Favorite Restaurant Day pt.2 (Best Service Ever)

China is not known for it's good service. People at shops/restaurants throw you your change. They look at you with glares. As an American, sometimes I think , "well, I don't think China will ever beat the US if they can't understand customer satisfaction" (OK, I'm making huge generalizations here).

So, I had a jaw-dropping service experience today and it wasn't at a Michelin 5* restaurant or The French Laundry. It was a neighborhood hot pot restaurant.

I arrived and put my name down. They gave me number #228. I looked up and saw a digital screen flashing #85. "How many people are ahead of me?" I asked the waitress. "About 25". OK, I guess her math is off... ignoring the first 2... 28-85=43 people ahead of me. A long wait, but doable.

So I enter the foyer. The first thing I see is about 20 folding tables. People are sitting at them, playing cards and eating snacks. There's a 'snack bar' with fresh shrimp chips, banana chips, soy milk, fresh fruit, etc. Waitresses are walking around handing out tangyuan (mochi) soup. Just past this is a station where women are getting complimentary manicures. A waiter comes to us, "you should take your daughter to the playground." We figure it's too cold outside to walk to the nearest neighborhood playground so we ignore him.

After 30 minutes, I ask another maitre d' if it's a long wait. If so, then we can go to another restaurant. "Oh! It must be so difficult to wait with a baby! Now they're only on #105 and you have #228. I'll see what I can do." WHAT?!? 117 people ahead of me?!? "Yes, don't worry, most don't endure the wait so that's actually only ~30 tables."

True to her word, the maitre d' seated us 5 minutes later (by then, at least 10 service people had already greeted Æ and she's playing with a free rattle that one gave her).

It's hard to describe it all, but it's just amazing: a cheery towel lady greeted us and repeatedly supplied us warm towels. We asked for lean meat and our waiter went out of his way to find us the leanest cuts (and asking for our approval). Our noodle hand-puller put on a fun show (like tossing a pizza, only it's noodle) which reduced Æ to giggles. Then he gave the long noodle dough string to her to play with. "That's on the house. I'm going to do another one for you to eat." She was thrilled.

(it was then that I noticed that they had a playground upstairs. Nice!)

At the end of the meal, we had loads of leftover uncooked veggies and asked if we could take our soup base home to do hot pot at home. "No no, that is already used. We'll give you fresh soup base." 2 pots full! As we exited, Alice saw the "snack bar" and asked if she could take some fruit. "Sure," exclaimed the same maitre d' who helped us cut 100 spots in line, "let me get a bag." Rather than giving us an empty plastic bag, she gave us a full bag of snacks. "I went ahead and just prepared it for you."

Finally to top it off, so impressed by the service, I asked if they sold gift certificates so I could give them to my friends and colleagues. "Oh! We're so happy that you found our restaurant! Please just take this as our gift! Tell your friends about us" She pressed 500 RMB of gift certificates into our hands (our meal was only 250RMB).

We were amazed. And now I'm blogging. It's good service that totally made my day.

Haidilao 海底捞火锅(牡丹园店)
#2 HuaYuanDong Lu, Mudanyuan, Haidian District
(100m N. of Mudanyuan Hotel)
海淀区花园东路2号(牡丹宾馆北)
62033112

Favorite Restaurant Day pt.1

Today we had our Favorite Restaurant Day. It wasn't planned that way... it just became so in hindsight.

We planned to meet our friend, Alice, for lunch so I tried to make a reservation at Time Cafe. Unfortunately, their phone was disconnected so I asked my friend if they shut down. "No, no" she replied, and the SMS'd the chef directly to make a reservation for us. Alice canceled, but with Time Cafe's phone out of commission and us not knowing the chef's personal number, we decided to still go.

I forget how much I like Time Cafe. The last time I went was for my birthday. Æ was less manageable then. Now, she can share our meals and it's more fun.

The food was amazing. It started with a lovely green salad with mango slices, topped with a perfectly pan-fried fois gras, which was then topped with a crispy tiger prawn. The fois melts on your tongue, it's so good. Slo had a caesar salad; the dressing had a tinge of mustard. Yum.

For our main courses, I had a duck confit and Stephen had a beautiful filet mignon, topped with fois gras (decadent!).

