北京 rendezvous, day 4.
might have been a “hangover” from the previous day’s activities, but day 4 was the least touristy i got while i was in beijing…of course, apart from my last day. not that i’m complaining, but for the most part, it was just like any ordinary day (only i was in beijing). actually, this day turned out to be more like an “errand day”. but what started off as something very chill, later ended on a high note.
» DAY 4: FROM CARREFOUR TO FOIE.
we met up again with danny and the crew at BLCU. the plan was to have lunch, then do some grocery shopping at carrefour. we headed off to zhongguancun where the closest carrefour is. some 411 on zhongguancun: it is beijing’s technology hub situated in the haidian district, and is dubbed as “china’s silicon valley”. here, you’ll find all sorts of electronics — from imported goods, to pirated software and refurbished products — being widely sold to bargain-hunters. we had the chance to check it out in between lunch and grocery shopping, since an electronics mall was just across the street from carrefour. i actually tried to buy a battery for my nokia cellphone since it was acting up, but negotiations didn’t go very well and the vendors seemed shady.
lunch was at ajisen ramen since some of them were craving for it, while philippe and i just tagged along for the company. at least we didn’t have to go far since it was in the same sinosteel building as carrefour. ajisen is a japanese chain of fast-food restaurants — we had it in LA, and even remember having it once back here in the philippines. it’s nothing special, but we high-fived each other for saving some lunch money again.
after lunch, we headed for the afternoon’s main event: shopping at carrefour. carrefour is a french chain of hypermarkets, similar to wal-mart. i actually have never heard of carrefour until i met philippe, which is a little ironic because carrefour happens to be the largest hypermarket in the world in terms of size (according to trusty-wikipedia).
here’s a little bit of trivia about carrefour in china: the locals here call this hypermarket ‘jia le fu’ (pronounced cha-le-foo), which is a direct transliteration of carrefour. though carrefour original means “crossroads” in french, the three characters that form ‘jia le fu’ mean “family, joy and blessings.” quite clever, i thought.
anyway, so i helped philippe do some much-needed grocery/dorm shopping to prepare him for his extended stay in beijing. when i was there, he didn’t find the need to buy food yet because we pretty much dined out every time. but since i was half-way through with my vacay, it was high-time for him to start stocking up on some cereals, milk and snacks. he also needed to furnish his dorm — buy hangers, tableware, pillows and sheets. philippe told me it was such a relief for him to have me around because last time he did this, it was a nightmare. just picture him lugging around so much stuff and trying to hail a cab in the middle of the road, while at the same time, avoiding to get hit by speeding cars and bicycles. oh yeah, getting a cab in china is quite an experience, especially during rush hour!
we got back to BLCU, and spent a good hour fixing his stuff and setting him up for dorm life. before we knew it, it was time for dinner again. philippe wanted to treat me to something special to make up for a day that wasn’t entirely fit for a tourist. so he called one of the finest restaurants in beijing, and made reservations for 8pm.
we had dinner at maison boulud, a french restaurant in the old american legation quarters next to tiananmen square. it’s owned by daniel boulud, a french chef and restaurateur, famous for his restaurants in new york, florida, and the michelin star-rated daniel boulud brasserie at the wynn in las vegas. it was unfortunate that it was a rainy night, so i couldn’t take pictures of the restaurant’s exterior. maison boulud is in a walled compound, and the manor in which it’s currently in was the old US embassy in beijing. one of its neighboring buildings within the same compound is a patek philippe store. the restaurant’s interiors were equally as majestic, though i also didn’t have any luck taking pics inside since it was very dark. philippe made a comment that the ambiance was very french (read: prim and proper) — doors were opened for us, and as we walked into their lobby, we were greeted by the maitre’d, and had our coats taken and stowed for us. soon, we were led to our corner table and our main event for the evening began.
philippe and i each had a three-course meal. i tried to do my best to take pics of our food, but gave up after entrees — the macro setting on my point-and-shoot wouldn’t work due to poor lighting. too bad i couldn’t do justice to how beautifully plated our food were, but i hope you can use some imagination on them.
(1) the menu where all the good stuff were
(2) amuse bouche to start us off: crispy salmon skin and quiche
(3) philippe’s appetizer: melt-in-your-mouth beef bone marrow
(4) my appetizer: foie gras terrine (it was a huge chunk, and i was in heaven)
(5) philippe’s entree: golden chicken
(6) my entree: red wine braised beef short ribs
(7) one of the extras that came after our dessert course — some petit fours (chocolates, pastries and the cutest macaron i’ve ever seen)
(8) the waiting area: we waited a good hour in here before our cab came
there are no pics here of our dessert course, but philippe had a dark chocolate souffle paired with his usual shot of espresso, while i finished my meal off with a trio of sorbet.
we weren’t exactly done eating though after this. our dining experience at maison boulud could be likened to a show. you see, we both thought that the entree was like the climax, and the dessert course was like the conclusion to a great story. but let’s not forget that shows don’t always end here. the moment we asked for our tab, servers kept coming to our table with more treats — one of them were the petit fours pictured above. it was as if someone shouted, “encore!” they also gave us a basket of freshly baked madeleins which i didn’t even get to touch anymore. boo-hoo! the show meal did end with much grandeur: a server came by with a huge clear vat filled with more of the sweet stuff. they were long strands of marshmallow which were cut table-side, and served to you in four bite-size pieces of mint and strawberry flavor. not a bad way to end what seemed like a less-than-eventful day, if you ask me.
