Beer festival - how hard can it be?

This is not a tale of smooth planning and flawless execution. This almost wasn't a tale about anything at all except two taxis rides to and from the airport. The plan was simple, head to Qingdao for the annual international beer festival with our friends Ceri and Thomas and their two little un's. We took Friday off work to fly down and get in place for the weekend activities and we had an early start to get to the airport. Being only an internal flight we figured three hours before take off was excessive but maybe we sliced a bit too much fat off the plan. The taxis driver cost a few more minutes than expected but I hesitate to lay the blame at his door. At the check in we queued up behind some people having a little trouble checking in which again cost us a few minutes but still it is hard to put the blame there. When we got to the front Ceri and Thomas checked their family in and we all started to relax. That is until Eleanor and I handed over our passports to be told that the check in was closed for the flight. A quick run around to the help desk revealed no more flights for the day and our only choice was a very early flight in the morning. Not a great start but we waved goodbye to Ceri and Thomas as they ran to catch the plane which clearly wasn't going to hang around for long.

At home for the day we were pretty grumpy, not quite the holiday that we had hoped for. However, it turned out the others weren't having a great time either. With various messages passing back and forth it was obvious that they were struggling to find the hotel we had booked - often not as easy it sounds with Chinese taxi drivers. Eventually they were led round the back of a bank and up some random stairs to the reception...where they were told that there was no room. Protests that we had a booking via booking.com were in vain, they phoned them and agreed we did indeed have a booking but crucially they did not have room so that wasn't much use. Cue a mile walk with two children in tow through the heat to find somewhere else to stay. Back in Beijing we got an early night mindful that the next day was going to be a big one.

Back to the airport for attempt number two and we thought we would use the electronic check in machines and avoid the queues at check-in, only to be rejected because we had an infant. Back to the queues and it seems that Saturday morning is way busier than Friday morning, not something we had factored into our planning. Again we were cutting it fine by the time we got to the front and we were relieved when we checking in and got on with hustling through security.

Flight over we made it to our hotel and hooked up with the others and wondered down to the harbour side a short walk away. We took a celebratory photo by a huge red statue to mark the start of holiday time.

 

Walking along the harbour front it became clear that our plan of finding a beach for the morning was going to have to be actioned elsewhere. However, it was a busy stretch for tourists to stroll along but soon we became one of the attractions with plenty of interest in Western children as ever. With the sun out it was lovely and warm and at last it was time to enjoy the view. The bay had been used in the Olympics and they still proudly have the rings to remind everyone.

Further along the front we picked out somewhere to stop for lunch, an Irish bar with plenty of seats out of the heat. While they had a great selection of spirits behind the bar they lacked in serving staff but eventually we were given a menu and ordered a selection of pastries and waffles. At one end of the bar there seemed to be some filming going on and they popped over to ask if we could keep the children quiet as they weren't expecting much background noise. So let us examine the evidence, an Irish bar clearly stocked for heavy drinking in the middle of the day with a camera crew who expected it to be empty and not a waiter in sight. In retrospect it is obvious that we were not going to get world class service and indeed 45 minutes later we wondering how long it takes to make a waffle. Shortly after I was wondering how on earth they packed so much grease and fat into a single croissant but for sure I wasn't to lack for energy for the rest of the day. While it was in keeping with the success of he weekend so far it was frustrating to spend almost an hour on a snack and when we left we put our heads down to find some beach to at least tick that box before the day was out. 

A taxi per family and a bit of fun meeting up at the other end saw us on the beach pushing the prams towards the sea feeling like we were trekking across the desert

It was hot hot hot and so we were drawn to the tables and sun shades and despite the steep 300RMB for a couple of hours stumped up the cash to have some much needed shelter, extending it by hanging our towels down from the brim. Settled in and with lots of dozing on the cards for the babies we took turns heading down to the sea to slash around and cool off. It was hard to tell if Alex enjoyed wading out to sea to bounce in the waves but the one that daddy misjudged and splashed him in the face was certainly not too welcome.

We ended the adventure by sitting Alex down on the sand at the edge of the waves and were rewarded with a little giggle when he slashed the water. 

