requsting to check-out Beijing's most happening "young" clubs in Gongti ..... Wudi on Wednesday night took this middle-aged tubsters to Club MIX and Vic's - the hippest two clubs in town at present ... loadsa cute cute young chicks on view throughout the evening, had this fatboy in serious drooling mode all night long ....

boy, besides  his obvious wushu mastery .... Wudi can sure do his stuff on the dancefloor too .... he was teaching me and then encouraging me to shake my stuff along with him ....... i assure u guys it wasn't a pretty sight - though it was great exercise or me ...... haha!

we had a great time and downed many a bottle of "Heiney" - they really weren't cold enough (a problem with many bars and restaurants in Beijing) .... finding ice cold beers in this town is a rarity ....

Thanks Wudi for showing me a fun fun night ......

before my current stint living here a wee while, i had previously visited Beijing 4 or 5 times on short biz trips during the past decade and hadn't been a fan of the taxis here (they seemed old, tattered, with no air-con and seemingly always coupled with rude incoherent drivers) ..... that was until this time round .... the huge improvements in the last year or so have been quite phenomenal .... all-in-all now, in terms of value (meter starts at 10rmb), spaciousness, comfort (not including the old Citroens), driver courtesy levels, professionalism and the newness of the cars ..... in my humble opinion, Beijing's taxis are probably the best in Asia (though Shanghai isn't bad either).

all of the new taxis coming out are either Hyundai Elantras or Volkswagon Jettas .... though there are still some of the older and smaller Citroens and the larger Hyundai Sonatas (very comfy if u can find one) whizzing around too.

Hyundai - Elantra

Volkswagon - Jetta

the drivers' level of English comprehension is still an "amusing" worry as the Olympics loom ..... but the drivers are trying hard.... recently, several seperate drivers on noticing that i'm an oddbod from outta town, have tried to converse with me from the "terrible" Putonghua --> English pinyin English translation sheet that the Government have provided to all drivers for them to learn basic English phrases .... it's quite charming and heartwarming, even though you will barely understand what they are trying to say ......

Beijing drivers these days are a nice breed ...... generally very polite, friendly and professional ..... in my 6 months here, not a single driver has tried to rip me off ....I will miss Beijing taxis!

i'm not looking forward to having to pay for Hong Kong's $16 starting meters and constant meter jumps every few seconds once again soon ...

the below pic is especially for Wendy, and of what people call "mian bao che" (bread cars - as they look like a loaves of bread) .... they are "officially" illegal one-person moto-taxis ..... so, they don't dare go long distances, but only charge and standard 5rmb a ride for around local areas .... lovely, fun and cute!

it's Wimbledon day2 tonight (i don't enjoy watching it like i use to in my younger days - when i was transfixed to the TV for two weeks solid evey June)..... maybe it's just me getting longer in the tooth, now just pining and reminiscing for the good 'ole days of  yesteryears past .....

just seems that with the increase in prize money in the game of professional tennis over the last 2 or 3 decades ..... there has steadily been a decline in the level of showmanship, outrageous behaviours, crazy personalities, heated rivalries and iconic superstars in the game.... now they are all seemingly gone ... all the fun, excitement and my love for the game gone too!

watching the clinical and robotic skills of the likes of today's best ... Federers, Nadals, Djokovics, Sharapovas, Ivanovics  .... they just cannot compare to the 90's bunch of Sampras, Agassi, Ivanisevic, Graf even Hingis....

i'm not even starting to mention the golden years of tennis in my mind of the 70's and 80's when tennis fans were gifted with the likes of Borg, Conners, Nastase, Vilas, Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Evert, Lendl, Noah, Edberg, Becker, Mecir ..... and can there ever be another player so huge for the game as "Johnny Mac" McEnroe? ....... i really doubt it!

i would really like to enjoy watching tennis again in my lifetime ......... in line with my sentiments, the Watson's Water Challenge has from year to year got shittier and shittier, from the time i have been in Hong Kong since1996 .... hardly any of the top ATP players bother to compete anymore ....SIGH!

.... and there is Rod Laver too .....

i have missed my cats so much whilst i've been in Beijing ...... thanks to my friends May & Erica who have helped me look after Monty (white/boy) & Tiffi (tortoise-shell/girl) for the last few months ....

Pappy will home soon kitties .......

NEW king prawn burger rolled out across China by KFC in the last couple of weeks .... scrumptious!

the advertising ....

the real thing ....

-- burger pate made from 7 x big bugger prawns surrounded by more minced prawns ....

-- premium price at 15.50 rmb ........ top of the range "junk food" -- haha!