Beijing - What to eat > Da Dong Restaurant

I suddenly remembered that i gave myself these series of things to write about (apparently in an attempt to make my blog look alive and interesting), and i felt that i have to dedicate a post just on this restaurant.

Da Dong Roast Duck (北京大董烤鸭店) | the Beijinger

China, Beijing, Dongcheng, Dongsishitiao, 甲22号南新仓商务大厦1楼

You can click on the link to read more about the restaurant and blah blah, but really, i'm just gonna show you the pictures to convince you that it's a super nice place to eat at, and it deserves a post just for it.

The restaurant is situated at one of the most high-tier shopping mall in Beijing, something like located at UOB building etc in Singapore. 

Beijing has two famous places for their Peking Duck

1. Quan Ju De - which is the traditional old name in the city

2. Da Dong - which is the newer version and i assume to cater to the richer population in the city

Personally, i tried both restaurants and felt that Da Dong's Peking Duck is definitely nicer than Quan Ju De's. It has a much more succulent taste to the meat and its not as dry as the latter.

They have a viewing platform when you enter the restaurant for you to see how the ducks are cooked by the chefs standing around and so on.

We ordered this appetizer, which consists of the traditional Beijing snacks like osmanthus cakes and so on. Not really that nice to be honest, but the price range is too expensive for us to order too many good food, so we had this to "have a try".

THEIR PRAWN BALLS ARE AMAZING. Like fucking amazing. Even the tomatoes tastes damn good. I don't know what they do to it and how they do it but this plate of goodness is just too bloody good like FUCKING GOOD.

//Cannot stop emphasizing hahahahaha

Some veggie which is kick-ass tasty too, just not as kick-ass as Taiwan's veggies.

Ta-daa, our main highlight of the entire dinner dengdengdeng

THIS PLATE OF DUCK COST US SGD40.

But its so good. Its so so so so so so so good i don't know how to express how good it is but its so so so so good like omg good too good 

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

This is definitely the no.1 place you have and got to visit when you are in Beijing. You can go for all the Japanese food, or the hotpot but seriously, Peking duck in Beijing?

Its da bomb. 

The meal cost the three of us SGD180 odds so its one of the most expensive meal we had over at Beijing for sure. 

But its so worth it.

Beijing - Japanese Ramen at San Li Tun

San Li Tun is another place in Beijing which equates to their bar scene. Its the place to go for nightlife activities but they do have shopping malls and restaurants to eat at during the day! They also have this street which has bars at both side of the road, but also has food stalls selling "Ma La Tang" and it can be really kick-ass if you are shivering from head to toe.

Japanese Ramen （无敌家）

This is located somewhere around the 2nd to 3rd floor of the shopping mall, and there are cafes located at the top floor as well so after eating, you can head over for deserts!

I went online and saw recommendations from the locals on this ramen store so i brought the two of them over here to try. I think its so-so, but i like the soup. The noodle is a little too soft to my liking. The egg is good though! But Sijun likes this ramen a lot so i guess it differs from people to people? :)

Haha, i like this omake shot of Sijun a lot. 

Beijing - What to eat at "The Place" ?

Staying over at Beijing for 6 months would meant that i went to super many different places to eat and merry. And Beijing has a lot a lot a lot of really good food, i am not even lying. I am gonna be segregating according to their area so its clearer and easier for peeps who are visiting that place during their holiday trip.

The Place - 世贸天阶

9 Guanghua Rd, Chaoyang, Beijing, China

This is an absolutely stunning place, and it's also the place which Sijun and I kinda had our first date? LOL, this idiot brought me there after his female colleague brought him there. So bad right. But still, i'm gonna skip the boring details and this is the place to come to, especially at night if you are someone who loves lights and pretty background.

They have this humongous screen above you for people to send in sms and dedicate messages to their loved ones. We heard from our colleague as well that it's a popular spot for couples to propose or have their wedding photos to be taken!

Shopping wise, they mostly sell branded items and are pretty pricey in my opinion. But they have those small carts along the road sometimes selling things like socks, handphone cases and stuffs like that, so you might want to check that out! :)

Winter at that time so it was bloody cold and we had layers on. The only time whereby you would have the chance to wear coats and fur without being judged on - Overseas. 

Meeting Rilakkuma and having a shot with him/her hahaha. 

On a side note, we look like ba zhang sia wtf.