After some more relaxing it was time to walk up to the beer festival at last. Not quite next door we were helped by all three children falling asleep in the heat and soon we were looking around the various tents. Each brewery had a large marquee with tables to drink at and all had a stage with loud music to fill the tent. The first tent was a German brewer and had a hot dog stand in the entrance - just the job for peckish visitors and we made good use

We soon discovered that we were an even greater attraction than at the harbour front and every time we paused we were mobbed with people trying to take photos and in the case of the three journalists who joined in tried to interview for good measure. This wasn't our main concern however, it seemed that drinking was to be done in a marquee at a table and with the loud music it wasn't somewhere the babies would be happy. Is it possible that in our not so successful weekend we would end up going to a beer festival without tasting any beer?! Thomas and I went to investigate, and possibly sneak in a pint for the sake of it. Luckily we found one tent with acceptable decibels and quickly moved in. The menu almost proved to be a sticking point since it was entirely in Chinese but deciding that the first beer on the list was probably safe we ordered four of those. Of course in most weekends this would have been fine but lady luck handed us the loaded dice once again. It wasn't a disaster (egg shell flavoured beer for example) but it was 9% which was a bit steep for the first drink of the day and not quite the thirst quencher we were aiming for. Still beer is beer when the chips are down so we tucked in....right until the sound levels jumped up several gears at which point we downed as much as we could and hustled for the door before the little people got too upset.

We strolled off through the crowd only to find a stand selling beer outside the tents so we grabbed some bottles and pushed our way through the crowd which gathered whenever there was a hint we might pause for a while. To balance the treat of beer for the boys we came across an ice cream van staffed by an Italian family so of course some tubs were purchased.

With tiring children, and lets face it tiring parents, we headed out to the main road to hail a couple of cabs. Not so easy given where we were and the fact that they all seemed to be full. We almost stuck gold but as the taxis came to a stop a police man waved it on! Ceri and Thomas jumped in a free cab and sped off with a loose plan to meet up for dinner near the hotels. It took us a long while to find a free taxis and we were teetering on the end of our collective tethers. The journey back was quite quick but we figured it had taken so long to find a cab that Ceri and Thomas would have finished eating by the time we got there so as we walked into the restaurant we were surprised to find we couldn't see them. Some text messages later and it became clear that lady luck had played her part once again, the driver had taken the town route back and they were still sat in traffic and would be there for a while longer. As our meal was being served they came in the door looking understandably less than pleased with their drivers local knowledge and navigation choices. 

The next morning we had some time before getting a taxis (early this time!) to the airport so Eleanor, Alex and I went down to the harbour front where there were a number of kite sellers. These ranged from tiny paper thin kites with a few feet of string to 4 feet wide kits with lots of slack. It was a bit misty but very warm but crucially there was enough of a breeze to get the kites in the air. Eleanor haggled for a large red kite and soon put it to good use. 

Colin's attempt a short time later was a lot less successful but lets just put that down to a drop in the wind right? With a little more time we went for a walk along the front at half pace due to the heat. Past a few stalls selling tat we found a permanent tent like structure with what sounded like a Sunday morning group sing along in session

We never did find out what it was about but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves!

Time was up at this point and all that was left was to hustle back to the hotel, grab our ride to the airport and get a lift home. Maybe our luck was beginning to change, we all arrived at our apartments with only seconds to spare before a huge thunderstorm soaked Beijing!

Into hot water

I've started biking most weekends with a group from work but last weekend I was out on my own as they were away. Taking on our normal route of about 95km to a reservoir and back I had a couple of dumb ideas. Firstly I thought that I'd go as fast as we normally do of course forgetting that by myself I'd be pushing all the work at the front which by definition was where I always was going to be. Secondly I normally set off at 5.45am to meet the others 14km away where they like to start at 6.30am. This is a rather painful time to get out of bed even with Alex's help to wake up. But being by myself I thought a more relaxed start to the day was warranted so rolled out an hour later. What I didn't really factor into these two facts was that I'd be into the heat of the day quicker and being slower than normal I'd be there for longer. This made for a tough ride and I got home as the first wisps of cramp promised a much harder future if I kept it up.

