News Tidbits and Upcoming Events..

My page rank is still zero and I still don’t get that much traffic. It’s so frustrating! Anyhow, I will still strive and post more stuff about Beijing while I’m still working in this part of China.

Upcoming Events:

• Australian pop diva, Kylie Minogue, will be in town for a one night concert at the Worker’s Gymnasium on December 1. Ticket prices from RMB 280 to 2580. When we bought our reserved tickets this afternoon at piao.com.cn’s office, they’ve informed us that they don’t have any tickets left for the cheapest one.
• The Elton John and Tim Rice Broadway musical, Aida, will hit the Beijing Exhibition Theater stage on November 19 to 23.
• Carrefour Shuangjing Branch will hold a wine tasting and Beaujolais Nouveau on Wednesday, November 19 from 6pm to 1am to celebrate a French custom.  Grab your chance to taste some free wines!      

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To Be Insured Or Not?

In one of the financial stewardship class I’ve attended a few years ago, the speaker mentioned that it’s important to get a life insurance.  This will enable you to leave a legacy to your loved one when you move on to the next great adventure.

For some people, however, they said that life insurance or any type of insurance is not for them.  A friend of the family said that she could put the money into good use in their business.  Others shy away from insurance because of the additional cost that won’t benefit them.

So.. what is life insurance?  Do we really need it or not?  While scouting the web, google pointed me to a website where it explained to me what life insurance is.  In short, it explained that life insurance is a financial instrument that is based on caring and love. (Sounds cheesy!)  However, it goes beyond that as the website provide educational video to assist you in understanding more about life insurance.

Apartment Hunting for Dummies

Which type of people usually look for an apartment? There’s the newbie who just arrived in Beijing for their newest adventure, the oldie who’s lease just expired, the businessman who’s sick and tired of staying in an apartment. In any case, finding an apartment in China needs your haggling and language skills. Also, a Chinese friend would be the best to do the translation for you.

Here are some tips that may help you in your apartment hunting:

• If the ad says “near the subway”, never believe it till you’ve seen it.
• Most apartments are now equipped with western toilets.
• If you don’t like cleaning your apartment, go for service apartments such as Oakwood, Palm Springs, HQ Ritz, etc. However, be prepared to pay for a higher than usual price.
• Decide which district do you want to live and your budget.
• Best place to live in would be walking distance to the subway or bus stops. The price on these places are usually higher.    

House MD – Season 5, Episode 7

After the “KISS” from last episode, House is in denial of this brewing love/lust interest with Dr. Cuddy.  A change in House’s reaction towards Cuddy made Wilson think that there’s more to the kiss than what House says.  House’s new and former team have also noticed a change in the way he handles confrontations with Cuddy.

In the diagnostic front, Cameron asked House to take a case of a young man who experience pain when he goes out of his house and seizures.  The young man also has inferiority complex and doesn’t like to be in a crowd.  Initially, the reason for his phobia is due to witnessing his girlfriend murdered.  They did an x-ray and found some blockage.  They needed to do surgery but the patient refused to go out of the house.  To solve this dilemma, they did an illegal move but was foiled as Cameron had to do the good thing.  The patient lawyered up so they had to do the surgery at home.  It was actually cool as they cut open one of the blockage fire came out because of gas.  There was no sudden enlightening in this story but the result of the sickness is due to lead poisoning.

Sukhothai Imperial (粟库泰泰式餐厅)

If you’re a Christian expat, you might be worshipping at BICF 21st Century.  If you’re like me, you would be one of the people who attend the 1130am worship service and thus will come out hungry afterwards.  Luckily, Lucky Street (好运街) is just beside 21st Century Hotel.

Lucky Street is a block of restaurants and bars for the hungry and night owls.  In this stretch, Sukhothai beckons to all Thai food lovers.  They have the traditional Tom Yam Kung Soup (RMB28/bowl), Som Tam Thai (Green Papaya Salad, RMB 29), Pad Thai (Rice Noodles with Shrimp and Peanuts, RMB 36) and Rung Nok (Sweet Bird’s Nest with Thai Coconut Milk, RMB 68).  The food their is tasty with a twist of Chinese to cater to the local people.  The interior of the restaurant is typically Thai and they also sell Thai jewelry and gift items.  Oh yeah.. slide the door to your right and not push when you enter the restaurant.