i cant even remember the last time i wrote something here. i do remember babbling bout beijing. from then on, life was literally a blur.

i left another job and sort of got me into another. found a place in the corporate world where i think i could grow. never in my life have i felt more useless while i was bumming. i hated the feeling of being jobless and penniless with so much to pay for and so much you want to achieve. i found joy and sunshine in the eyes of my four-legged friend, george. felt like someone ripped my heart out when georges eye got hurt. couldnt feel any guiltier and crueler to wake up and stare into his scar everyday from here on out. loves george nonetheless and even more. realized that sometimes a girl just needs to know they mean the world to someone. no matter how different a girl is to some girls, doesnt mean they dont want a little pampering sometimes. ignorance is never bliss in relationships. 2009 only emphasized how mothers know best and family will always, always be the only people worthy of your trust. have never felt more excited to look into the future.

the forbidden city. it is truly an under statement when i say that the place is majestic. its beyond huge and you can only imagine that people then lived extremely luxuriously to pack up pounds still. walking to one stop alone can send sweat streaks raging like fireflies. my feet were literally sore. and please note i was wearing slippers. we went through the shen wu men, or gate of divine might but we did go all the way to the meridien gate and then back. so i start the experience with the meridien gate. 

the palace, or the city, was first constructed by the yongle emperor and the construction was continued and expanded throughout the ming and qing dynasty. this housed 14 emperors of ming and 10 of qing.  it ceased becoming a political center upon the abduction of the last emperor of china, puyi, in 1912. he remained at the inner court then and the outer court was for the public use. by 1924, another coup took place leaving puyi evicted permanently from the city.

in chinese it is called the zijincheng or the purple forbidden city. in chinese purple stood for the north star. in chinese astrology, the north star signified the celestial abode of the emperor. true enough, it housed the officials, the eunuchs, the concubines and the families of the emperor. back in the era, no one could enter or leave the proximity without the consent and order of the emperor. thus the name, forbidden city.

the meridien gate was the main gate of the palace. it was the gate where only the emperor and occassionally the empress could enter. the walkway is made out of marble where only the officials trod as the emperor was carried through the palace. it leads to the taihemen or the gate of supreme harmony, a gate serpented by the golden river bridges and is reserved only for the emperor and his immediate attendants.

enter through the taihemen, awaiting is the taihedian or the hall of supreme harmony where wedding ceremonies and enthronements took place. if you take a close look on the inside you could see the dragon throne from which qinshihuang, the infamous emperor/first emperor of china, first seated. above you can see sculptures of 2 dragons playing around with each other with xuanyuan mirrors or metal balls in their mouths. set up high center and above the throne is a large pearl which dates back to the same emperor. legend has it that the qin emperor set there and cursed it so that when the heir to his throne is not any of his descendants, the pearl will fall directly over the emperors head. so the succeeding emperor moved the throne a few inches forward to avoid it to fall on his head. :)

the hall of heavenly purity is precede by a series of halls of harmonies. if those harmonies were meant for the little gatherings of sorts, this hall was mainly to serve the elaborate feasts during festivals and special holidays that the emperor hosts. above reads, "zheng da guang ming" translated into several translations like "to be decent, honest and magnanimous," or "to have no secret or do a shameless deed." it basically suggests that the ming dynasty stood high, mighty and right. behind the plaque lies a box that may not be at par when it comes to the sanctity of the pandora's box, but it's one thats powerful enough to shape the course of the state. from the reign of yongzheng emperor, 2 separate sheets of paper were deviced to contain the heir to the throne. 1 paper was kept with the emperor at all times and the other was placed in the box. once the names written on the papers match, he will be the next heir.

enter the hall of union and peace until you reach the hall of terrestirial tranquility. this is the nest of the empresses and where they spend most of their days in. it is here, in these very quarters, that the last empress of  the ming hanged herself after the peasant rebellion thrashed the capital.

the imperial garden of the city provided an aesthetic change from the structured halls and palaces that surround the city. it was where the empress, concubines and the emperor strolled and took short political retreats and just relax.

