Price Increases Everywhere

Posted in Living in Beijing on 02/27/2012 11:30 pm by Claudine | Viewed 72 times

image Why do prices always go up?  Why don’t they ever come down?  Why can’t salaries increase at par with the country’s inflation rate?  My weekly trip to the supermarket is turning into nightmare with some of the products going up weekly.  Sorry.. I’m just ranting with prices that are increasing everywhere. 

Here are some examples of price increases of items I usually use or purchase:

  • Cup of rice @ 7-11:  from RMB 1.8 to RMB 2.0
  • Yakult pack of 5:  from RMB 10.5 to RMB 11.0
  • Rice toppings @ 7-11:  from RMB 14 to RMB 15.5
  • Boiled egg @ bldg convenience store: RMB 1.2 to RMB 1.3
  • Starbucks tall vanilla latte:  RMB 28 to RMB 30
  • Ajisen Ramen Tissue Paper:  Free to RMB 1.0
  • Minute Maid Orange Juice:  RMB 3.2 to RMB 3.5
  • Coldstone small cup:  RMB 27 to RMB 30
  • Honey Pork Rice @ QQ:  RMB 28 to RMB 32

Too many items are increasing or the food portions are getting smaller.  I’m just glad that the local government is still subsidizing the public transportation that for the past 6 years I’ve been in Beijing, no price increase whatsoever on public bus and subway.

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Starbucks China’s MSR Card Celebrates It’s 1st Year Anniversary

Posted in Starbucks on 02/15/2012 01:54 am by Claudine | Viewed 433 times

image It’s been a year since Starbucks launched it’s loyalty program, My Starbucks Rewards (MSR), to their regular customers.  It was met with mixed reactions albeit very successful.  In the first month alone, the regular MSR cards were gone so fast even with a price tag of RMB 88.  For a couple of months, these cards can nowhere be found in stores and not until their December event did they launch the Christmas MSR Card.  Not a month after the Christmas MSR card launch, they issued the Dragon MSR card to celebrate Chinese New Year.

As they celebrate their first year anniversary, different promotions abound their most loyal customers and they are as follows:

  • For gold MSR cardholders who registered their account in February, you will be able to receive a free tall beverage e-coupon to celebrate your account anniversary.
  • From Feb 15 to 21, if you registered your current MSR card between Feb 15, 2011 to Feb 14, 2012, go to http://starbucks.com.cn, click on the “我要喝咖啡” in green button and click on “登陆” in green button to register.  You will get a free tall latte beverage coupon on the month you registered your card.
  • From Feb 15 to Mar 31, when you purchase a new MSR card, you will get a free tall latte.
  • From Feb 15 to 29, you can get your own Starbucks China app on your mobile phone.

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Tour Harbin, Part 2: Transportation & Accommodation

Posted in Travel - China on 02/06/2012 09:02 pm by Claudine | Viewed 99 times

When other cities in China lose their tourists during the winter months, Harbin is quite the opposite. The allure of Harbin during winter drives tourists to visit in droves. Foreign and local tourists flock this city during winter albeit the freezing weather to enjoy the Ice and Snow Festival which opens every year on January 5.

If you plan to head up north when the Ice and Snow Festival is on, here are some things that you should be aware of:

  • Train tickets to and from Harbin are sold out within the first 10 minutes when it becomes available. Particularly train tickets for the Friday night sleeper train with return on Sunday night.
  • You will more or less pay the full air ticket price during weekends.
  • Airport buses to the city are available at RMB 20 per person.
  • It is advisable to hire a car in advance than wing it by taking public buses or taxis if you plan to go around the city. Buses to the main tourist spots are infrequent and are always full. Taxis are limited and will most likely pick up passengers along the route.

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Starbucks China–Chinese New Year 2012

Posted in Starbucks on 12/31/2011 09:52 pm by Claudine | Viewed 1,583 times

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.

image

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This Month’s News Tidbits

Posted in News, Working in Beijing on 12/13/2011 04:56 am by Claudine | Viewed 256 times

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.

imageimage

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.

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2012 Chinese Holiday Calendar

Posted in Working in Beijing on 12/02/2011 04:33 am by Claudine | Viewed 490 times

image 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.

  • New Year: January 1 to January 3 (Sunday to Tuesday).  Work on December 31 (Saturday).
  • Chinese New Year: January 22 to 28 (Sunday to Saturday).  Work on January 21 (Saturday) and January 29 (Sunday).
  • Tomb Sweeping Day: April 2 to 4 (Monday to Wednesday).  Work on March 31 (Saturday) and April 1 (Sunday)
  • Labor Day: April 29 to May 1 (Sunday to Tuesday).  Work on April 28 (Saturday)
  • Dragon Boat Festival: June 22 to 24 (Friday to Sunday)
  • Mid-Autumn Festival: September 30 (Sunday).
  • National Day:  October 1 to 7 (Monday to Sunday).  Work on September 29 (Saturday).

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!

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12 Days of Christmas @ Starbucks

Posted in Starbucks on 11/28/2011 09:19 pm by Claudine | Viewed 507 times

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.

image

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.

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Cold Stone Creamery Promo

Posted in Promotions, Restaurant on 11/22/2011 01:44 am by Claudine | Viewed 504 times

clip_image002Sweets 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.

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Starbucks China – Christmas 2011

Posted in Starbucks on 10/19/2011 03:38 am by Claudine | Viewed 3,856 times

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

imageLoyal 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.

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It’s “None of my Business!”

Posted in News on 10/17/2011 09:27 pm by Claudine | Viewed 366 times

Apathy toward injured child sparks angerA 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.

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