Midnight massages and Ukrainian food...what a delightful weekend!

Got back from Sanya last Thursday, and was so happy to be back -- even though Beijing has been freezing lately. Sanya is nice, however it is no Hawaii, that's for sure! It was also a strange experience to see such expensive hotels existing in an extremely poor, blue-collar city. A few highlights of the Sanya trip:
-Day tripped to the famous Hot Springs, where I sat in coffee, coconut milk, Chinese herbs, and wine pools enriched with mineral substances...apparently good for the health. Also sat in their most famous pool for awhile -- the 'doctor fish' pool -- where fish nibble off dead skin and 'remove toxins,' but it was so ticklish and rather gross to me that I promptly left.
-Won a huge bear at the evening dinner party! First thing that I've ever won, really. The thing is gigantic though...I had to lug it back on the plane to Beijing and I almost regretted winning the bear b/c of how heavy it is. After I won the bear, random Googlers who I had never met before would come up to me and yell gleefully, "You won a huge bear! Huge bear!" It was kinda funny.

Pictures below, top to bottom: Jane, Phoebe, me, Nicole; Joy, Bessie, Sissi, me, Donna; Phoebe, me, with the gigantic bear (only the top of his head is showing in this pic)




And back in Beijing:

-Friday night: had an amazing Taiwanese dinner at Bellagio, this chic, see-and-be-seen restaurant in Chaoyang district. Seriously, I wish I lived in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. Everything is there! Shopping, eating, bar-hopping -- you name it, it's there. It's not only the most fashionable district of Beijing, but it's very Westernized compared to my district as well. It feels like a different world when I'm in Chaoyang. Sadly, it's far from where I live -- 30 min w/o traffic, and up to 2 1/2 hours w/really bad traffic.
-Also Friday night: got a legitimate massage at a very posh, sleek spa at midnight!! The one hour massage was only $20 USD. Very cheap considering the chic atmosphere. After the awesome experience, I vow to try to get a massage in Beijing at least once a week. Below: pic of Long Island Spa, Chaoyang district.



Saturday: made my way to the famous Summer Palace -- probably the most famous well-preserved imperial retreat in the world --with a friend from Beijing University. As it had snowed in Beijing for days before, the Summer Palace was covered with snow and ice. The lake, which makes up a substantial portion of the 10 sq miles park, had frozen over and was covered by a layer of snow. It was so surreal to see this Summer Palace completely transformed by the snow -- usually all the pictures you see are taken in the summer. I walked on the lake -- which was quite cool! Pics below: Summer Palace; me standing on the frozen Kunming Lake.



Saturday night: Went to Kiev, a Ukrainian restaurant in Beijing, for a coworkers' birthday. It was quite a fun experience to eat Ukrainian food for the first time, let alone in Beijing. The Ukrainian beer was also delicious...very sweet and tastes non-alcoholic. Loved the entertainment...Ukrainian guys dressed in military garb performing Russian songs and Italian arias.


-After Kiev, went to Sanlitun in Chaoyang district to go bar hopping. Made a stop at Face Bar -- which will probably be my favorite bar in Beijing. Loved the atmosphere -- warm lighting and candles, beautiful hardwood floors, classy patrons, invitingly plush red couches, and artifacts from all throughout Asia. Didn't hurt that their drinks were fabulous as well! (One of the cocktails I had was made up of Japanese sake, lots of kiwi, and honey. Yum.) It was so stylish and classy that I feel like this bar could thrive in any cosmopolitan city in the world.

Will write a separate post about my bargaining experiences on Sunday as it's quite long!