The Philippines’ First Olympic Gold!

I’ve been following the Philippines’ Olympic journey ever since I took part in 2008. I wasn’t an athlete but I was there working behind the scenes at the Bird’s Nest making sure that the building is running smoothly. The flagbearer at that time was Mr. Manny Pacquiao. The president at that time invited the whole Filipino community of Beijing to a luncheon in support of our athletes. There I met a petite young weightlifter by the name of Hidilyn Diaz. That was her first Olympic games at a young age of 17.

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10 Ways To Save Money Grocery Shopping

Have you heard the news about the Colonial Pipeline hack or that major brands are planning to increase prices? Maybe you’ve seen your grocery bills getting higher or the number of items in your cart getting fewer with the same amount of money you’ve been paying. Well.. if you’ve been noticing them, you’re not alone. With prices on not just you’re daily essentials as well as gas prices on the rise, here are some ways you can save money while grocery shopping.

Plan Meals on a Weekly or Bi-Monthly Basis: One less grocery run will save you a great deal of money (grocery items and gas). Planning meals will help you on what you need to buy, what’s in the pantry and lower your calories. As my ESMM instructor said, cooking meals at home will save you money and you know what goes on it to lower your calories.

Don’t Go Shopping Hungry: if you bring your kids grocery shopping, try to schedule your shopping after lunch or after dinner. If you or the kids are hungry, you will be tempted to buy something not on your list to eat on the way home.

Emergency Alerts Going Wild

Last Thursday, March 18, everyone was on edge as we had a severe weather threat in our area. As I mentioned in my previous post, we weren’t even sure if our vaccine appointment will push through due to the weather. After Waze brought us to an unseen Starbucks location, we decided to order dinner at Bonchon Chicken in downtown Greensboro. As we expected body ache and malaise after the vaccination, we didn’t want to cook dinner.

While my husband picked up the order, the first of the series of Emergency Alerts started on my phone. Since we were still out on the road, we were not sure where the closest substantial shelter is in our area. I was a bit paranoid and have been looking out on the window of our car. When my husband came back to the car with our dinner, he told me to be his eyes and be on the lookout of any flying debris.

Mandarin Oriental Beijing Went Up In Smoke Last Night!

There goes my goal of keeping a perfect attendance this month!  Traffic was horrible this morning on the third ring road going northbound.  Police put a blockade from Guanghua Road to Chaoyang Road on the service lanes as well as the Guanghua Road exit on the northbound highway.  Buses and cars are crawling as everyone would like to see the aftermath of the huge inferno last night.

Before                                                  During                                                     After

At around 830pm last night, the Television Cultural Center at the new CCTV complex was engulf in flames.  The Television Cultural center has a cinema, theatre, recording studios and the flagship hotel of Mandarin Oriental. Witnesses say it was due to fireworks.  One firefighter died due to smoke inhilation.  In the matter of hours the whole building was like the highlight of the firework show to celebrate the last day of the Spring Festival.  When we walked past near the area around 12mn, we can’t see anything due to smoke.  This morning on my way to work, you can see how big it really was and the extent of damage of the fire.

(Photo Credits: Rico Calma, ai de ke flickr photos)

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!