one of the most intriguing parts of the city was the well of zhen concubine. we probably circled the forbidden city for a number of times just to find this part. after a swelling and blistering foot episode and sweat outbreaks later, we finally finally found it!!!!! the pearl concubine, zhen concubine.. was the favorite of guangxu emperor. she was able to encourage the emperor to promote political reforms in the aim to strengthen the country while these reforms were continuously suppressed by the equally intelligent and infamous empress dowager cixi. as these went against her ideals and beliefs. the empress (whether reasons were political or personal) had her jailed several times and by the year 1900, when the foreign allies had swept over beijing, the empress ordered the eunuchs to throw her into the well.

we finally left the forbidden city and we ventured to tiananmen square. by this time the camera was already on the brink of shutting out on us and it finally gave in during our walk to the square. thankfully, we were able to manage one shot of the square with general maos infamous portrait. its a busy square, not really monumental but it did serve its purpose before and you can only imagine the number of roaring crowds that await the entry of mao on his balcony. its free to day dream.

we stopped by the national theatre, better known as the egg. its a beautiful theatre as if the entire structure is submerged in water. we sat there to give our ailing feet a few minutes rest. then we headed off to taste the infamous beijingya, or peking duck from quanjude. its better than gloria maris thats for sure. overall, its crispy, the sauce is just right, the flour pancakes are beyond soft. but its not heaven on a plate kind of good. i have yet to try dadong's rendition. :)

we called it another night done. it was a perfect day and im sure tomorrow will be another perfect day. as sucky as it is to get me some sleep, i have to. tomorrow is the day that ive been waiting for, for this entire trip. ahhh, the luxury of travels.

i woke up with the sun in my face and my mom opening the door. it took me a while to realize that im no longer in manila. hell yeah, im in beijing baby!!! :) no work, no stress and no frills, just pure travel and immersion for 4 days. cant get any luckier than this :)

psyched to start early, i buckled up in my sweat outfit 1. i chose to wore slippers as the remnants of yesterdays blisters still got the better of my foot... only to realize (when this entire day ends) that slippers are not cut out for china. they were never meant for it.

we began the trail by ahia lord dropping us off at the olympic village. we got there pretty early and had roughly 30 minutes to waste. the water cube and the bird's nest are quite far apart, but walkable. so we opted to buy the tickets at the water cube, then the nest to be able to minimize the walkathon under the dry, dry sun. the water cube's line was empty... great. but, when i headed to the tunnel for the nest's ticketing booth... not so great. it was packed with mounds of people. when the clock striked 9, i felt like i was running with the bulls, old bulls at that with elbows for their horns. i finally got a hold of the over-priced tickets and off we were to the infamous stadium.

the view from the outside of the bird's nest is captivating. it took china 423 million dollars, 2 world-renowned architects (Herzog and de Meuron), 2 esteemed local architects, 17,000 workers, and 42,000 tons of outer steel  skeleton (making it the largest steel construction on the living earth) to create this monument to the olympics. it stands bearing the confidence and maturity of the nation, enveloped in a unique but more importantly, a significant design. from afar, they said it looks as if forces outside and inside are pooling around it but there lies an inner discipline, a clear set of rules that holds the circle together. the name, bird's nest, derived from the association of how it looks and in the chinese lifestyle, bird's nest is a very expensive medicine. go figure what it truly stands for metaphorically.

its not exactly wonderous once you step inside it. maybe back in 080808, the feeling will be different altogether now. its great on its own, but i felt that it would be greater outside. hahaha :P

the water cube, on the other hand, is more amusing than the bird's nest. the outside is equally as beautiful as the nest. 10 proposals later, this square stadium made of ETFE pillows was the one approved by the majority. the pillows, versus traditional glass, allows more heat and light penetration. the outer wall design creates the illusion of bubbles and water formations that flashes blue at night. it is deliberately designed rectangular to symbolize the earth and the nest, a circle, to symbolize heaven. reminiscent of how the temple of heaven was created. the interior of the cube looks like christmas in the artics. its so winter-y and cool and white. :P you get to step inside the diving range, the practice pool and the competition pool.. which is not as lengthy from above.

