Beijing Cheap N Easy Day 1

Having backpacked actively during my student's days to various countries in Europe, India, Sri Lanka, USA, and Thailand, China was never on my list of to-go-places until the recent China boom. Even so, it was business trips that brought me to as far as only Shanghai and Zhuhai and the closest HongKong but still different from travelling for leisure.
Within just 5 days, I planned a very short 3D2N free & easy weekend trip to Beijing all because of last minute tag-along and the irresistable lure of the Forbidden City which I watched with admiration so many times on Astro and in the movies. So, just clicking on the internet MAS online booking, got my e-ticket and with hotels booking ( tag along to stay at Trader's Hotel ). Remember to get China Visa too, and nowadays it is so so convenient as long as you are willing to pay. I just handed my documents to Sime Darby Travels which charged a very reasonable service fee of RM 25 to submit my visa application. You have to provide a passport photo, a completed application form, a confirmed ticket, a confirmed hotel reservation in order to get the visa. For 2 days processing time, I paid about RM 130. Heard that you can also get it done express on same day, with a higher fee.
With not much info on the internet for self-travel guides and just last minute reading at the airport bookstore on travelling in Beijing, I was ready to go. In summary, you gotta have strong legs and knees with good walking shoes. Unlike modern commercial Shanghai, it is hard to find good restaurants in Beijing. Guess, the locals don't dine and tourists .. probably tour agents know where to bring them to.
http://www.johomaps.com/as/china/beijing/beijingmetro.html
You may think it is difficult to travel in Beijing on your own unless on a package, but let me tell you,actually you can save so much by taking their public transportation like trains, attached in a map link above. Minimum 4 days in total, where 2 would be for return flight. We planned Day 1 for Beijing City and Day 2 for outskirt like Great Wall of China, etc.
Our hotel, Trader's Hotel is conveniently located near a train station called "Guomao".
The Journey
First day was practically gone due to flying time. So, on the second day, we started off by taking a taxi to Tiananmen Square, only to find out that actually we could have just taken the subway from Guomao to Tiananmen East station, about 5 stops away or Qianmen ! Taxis were not allowed to stop at the square so we had to walk and walk and walk .. I must say Beijing is so so vast so forget about wearing pretty shoes. There is so much walking even comfortable walking shoes couldn't stop you from wanting to rest your feet. The breakfast hunt was all wrong ! Only a KFC eatery was visible and no other eating places you can find in this vast square of Mao Zedong ! We could only find a small secluded corner where buns ( and that also really few ) were sold. So, it turned out that was our breakfast and lunch !
Beware of "conman" or "conwoman" bus conductors. There was this woman bus conductor who asked us if we had been to the Great Wall, coz she claimed today being a Saturday was half-day entrance fee for Great Wall, whereas tomorrow being a Sunday would be half-price for Forbidden City ! We heard this one before in Bangkok. Somehow, they all learn the same tricks.
We politely declined and thanked her for the information. Instead, we headed towards a Beijing Travel bureau which looked more official and reliable. Got us a day trip to Great Wall of China for Sunday for only RMB 160 per pax which includes 8dishes+1soup lunch, Ming's Tomb tour and some others. The hotel charges about RMB 480 per pax. And they said there was no such thing as half price whatever day, but likely an increase soon.

Tiananmen and Forbidden City - revisiting glorious history

So we then walked to Tiananmen Square, following the crowd and in through its gates towards the famous Forbidden City. Entrance fee was RMB 80 and we rented the Self-Guide Audio Kit in English which was very helpful cause it has RF signals and activates the navigation for the spot where you stopped. English kits costed RMB 25 whereas if you understand Chinese, it only costs RMB 10. The entire palace was so vast and magnificent, I couldn't help wondering how much exercise those people then did to just like bring food from kitchen to dining area, etc. I walked imagining I was in those times. There was this "fake" emperor standing right on top of the main palace with a Yellow Umbrella, as if greeting his subjects as we visited the palace. This entire palace on a very leisurely walk would take at least 4 hours, but we made do with about 3 hours and quickly went out to grab a taxi to the Summer Palace.

