International Friendship Bowling League

I officially confer myself as a bowling fanatic.  This is just a step below from the bowling addicts.  If you read through my New Year’s resolution, #2 on my list is to get an average of 120 in bowling.  Currently after almost a 100 games since Dec. 28, my average score is a 102. I hope I can reach my goal towards the end of the year or better.  In any case, I usually play 5 games a week on average and I even bought a prepaid card to lower the cost of each game.  My bowling addict friends play at least 10 games a week and not just once but sometimes 3 times a week.

In any case, to all bowling fans in Beijing, you are cordially welcome to join as a group of 4 to 6 people in the International Friendship Bowling League.  This League plays every Tuesday starting 730pm.  The players are composed of expats from different countries and different sectors of society.  We have players who work for the different embassies, hotels, news groups and businesses.  It’s fun and a good place to network!

Valentines Day in Beijing

February 14 is Valentines Day or 情人节(Qing Ren Jie) for most western countries.  In China, this used to be just an ordinary day as they also have their own Valentines Day but now, it seems like everybody’s celebrating it.  So, how did I spend my Valentines?

This year, I’m seeing someone but I’m not really sure if we are really in a boy/girlfriend relationship or just good friends.  It never was so clear but I’m still hoping that I would receive something from him.  In any case, I just received a text message from him saying Happy Valentines Day and sweet dreams.  Hey that’s a start right, but it ended there.  I woke up around 9am and just laze around the apartment.  I finished all my laundry and cook my lunch.  I feel so lifeless as if I realized that there’s nothing between us.  I lost my appetite and just had snacks for dinner.  I watched Caregiver and Sex in the City then went to bed.  Pretty lame for a romantic day.

In any case, this year, Beijing people tend to celebrate Valentines Day with flowers, chocolates and dinner.  For flowers, it’s not just 3 roses to say I love you but it’s either 1 rose saying “You’re my only one” or 12 roses or the most common, 99 roses.  I’m not kidding when I say it’s 99 roses as I really counted them last year when one of my colleagues received it from her boyfriend.  Dinner in fancy restaurants and hotels usually cost around 400 rmb per couple and up.  Ferrero Rocher chocolates are a hit even though they cost around 30 rmb for a 6 piece pack.

So.. if you’re into romance and shelling out some cash.. celebrate Valentines Day in Beijing.  If you want to celebrate it twice, join the Chinese as they celebrate Qi Qiao Jie on August 26, 2009.   Happy Hearts Day!

Mandarin Oriental Beijing Went Up In Smoke Last Night!

There goes my goal of keeping a perfect attendance this month!  Traffic was horrible this morning on the third ring road going northbound.  Police put a blockade from Guanghua Road to Chaoyang Road on the service lanes as well as the Guanghua Road exit on the northbound highway.  Buses and cars are crawling as everyone would like to see the aftermath of the huge inferno last night.

Before                                                  During                                                     After

At around 830pm last night, the Television Cultural Center at the new CCTV complex was engulf in flames.  The Television Cultural center has a cinema, theatre, recording studios and the flagship hotel of Mandarin Oriental. Witnesses say it was due to fireworks.  One firefighter died due to smoke inhilation.  In the matter of hours the whole building was like the highlight of the firework show to celebrate the last day of the Spring Festival.  When we walked past near the area around 12mn, we can’t see anything due to smoke.  This morning on my way to work, you can see how big it really was and the extent of damage of the fire.

(Photo Credits: Rico Calma, ai de ke flickr photos)

Banking for Dummies in China – Part 2

Late October last year, I posted a dummies guide to banking in China.  To start the Chinese New Year, I’m posting part 2 on my dummies guide.  Of the banks in China, I’ve banked with Bank of China, Bank of Communications, ICBC, China Construction Bank and China Postal Bank.  Among the services that these banks offered, I’ve only used online banking, credit card, savings account, time deposit account, salary account and bills payment.

Between October and the present, here are some stuff I missed in my previous note:

• ICBC can only provide either a passbook or an ATM account.  Bank of China on the other hand can provide you both passbook and ATM when you open an account.
• You can use your ATM card to withdraw in other countries as long as the ATM machine has the Unionpay logo.  Make sure it’s Unionpay as it also look similar to the JCB logo.  Maximum withdrawal per day is RMB 5,000 worth of whatever currency you’re in and RMB 15 for each withdrawal.  RMB 4 will be charged for balance inquiry.  This is a cheaper alternative than Western Union or Moneygram.         

Starbucks Hangzhou Tumblers

My friend went back to Hangzhou during her birthday and told my avid Starbucks tumbler collector cousin about it.  She said she wanted the box set which consists of Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  She thought it was supposed to be one tumbler with all 3 names but I told her it was one tumbler each for Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing.  So, she ordered it from her friend and asked her to courier it over to Beijing.  When I received it, it was 3 tumblers of Hangzhou which my cousin has already.  So.. I’m putting it up for sale for the first 3 people who wanted it.  The cost of each tumbler is RMB 100 each.  It might cost more than the retail but they had to courier it to me from Hangzhou.

Photo Credit: Gold Tan