Once home I went through my normal routine of sitting down in a heap with a bright red face to amuse Alex before going for a cold bath to stretch out my leg muscles. Cue mistake number three for the day, our taps have no 'hot' 'cold' markings on them and I cheerfully filled up the bath with hot water. Normally jumping into a cold bath is not much fun but actually is ok once in so I'm developed the technical of jumping in as fast as possible and taking a couple of sharp breaths as various parts of my anatomy react. What I am saying is that foolishly I do not just dip a toe in the water to test the temperature but go at it running. This does not end well when you fail to notice the scalding hot water you thought was ice cold!

Several lessons to learn here!

Holiday - South Korea

With some national vacation days clustered in one week we decided to head off somewhere relatively close - South Korea. First stop was Seoul which to be honest I didn't know much about before arriving. The first impression is that it is big, very big. Driving into the centre from the airport you cross over a large river which is a big feature of any map of the area and into high rise buildings as far as the eye can see. Described as a mega-city it lives up to the name with 25 million people calling it home. Once we had found our hotel and settled in we wondered out to find some food and being near some lively shopping street there was plenty of activity and bustle to wonder through.

The following day the skies were grey but dry so we walked past the city hall and to some palace grounds with an imposing front gate. Here we watched the ceremonial changing of the guards along with several school parties. 

 Inside there were several building of much the same style as the forbidden city but here it was  noticeable that the back drop was always a stark contrast to the old and traditional with high rise buildings and advertising screens looming into view.

 

From here we wondered through the streets to a small hill overlooking the central district. We took the cable car almost to the top and the a lift to the top of the look out tower so a view hardly earned in terms of effort but enjoyed none the less. From this vantage point we could see high rise buildings endlessly into the distance. These were nestled between sharp green ridges that segment the city somewhat but it certainly felt like a city for 25 million people. 

 

At the base of the tower were some famous trees made of  colourful locks people had donated - something about a romantic gesture, still they were pretty so we grabbed a snap.

In the evening we went to a very locals restaurant to try some Korean food. On each table there was a gas ring and the meat we ordered was placed there to cook in front of us. along with this were lots of small dishes and they certainly added spice! It wasn't the easiest place to take Alex with spitting fat from the hot plate and hot gas rings everywhere but we should say at this point that the locals took a real shine to him. Almost every time we stopped moving people gathered around him to say hello and make faces and this restaurant was no exception. This certainly made it easier as he was always being entertained and in turn was very entertaining!

The following day was grey and we had some light rain. We went for a riverside walk down a man made stream which again was an odd contrast to the tall buildings running alongside. At the end we headed north and stopped for a quick bite for lunch in a small cafe. Our final attraction was another, larger, palace with extensive grounds. With Alex happily dozing we weren't too please by the rough stones we had to bounce over but he survived still snoozing. Again the buildings were very similar to those we had seen in Beijing however I like the middle of the lake retreat which also captured some of the mountains in the background.

The second half of our holiday was on Jeju island, a short flight from Seoul. Here we had hoped for some sunshine, beach and general relaxing. The weather on the other hand had different ideas. We had booked into a very posh hotel thanks to our last minute organization but it turned out to be fun. Within the grounds there was a swimming pool, bars and restaurants of course but also a fake cliff side which at night treated everyone overlooking the inside to a magnificent sound, light and pyrotechnic show modeled on some features of Las Vegas casinos. Of course the problem with staying somewhere expensive without having breakfast included is that the price was a bit eye watering. Cue popping to the local shop in the morning and stocking up on milk and cereal for a cheaper alternative in the room. The only snag being a lack of bowl but a cheap pot noodle soon provided that!

Of course the pictures I picked were from our last day where the sunshine came out and we enjoyed the resort as it should have been. Before then we went for walks but it was either grey or raining. Jeju island itself is a little odd. In the middle is a serious mountain to offer out door activities and there is a walking trail circling the island split into 21 sections. What there is also an awful lot of is museums. It turns out that in an effort to offer tourists an alternative attraction when the weather is not so good the government give out large tax breaks to museums. This leads to all sorts of entertaining offerings, from museums on teddy bears, Leonardo Da Vinci, chocolate and indeed several dedicated to sex which given that this is a favoured honeymoon destination are apparently quite popular.

With the sun out at last we enjoyed our last day sitting by the pool and heading down to the beach lounge. Of course we took Alex for his first paddle in the sea but as the cold water washed over his feet it was fair to say he was less than impressed!

