Posted in Starbucks on 07/15/2010 09:00 am by Claudine
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It’s summer sizzling hot in Beijing. It’s suffocating outside that going to a bar is like going to a sauna. For the second half of the summer, Starbucks theme is “Step into your oasis”. This would be great as you really need to cool down with the weather outside. So what’s new for Starbucks?
Beverage
I’m so glad that they got rid of the Black Sesame theme and introduced three new cold tea drinks and frappuccino. The first cold tea drink is the Black Currant and Raspberry Juiced Tea. I haven’t tried this one yet but I would imagine it would taste more berry. The next tea drink is the Hibiscus Mango Juiced Tea. It has a flowery mango taste and the mango doesn’t taste like Chinese mango flavor. Price: Tall for RMB 20, Grande for RMB 23 and Venti for RMB 26
The Coffee Jelly Frappuccino Blended Coffee is back. I’m not sure if the black jelly is the Chinese “Gui Lin Gao” but if it is then it’s good for you to have it in the summer months. Price: Tall for RMB 30, Grande for RMB 33 and Venti for RMB 36
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Posted in Travel - Beijing on 06/15/2010 11:58 pm by Claudine
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I’m lazy and once in awhile I dream about staying in 5 star hotels and enjoying their benefits. During the tombsweeping day holiday, I stayed at Beijing Pullman Wanda Hotel. I was thinking of doing it once every quarter but towards the end of May, my friend gave me his hotel voucher for a one night stay in a deluxe room at the Grand Millenium Beijing.
Location
Grand Millenium Hotel Beijing is located in Chaoyang District along East Third Ring Road. It’s a 3 minute walk to Jintaixizhao subway station line 10 and if you’re lucky with a view of CCTV Tower. It’s part of the Fortune Plaza complex with a mall beside it.
Deluxe Room
Their website was bragging of city view for deluxe room. When I entered the room, the first thing I see is the bathroom area with bathtub and separate shower and urinal rooms. The main part of the room has a sofa with table, a large desk with chair, a king size bed and a flat screen TV on the wall beside the bathroom window.
The city view? The service apartment in the other building. It was a bit of a letdown considering they said it’s a five star hotel with a five star price. The TV was hooked to the internet with a wireless keyboard. The router they installed cannot handle the load that it kept making irritating noises. I just hooked my laptop and watched House episodes. The TV selection was better than Pullman with more English channels.
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Posted in Starbucks on 05/05/2010 03:25 am by Claudine
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Winter weather is finally out and Spring was cut short. Summer is now in the wind but it’s still relatively cool. If you’re planning to visit Beijing, do it now as weather in July and August is unbearable. In any case, the summer theme of Starbucks is “Black is Chill This Summer”
Promotions
From April 27 to June 27, every purchase of the Black is Chill merchandise or food product will entitle you a sticker. Collect 12 stickers to form a picture of the new summer drink and get a free Starbucks summer cloth bag. The stickers they will give you may be the same as your previous one so better befriend your local barista and they might give you the missing sticker you still need.
Collect 6 stickers and they will give you one free Black Sesame Green Tea Frappuccino Blended Cream drink.
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Posted in Starbucks on 04/12/2010 11:29 pm by Claudine
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Just a quick blurb about Starbucks Beijing. As part of their efforts to help conserve Mother Earth, Starbucks will be offering free 12 oz coffee to their customers who bring their own Starbucks Tumblers on April 15, 2010. For people who want to have more than a coffee, refer to my post regarding money saving tip for Starbucks.
Enjoy your free cup of coffee!
Posted in Travel - Beijing on 04/10/2010 12:04 pm by Claudine
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For the 3 day weekend during Easter, we had our first 3 day holiday which is Tombsweeping Day. To save some money from travelling, I decided to live in style here in Beijing and checked-in at a 5 star hotel outside the city center.
My choice: Pullman Beijing West Wanda
Introduction / Location
Pullman Beijing West Wanda is a 5 star hotel located at the west side of Beijing. It’s part of the Accor Hotel group and has 312 rooms. Getting there is quite easy as you can take subway line 1 to Babaoshan Station. Take exit D and you have the option to ride a tricycle/tuk-tuk for RMB 5 or walk for roughly 5 minutes to the hotel.
Beside the hotel, there’s a cinema with IMAX, Mcdonalds, KFC, Carrefour and Wanda Plaza. Across the hotel is the Laoshan Cemetery. Creepy eh! hehehe..
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Posted in Working in Beijing on 03/28/2010 09:18 pm by Claudine
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It’s that time of the year where locals and expats alike who earn more than RMB 120,000 a year are asked to file for their income tax return. Income includes salary, bonuses, freelance gigs and property sale. This is the first time I’ve filled the form and it was a little bit daunting especially for a foreigner who can’t read Chinese.