The chef is the ex-chef for, I think, the China World Hotel. It's obvious that this restaurant isn't about the "let's make money". It's about a passion for the art of cooking.

Photos to follow.

The restaurant isn't listed in The Beijinger (the leading expat magazine) so here's the details:
Time Café 食客满源咖啡厅
Rm.1038, 3/F, Bldg 10, Jianwai SOHO, 39 Dongsanhuan Zhonglu,
CBD/Guomao
东三环中路39号建外SOHO10号楼3层1038
5869-3488
~100 RMB/pp

If you visit us in Beijing, this is probably where we're headed...

A Beijing Stye (pt. 1)

When I was about 8, I had surgery to remove a stye. I had lots before then, but after, they stopped. Looks like the genes got passed down.

Æ has her first major stye. When you google about what to do for a stye, it says "put hot compresses on it". Ever try putting a hot compress on a 16 month old? I liken it to trying to put an eye patch on a lizard. We can do it for about 20 seconds and then screaming ensues.

We took her to a doctor in Bangkok who prescribed her eye-drops, ointment, and augmentin. It didn't help. The stye has since gotten quite large and red. So, last week we took her to Bei Yi San Yuan (Beijing University #3 Hospital). It has a nice eye clinic.

The doctor says that she should have an operation. "It's too big to treat with medicines now, but I understand your hesitation. Don't worry. There's no rush." Truth be told, we're a little nervous about having an operation in a local Beijing hospital. We're not actually scared about the procedure itself. Cleansing a stye is probably the simplest of simple operations. However, putting a 16 month under general anesthesia is daunting. Couple that with not knowing the language, and now we're really hesitant.

We'll see what happens...

Getting my daughter's passport

OK, this posting is just for my reference in case I have to do it again.

When I was 35 weeks pregnant, I went to Taiwan where I planned to have my daughter. 35 weeks was the last time that they would let me fly.

Issue #1: MOM GOING TO TAIWAN
The week before I was leaving, I realized that as a US Citizen, I could only go to Taiwan for 30 days. I would need more than that to have my baby. As a result, I would actually need a visa. Lo and behold, no visa to Taiwan could be procured in China (after all, Taiwan and China are the same country, right?)

Mom in Taiwan:
1) Arrive in Taiwan on a 30 day landing visa.
2) Go to the hospital for your prenatal check-up. BRING YOUR PASSPORT. Get a doctor's certification (from the desk near the cashier) saying that you can not fly.
3) Do not go to the immigration office. They will send you away.
4) Go to the Foreign Ministry. Bring passport, hospital certificate, some passport photos and a visa application form (you can get it online, or get it there). I went on ~day 25 of my visa.
5) Get lots of stares at your big belly. A lady will take sympathy and "see what she can do". Two days later, I came back and my passport had a visa extension for 30 days. I think it cost $60.
5) Later, write a "Power of Attorney" so that your mom or dad can get an extension on your behalf every 30 days (since you'll be the mom of a newborn)

Next, have the baby. The hospital gave me a birth certificate in Chinese. I needed to make a special request to have it in English. Others told me this could take up to a week, but I got it in a day. Also, the hospital will give you several copies of a birth record. These have a stamp. It's important to save these for later things. It's not the same as a birth certificate (it's more important).

Issue #2: BABY'S CITIZENSHIP
Actually, this was pretty easy. In Taiwan, there's no embassy, but there's something called AIT. You need to make an appointment w/ AIT on their website beforehand.
1) MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE. This was a royal pain because we had no idea where ours was. Luckily, my father-in-law went to the OC Courthouse and got another one (I think his name was on it, otherwise, he would have needed a notarized Power of Attorney - which we would have gotten at AIT) and my uncle happened to be coming to Taiwan and brought it over.
2) Other things to bring:
- birth certificate from the hospital
- both parents' passports
- if one parent is not American (not applicable in our case), then the other parent needs to show proof of residency for at least 5 years (at least 2 years after age 14). I think a W-2, bank statement, gas bill, or cable bill suffices but probably W-2 works best
- baby photos
- form to get a Birth Certificate, form to get a Passport, and form to get a SSN (opt'l)
3) Everyone go to AIT (mom, dad and baby)
4) Wait until they call you. Give them the paperwork and tell them how many certified birth certificates you want (we got 5). Wait more. Change a poopy diaper downstairs.
5) They will give you the birth certificates on the spot.
6) Take some form downstairs to the courier and tell them you want the passport sent to your address
7) All done!