All too soon now that the sun had arrived it was the day to head back home. Only a week away but so much done - time for a holiday to recover from the vacation?

Alex - Q2 review

Colin's quarterly review of Alex:

Alex it has been a lively and productive quarter where you have been working hard at growing up. Significant progress has been made in your ability to roll from front to back and you have gained ground in knowing when not to push long carrot sticks into the back of your throat.

On the topic of food I'd like to highlight one of your key strengths, eating. I see that you rarely miss a chance to consume food and have raced to 9.5kg's. While this is certainly a strength, in abundance it also touches on a development area, namely not demanding food every three hours during the night. In addition it has an impact on other areas where as we discussed at your previous review we had some stretch expectations, namely crawling and rolling from back to front.

Other notable achievements include concentrating hard and pushing two teeth through your gums, going swimming and being dunked under water without crying and learning to grab and lunge at whatever looks interesting. 

Overall it has been a successful and fun quarter and I'd especially like to highlight the talent for keeping items on your head and many fits of giggles as a way of giving back some entertainment to your management parents. 

I look forward to working with you for many years and aim to provide the support you need to succeed.

Bike ride!

This morning it was an early start - up just after 5 and off at 5.30.  The upside being I got to go out for a bike ride with some people from work. Since most of them live in Shunyi, Mohammad and I had a bonus 14km to the start of the ride and of course a double bonus 14km back home at the end making a satisfying 91km total. Weather was clear blue skies and sunshine and it was a pleasure to be out on the bike again having only had two rides outside since we arrived. We basically headed due north from Shunyi and after 20km headed for a loop up to a reservoir surrounded by mountains - a lovely spot! The roads were good tarmac and aside from the traffic lights which periodically stopped the traffic it was easy to motor on at a good pace in the bike lane by the side of the road. Of course you need to watch out for random vehicles using the same lane to go against the flow of traffic but this is Beijing after all! Route and a couple of snaps shown below.

Parents visit!

At the start of May my parents came to China for what sounded like an exhausting 10 day tour of some of the main attractions - Shanghai, Xian, Great Wall, Beijing. Arriving at our door they certainly felt that they needed a holiday to get over the vacation and having colds didn't help. Luckily they had a further few days with us to play with Alex (after scrubbing hands - see earlier comment about colds!) and relax. My father seemed rather taken with a book we had got for his visit 'A 1000 years annoying the French'. Much of the time was pottering around showing them the local sights and places we often go to around where we live - April gourmet, the blue frog, Indigo mall and various coffee shops. We had a couple of trips out, one day we tried (and failed!) to find the kite market a little north of Lido but did stop in at the English tea rooms which had some very welcome fish and chips. Dad and I went out to the aviation museum to see a vast collection of planes, mainly versions since the second world war. Many of which bore more than a striking resemblance to  Western developed planes which apparently had been explained by the Russians as just what you would expect by giving the same problem to different groups of engineers, they would naturally converge on similar solutions. Similar maybe, but identical seems a stretch!

 
 
 

On the final day we went to a large market which basically claims to sell 'everything'. I don't think they are far wrong! After wondering around the paintings, vases, general jewellery stalls we headed into a shop selling paper supplies for my mother to stock pile good paper for painting. After some time (probably too much for Dad!) we had amassed a reasonable pile of goods and Eleanor set about haggling the man down, casually throwing in a few more items when it became clear he wouldn't let his price go down any more.

The trip was finished off with a trip to the Blue frog, our favourite restaurant/bar in the Indigo mall before the following morning putting my parents in a taxis before heading off to work. We called the following evening to see how the flight was and of course it was boring but the jet lag had kept mum up all night and she had struggled through the day and seemed pretty wired!

The Wall. The Great Wall.

No trip to Beijing is complete without a visit to the Wall and with the Spring temperatures hovering in the high twenties and the sun shining we thought it best to go and spend a few days investigating it ourselves. We went to Mutianyu and stayed in a lovely hotel called the Brickyard - a conversion from its namesake. They put a stress on locally produced goods where they couldn't grow it themselves. To help guests feel more in touch with nature each room had huge windows with only the bottom section covered by curtains. Next to the bed were two sets of eye masks but these were basically redundant with a small baby ready to leap up at the first sign of dawn at 4.30am! On the upside we could see on top of the ridge the great wall from our beds.

