I travel to Beijing regularly but this was the first time in about 4 years that I travelled for leisure. It was a lads only weekend trip, so fellow bloggers iSpyShanghai and Dingle had to get written permission from their girlfriends to come on the trip. Fortunately for them, one of our friends is getting married, so they billed the weekend as a stag weekend, despite the fact the groom to be didn’t actually join us on the trip. (This is going to be fairly long so if you’d like to read the full post, click on the “read more” link below.)
“John”, Dingle and James wolfing down some fish and chips and sausage in batter.
We landed late Saturday afternoon and the plan was to have a light early evening snack at The Tree in Sanlitun before heading for Beijing roast duck at Da Dong, but everyone got pretty excited when we passed Fish Nation, a pretty authentic English fish and chips shop, so the lads tour took its first diversion.
Fish Nation’s English sausage in batter, yum (tastes a lot better than it looks, honest)!
Then it was on to The Tree where they have great wood fired oven pizzas and a wide selection of Belgian beers.
James and Dingle tried every beer on the list. This is number 234!
Number 235 …. Dingle didn’t realise that you’re supposed to drink it by holding the wooden stand!
Beer number 236 …. my memory card was full by this point so no more Belgian beer photos.
As James and Dingle were about to start beer number 237, John had just finished vodka & orange glass number 2 before passing out. It was 4.45pm.
My mate Chas lives in Beijing and joined us for Beijing Duck at Da Dong, hands down the best duck in Beijing and therefore the planet!
Then the drinking resumed at Tun Bar, where the shots were 100 rmb for 12 and you get another 12 for free! We were pressed for time so we only managed 2 rounds (24 shots) before moving onto Alpha.
Espresso Martinis at Alpha were so delicious I had to take off my glasses to enjoy them properly.
About the time I was sipping my 5th Martini, we noticed Dingle had very quietly disappeared back to the hotel. John was surprisingly still with us, in body if not spirit:
So basically by 1am we were 2 men down and had to call it a night.
Tune in tomorrow to fnd out how day 2 went …..
April 7th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Ha ha ha. Oh wow.
I wish they had shot deals like that here in Xi’an. Maybe I’m just not looking hard enough.
April 7th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
taking notes for our weekend trip to beijing
keep the suggestions coming!
April 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
As you can see from my expression, there is no doubt that Da Dong serves up unquestionably brilliant roast duck!
April 7th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
[...] has already started writing about it, Dingle was there too- it’s going to be the most blogged two days since- oh I don’t [...]
April 7th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
WE ARE SO AWE-SOME!
Apologies to anyone who was in The Tree on Saturday and had to hear “John”s tirade of filthy language before he passed out.
April 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
CP- you seem to be thinking
“What is this flavour explosion in my mouth?”
April 7th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Tripfriend – Seek and yee shall find!
CP – Obviously you had other things on your mind, like what song to open with at the Tree House Bar.
Ana – I will happily provide you with a full itinerary if you let me know how long you plan to spend in Beijing. However, it will only be a night time itinerary because we did nothing while the sun was up except sleep!
Swiss – I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. There were 4 year old girls within earshot.
April 7th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
LOL, finally i can figure out who is dingle, james, John and chas!
April 7th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Sue- I’m the handsome one with the high forehead, Dingle is the large sarcastic one, Chas is the minstrel who looks a bit like Michael Sheen, John is the hairy american, and WoAi is our photographer.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
WoAi – Were you next to some four-year-old girls, or four year-old girls? If the latter, you were probably OK as they wouldn’t be able to understand any words at that age.
April 7th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
CP – Good point. Actually that reminds me of a joke …
James – Not sure I agree with the comparison with Michael Sheen there.
Sue – So you’ve never read James or Dingle’s blogs? Well, you’re not missing much.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
lol! Number 235! i bet dingle drunk it in one go and didnt even need to put the glass down……
April 7th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
is john the laid with the long lens?!?! cute guy??
April 7th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
D – No, the glass was in and out of that holder hundreds of times. And yes, John is the guy with more lenses and expensive camera equipment that Dingle, James and myself combined. He does indeed have the longest lens out of all of us. But it’s how you use it that counts.
April 7th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
yeah, 235 was a touch on the small side, but horrendously strong. 238 (not shown) was the best though, 12% or something ridiculous.
April 7th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
so you’re telling me that SOMEONE ELSE fell asleep at the bar and it wasn’t dingle?!
April 8th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Angie yeah!! oh I’d better post some more pics on my blog
April 8th, 2009 at 7:12 am
[...] a lot, I say it’s because of the company I keep but that’s beside the point because as Woai has already mentioned I was beaten to it in Beijingrrrrr by [...]
April 8th, 2009 at 10:13 am
If people have the nerve to take their children to public places then they shouldn’t be surprised when they hear grown up language. Let those four year old girls hear it! Oh how I loved The Tree when I lived in Beijing.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:17 am
woai: thanks! we’re not exactly party people, but a few tips of where to eat would be nice – we’ll be there from friday to sunday.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Heli82 – I propose we all move to Beijing!
Ana – Just a few suggestions:
1. Beijing Roast Duck at Da Dong, east 3rd ring close to Gong Ti Bei Lu, tel 010 6582 2892.
2. Vineyard Cafe by Yong He Gong (Lamma Temple) for great English cafe food. Be warned, it’s VERY hard to find down a narrow alley.
http://www.vineyardcafe.cn/
3. Yang rou chuan (lamb skewer) pizza at Pass By Cafe on Nan Luo Gu Xiang near Hou Hai. Loads of small bars and cafes around there, well worth a trip.
4. The German restaurant next to Nashville on Lucky Street:
http://tinyurl.com/c8ml46
Great bakery downstairs, restaurant upstairs. Try going for brunch on Saturday or Sunday. The farmer breakfast with mixed bread basket, butter, crispy bacon slices and pan fried potatoes looked great.
April 8th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
If you can make it there, the Orchard is my favorite western restaurant in Beijing.
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/listings/dining/european/has/the-orchard/
April 9th, 2009 at 12:45 am
the bread was a bit stale in that german restaurant though, especially those pretzels, they were rock hard!
April 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Dingle – That’s how the Germans like it, just like their cars suspensions.
T – Looks like a hidden gem. Will be sure to check it out next time I go.
April 9th, 2009 at 11:53 am
WoAi – it’s almost impossible to find – you need to call them and have them talk to the cab driver. Then on the way home, you need to take a black cab.
(Either that or just have your own car and driver – but that doesn’t fit in the 100rmb/week budget)
April 9th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
[...] trip has already been covered elsewhere by my esteemed co-herts (here is Dingle’s take, and here be WoAi’s). Suffice it to say that when the other chaps were tucked up in bed, I was sat at the bar of the [...]
April 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
T – You mean harder to find than The Vineyard Cafe? Why don’t you just meet me and take me there yourself?
I’ll have to do it on a week when I am not limiting my spending!
April 9th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
So much more difficult to find than the Vineyard (which you just instruct people to find the Lama Temple then go across the small street on the side down the hutong and it’s on your right.)
April 9th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
T – For some people, that’s hard enough!