I Eat Donkey!

Well, i didn't really plan to. But that day, Martyna and I missed the lunch due to sleepover. After the English Club, we went to a small restaurant near our school, because previously we saw some of our students eat there.

We wanted to eat noodles, and it turned out that the restaurant served noodles. It's my habit in China to always ask the waiter before i order;
"Zhi shi shenme rou?" (what meat is this?) since i don't eat pork

The waiter told me something, and pointed to this picture that was hung on the wall:

(he says, "my meat is the tastiest!")

...
Yep, it was a Donkey Meat Restaurant

I expected beef, chicken, or something basic like that, but i was also curious how donkey would taste like. It was only 6Y so, we ordered 2 bowls of spicy donkey noodles.

About 10 minutes later, the donkey noodles came. Ta- daaaaaa!!

(huge portion of spicy donkey noodles)

Donkey meat was kinda red, not as delicate as beef, but for my surprise, it tasted okay. It didn't have special smell like sheep meat, so i enjoyed it quite much. I'll think twice to eat it one more time. I just think that donkey is too cute to be eaten. It reminds me to Pinokio, hehehe.

There's a lot of Donkey Restaurant in Beijing. They sell all part of Donkey; meat, inside organs, until eye balls and donkey's "special treasure". This "special treasure" would cost you about 200Y per dish.

(tetep diabisin, laper sih waktu itu ;p)

Foods in Beijing

There are a lot of interesting Chinese foods that you must try in Beijing. Well, actually, China is a good place of culinary lover since Chinese foods are so famous world wide.

I'm soo picky about food. It's not that i only eat certain types of food, because i'm definitely eat everything, but i only consider few types of food to be called "delicious".

I tried quite various kinds of Chinese foods here, so i can give you some must-try foods in Beijing. I've been thinking seriously to make this list, since they should be really good ones. So, here are they; Bon apetite!

1. Hotpot. It's really popular in Beijing, especially in winter. The concept is that you put meats, vegetables, tofu, etc, into a big pot with a boiling seasoned water inside and gas stove underneath. The aim is to make the food always warm. Please put attention to only choose hotpot in a fancy restaurant :p, i don't mean to be lavish, but i've eaten hotpot in a small restaurant (cost 35Y per person, located in Shaoyaouju), and it was disgusting. The soup was tasteless, so were the meat, vegetables, and other stuff. The sauces tasted awful. But then, i went to a fancy hotpot restaurant (cost more than 300Y for 4 people, treated by Mr. Wang ;D) and it was amazing. They put a lot of delicious mushroom and herbs into the soup so it had rich flavor, and was really delicious. The meats and vegetables were fresh, the sauces were great. Plus, they served it with delicious dumplings, stuffed buns, soy milk, and durian cake as desert. It was just amazing (apalagi gratis, mak nyuuss!)
2. Roasted Duck. For sure... Beijing Duck is really famous, world wide. Actually, until this note is written, i haven't been tasted a Beijing Roasted duck heheheheu. Well, it's so expensive for me. The whole part of the duck may cost you 200- 300Y. But still, i put it on the list since it's really famous. You can find many roasted duck restaurant all around Beijing. Have a try!
3. Dumpling. Or jiao zi. If you manage to find good, fresh, dumpling, it would be heavenly! Moreover, dumpling is the traditional food of Chinese. They used to make it at home during some festivals. I had dumpling stuffed with duck meat in a duck restaurant near Temple of Heaven, and it was really good (it's good if it's still juicy inside). Dumplings are not expensive. I paid about 26Y for a portion of really good, fresh dumpling.
4. Caramelized Fruit. Probably, if i have a chance, i'll start to sell this in Jl. Dago hehehe. Caramelized fruit is my favorite snack. They put various fruits in a long stick, usually grapes, oranges, mulberry, banana, kiwi, strawberry, apple, but sometimes they also put cherry tomatoes. You can find it sold by sreet vendors all around Beijing for 2-4Y, yum!
5. Insects. Well, i mean, when and where again you will try barbequed insects? you can find it in Wangfujing Food Street. They sell scorpions, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and many more. The basic taste of the insects is crunchy, and a little bit juicy for scorpion. They might look disgusting, but they don't have really annoying taste, just give it a try! The price starts from 20Y per stick.

To try new foods is always a huge interesting part of traveling. Just free your self a little bit and let your appetite decide. The best cure for bad mood is tasty food. But also aware of food poisoning, make sure that you don't have any allergy of certain food and always bring medicine for stomachache and food poisoning with you.

