to perfection, not gamey and very tender. It went perfectly with the bowl of steaming hot rice.

Hot-plate beef

Look at the rice! It's my favourite rice so far. Fat and short, and a little sticky, not unlike glutinous rice, and very similar to Japanese rice. I don't normally fancy white rice in Malaysia but in Beijing, I could eat up one whole bowl of rice and wouldn't feel guilty about it! :P

Steaming bowl of rice

Almost every meal in Beijing was accompanied by a dish of fish. This was the fish fillet cooked in a broth which was sourish and slightly spicy. It was very appetizing just drinking the broth. The fish was extremely fresh too! The fillets were flaky and smooth. If only it had less bones. It's the nature of the fish to have plenty of bones because all their fishes came from freshwater.

Sour and spicy fish fillet


Very fresh fish fillet

One of the highly recommended dishes from Joanne was this plate of fried flat noodles. It was apparently homemade from people living in the mountain area (where the restaurant was located), and it's not widely available in other parts of Beijing. The noodles were made into a flat piece of dough and carefully rolled up into hollow cylinders, which were rather cute. The taste was very similar to pan-mee, just slightly thicker. My gripe would be that it's a tad oily. But what can I say? This dish was called as 'chao yau min' in Cantonese, or fried oily noodles literally.

Fried flat noodles

We also ordered a plate of stir-fried vegetables including green capsicum and eggplants. This dish was just so-so and rather oily. Why would they use so much oil in their food? Maybe oil is cheap over there...

Oily vegetables

There was also the common dish of omelette, which was not very different from the ones we could get in Malaysia.

Omelette

The lunch was very filling, due to the vast amount of carbohydrate I took (rice and noodles). Thankfully it was during the winter, so I consoled myself that the fat would be quickly burned off. Who am I kidding?

Anyway, after the heavy meal, Joanne brought us to a local shopping mall to shop for souvenirs. It's called the Hong Qiao Pearl Market, which was a huge building housing all sorts of items from electronic gadgets, clothes to branded handbags. All fake brands, of course. My mother managed to buy 1 Rolex and 1 Omega watch here for a total of RM125. *LOL* But not without haggling of course!

It was funny how the people in Beijing negotiate with the customers. First, they would be very polite and smile sweetly at us. Then, when we showed the SLIGHTEST interest in the products, they would start to talk to us and say that their products were of very good quality, etc etc. So as a customer, we'd ask for the price. They'd quote a price, which would be way too expensive, and we cut the price by at least 70%. They would then show us a very shocked face and say that it was impossible to sell at such a cheap price. They would suffer a loss! Then, they'd give us a price which was probably 5o% of the initial quote and we'd still be stubborn and say no. Then, they would keep saying it's not possible to give us that price and almost begged for us to take it. In the last resort, we would just leave the stall, saying it's OK. Then, the salesgirl would change from their sweet faces to a frustrated/angry one, saying "FINE, I'll give you!". And I mean they're really not happy! It's either they really suffered a loss from the sale (which I highly doubt so) or they're just very good actors. *LOL* Bottom line is that, never settle for more than what you would pay for. You would almost 99% of the time get the price that you want. :) But the haggling process was really fun! We managed to haggle for a piece of 100% cashmere scarf to only RM10! That's freaking cheap!!! Remember, in this market, customers are always right. *LOL*

Hong Qiao Pearl Market

Steamboat and Grandpa's Birthday

Every year after the Chinese New Year, all of us in my family would travel down to KL to visit my maternal grandparents. Coincidentally, my maternal grandfather's birthday also falls around the same time. Hence, we took it as an opportunity for CNY visiting and birthday celebration and gambling session all in one. *LOL* Usually, the birthday dinner would be held in some swanky, high-class restaurant that cost at least RM1K per table. Mind you, our extended family is huge so it would be at least 2 tables every year. Due to the economy slowdown, however, my uncles and aunties decided to do something different this year, and organized a steamboat gathering.

We reached KL around 3pm in the afternoon, which was way too early for any steamboat event. My uncle from KL decided to show us this new place that he likes to hang out at currently, called Desa Parkcity. It was really near the place he stays, and we reached there in just 10 minutes. I fell in love with that area immediately! It was slightly out of the city, which means tranquility, with a nice lake and jogging track, and lots of quaint cafes and restaurants, not to mention a supermarket! I mean, those people living in Desa Parkcity practically have everything within their fingertips. And I mean within walking distance. It was peaceful and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the big city. It was really a perfect place to grow old in, or for children to grow up in. :)

Lake at Desa Parkcity

Since we were there during CNY, there were many nice fake cherry blossom trees around to brighten the area.

Cherry blossoms

After visiting the area, we ended up in a cafe for our tea time. It was this coffee place called Kluang Station. Apparently, the coffee was second to none, and the chicken chop was marvellous. Without much ado, we ordered the following dishes to be shared:

Hot coffee and iced Nescafe

The coffee received thumbs up from Saucer. It was apparently much better than those in the Old Town Kopitiam shops. As for the Nescafe, nothing special about it really.

Nasi lemak

Fried chicken

Oh the nasi lemak was pretty good! It came with a piece of fried chicken which was crispy and well-marinated. I loved the chicken to bits! I wish there was a Kluang Station in Penang. It would beat the over-priced Old Town Kopitiam hands down.

Butter and kaya toast

The toast was nothing to shout about, as you can see from the picture. It was definitely thicker bread compared to the barely-there bread in Old Town.

And the star of the day was the chicken chop, which was ordered by my dad. He is a big fan of chicken chops! Wherever he goes, if there's chicken chop in the menu, he would order it. Unfortunately, he has a very sensitive and picky tongue, so more often than not, the chicken chops would get criticisms instead of praises. For the case of Kluang Station, however, I was surprised that he praised the chicken chop there, and said that it was good. (Not GREAT yet, but good is very rarely mouthed by my dad). I immediately took a bite and agreed with him. There was this fragrant smell from the chicken chop which indicated that it was well-marinated, and the meat was juicy without being dry from the frying. I would love to order it again next time. And for the price of RM12.90, it was definitely reasonable!

Chicken chop

Fast-forward a couple of hours down the road, it was dinner time! The steamboat was held in this gorgeous huge house of my uncle and auntie's in Sg Buloh. It was the first time I visited their new place and it was fabulous! The interior was floored with granite and first floor was solid timber. Granite flooring in the house! That's a first for me (pardon my ignorance).

Awesome giant house

There were lots of food prepared that day, and one of my uncles bought these satays for us. I wonder where he got them because the satays were so meaty and delicious! And for only 60cents a piece! I have to say it was the most popular dish that night, considering that it finished the first. (Thanks to my help, too, I must say *LOL*)

My love

My brother was also crazy with the satays!

When gluttony rules...

Look at how they posed when I asked them to take a picture.

Brothers who are posers

Some of the food for the steamboat: Lots of fresh vegetables, raw meat, yong tau foo, noodles, eggs, dumplings and the like.

Steamboat ingredients

The only gripe that night was the warm weather. There was no wind and the air was stuffy. Couple that with the hot steam coming from the pots, it was recipe for a sauna experience.

Cousins having a good time

My brothers, Saucer and Angie

Before the night was out, we went into the house to sing birthday song to my grandpa.

Cake-cutting ceremony

The Tiramisu from Secret Recipe scored well among us, especially the young ones, who went for seconds. After that, it was a whole night of gambling, ala CNY style. It was the perfect end for the CNY. I miss it already! I guess I'll have to wait for another 12 months for this festival again.