Moving on!

Restaurants that we recommend over at that area. They have rows of restaurants boasting from western pizza, to korean BBQ and chinese cuisine! 

Hong Kong Fare - Charme Restaurant

Decided to give this place a try because we heard good reviews about it from friends. Turns out to be pretty good! The food is pretty delicious but pricey for us. I guess its because of the location la, like machiam town area so of course expensive. 

I like how their milk tea is placed in a bucket of ice so that it would be chilled and at the same time, the ice wouldn't dilute the milk tea! Singapore restaurants - please learn. 

Overall i would give the restaurant a 4/5 for the ambience, food and decor. 

Next up,

Korean BBQ

I wasn't THAT into korean BBQ yet as of then because the craze wasn't really evident back in SG. Sijun and i came across this restaurant during our first date and we had it - & it was so good. I think we paid around $30 per person, but for the price and service, you can't get shit in SG. Like seriously.

Its just reallllyy nice. 

Just look at the amount of meat there LOL.

Paris Baguette 

Its so much cheaper than Singapore?

I AM SO SORRY BUT EVERYTHING IN CHINA IS CHEAPER THAN SINGAPORE LOL

Hahahahahaha, but regardless, this is the three places which we went to over at "The Place" and its a really cool place so if yall happen to be around Beijing, you guys should check it out! :)

Beijing - Where to stay?

Crowne Plaza Beijing, Wangfujing

I'm not even gonna pimp for my own internship hotel because its a fucking good hotel and i love all the front-desk staff over there like im so fucking serious. 

Deborah and me stayed at their cheapest room, aka their standard room and its just <3 Its pretty decent for any hotel rooms out there, and i absolutely love their bed because its super size single and when Sijun stayover, its still a feasible kinda thing! Like, not too small - enough space for both of us.

So some pictures to pimp the rooms

You have a full length mirror to take selfie picture of yourself

You have the corridor to either 

1. Get drunk with your mates

2. Take #OOTD pictures

There is a bath-tub for you to take a bath whenever you like it even though i think baths are a waste of time because you are pretty much bored all the time and you have no idea what to do and you are basically just soaked in water waiting for death LOL.

//cannot appreciate baths

I love the counter though cuz its big enough to place all your barangs barangs all over the place LOL

& they have this mirror between each rooms so when you are waiting for your roomie or what, you can still like camwhore or whatsnot hahahaha!

There are seriously mirrors friggin everywhere wtf hahahahahahah

Overall, i really love Crowne Plaza Beijing, Wangfujing because :

1. The facilities are really good, like the bed and the amenities etc etc

2. The hotel is friggin near to the city area of Beijing so security is +1 and short walking distance to shopping malls is another plus point.

3. I would say that the buffet is not bad for morning fares so yeah, you can include it in your package if you are someone who needs to eat breakfast before heading out

4. There are some super good food (which i will talk about another day) around that area!

5. The concierge knows their way around Beijing. They really do.

On the down side,

1. Damn hard to get taxi because its city area. Dont ever get a black cab if you are a tourist or alone because god knows what will happen? (though we do take them sometimes because cab is so friggin hard to find everywhere)

2. Wifi can be a pain. Its china and sometimes, the internet is so bad that you can't fucking connect and you will get so angry and just go FML. But life goes on people.

On the other hand, i feel that holiday inn (not express) is pretty good too because Sijun works there and the rooms are actually decent and the beds are super nice to sleep, more than Crowne Plaza i must say. & its much more easier to take taxis from his hotel than mine, because his is at a more neighbourhood place? LOL

Either, i recommend these two hotels depending on your budget and your own personal preferences!

Memories

Last year of this period, i was just into the second month of my internship over at Beijing. So i was looking through all those pictures and memories just kinda came flying back, like lots of them. There were lots of "first-time" that i had over at Beijing. My first time seeing snow, my first trip to a mountain (like a legit one and not bukit timah hill), my first skii experience, my first china food, my first time to so many places, my first time to the great wall and you know, just so many "first-time".

HAHA, if you don't wanna to walk down memory lane with me, you can skip this post because its gonna be one of those "aww, i miss those times" post. LOL.


One of the first picture i took upon arriving at Beijing. Pardon me for the stupid face LOL. My glue was being nice to me that day, and i managed to make my eyes looks bigger aka, much more visible.

