Chapter 219 - Peking Duck and Nasi Lemak

nice.. no need SLR. pakai phone camera 5MP. OMNIA rocks!

Peking duck is a trademark dish in China and adopted as the national food for China. it is fair to said that this cuisine is originally from Beijing due to its long history which involved imperial era and many dynasties; and we all know that Beijing is the capital of China. Long2 time ago, during the age of emperors and an empress (China onced ruled by an Empress), this cuisine was especially made for the emperor.. no citizen would even have the lavishness to enjoy such great cuisine. it was truly the emperor's food and the emperor loves Peking duck. now, hundred years past imperial era, the cuisine still holds special value to the Chinese. when having it for lunch or dinner, it is the only time the Chinese can feel like an emperor. truly a tasteful cuisine if it is correctly cooked.

i went to beijing last weekend. the tour guide told that Peking duck is similar to Nasi lemak in Malaysia. he's originally from China but can speak Malay well; Indon to be exact. but i can't agree more with his remark. Nasi lemak in Malaysia is like a peasant food. hahaha.. no la.. even so, i'm positive that nasi lemak is not a royalty cuisine, compared to Peking duck.

the weather in Beijing this time around is nice. Past winter and slowly creeping into spring. flowers starts to bloom; yet dry and chilly. this visit was first for the tour company to conduct in only 4 days. usually they do the 7 days tour. so, we skip the museums, art gallery, etc.. and only focused on important landmarks in Beijing such as Great wall, forbidden city, summer palace and shopping malls!

i was glad to be able to return to China. my homeland. my motherland. ahaha.. well it is partly true. my grandma was chinese. but for the whole me to come back to China... it's a touching scenery to see my shirt, pant, boxer, shoe, watch and most items in my wardrobe i brought, to come back to where they were made... CHINA.

Great wall is great as ever. total length over 6000km, we only climbed just a tip of the lot. there are numbers of entrance, but the entrance we went had been commercialized for tourist. the steps are steep, uneven and slippery. i almost give up halfway because of height-fright, but i felt like i'll regret if i stop climbing. suddenly, Kinabalu seems so small from those steep steps.

forbidden city is located in the kota lama beijing, the heart of beijing where also resides the administration offices, parliament, high court and Chairman Mao's tomb, forbidden city was the emperor's office and castle. there are 9 gates in total which is in 5km length.

Summer palace is like Genting in Malaysia (another great remark by the tour guide). Emperor loves to go there during the summer because of the cold climate. nowadays, old folks loves to come during the day and play kite. the government gives privilege to the retiree to enter the tourist spots for free. nice huh.

China is a shopping heaven, apparently because things are made there. we were brought to 2 cheap shopping malls. the Lido market and Yaoshuan Market (Russian Market). u can get almost everything there... from clothes to a silly imitation of ipod. i was told to haggle the price down to 90%. don't be fooled by the almost-cry-face made by the salesperson when you bargaining your goods. it's their thing to lie and rip you off.

the tour also scheduled for us to go to places like tea house, jade factory, crystal factory, pearl factory, silk house and herbs house. i can see my colleagues shops like crazy. great.