Summer Palace - Empress Dowager's Retreat

Summer Palace is quite far, easily 45 minutes. Taxi fare was about RMB 46, and dropped us at the South entrance gate where a lake and its stone bridge is seen. We were told there were many entrances/exits and fortunately one can enter from one end and exit the other instead of walking back to where you started. ( After the walk, how glad we were not to have to turn back.) Entrance Fee was just RMB 30. As we arrived at 4:10pm, we had less than 1 half hour to head towards the famous long corridors where Empress Dowager walked. This man-made lake was so huge and currents so strong, it could be mistaken as the sea !

My advice .. better allocate 1 full day, and pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the leisure walk in this beautiful park by the lake with willow trees lining it. We were like doing brisk walking rushing like mad. One can also take the tram car though. But the destination was truly breathtaking. The corridors were retouched to its pristine glory in red, green and gold so soak in the imagination that you are walking side by side the Empress Dowager. There was this beautiful temple too, "Tower of the Buddhist Incense" and one can also enter into the garden compounds behind those corridors. The MOUTAN flowers are as big as my stretched out palm, in strikingly white, red, deep purple, pink colours. As one exits from the North Gate, taxis were waiting for ready passengers but we ventured further following the crowd and ended up in a bus station so took the bus back to city center instead, all for a flat fee of RMB 1.60 only heading towards Tiananmen direction.

WuDaoKou - Modern Hangout in otherwise a grey toned Beijing
By then, hungry for a decent proper dinner, we alighted halfway at a brightly lit shopping and commercial area with a restaurant big in signboards saying Beijing Duck, of course in Mandarin. There is a train station here called WuDaoKou, and looks like this place is surrounded by the learning institutions, the famous TsingHua University and Peking University. So the younger generation hangout, I suppose. Lovely lovely green vegetables and beijing duck for dinner, overall a bit salty but satisfying meal for RMB 80 for 2 pax. Went into a shopping complex and hunted for the supermarket to grab some buns, milk just to prepare for next day's breakfast.
Saw the train station nearby and took a train back to hotel, I think for RMB 2.10.
So, it can be pretty economical travelling in Beijing on your own now that you can do better than us.

Pangkor Island Beach Resort Review 2008

Pulau Pangkor is an ideal beach holiday for folks on the west coast who are not keen to drive to east Peninsula, the likes of Redang and Cherating.
But for a good vacation, make sure you pick the right resort for your stay. We also picked Thursday - Saturday during the school holidays to avoid the possible crowd.
We sure did make the right choice in choosing Pangkor Island Beach Resort ( Formerly known as Pan Pacific ). You can book through the internet but also do call up the resort too as other rooms may be available but not on the internet. We did just that, so ended up with a dual sharing Garden wing room via internet reservation and a QUAD sharing Garden wing room via phone/fax reservation which was a good buy with breakfast and dinner for 4 adults included. The staffs were kind enough to count 2 kids as 1 adult meal, and child aged 5 and below dines free.
To drive there from KL, take North-South Expressway exit at Bidor and head towards signboards that say Pelabuhan Lumut, Teluk Intan, Setiawan and finally Lumut. Only takes about 3 and half hours leisure drive from KL - Lumut. I ventured into Tapah after Bidor but luckily managed to head towards Teluk Intan from there without turning back.
From the Lumut Terminal Jetty, go right in and there is a Pangkor Island Beach Resort booth serving their resort guests. They provide their own ferry to transport their guests straight to their resort without going to the Pangkor Jetty. Just take note of the ferry schedule from the resort staff, as they only have a few trips. Adults return fare at RM 18 and children RM 12. While waiting for the ferry, you can take lunch at the terminal's Nasi Kandar restaurant.. very nice briyani rice with kurma.
Ferry ride took about 30 minutes and upon arriving at the jetty, a bus was there waiting to bring us to the resort. What a nice surprise as we alight from the bus at the resort entrance, to be greeted by a singing trio welcoming us with complimentary drinks and chocolates. The checking-in procedure was very smooth too, though had to wait for our rooms to be ready. Despite my reservation being half through phone, and the other through internet, they had taken note of my request to have these 2 rooms next to each other and voila, request met.
The Garden wing rooms were pretty basic, but good enough. We like the closet that divides the sleeping area from the bath/pantry area, with doors on both sides, one side opening from the sleep area, the other side opens from the bathroom area. Cool. And all our bags could fit in with shelves for us to place our clothes, so all the clutter kept behind the closet doors. Better bring your shampoo toiletries as they only provide the dispenser type .. for hair & body. The balcony looks out to well-trimmed garden and tennis courts. Very pleasant. Also as monkeys are part of the inhabitants, who are smart to open door knobs, we were told to keep the balcony doors locked all the time.
Apart from monkeys, it is also home to a few peacocks that wander freely even to the beach-view dining area.