My first picture with the roomie, getting read for our first day out to explore Beijing. You might be seeing a drastic change in my size because i gained a total of 8kg during this 6months trip, so its like from 50kg to a whopping 58kg. Fucking scary. My waist and hips were becoming adjoined. 

The first K session with my colleagues from the hotel! Beijing people are super into singing K, which i have no idea why. I am not really a K person because i feel that its pretty money-wasting because i don't like singing that much, and even if i do, i would much rather sing at home with my MP3 blasting from my computer. That said, Beijing's KTV is friggin amazing. 

First "tourist" moment with the roomie as we went to 后海！Its akin to Clarke Quay of SG, and there are bars/restaurants and small stores along the river as you drink and puke your guts out. Ok just kidding. Plus its winter, so your puke would probably turn into ice before it reaches the river. Ok thats just disgusting. LOL

Time passes, and the hotel organized an excursion of some sort for the employees. Mountain climbing! At this point of time, my face was getting rounder and yeah, its probably like 54kg now? That said, i miss my long hair!

At the top of the mountain, which is like about 700+ metres tall. Its ridiculous, and its not even one of their notable height mountain. China and their nature. 

So, Kwanter decided to be cute and came to crash our room for a 3 days stay as he detoured to Beijing for a short visit before taking off to Shanghai for his internship. At the same time, some people from Business Studies came over as well, so our plan of going to the Great Wall kinda work because well, Deborah and I are not exactly Day Wakers too.

My first visit to 南锣鼓巷, which is yet another touristy spots over at Beijing. They have rows of shop-houses and you just keep walking. The stuffs are pretty expensive there, so perhaps its a place suited for look-see look-see instead of shopping spree.

That said, i miss my long hair T.T

One of my favorite food over at Beijing! Its shredded chicken and you wrap it inside those "paper" to eat. SUPER NICE

Fast forward and we started spending time as the Beijing Trio! Explored so many places together as a trio team, and there are always an extra person to take the pictures so YEAH.

One of my favourite place in Beijing. They have this huge-ass television over the ceiling of the shopping mall outdoor, and people can send text messages as dedication. There are tons of proposals which took place here as well - its a pretty amazing place. Plus, its quite "atas", aka high class since they have all the big brands in the mall. 

Went to the Temple of Heaven some time later because its so nice! I have seen pictures of it and its supposedly bigger than the Imperial Palace because the ancient Chinese believes that the home of a Man cannot be bigger than the home of the Deities. 

Damn cool right?! Ok, but everywhere is forest so yeah. Only the temple itself is cool LOL.

I look so demure here hahahah, as said by the two of them. La la la, where is my prince~?

Decided that Beijing is too big for only the three of us, so called up Yuen Yee & Claire for a dinz together. This place, which was discovered by me as i went for my firs failed cosplay convention (LOL), is super nice. Its like another of those international shopping mall, but because its next to the Beijing's convention centre or some sort. HAHA.

Not forgetting bypassing the year of 2012 to 2013 with free flow beer (thank you waiter Sijun 8D), good company and just a cozy room from the crazy weather out there. Everyone who intern-ed at Beijing is in this picture! A total of 6 people, but its so much easier to plan outings than a crazy amount ass of people like in Shanghai. 

& of course, the trio spent the most time together since i was with Sijun and Deborah was my roomie. HAHA, so yeahhhh.

This was last year's Christmas. We dressed up and decided to head over to La Bamba, a recommendation Italian food resturant for celebration. We met three Swedish guy, one of which say that he live just a few houses away from Swedish House Mafia (how true is this i dunno lah). 

There were two girls who came over to join us too, one of which started to hit on Sijun and even initiated a kiss with him. Not bad ah Sijun, but he told me he rejected the kiss. HMMM, ok shall trust him for now haha!

Not forgetting all those lovely colleagues of Deb's and me, who were super super good to us and treated us like little princesses over at work. I practically can laze around and just eat my life away for breakfast (treats!), occasional treats here and then. 

Its just so amazing. The parties we had in the room, the crazy nights and just all the laughter. Missing them so much already!

& on the last day before i go back to SG. Its crazy please. LOL

 I had happy times

Sad times (to the hospital for my fish bone to be taken out)

Fangirl time, when i met cosplayer 面条 face to face

& lots of amazing time with everyone. All i have to say is that, i wanna go back to Beijing one day to experience all these emotions again! :)

北京万岁!