Bubblicious!

Today was bubblicious. Pure, crisp, zingy bubbly. Decent 5AM wake up. Work out. International buffet breakfast. Clean up. Meet Victor our driver at noon but first watch bubble acrobats in the lobby. Please note the mop in foreground.... Probably one of the most secure jobs in all of Beijing.... Black marble floor, Beijing sand and dirt. Front entrance 5 star hotel. Need I say more? Today we set out in Victor's snazzy Hundai and hit Beijing, or at least intended too. We had him for a full 5 hours and I was CERTAIN we'd get through a long list of must visit shops. Stop #1? The pearl market. Great! First thing I noticed was that I was locked into my iPhone reading the guidebook for much of the ride, that is until I sampled one of the supercharger, espresso ritz cracker snacks he supplied for us, and that all too familiar (hint think Singapore taxi) scent of "my car smells better than your car" wafted through my olfactory zone and crossed the barrier into stomach unrest. Right. iPhone down, eyes up, windows open! let the power be with you Victor. Its your itinerary from here on in....

And hit the pearl market we did, downstairs electronics, next floor bags-- brief stop at a booth with some wonderful "Lonchamp" bags-- the type I 've been teasing myself with at duty free- but boy oh boy did she start the INTIMIDATION sale with me and fast. Spelling error intended back there btw. Meanwhile, my shopping pals and Victor are in negotiations to have a look at some special stock. More about that later. Much later. So we proceed onwards, and head upstairs to two floors of pearls and jewelery. A sellers paradise given the prey... wayward, jet lagged, unsuspecting business travelers and tourists. Oh yes, today I got my bargain on and it wasn't until that espresso ritz cracker doo dad worked its magic that out came an angel and a devil.... Totally bubblicious! Boy were those pearls mind numbing and wow did I get ripped off. You see my fundamental error was to undercut their first offer by 50%. You must begin bargaining at least 80% under asking price and definitely Don't be afraid to walk. So on average I wound up about 20% over my internal no cross line. But those defenses were down.... and the circumstances and environment sort of took its toll. As after the pearl and jewelry stint-- wait tho--did you know that Madeline Albright, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher all bought pearls at the store we visited? Oh they are so very pretty...... Anyway, more about the story that can't be told when i can tell it. The moral of the story is, never ask once, never ask twice, always ask at least three times and don't have any idea what you are asking for because you didn't know it exists. Did we hit the motherload? Suffice to say that we finally departed the Pearl Market neighborhood 45 minutes before we were due back, after spending that time in quite certainly odd circumstances. Where to next? Crazily overpriced tailor to reproduce my favorite silk blouse. Yikes, is this turning out to be a shopping blog or what? No, one poignant moment slid across my bow- as we drove through Tianamen square. I didn't see it, but I felt it and new immediately that this was where I had been. Even the square is completely unrecognizable, but not the feeling I'd had when standing in it 20 years ago. Then it was onto the hotel to meet the team and head out for dinner....

Taxi driver home serenaded us with orchestral whistling.... I'm marching off to sleeep I hope (melatonin and sleeping pills to follow) with Mozart symphonies coursing through my mind... tomorrow day 1.

Lifeinarentalcar meets the hotel

Today, or was it yesterday, marked my first flight over the polar ice cap. Not sure we did exactly that, but it was definitely a "cool" experience.

We went from day light to dusk to dawn to daylight but never complete darkness for the entire 13:01 minute flight. So no cool Northern Lights shows. Hopefully we'll have some on the way back... What I did experience was a whole lot of Mongolia-

While I've been fascinated with the notion of completing a horserace across Mongolia, after my preview today, I might just take a pass. Of course the grass hasn't greened up, nor has spring arrived, but I did see a whole lot of herders and their yurts. Oh dear, I sense interest arising again.....We did however have a sunny arrival into Beijing thanks to a morning rain shower, which made for some great site seeing from the air.

I was primarily amazed at the number of powerplants I saw, hydro, nuclear, coal, and wind turbines. Beijing's airport is simply huge and stunning (on the inside). However, I will add that when stepping onto the jet bridge, I couldn't help but notice the familiar eau du burn. It did not have the deep undertones a la Bangalore, Hanoi, or Nairobi-- but had perhaps a rather less dramatic scent.

Being met by private escorts at the airport is nice,
Better yet is being whisked down a non descript hallway to a "special" parking pick up zone for dignitaries, VIPs, and well, business people. Stepping into the BMW7 750 was a perfect compliment to the flight and we set off for the hotel only to meet some of Beijings famous traffic. There are a lot of nice cars on the road here. The Beijing I remember from 20 years ago is nowhere to be found, at least not yet. Maybe tomorrow or next Saturday.... except well, we did arrive from Xian in 1991 via what we were told was the Premier's 737 complete with couches, so I guess arriving in Beijing in style is just the way it goes....

This week we will be primarily holed up at the Westin a brand new and extremely swish modern hotel. My 27th floor view seems to pick up the street noise well, but it does have this funky clocktower to help me remember what time it is.....

A few of us went for a plod around the hotel neighborhood and all of my Hanoi street crossing sense returned. First rule is to follow or stand shoulder to shoulder with a local. Second rule, if they run, run! We dodged into a department store which was pretty much nicer than most of our major department stores and has far more choice and brands. We couldn't help but remark on the sense of forward momentum we've experienced (walked passed the Maybach dealer en route) in our short time. Yet, the sense of newness is bizarre. But well, history is being written. Opting to stay-in this evening, I've just finished my soup, having tested the spa for a massage (I will be going back), there is a yoga studio on site, and the indoor pool is stunning. Gym is a bit small, but looks as though without our two hours of bus commuting time in Bangalore, I may be able to squeeze in just a little bit of fun. So I've just previewed this post and it looks as though perhaps the video is being censored. My apologies and if anyone knows how to work around this challenge (I'm already using VPN) please let me know! Maybe they will work for you....

Jet lag nonsense reigns- have already made the toothbrush and tap water mistake, even after pouring a nice cup of bottled water.... Ah, c'est la vie.