Sian introduced me to Chinese steamed buns yesterday. I have to say that they are scrummy the first time around……
Today saw a visit to the zoo. I wasn’t expecting an awful lot as I had read bad reviews, but I wanted to see the giant pandas. I bought us combo tickets (the pandas were extra) for less than £3 for the pair of us!
True to form the signs in the zoo were awful and at times it seemed as though we were walking around in circles – in the freezing cold! The animals looked as though they felt the same – a bit cold and fed up!
We found the pandas eventually; they seem to have drawn the long straw in terms of quality of enclosure, with plenty of space. They seemed pretty dozy though – they do apparently sleep for most of the day, when they’re not eating!
The monkeys were also pretty quiet, although I was astonished to see one couple who seemed to be encouraging their toddler to feed the monkeys Mc Donalds chips!
We stopped for coffee and lunch for S (in the Australian speciality restaurant!) She ordered spag bol, which I can quite honestly say I have never seen served with half an egg! They do love eggs here! It made us laugh that the menu in this Australian speciality restaurant consisted of the bolognese and a load of Chinese dishes!
We liked the look of the pig, panda and duck steamed buns. I read that the zoo got into trouble a few years ago for serving endangered species in their eateries, so hopefully the braised lion dish wasn’t!
I was so shocked at this! I came across this Chinese man who was making the brown bears do tricks for him and lobbing apples into the enclosure for them as a reward! I felt most uncomfortable.
Sian hopped off home around 2 – it was so cold! I decided to brave the aquarium; at £15 it was very expensive for China so I was expecting big things. Oh dear. It wasn’t great. They had a whale/dolphin/sea lion show which was ok, but not Seaworld! They had a pet stall which seemed really odd – selling fish, jellyfish and turtles! I nearly got Sian a jellyfish but then decided it was a bit cruel!
I made the mistake of using a ‘squat job’ with the inevitable consequences! It was just such a juggling act, trying to not pull tubes etc! On the plus side, no tube movement and I didn’t manage to tread in the pan😳 I must admit all this subway travel is very convenient and cheap (around 30p for most journeys) but I do get a bit paranoid about getting my tube accidentally pulled or caught on something or someone.
These are the height of fashion here! I’m not sure that I can see having a leaf stuck out of your head catching on at home!
L I was going to head off to the Summer Palace tomorrow but I have been informed that Lily has arranged for a driver to take us somewhere unknown. I do hope it’s somewhere South, and not North! By Tuesday the temperatures here are now meant to be between -8 and -17 degrees! I think I am coming home just in time!
Back to Wangfujing again tonight to get some supper for Sian. Now this is the child who when we went to France one year wouldn’t try Brie!
Eatwell Reads-Well 