For our first trip up we took a ride round to the cable car to pull us up to the 14th tower of this section. Once at the top the wall stretches either way into the distance tracking along the top of the ridge all the way. Needless to say that contemplating how far it stretches in either direction, 5,500 miles in total, is impressive. The weather was clear blue skies and sunshine without a hint of pollution and we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the wall to tower 18. After this it ramped up a steep section I scrambled up while Eleanor took some time in the shade with Alex. Half way up this section a group of Chinese tourists seemed to take pity that I was by myself and insisted they all had a photo with me, arms held in the air, before moving on! From the very top we could see down into the valley and the village we were staying in, but curiously no sign of the path that we were assured would take us down to the road and home. Of course we found it eventually and with Alex dozing on Eleanor's back we picked our way down the dusty, rocky path.  Our pace was enough to overtake one family who seemed surprised to find a baby hiding in the bundle Eleanor was carrying.

Back at base early we had lunch and took turns with the masseur whose fingers had the knack of prodding the most painful parts of the muscles but I'm sure (hope) was good for us. In the evening we went to the other side of the village to eat in the sister hotel to the Brickyard - the school house. The dinning area was very much a school room and you are encouraged to draw on the place mats, the best of which get displayed on the wall, all very old skool.

For our final day Eleanor tried the jacuzzi in the morning but found the water temperature way too hot to get in, even when they had removed the cover which was a bit of a failed treat. I spent a couple of hours hiking up the trail we had come down the day before and trekking along the wall a bit further before returning the same way. With the warm weather and steep climb it felt like a good work out which might have off set all of the nice food we'd had! After that chance to stretch my legs we had a bit of lunch and headed home.

Sunny day at the park

Spring has really sprung in Beijing! Encouraged by a warm and sunny morning we headed off for an early brunch at Element fresh - a nice restaurant specializing in good quality food but with the added bonus of tables outside. Of course while we were there Alex made friends with couple on the table next to ours with his big blue staring eyes but they spoke excellent English so it was easy to natter. The day started to heat up and with blue skies and sunshine we headed for the park that is close to home. Of course many people had done the same and as ever in China there was a crowd but it was nice to stroll around away from the roads and noise. To make sure it wasn't too quiet though the park has some amusement rides and activities for little children where we bumped into Benoit, Irina and Victoria. The bouncy castle was clearly too much of a pull for Victoria who was soon bouncing up and down so we strolled on and parked Alex by a bench for a read in the sun. I was beginning to regret wearing trousers when we headed home to grab some lunch and then headed off the other way to a local market to pick up some fruit and veg. It's nice to find spots where you feel you are the only Westerns around - at least for a while. Luckily some pointing and a calculator to show prices make the lack of language no barrier to shopping! Happy with our purchases we celebrated with a cocktail in Indigo, the big shopping mall, on the way home.

Trip to UK

The planning that went into our first trip back the UK was impressive. Impressive in detail and how little I did. Needless to say Eleanor took the job by the scruff of the neck and shook it for all it's worth.

The flights home had one last minute glitch - it was cancelled. Only finding out about this the night before we were due to fly was a pain but we managed to re-book with a different airline. Sadly this injected a stop over and 5 hours into our travel plans - both of which we could have done without. Alex did his best on the flight and for the most part was nice and quiet but he was very awake and interested in everyone around him. Of course some of that interest came back and two Chinese ladies came up and asked if they could take a photo of him; I've yet to work out exactly what people do with photos of him but this happens quite a lot.

Our whirl wind trip of the UK was fantastic! Apologies for anyone we didn't have time to go and see but three weeks simply wasn't long enough it turns out. Almost every day we dropped in to see different people - Alex seemed to handle all the enthusiasm very well although even he started to get cranky towards the end of the trip. A triple thanks must go to everyone who gave us a bed - Mark&Jen, Pete&Liz, Holiday Inn, John&Stacey, Nicky&Mark, Andy&Sarah, Mark&Karen and of course Ma and Pa. By the end of the trip both Eleanor and I had picked up colds and weer feeling rotten - my guess is with all the children we saw some must have been sneezing out some bugs for us to grab! But it was fab to catch up and we soon started to feel like the Royal family, every where we went it was a celebration! It was great to catch up but it was soon over and time to head back to the airport in driving snow, a final reminder of the weather in the UK as we headed back to sunnier climates.

