Happy New Year to all my readers and with the new year comes the Chinese New Year merchandise. 2012 is the year of the Dragon so the most prominent theme will be the character “龍” or the dragon itself. The first batch of the Valentines series will also be released as well as the new Dragon bearista.
Have a look at the new mugs, coin bank, candy holder, tea holder and tumblers released today.
It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted some news tidbits.. Here’s my take for this month. Some might be old but still relatively useful.
New Subway Extensions & Line
Subway Line 8 (lower left): If you frequent the subway or you’ve been travelling in Beijing, you might have noticed that the connection to subway line 8 is temporarily closed. This is due to the construction of the extension of 6 stations to the north of South Gate of Forest Park. Subway line 8 is scheduled to open by the end of the month.
Subway Line 9 (upper right): I thought that travelling to Beijing West Railway Station will be a breeze but apparently that won’t happen till September 2012. This month, the new Subway line 9 will open it’s Southern section which will have 9 stations with a length of 10.8 km. Line 9 will connect to the Fangshan line in Guogongzhang. Technically, it’s still a standalone line and won’t connect yet to the major lines in the city.
2011 is about to end and if you’re like me who likes to plan ahead on where to go for the next year, read further on next year’s list of Chinese holidays.
That’s it! Hope you can plan the year ahead. I’m pretty sure I won’t be going anywhere for National Day as my brother and sister in law will be coming. As for the other holidays, I still don’t know. I might not opt to travel much as I think I overdid it this year. Happy Holidays!
Christmas is just around the corner and what better way to warm yourself up than sip the Christmas beverages at Starbucks. Furthermore, to make it merrier, Starbucks is launching the 12 Days of Christmas promo.
12 Days of Gifting
For 12 days starting from December 1, Starbucks store in mainland China will have a daily promo for their customers. Here are some of the promos that they’re having based from conversations with the baristas.
Sweets are my Waterloo and ice cream is just one of them. My first taste of Cold Stone ice cream was in 2009, when my mom and sister convinced me to try one. Since then, I was hooked and as a birthday present, my friends gave me coupons to this store.
Price Increase
I usually try to eat Cold Stone once a week when my boyfriend is here or when I’m with my friends for dessert. When I purchased a small cup of my favorite Strawberry Banana Rendezvous in the end of October, the cost was still RMB 27 without waffle. However, when I went there yesterday, a small cup costs RMB 30. They also removed my Strawberry Banana Rendezvous from the menu and replaced it with Strawberry Chanson de Paris (strawberry ice cream, strawberry, banana, cotton candy, graham cracker pie crust). I haven’t checked the other prices but that’s the most notable increase.
As of today, there’s 67 more days till Christmas. No more Halloween, let’s go straight to Christmas. This year’s Christmas items will be launched on November 8. Mark your calendars and choose from the items below for Christmas presents to your friends and loved ones.
My Starbucks Rewards VIP Night
Loyal customers will be given a chance to be one of the 500 people to get a first glimpse of the new Christmas merchandise. From now till October 31, MSR card members who would like to participate the VIP night must register online for a slot. On November 4, an SMS message invite will be sent to your registered phone which will be your ticket to the VIP night. Five hundred members of Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be pampered on the night of November 7.
A public outcry over an injured toddler that was caught on video reached international news that it made me wonder what it was all about. Having lived in China since 2003, I had seen my fair share of accidents, fights and even a dead guy.
On Thursday afternoon (October 13), a two year old girl in Foshan, Guangdong province was left bleeding by the side of a road after a hit and run accident. The girl was initially hit by a car, after several minutes, was then hit by a truck before helped by a 57-year-old lady who dragged her to the sidewalk. In between the car and the truck, several people passed by the child without helping or doing anything to her. Chinese media and internet users are crying “lack of morals” of the people who passed by the child. All I can tell them is, they are hypocrites.
First and foremost, I’d like to wish all my readers a belated Happy Mid-autumn festival! I would also like to thank Starbucks for the delicious box of Starbucks mooncake which they gave me for free! The box of mooncake came with 2 each of Espresso Coffee Cheese & Orange, Espresso Coffee Milk Chocolate, Green Tea Toffee Cheese and Espresso Blueberry Cheese mooncakes. They also included a buy one get one coupon for you to enjoy the mooncake with a friend drinking a cup of your favorite beverage. The box of mooncake was then placed in a recycled cloth bag in brown. This mooncake retails at RMB 298. Another box of mooncake retails at RMB 398 and has drawers in it. Thank you Starbucks!
Anniversary Collection
Every year in September, Starbucks releases their Anniversary collection aka The Mermaid. The Anniversary collection includes new tumblers, mugs and coffee blend.
In 2011, my dream of going to Harbin became a reality. I have been planning to go to this place for four years already but it never came to fruition. The best time to visit is during the Ice and Snow Festival which opens every year on the 5th of January.
The original plan was to go with a group of people from the US Embassy. We will be taking the train to Harbin and take the plane back. However, as January is considered their peak season and the Chinese New Year is just around the corner, tickets to Harbin sell in a blink of an eye. With no tickets in sight, the group dwindled down to 3 people (Shaady, Donny and I). Shaady and Donny flew on Friday night, while I flew on Saturday morning. I was lucky to be able to get a train ticket back to Beijing courtesy of my colleague’s parents who are based in Harbin.
For the October National Holidays, my sister and I decided to visit Japan. As we will be arriving from two different places (Beijing & San Francisco), we had to individually do the pre-Japan items namely visa, tickets, hotel and JR pass.
On my previous trip to Japan, my friend and I didn’t factor in the cost benefits of getting a JR pass. All we know at that time, is that it was very expensive. On my upcoming trip, my sister already planned the whole itinerary thus knowing how much we would need to shell out in case we don’t go for the JR pass.
What is a JR Pass?
The Japan Rail pass is a rail pass sold to overseas visitors and Japanese nationals qualified to live in a foreign country by the Japan Rail Group. The pass offers unlimited travel on JR group’s extensive train networks, local JR bus companies and JR Miyajima ferries.
The price for each pass differs between time period (7-day, 14-day, 21-day), variety (green/first-class, ordinary) and user (adult or child).
Prices are quoted in Japanese Yen and the actual cost in local currency is calculated at the time the Exchange Order is issued. The Exchange Order must be purchased prior to your arrival in Japan and will be converted to the Japan Rail Pass on specified counters at the airport or city centers.