Enjoy! :D

60th Anniversary of Chinese Republic

Umm,, i'm sorry, i should've written about this huge event earlier.

But anyway, i'm such a lucky person to be in Beijing and witness this anniversary. It was held in the 1st of October 2009, and they've prepared this celebration since months before. They need a lot of time, because this celebration is a way for Chinese people to give the proof to their elder people that China has grown into a huge country. Also, because this celebration included the army forces, artists (singers, dancers, acrobatic players, martial art players, etc), athletes, important people from the government (including China President, Hu Jin Tao, himself).

(Chinese flags were everywhere)

As we all know, Beijing was the host of Olympic Games 2008. It was huge, rite? and for Chinese people, this 60th celebration is even more important than the Olympic Games. Because, it's about their country, their pride, achievements, and identity. They were really devoted for this event. Since September 2009, i've seen a lot of Chinese people, young and old, wearing red cloth in their sleeves, helped to maintain the security. They are the Chinese Volunteer, and yep, they're not paid for this. They were just proud to do this for their country. For this case, i have to say that i admire their nationalism and loyalty to their country.

(They secured and sterilized the roads)

Day October 1st 2009, they had a celebration in Tian'anmen Square. The army forces marched and there were internal events for the govermental and military officers. They closed many subway stations and big roads around Tian'anmen, since they needed to move big equipments for the big celebration party in Tian'anmen at night.

The night celebration was closed for public. Only important people from the government, army, education institution, former soldiers, teacher and some other (lucky) representatives can join the celebration. It was broadcasted widely on TV, so most Chinese people stayed at home with their family and watched TV. The celebration was totally awesome. You can see here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOxGc0Ye7mw

But i didn't want to stay at home and watch TV! they had fireworks party, for God sake! and it was the biggest fireworks party in China history, and the biggest in the world at the moment. Since i'm soooooo into fireworks, i managed to go out at night with Putu, Ky, Martyna and Coby to see the fireworks. We found a pretty good place near Beijing Railway Station where a lot of people also gathered to watch the fireworks.

(Ky, me and Putu watched the fireworks)

It was great to be the witness of something historical. The fireworks were great, Chinese people really had invented some cool shaped fireworks. I saw some shapes that i never seen before. I just love fireworks a ton! I also felt the excitement of people. They were shouting something like, "Great man Mao!", they were really appreciate their hero and always remember him.

(the situation in which we watched the fireworks)

Here are some fireworks that i saw (pictures taken by Martyna):

The Miraculous Snow

Normally, snow falls in China in December.

So, i didn't really hope that i would see the snow in Beijing, even though now is atumn- winter season. But honestly, i really wanted to see the snow. I've seen it only in TV and it was always pretty and interesting. I've never seen real snow in my life.

It was the 29th on October when Slava said to me, "Hey you know? you will see the snow. It'll be snowy two days later". I was so excited, but some people told me that this is too early for snow, and probably there will be only a little bit snow, and it'll melt rapidly. So, still, i didn't really hope.

But in the 1st of November, after Halloween Party, i felt so cold. I check the yard from the window, and it was all white! yet the snow was falling quite hard. It was so beautiful, just amazing, as i always thought. From now on, snow is one of my favorite things.



When we were out for lunch (Me, Martyna, Slava, Putu, Ky, Michelle, Dom, Aaron and Dennis), there was a lot of snow on the street. We threw snow balls to each other, and i touched the snow; it was really delicate and nice. Snow is awesome.

I felt pretty bad the night before this "snowy day". I thought about some other things; my failed trial, how the world seems not working in a proper way for me, how i feel to be treated unfairly by fate, some bad things that i think i don't deserve... and so on.

I felt a message sent to me through this snow. It was like a present for me, not to be sad, not to lose the hope, because if God intend, anything, even something that you think impossible, will happen anyway. Because logically, i won't be able to see this snow, but suddenly it comes in the beginning of November in Beijing, it was kinda weird for everyone.


I felt like the snow was sent specially to me ;p. I'm having pretty bad time and i'm pretty sad, but i'm not gonna give up. If God able to send this snow miraculosly to Beijing while i'm here, God must also be able to grant my little simple wish. I shouldn't stop believing.

Trick or Treat!

(Creepy Jack O' Lantern)

I never had a Halloween Party before. It's not something popular in Indonesia. But we got the invitation to celebrate Halloween at Aaron's house. It was pretty interesting for me; because i haven't been in a Halloween party, or a House party. Again i say, both of them are not popular in my country.

