WANG FU JING - 王 府 井

Wang Fu Jing is located in the Dongcheng District of Beijing, is one of the China capital's most famous shopping streets.  It starts from WangFuJing Nankou, where the Oriental Plaza and the Beijing Hotel are located.  It is home to around 280 famous brands of Beijing, such as Shengxifu hat store, Tongshenghe shoe shop, Wuyutai tea house.

The night market has a selection of exotic street food on the Snack Street.

Exotic snack - goat stomach cooked over charcoal

Spicy goat stomach soup - Had to eat quickly as it gets cold easily

Grilled oysters

Lots of garlic and chillie

Never enough

Rice pudding with red dates

Smelly tofu made DH happy

Hot crispy but no way can I stomach it

Deep fried insects - disgusting

Northern pancake filled with leek, cabbage and grilled pork - Juicy meat and crunchy vegetables make a great snack

Silky smooth beancurd slide down your throat - sweet and savory

TOUR

A trip to Singapore-HongKong-Beijing-HongKong-Singapore end of December.

Flied out to Hong Kong on Christmas eve morning to soak up 2 days of coldness before embarking on to Beijing from there.  Booked a 4 days 3 nights luxury tour from Hong Kong to Beijing from 26 to 29 December which cost S$600 per person inclusive meal and international breakfast buffet and 5-star hotel stay.  Number of people for the tour is only 21.

Morning flight at 8am and reached Beijing around noon. Weather windy and gray and we were bundled in thick layer of clothing.  Temp at freezing of -4.

Beijing Airport

Hugh oriental screen depicting ancient time.

Super huge airport

On the way to lunch we passed the Army Opera Training School


Meal was 10-course dishes plus beer, soft drinks and tea.

Soya Sauce Stew Pork

Jade Cabbage

Fried Rice

Mixed Mushroom

Fried Egg Tofu

Meatball Soup

Sweet-Sour Fish

Chicken With Vegetables

Fresh fruits to end the meal

One of the many libraries scatter across the capital

After lunch visit to Olympic hub.  Security was tight and everyone had to go through thorough screening before admittance.  A long distance to walk as coaches were not allowed within 3km.

Olympic Stadium

Bird Nest where the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies were held

Very windy and hands were freezing when taking shots

The Bird Nest was transformed into a skiing ring during winter

The men in black were plain clothes police

A popular past time for families

Super architectural design you see in Beijing

GREETINGS

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Greetings to all of you.  Let us go for a stroll along Orchard Road to take in the dazzling lights and christmas decorations before winding down for the year.

FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Irresitable rich, moist and sinfully delicious flourless chocolate cake!  A recipe by Ms Sylvia Tan many years ago which I have faithfully made every Christmas season.  It is an ideal gift to give and once you start eating you can never stop.

Melt 350g of semi-sweet dark chocolate chips (I used Valrhona chocolate with 55% cocoa and 35% fat and 10% sugar) with 250g + 125g butter.   Leave aside to cool.

Separate 9 eggs. Beat the yolks with 1.5 cups castor sugar, then 100g of ground almonds.  Mix well.

Leave aside and wait till chocolate is completely cool.

In the meantime whisk egg whites with a beater till stiff and forms perks.

Stir cooled chocolate mixture into the beaten egg yolks mixture.  Mix well.

Fold in beaten egg white with a metal spoon, taking care not to break the bubbles.

Pour cake mixture into baking pan.  Need not line pan with paper as the mixture is rich in butter to remove from the pan easily.  Bake for 50 mins in the centre of a 160 deg C oven.   Leave to cool in oven and dust cake with icing sugar before serving.