More Family than you can poke a Sister at (Especially if said sister looks like a stick)

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.... though, being a stick is a great advantage in China. Damn Georgie for fitting into all the clothes and shoes she tried on!!!

It's been a while. A lot has happened... here be an overview!!!

Firstly, a thought from Harry Potter.
Everywhere in Beijing is like number 12 Grimmauld place. As soon as you walk in any door, picture frames start yelling at you. And the house elf is grumpy old sod. No seriously, no matter how hard you look for it, you just can't see it. Even if you have an address. You can only find any place when shown by the secret keeper. We've spent hours looking at buildings directly, not being able to find what we're looking for. We think for the Olympics, they'd better make all the taxi drivers secret keepers. Or just lift this "Fidelius" charm of this whole bloody city!

Then, Sof had a birthday. Zac had a terrible beard. And we did Karaoke twice in 3 days.

Georgie, Mum and Dad braved the cold, heading to Beijing for 2 weeks. They became the new foreigners for everyone to question at Sof's work Chrissy party. The importance of family stood out, as they were interrogated and given gifts for being my family. Especially with the fact that Mum and Dad have 3 children. The students were so generous, the only downside was the rendition of Waltzing Matilda that we had to do. What are the words for the 3rd verse again?
We visited all the sites, with the best being Simatai - an authentic part of the Great Wall. The 2-hour drive there was the closest Mum's been to giving birth since Georgie popped out. But we survived to tell the tale.
Dad got into the swing of bargaining and pretty much bought Hongqiao market out of "Polo Lalph Raulen". Georgie proved to be the queen of bargaining though, fighting hard with the stubborn ladies over her souvenirs. Mum gets an award for finding us yummy lunches everyday from the nearby korean bakery.
We also revisited the best sushi restaurant for Chrissy dinner, and Sof made Chrissy puddings - chinese style!
Georgie was the best house guest (though we still don't understand her infatuation with Veronica Mars), by far the easiest person to entertain. That girl can sleep!
Dad soon realised there was many a comfort to be had in Beijing. Even though we live off the street food, he could eat like royalty at the hotel, starbucks, burger and pizza joints. For a "third world" country, China still has many perks.
The highlight was probably the trip to our favourite restaurant. And why is this our favourite? Cheap food, dirty floors, rowdy company and BIG serves of rice. The food SERIOUSLY kicks arse. But Mum and Dad didnt really agree. A taste of real Beijing.

Pen had a whirlwind 36 hour tour of Beijing. We threw in as many sights as we could, along with a bit of tea-tasting, market shopping and as much food as you could possibly eat in 36 hours - duck, noodles, jiao zi, bao zi, beijing brekky, hot pot. And Bla. Must have bla. And she's promised to come back.

Zac surprised me with a romantic dinner at a Greek restaurant for our wedding anniversary. The food was sensational, complemented by an awesome bottle of red that I managed to pick up.

And then:

How to Celebrate Australia Day in Beijing (if you don't have a paddling pool):

1. Ring your Aussie friends and ask "What the hell can you do in Beijing for Australia Day"
2. Rock up at the "12 sqm" bar for the only Coopers beer in Beijing. On special.
3. Drink beer. Eat meat pies. With Heinz dead horse.
4. In between freezing runs outside for the toilet, have drunken arguments about chinese culture.
5. Move onto another bar with free red wine for aussies.
6. Move again, having fillet steak, blue cheese sauce, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes and roast potatoes.
7. Crash and eat ice-cream in bed.

Doris and Boris are still going well. Enjoy the photos. Thanks for keeping in touch.

P.S. It's snowed twice.

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Photos

Zac and "Dui mian de nu hai"
You should all know the words by now.

Zac's new look
Post Movember (thank god that's over - Sof)

Xizhimen Christmas Party
And thanks to Mum, we had to get up and sing "Waltzing Matilda" to everyone. Thanks Mum.

Christmas Dinner!
Sushi style....

Meat Pies and Dead Horse
Unfortunately they were made in Kiwi Land, but still the first meat pie we've had since leaving Australia

This is a picture of 99% of the bar
It's called "12 sqm"

Comments

[Chas]

First of all, best mo I have ever seen bar one (you have to check out Postie's dad some time). Keep up the good work. I think you should make it a permanent look. Secondly, I know we are guilty of this too, but stop talking about the damn food! It is making me starving and I just had breakfast! LOL