It was October 31st evening when i finally decide my Halloween costume. I had a dress and black tights, then i found a mouse-ear headband. So, i would be Minnie Mouse. It was easy, simple, and obvious. Plus, this headband only cost me 8Y, i found it in Pingguoyuan.

(A widow, walking dead (?), 70s girl, and Minnie Mouse)

When we arrived at Aaron's there was a lot of people that i don't know. Most of them foreigners, they come from different countries, and they were in Beijing for internship as well. For my surprise, some people dressed really seriously; i met a SWAT guy, a really scary corpse bride, a hot mama, and so on. Our friend, Michelle, who stayed in the same house with Aaron, decorated the house pretty nicely. Well, at least they had some pumpkin lanterns, cute fake spiders, and so on.

(Bathroom party)

I'm not sure... but maybe there were more than 30 people attended the party. What i like from house party is that it's a really good way to know people. When you're mingling and having fun, it's really easy to open up and create relations. I also learned that some people would be really weird when they're drunk, or high. Thankfully, they had a lot of juice and soft drinks, so, it was still great for me.

(She's creepy, isn't she?)

I had quite a lot of fun. They had pretty nice music to dance, i met a lot of new people, learned something, and finally found a couch and thick blanket to sleep when i already tired. I shared the couch and blanket with Martyna and Slava.

Sure there were stuffs that i like and dislike about partying, but as long as you're being open minded, and realizing your limit, you will survive and learn something anyway.

(me and my costume :D)

It was not swine flu, but still...

I was a bit ill few days ago. I had flu. It wasn't swine flu, thank God, but i was pretty worry that i searched for the symptoms of swine flu in the internet. It was said like this:

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of the 2009 "swine flu" H1N1 virus are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. The 2009 outbreak has shown an increased percentage of patients reporting diarrhea and vomiting."
(Wikipedia again)

Ok, i had quite temperature, sore throat, runny nose and low blood pressure. But i didn't have cough, headache, body aches, chills, fatigue, diarrhea or vomiting. So, i conclude that I HAD NO SWINE FLU. Pff. I still have runny nose and low blood pressure now though.

Actually, it began when i eat a weird snack that i bought in a small supermarket near my school. It was prawn snack; and tasted more like salt with chips than chips with salt. I can't put the picture of that god-damn-nasty-snack here cause i'm afraid to be sued, but i can tell you that the container is red, with a picture of prawn on it. Humph.

The next day after i ate that snack, i had a sore throat. I thought i would be recover soon so i just ignored it. But that day, i went to a lot of place, drank milk shake at 10pm, danced a lot, and had ice cream at 5am in the morning. Please remember that now is autumn- early winter in Beijing, so it was sooo cold for me.

So, then, i was ill. I didn't bring any medicine from Indonesia except some tablets for diarrhea that my mother put inside my bag. I used to have really good antibody, so i thought i would not get ill and i dont need to bring medicine with me. That was a REALLY BAD idea.

The girls, Martyna and Slava are really sweet. They gave me medicine from Russia and Polland. I took Strepsills Intensive, Grypolek and Oepbekc and took a rest for two days and i felt much better. Thanx a lot, girls! :D

(they work! :D)

So, if you're going abroad, i highly suggest you to bring some medicines from your country. If you feel lazy to bring a lot of medicine with you, make sure these 1st aid stuffs are in your luggage:

1. Flu/ cold medicine. Some stuffs with parachetamol will do. For Indonesian, it could be Panadol, Bodrex, etc.
   
2. Cough syrup/ sore throat medicine. If you feel troubled to bring cough syrup with you, make sure you bring Strepsills, FG Tchrosis, or something like that.
   
3. Inhaller. Runny nose is really, really annoying. Inhaller may help you a lot.
4. Diarrhea medicine. There's a lot of food poisoning case happens to foreigners.
   
5. Vitamin C. It's important to maintain your condition during recovery.
   
6. Cajuput Oil (minyak kayu putih maksut gw... hehe). It always helps.
7. Band-aid
   

But the most important thing is that always aware to your condition. Always have scarf, gloves, coat and boots when you feel cold. Stay in bed if you don't feel well. When you have flu, you're really sensitive to other viruses and something worse can happen to you if you're being reckless.

The best medicine for flu is to lay in bed and sleep! ;D

Beijing no.9 High School English Corner

I really like my school, Beijing no.9 High School.