The flight home should have been easier on Alex, it left at 5pm so we had hoped for him to sleep through the night. This was not to be. He slept for only two hours and then decided it was more fun to be awake but being super tired cried for most of it. We were not the most popular people on the plane!

New year 2013

Of course the new year is celebrated the world over but I would guess that rarely with the same enthusiasm as the Chinese. I'm not talking enthusiasm measured in the amount of alcohol drunk, although with a billion people this might well comes to a reasonable score, but more the infectious child like enthusiasm to celebrate. The main indication is for sure the fireworks. Legally fireworks can only be set off in the boundary of Beijing for two weeks a year and they certainly make the most of the opportunity, but more of that later. To the sharp eyed, that's right the new year celebrations last two weeks, although right at the start is the official start of the new year. It is traditional for everyone to head home to see their family over the new year break - which is also a national holiday. This creates predictable chaos for the transport system as more and more Chinese find work away from their home locations. Since we were staying in Beijing we missed out on this fun but talking to people from work it seems that this year was as challenging as ever. So think of Chinese new year as the entire Christmas period rolled into one continuous celebration.

Now back to the fireworks. Basic health and safety takes a back seat to the demand to be able to launch huge fireworks from any flat patch of ground not currently occupied by a building - this includes roads. The first night of fireworks were pretty impressive and we went for a stroll around our apartment to see them in action. For the few days before and during the entire break there were lots of stands set up on many street corners selling officially sanctioned fireworks to the public:

To be clear these are fireworks we would at home hesitate to give to our firemen to set off. While explaining the restrictions someone at work expressed some surprise that with essentially no regulation and 20 million people 'having a go' the odd person actually gets hurt each year. I raised my eyebrows in mock surprise but I think the irony was lost on her. The up side is free firework displays for everyone! There are of course unlicensed fireworks shipped into Beijing as well and it would require some imagination to dream how much bigger they need to be to be outside the law. An indication is that one such shipment exploded on the way into the city collapsing a bridge certainly killing the driver. At the pearly gates I can only imagine he at least claimed to go out with a bang! But back to the fireworks that actually made it safely to be set off. The scale is hard to describe, within only a few hundred metres of our apartment there were several choice sites to set off fireworks, all of them busy. Looking across the city we could see constant local displays competing to be the brightest/loudest. The noise seems to be a big factor in the fun, many of the fireworks are crackers on the ground designed to sound like automatic gunfire. These are very popular during the day as well as the night. which leads onto the next point, firework fatigue. On the first night we were quite excited and enjoyed the display until our eye lids started to droop. We spend a while on our balcony watching the display with a hot chocolate (rock and roll I know but we had all been under the weather including a sleepless Alex) before turning in. Not realizing or indeed caring about the Bolton's need for sleep the noise continued to echo throughout much of the night into the early hours. This was repeated for the next two weeks and we got used to dropping off to the casual sounds of warfare in the background.

Now a note on the locations of the launch sites. We mentioned the roads were perfect surfaces and indeed they were greatly used. Of course the traffic didn't stop at this time but the drivers were careful to avoid any suspicious  sparking packages that might cause some serious unentertaining bangs under the car. The side of the river were also good spots and was a good source of flat spots. Now the fact that these are very close to the apartment blocks in our compound did not deter anyone, the sparks of the fireworks often showered the buildings.

Now of course new year is not just about noise and light, although you may be forgiven for thinking that this is the major focus. We also went to one of the temple fairs to see what sort of day time celebration went on. To be honest this was a little bit strange. Firstly it was immensely busy, with people pouring out the subway station and the roads almost grid locked. There were a couple of stages which were showing traditional dances which we hung around to have a look at for a while but the cold soon got us moving again. The main part was lots and lots of market stalls selling reasonably tacky good from plastic swords for children to fairground games.

 So with all that said and done the impression of our first Chinese new year was of a casual disregard to health and safety in the name of painting the sky with sparks, much travel exhaustion for locals and an overall feeling of goodwill and merriment. Bring it on next year!