Haidilaohuoguo 海底捞火锅 (Hotpot)

One of Beijing's most famous hotpot restaurants is 海底捞火锅 (Haidilao Hotpot). Their hot pot offerings are regular fair, like many hot pot places, but what sets this restaurant apart is its excellent service. Other hotpot restaurants tried to copy this, but have not become as popular as Haidilao, as Haidilao enjoys first-mover advantage.

While waiting, kids can play board games and puzzles in the kids corner just right beside the entrance.

Cava Coffee

Aside from their wide selection of Western food, Cava Coffee has an array of cocktails that I enjoy on some afternoons while drowning in Chinese characters and translations.

What I had on my first day in: Cosmopolitan 四海一家  for RMB 30

Experiment with beautiful beans

I made it to the rice section of the grocery story and did not realize how much variety of rice there was! I only knew of black, brown, white and jasmine (different variations of white), but when I looked closely at their rice selections, I saw yellow rice, cous cous, off white rice, and THIS.

A combination of rice and beans: how can I not resist so much color?

Lindemand Blueberry: new favorite beer

In terms of beer drinking, I may be approximately defined as the female reincarnation of Samson - in that I don't drink beer, have long black hair, and is bursting with strength and energy (on the badminton court). The only time I relented to drinking beer was during a trip to Hangzhou where our host Chinese family treated us to a lavish feast that involved a lot of drinking.

A visit to Nearby The Tree with my friends Jill and Bianca introduced me cherry flavored beer by Lindemand for RMB 45. I was surprised to see BHG market for RMB 20+. 

I got all the flavors available: cherry, mint and raspberry. I like raspberry best.

Market, market

Early August, I started a Beijing cooking club with a couple of my friends from badminton, so before our first attempt for a get-together, I went to the wet market near my place and checked out what I can contribute to our dinner. I've forgotten how the colors of the wet market gave me a natural high. It was a sunny day out in Beijing so it was lovely how the afternoon sun gently lit up the fruits and heightened their colors, making them look more appetizing.

脆甜大枣 Sweet Chinese dates for 5元/斤