tired as crazy, we decided to line up for a cab to the famed donkey resto where andrew zimmern chowed down. okay, cabs in beijing are not as sucky as those here in manila. but they equally suck. good thing was mom knows how to deal with them, if not, im sure we would have been misguided and extorted hundreds from. the driver dropped us off at the corner to which we were to look for it ourselves. quite a long walk, but totally worth it. we ordered donkey meat sauteed with scallions, ginger and garlic; donkey intestines sauteed with scallion, pepper and shallots; and donkey skin sauteed with green sprigs and ginger. best meal throughout the trip and we all came out satisfied and full. after revitalizing ourselves with a ginormous amount of energy, we went off to witness a legacy.

beijing, beijing.. where do i begin? i guess it all begins with a pre-judgment. its histories and beauty have been repetitively told and prempted by my parents since x years. china is legendary on its own.. the folklores and stories of yester-decades add to the mystery of it. yeah, and so are the holed restrooms that the entire population uses. no one even bothers to close the door. the spitting frenzy is another clincher. the pre-travel-enthusiast me took the latter two too much to heart then. only after the olympics and a chunk of history classes, did i realize that beijing is very inviting city one that will eventually make you proud of what you are. the beauty, the legacy, the dynasties, and the culture are but few reasons enough to get lost in it.. and the food has not been mentioned yet.

at around 1130-1145, we finally landed at the beijing capital airport. we got lost for more than a few minutes but we were met by ahia lord thankfully, my cousin who has been living in the city for 3 years now. can i just say i cannot recognize him because he lost so much weight!! (unbelievable and kudos to you! :) ) after settling in his beautiful abode and showered in sunscreen and lotions, we began the journey by setting foot at the temple of heaven.

tian tan as they call it, a unesco world heritage site as the world knows it for. it stands for the relationship of heaven and earth and that of the emperor and the heavens. the circle represents heaven and the walls that encloses it, the earth. it stands testament to the great importance of the spiritual in the decision making of the emperors then. the structure of the place, although restored, does still exude the elegance that it had then. it consists of 3 main attractions: hall of prayer for good harvests, imperial vault of heaven and the circular mound altar.

the hall of prayer for good harvests is literally what it is. whats amazing about this altar is that its completely made of wood. no nails or glues or anything at that. it is constructed symbolically with four inner, twelve middle and twelve outer pillars that represent the seasons, the months and the ancient chinese hours. add the 12 middle and outer pillars, they stand for the traditional solar term. adds a nice kick to it.

the imperial vault of heaven stands above a marble base surrounded by the infamous echo wall. they say that when two people stand on the opposite ends of the wall, once one speaks or shouts the sound will vibrate to the other end. with everyone else screaming, i highly doubt youd even hear each other.

the circular mound altar was mainly the venue where the emperors pray for good weather/climate standing high and mighty above 3 marble stone levels.

when you think about it its just like another temple visit. like the rest of the places that we went to, its the idea of standing where emperors used to stand and taking yourself back to eras where histories were just about to be made. it makes the sights transcend into something bigger than it already is.

after an excruciating heat wave and leg walk, we headed down to shou xui jie or silk market. we were welcomed by the symphony of  the un-harmonious screaming salesladies and hagglers. funny at first, but it gets more stressful to watch the more stalls you stop over. nonetheless the place is really a feast for avid thrift shoppers. one floor for shoes and bags, another for clothes, another for silk clothes, another for the techies and history/souvenir enthusiasts, and one last floor under renovation. more clothes? shoes?

we headed down to wangfujing for some strolling and capped the night in the legendary streets of dong hua men. its regally known for it exotic eats that we along with many other tourists and locals could not resist. they mostly have meats and other "meats" on a stick, deep-fried and seasoned to its so-called perfection.. to which it was, above all things surprisingly. dinner consisted of silkworms, stir fried spicy noodles, ge tuo, scorpions, cicadas, a centipede, seahorses, lamb meat, lamb penis, lamb balls, shark meat, and candied kiwis and strawberries for dessert. :) so there you see, indeed you cannot judge the book by its cover.

we got home and chatted with achi arlene and ahia lord, played a bit with nina and lucas and hit the sack finally to call it a night, rather, a wonderful night.

first night sadly over, now 2 more to go...