And hornbills flew from trees to trees surrounding the swimming pool by the beach. There is a hornbill feeding station filled with bread crumbs at the Kingfisher's Pool. Early morning you will see these remarkable birds swooping down for their feeding, with some bringing food to their young ones up on the trees.

The first 2 days were pure relaxation. The sandy beach is just a few steps from the swimming pool. Very well maintained and so accessible you just can't resist stepping into the sand. The waves here are gentle, being in a bay. This resort prepares daily activities for its guests, something I really appreciate.

The kids took part in a sandcastle competition. Tools were provided and of course simple prizes for the winners ( almost everyone got something since there were only about 5-6 kids taking part.) But just swimming in the pool and spending time playing sand burying each other by the beach was enough to keep us all happy.

As for food, this resort is easily one of the best when comes to buffet dinners and breakfast. We were very impressed with its variety and constant replenishment coming from the kitchen. The satay was really really tender and yummy, there was also baked crab, honey lamb, baked prawns, lots of different types of cakes, puddings, yogurt, ABC. This is also one rare restaurant that serves half-boiled eggs and hard-boiled eggs apart from the usual sunny-side-up or omelettes for breakfast. Despite the crowd, we never run out of things to eat. And the lovely view from the dining deck, especially in the evening enjoying the sunset and morning, refreshing view giving all of us a good appetite to start the day.
We took a short island tour via the pink taxi ( a non-air conditioned van ). Our driver who had lived on the island all his life was previously a fisherman. With a good sense of humour, he asked if we had passports because he was going to bring us to China and then Holland! Well, we visited the Hainanese Village ( a fisherman village ), the Fu Ling Gong Temple which was newly painted and famed with a miniature replica of the Great Wall of China. Next, went to a 300 year old Dutch fort which was built not to watch out for enemies but for guarding tin ore. ( The other 2 Dutch forts are in Malacca and in Penang.) Also passed by the Teluk Nipah area which is more popular with the Malay visitors. They have budget inns and malay food stalls lining up the road just by the beach. Went round the island and looked across to another island where the luxurious Pangkor Laut Resort is located. ( Hmmm .. one day, we'll go there.) And then to a Kuan Yin Temple which is built by the sea. The driver said they would come here to pray and then enjoy a meal before wrapping up with a dip in the water ! Final stop was a shopping street just to get some anchovies, what Pangkor is famous for. Not necessarily cheaper than what we get in the market in KL. All in 1 and half hour plus of the breezy van ride, most of us were rocked to sleep already by the time we were back at the resort. And just for RM 60 for 6 of us.

On the morning of our check-out day, we tried our hand at the watersport facilities . There was this banana-boat ride which was really great and a huge favourite with the kids. I even got my 5 year old to join in. Each adult pays RM 25 and children half-price. For my 5 year old, we bargained to RM 10. The jet ski costed RM 85 for 20 minutes so Daddy took each one out for a ride.
We all had a good time remembering Pangkor Island Beach Resort. Everyone had wonderful memories and this is one of the trips that I was so relaxed that I wanted to come back again. The resort made a big difference after what I saw at the other resorts in the island, so so glad we picked this place. The staff were all very professional and if not for running out of time, we could have taken part in their cake decoration activity.

On the way back, we stopped by Bidor town to grab some local produce - the crunchy and sweet Bidor Guava fruits and the wonderful petai grown in the jungle. Hmmm... delicious.