Hong Teck and me took an afternoon to look at a couple of language schools for our children and found an ideal one - Beijing Mandarin School in 国贸 (guomao) zone where the financial district lies. In the evening, we were off to Singapore to see our loved ones and to enjoy the dozens of local food that we so missed when we were living in London. An exhibit in the Terminal 3 of Beijing Airport - the Terracotta warriors.

What do you do when you have lots of items on your 'to do' list? People who needs to contact you and you are constantly arranging lunches and dinners? Get a local SIM card for your mobile! That's exactly what I need! Pa greeted us with 2 Sim card for our week stay in Singapore. Thanks Pa.

Arrived Beijing Terminal 3 in the wee hours of the morning. I awed in the size of the airport and how spanking clean the entire airport is. Within the terminal, we had to take an mini version of the train to retrieve our luggage. As I have coaxed our children to sleep on the plane, we managed to get them to walk to the exit of the airport where our dear friend, John greeted us.

We headed towards the north of Beijing, the Shunyi zone where John has just moved into his new apartment last year. The estate is named 优山美地，which means Beautiful place with mountains. With an hour rest and emptying our luggage with gifts for John and his family. We went to a shopping mall for lunch. Lunch was in a Yunan restaurant in a Capital Land mall called 嘉茂。This picture was taken when our children was waiting to try the new cuisine.

Teck and me planned a long trip to Beijing this summer with the intention of a language immersion for our children(and me included). Being in London for 10 years, I have long given up on my mandarin and I have lost confidence in teaching my children mandarin. Been's a uphill task trying to get my children to respond to me in mandarin. With the best intentions and a never-die attitude plus much prayers, we booked for a month long holiday.