During an 8 day mid autumn festival holiday we went away to Qingdao, a seaport city in Shandong province known as the Sailing City after hosting the 2008 Olympic Sailing events, famous for its “Tsingtao Beer”. Someone told us that the city was once occupied by the Germans and therefore had so much German influence – including European architecture, the art of beer brewing and sausage making. Sausage, bratwurst and all kinds of German food is easily found here. To be honest, the city (and the entire experience) exceeded my expectation. Since living in the mainland, I learn to lower my expectation as many things or places I visit here are extremely overrated. Some of the places are downright boring!
Hey, we enjoyed Qingdao. Stayed at the Crowne Plaza as its perfectly located to shopping malls, beach side and most importantly 5 minute walk to Starbucks. Yups, those in pictures are the first cup of Starbucks in 2 months. We’re both Starbucks junkies. Unlike many other cities in china, I find Qingdao is a nice city to walk outside with a baby stroller. Smooth pathways everywhere with lots of parks and benches to rest. And people DON’T STARE. How nice for a change.
We had a chance to catch up with some old friends too. That’s Mary, in the photo above standing next to me, ex-DOS from the HI Hohhot who now works for the Crowne Plaza Hotel. So there you go, you know who to talk to when you stay in Qingdao. She’ll give you good rate, room upgrade and free breakfast. Oh, breakfast over there is double thumbs up. Quite a large selection of everything. Photo above: Briana with Antonia, an old friend from Beijing.
A few other friends from Beijing and Shanghai we met over lunch. Just nice to be out and about again. The boys, of course, had to get out to play golf. There’re a couple places we didn’t get the chance to go to. Definitely will come back next time.
View from our room overlooking downtown Qingdao city. Quite amazing
Bri is starting to get more active during the day, we decided to take the baby walker with us so she could walk about in the room. One evening we made her walk all the way from the room through the corridor and elevator to the executive lounge. And she did, cheerfully bumping along the way, distracted by patterns of the wallpaper and giggled looking at herself in elevator’s mirror.We had a couple of drinks, she explored every corners while the lounge staff following her every move.
Inana gaya banget deh, pake kacamata,pake gelang.
Inana tanbah cantik deh, rambutnya udah numbuh, alisnya tambah tebel
Cium dari nenek
That’s so interesting, I would like to taste the beer and bratwurst there. Hopefully, one day, we would be able to visit China. Thought about planning a vacation there.
IYEM : Brit, kok alise koyo aku, kandel, mbok mu ngrasani aku yo, sebel karo aku yo jen koe neng kandungan.
Briana genit banget deh pake rok kembang2, pake gelang, feminin banget, cantik buangeeeet, kaya neneknya (???)
euleuh euleuh itu mak e sama bri seragam merah putih euy.. Kakak cantik deh pake merah. Eh Iya, disana starbuk enak Kak? Disini kok agak kurang oke ya?
Kak, gelangnya dari siapa? Pertama pakai dia tarik2 ga Kak?
aaah…akhir nyaaaaa… si emak bisa menghirup udara kebebasan.. keluar dari peradaban hihihih..
Briiiiiiiiiii..tiap hari gue liat dia, makin pingin gendong.. gimana keluarga di Jkt ya mak.. kapan mudik lagi ?