Taxation in China is quite different from other countries. My sister who’s working in the US always talk about getting tax refunds. In the Philippines, you’re taxed according to your civil status, whether you have dependents and your work status. I haven’t heard of any refunds but they usually have deductions when the annual income tax deadline looms.
In China, expats are being taxed for income of more than RMB 4,800 a month. After the first RMB 4,800, you have to look at your tax bracket on how much they will charge you. In any case, whether you have kids or not, whether you work the whole year or not, you would still be taxed for any income more than RMB 4,800 (expats) and RMB 1,800 (locals). No refunds whatsoever so tough luck!
After filling up the form on their website, http://gs.tax861.gov.cn/index.htm, you will get a “Thank you for filing your tax” screen. In any case, I still prefer it here as I pay less taxes than in the Philippines and life is a bit better here in Beijing.
So don’t wait till the last minute, tax filing deadline is on MARCH 31, 2010.
Posted in Parties on 03/17/2010 04:33 am by Claudine
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Beijing was painted in green as expats celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on 17 March 2010. Always finding an excuse to bond and drink, expats has been partying the whole week to celebrate this Irish tradition. Last Saturday, the St. Patrick’s Day celebration was started by the annual St. Patrick’s Day Ball organized by the Irish Network in China.
Tickets to this ball was RMB 998 per person but there’s no stopping the 720 Irish, Scottish, English and other expats who attended the event. I was lucky enough to be able to attend by winning tickets through one of their sponsors, thebeijinger. The venue was Kerry Center’s Grand Ballroom with drinks starting at 630pm and dinner at 730pm. A live band who came all the way from Europe played cover tunes from the 60s to the 90s. A world famous harpist serenaded the guests with Irish songs. Young ladies and gents tap danced their way using Irish tunes. Dinner was good though the steak was a bit bloody. Booze is overflowing with pint of Guinness, Irish whiskey, red and white wine. The goodie bag was a bit disappointing as there’s only a pack of gummy bears. A silent auction was also held with signed photos, Olympic torch, signed U2 guitar which were up for grabs and proceeds to be given to their favorite charity. It was all glitz and glamour with ladies all made up and men in kilts and black ties. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would go again next year if I win tickets (*wink-wink*).
On the day itself, it’s better to be with all the booze drinking expats at Paddy O’Shea to enjoy a pint of Guinness to celebrate the event. Online, facebook games are giving away gifts or changing their theme to match the occasion.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day y’all!
Posted in Living in Beijing on 02/27/2010 02:08 am by Claudine
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It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted tips in living in Beijing. One of the most important thing in living in China is navigating the city without looking dumb. If you’ve been to Hong Kong, you’d probably notice their infamous Octopus card.
In Beijing, the Octopus card counterpart is called the Yi Ka Tong. This card can be bought at the nearest subway station. Not all ticket booth in the station have this card. They might direct you to a different ticket booth to purchase this.
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Posted in Travel - World on 02/22/2010 04:48 am by Claudine
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It’s Spring again and Cherry Blossom Festival will soon kick off in Japan. These trees will be in full bloom starting mid-March to mid-May in different locations. Usually once the flowers first bloom, you have between 5 to 12 days to enjoy them before it’s gone.
One of our plans this year is to witness this event and to start it off, we need to apply for a visa to visit Japan. The Japanese Embassy’s visa section in Beijing is located at the 2nd floor of Silver Tower at East Third Ring North Road. However, starting 1 March 2010, visa application can only be coursed through accredited travel agencies.
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Posted in News on 02/17/2010 01:54 am by Claudine
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Chinese New Year holiday is a bit quiet for Beijing standards. My Harbin experience went down the drain as I wasn’t able to get a train ticket back and I’ve been a prat for making plans without taking into consideration my travel buddy who also would like to go there. Anyway, did you know that…
WIDOW YEAR
As I was having lunch with my friend last month, I was telling her about my friend who’s getting married. She then mentioned that this year is not a good year to get married.
The reason? This year is a Widow Year.
Chinese has a superstition that if the Chinese New Year falls after the start of Spring which happened in early February, the year is considered as a bad year for marriage. You wouldn’t want to be a widow don’t you?
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I’m so glad that they got rid of the Black Sesame theme and introduced three new cold tea drinks and frappuccino. The first cold tea drink is the Black Currant and Raspberry Juiced Tea. I haven’t tried this one yet but I would imagine it would taste more berry. The next tea drink is the Hibiscus Mango Juiced Tea. It has a flowery mango taste and the mango doesn’t taste like Chinese mango flavor. Price: Tall for RMB 20, Grande for RMB 23 and Venti for RMB 26
The Coffee Jelly Frappuccino Blended Coffee is back. I’m not sure if the black jelly is the Chinese “Gui Lin Gao” but if it is then it’s good for you to have it in the summer months. Price: Tall for RMB 30, Grande for RMB 33 and Venti for RMB 36