Issue #3: BABY'S TAIWAN VISA
I don't really remember what we did here. After we got baby's passport and my 30 days were almost up again, my dad went to the Foreign Ministry again and got her a visa extension and got her a visa. I think he just needed to take her photo, passport, power of attorney form, birth certificate, and hospital birth record (very important).

Issue #4: BABY'S CHINA VISA
Right, so remember that Taiwan and China are one country? If she were a Taiwanese, she could have applied for a Taibaozheng, but as a US citizen, she needed a good ol' fashioned visa. But what is that you say? Oh yes. I forgot. One country means there's no China embassy/consulate in Taiwan. So make sure your return flight goes through Hong Kong!
1) Go to Hong Kong. I arrived at 10pm and hoped I would be able to submit this at 8am, be done by 5pm and on a flight by 10pm the next day (thus being able to use my 'stopover' airline ticket). No such luck. Visa takes at minimum 24 hours to process.
2) If you have a baby, STAY AT THE RENAISSANCE HOTEL. It's expensive, but it's across the street. And with a baby and pregnancy pain and everything, you want to keep "walking around" to a minimum.
3) Get in line. Go early. The line is long. I think you have to get in it before 11am.
4) Bring your passport (w/ visa), your baby's passport, passport photos, and the form (you can find it online).
5) Bring SOME FORM FROM YOUR COMPANY (that has a company seal) that says you are working in China. I think this was procured from the Labor Ministry.
6) Make 2 copies of everything (they require it). Drop it all all off (I don't think they kept my passport, though. Just the copy) and get a claim ticket.
7) Come back the next day and pick up baby's passport w/ new visa (good for 30 days).

Issue #5: BABY'S VISA EXTENSION
When she gets back into China, she has to do the regular PSB registration, as well as convert her 30 day visa to the same visa as mom's (or dad's).
1) Go to your community paichusuo and register (ours is in the building next door). You'll get a small white slip. Everyone who comes to China and doesn't stay at a hotel has to do this, supposedly w/in 24 hours of arrival.
2) Let your company's admin handle the rest. I think she takes the slip and goes to the Foreign Ministry Place near Yonghegong (All foreigners are well acquainted with this place). She then will magically produce a visa for the baby.
3) Every time you renew your visa, you need to renew your baby's visa too.

Car Seat Rules

OK, this is just for my information. We've been traveling, and now with a daughter, we have to worry about carseat regulations.

US - yes, a carseat was needed. You can get it w/ the rental car but we just brought ours. On both int'l and domestic flights, it didn't count as a check-in.

France - yes, a car seat was needed. They said it wasn't necessary in taxis though.

Korea (Seoul) - no, a car seat wasn't required.

China (Beijing) - no car seat required (for that matter, neither are seat belts). In cabs, your seat belt is probably covered by a seat cover and totally inaccessible.

Taiwan (Taipei) - to be determined.

If my daughter had to name animals...

We were reading in Genesis about how God had Adam name all the animals. If my daughter had to do that, they'd all be named "yat-dat!" She loves to crawl around and point to things and yell "yat-dat!" (If I don't retrieve the "yat-dat!" for her, she just gets louder about it).

It's a good thing God made Eve as a helper for Adam. Otherwise, maybe all our animals would be called "yat-dat!"

Happy Birthday Æ!

Yesterday was Æ's first birthday! Delinquent parents that we are, we celebrated by taking her to Dintaifung. We're not usually super dumpling fans, but Æ was born in Taipei and I did my yuezi about 1 block from the original Dintaifung, so it was a little nostalgic.

Like a champ, she ate a few dumplings (resulting in major farting this morning). One down... 17 to go. I hope they don't all go by as fast as this one did....

No Access

It's been a while since the last posting. Reason being we've had no access to this Google affiliated online service (I hesitate to mention key words for fear of further cens0rsh1p). This along with several other social networking services have been blocked as of late for one reason or another that would never be confirmed. So this posting comes to you from an undisclosed location whose facilities bypass certain restrictions :)