Cold

The wind here is so chilly. We were absolutely frozen today and was unable to complete the whole forbidden city tour. We went to Tian An Men Square, Temple of Heaven, and visited the outside of the forbidden city. Then spent the afternoon in 2 of the street markets here. Oka is still not 100%, hope the warmer weather in Hong Kong would make him recover quicker. Will be in Hong Kong for the next 2 days and am looking forward to meeting up with YY.

Great Wall

Today we climbed the Great Wall of China. It was a magnificent sight, though weather was very windy and cold. It was so cold that there were ice forming randomly along the way. Oka started to feel better this morning so we were both happy to finally enjoy the trip. We went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, which is supposed to be less crowded and more scenic. On our way down, they had to shut off the cable car due to extreme windy condition. So we came sledding down. It was pretty fun, feels kinda like a water slide. I was a little freaked out at first but after a few minutes, it was a great feeling and of course the little exercise actually helped to warm my feet & hands. That was the highlight of the day. We are going to eat dinner at Noodle Loft later tonight. Read all about it and am dying to try it.

Beijing

This Beijing trip did not start off well. We transitted in Hong Kong airport y/day only to find our plane delayed by 2 hours. To make things worse, our luggages couldn't travel on the same plane as us as the ground staff at Hong Kong Airport were on strike. I was horrified at the thought of going to a new country without the absolute necessity. We had to buy some winter clothing at the HKG Airport just in case our luggages do not get transferred to Beijing in the next few days. And Oka fell really sick, started with gastro and today he was down with quite a high fever. In the late afternoon, it developed into a cold/cough/fever combination. We went out to 2 malls and bought takeout from DA DONG PEKING DUCK restaurant. The peking duck was good though, probably made our day. The service apartment we are staying in is sparkling new with excellent facilities. We got upgraded to the suite room, so at least that's one good thing about this trip so far. I'm currently in the business centre surfing the net while Oka has his early night sleep in preparation for our Great Wall of China Trip tomorrow morning. Hope that he feels better by then. The other good news is that our luggages actually came in today. Thank god for that! Hope the rest of the trip would go well. =)!