People are super nice and friendly, the environment is great, the facilities are good. That's why i want to make a contribution for them. I want to do something more to help them, so do my trainees friend, Martyna and Slava.

We proposed a English Club to our school, and i submitted the proposal to our supervisor, Wang Lao Shi, last week. The proposal is like this:

English Public Speaking Club

Current condition:

English is widely needed nowadays. Students show high appreciation on it, and really interested to learn more about it. There are many students who really try to speak English well, and they need a platform in which they can practice English speaking actively, with correct pronunciation.

Objectives:

1. To boost students self confidence in speaking English

2. To give students a platform to speak English actively

3. To teach students how to pronounce English correctly

4. To give students platform to learn new words and use them actively

Activities:

1. Story telling

2. Simple presentation (Informative)

3. Simple presentation (educative)

4. Simple presentation (persuasive)

5. Simple presentation (to entertain)

6. Vocabulary learning

Method:

1. Practice

2. Trial and error

3. Evaluation

Schedule:

1 class/ week

(negotiable)

But it happened that Wang Lao Shi hadn't read it yet. So today, he asked three of us to meet him and an English teacher as a translator in the teacher office, in 3rd floor. So, there we went.

Finally, i could ask them if it's possible for us to make this English Club. We explained roughly about the club's purpose and what we will do there. For my surprise, they instantly say, "yes". We managed to arrange an English Corner, 3 times a week, (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) from 12.40 until 13.45. They will ask the ban zhu ren (coordinator teacher) in every class to inform this new club to the students.

I was so happy that i finally i can have more experience in working in this school. More experience= more development, rite?. Martyna, Slava and I will discuss about the material that we will give during the club activity, it will be improvised from the one i've made. We really determined to give the students a really good activity. So, Monday next week, will be our first meeting of the club! Wish us luck! ;D

The important thing that i want to tell is, if you're a trainee, you gotta be proactive. If you feel like you need something more to do, just propose the activity to the place you're working at. If you think you can do something good for them, just tell them. It's your development, so be responsible to it.

I will seriously prepare for this English Corner. I will give them my best. And I will tell you about our first meeting in another post. For now, i'm soo happy that we can do this club! :D

Hari buka puasa ;D (Muti goes to the bank)

It was the 1st of October when suddenly i realized that i only got 240Y left in my wallet. Crap.

I still had some dollars with me, but i didn't like that i've spent almost 1300Y before my first month. I started to think what have i bought... what places i've been visited... umm...

The conclusion was that, i only got 140Y to live until the 14th of October, because i would use the other 100Y to pay for the Great Wall trip. Remember everyone, it was the 1st of October. Then i had to spend only 140Y for 14 days. I need to use not more than 10Y per day. (Oh, 1-8 Oct was the National Holiday, and the school didn't serve the food during the holiday. Double crap).

Well, actually, i managed to survive during MY financial crisis. I will give you the tips in another post. There was unexpected thing happened when my yi-ka-dong was out of credit, so I needed to refill it. I needed to pay 20Y for this. Okay, plan changed. I will save it until 12th of October. Humph.

October 12th 2009

I did it, everyone! i survived! i even still had some yuan in my wallet. But i seriously needed to go to the bank and exchange some money. So there i went. I went to Xidan because i knew there's a lot of bank there. I chose EXIT B, because it was written that Bank of Communications is somewhere nearby.

I asked two polices where the bank is, and they pointed to the wrong direction. Then i went to the Xidan street. I was going around the block while i only needed to walk few metres to reach the bank!. But it was blessing in disguise. Xidan street is now one of my favorit place in Beijing. There's a lot of interesting thing there. I will tell you in another post.

Ok, i managed to find the bank. The Bank of Communications. I've practiced some conversations that i can use to exchange money in the bank. Thank you for www.nciku.com!

Here are some phrases and words that you can use for this occation:
"Wo yao huan qian" (I want to exchange money)
"Meiyuan huancheng renminbi" (dollar to yuan)
hu jiao= passport
huilu= exchange rate

I highly recommend Bank of Communications. The employee are so nice and helpful. I didn't have long queue, and they didn't need a long process to echange my money. Huff,, now that i have money, i breath again. It feels like i was breaking the fast, heheheu. Owyah, Bank of Communications is located beside Beijing Books Building. It's pretty easy to find.

(Sbenerny pgn foto2 di dlm bankny, tp takut dtangkep... heheheu)