So last spring break, I was hired to shoot a children’s birthday party for 2 cute adorable boys, aged 1 and 3 years. It seems they are very fond of monkeys, thus monkey t-shirts, monkey cupcakes and a big monkey birthday cake.

It was a beautiful blue-sky day and it was warm and spring was just about to arrive, everyone is in good spirits and the kids were having a lot of fun.

Lee enjoying his cupcake

The birthday party was really casual and kids seems to enjoy themselves getting dirty and running around the playground. I think every kid should have a superhero costume once in their childhood! (I remember I had a Superman costume borrowed from my brothers while my female cousin had a Supergirl costume complete with Little Twin Stars red boots!)

Here’s the rest of the photos from the party:

Oh well… time to write myself a “Dear Future Self” to remind me of some things.

Charlotte, my boss’ daughter, who is in Grade 4 is quite flexible as you can see.

It’s great that Beijing has bike lanes and flat, pothole-less roads. But with regards to reckless drivers who back up from a bike lane (or even on the expressway for getting on the wrong exit #@^%&), or for not turning on their lights (even just park lights, man!) in the dark, or for neglecting to turn on their blinkers when doing a turn, or those who constantly honk their horns just for the sake of honking, or for those who overtake you just to pull in after a few meteres of overtaking – Be|j|ng, or Ch|na for that matter, has a long way to go.

But enough of the rant. Some photos from Saturday with the HTC Desire.

Matchy-matchy green jacket and green socks. The brighter, the better.

Hello there, sexy biker. Peter looking at Google Maps.

We packed cold noodles for lunch at the antiques market.

Open air antiques shopping. Just 1/4 of the whole lot.

Random watches, rocks, films, jewelry. Last time we went there, we saw marble penis.

Bought a dozen big pins for 2RMB.

Boxes and boxes of carving tools.

I spy Mao.

Three years ago, these rows of stalls were full and bustling. Now it’s mostly empty. Sad.

Spotted twins. Pete was about to take a photo but they left because of the big-nosed foreigner.

It’s SPRING WOHOOO!!!!!

Unfortunately, we were only able to map our ride on our way back from Decathlon, where we shopped for some sports stuff before going home. Awesome cycling app from Strava for Android. Yay me for cycling 20+ km round trip, not bad at all!

I just wanted to rave how awesome the hotpot service Haidilao (wiki here) offers. Clarice paid RMB 300++ for a set that consists of hotplate, big metal bowl for hotpot, lots of ingredients (meat, veggies, noodles, sauce etc), chopsticks, free aprons, Doublemint gum, and even a big trash bag. Heard from a friend that you can even ask for a waitstaff to serve for you.

Party of four

The “free” apron that obviously went through a lot of washing.

The aftermath.

A LOT of leftovers, so Pat dumped everything in to cook and kept it in a plastic box to consume in the next few days. I’m sure she’s smelling like lamb meat now.

And then there’s the awesome cake. Clarice somehow managed to scout this made-to-order cake from this “bakeshop” called Sweet Tooth.

It’s Pat’s favorite flavor, peanut butter! Clarice specifically asked for unsweetened chocolate (because she’s not a fan of sweets), so the cake was a little bit bland (for my sweet tooth anyway) but was balanced out by the enormous amount of crushed Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cupcakes sprinkled on top.

For some reason, Pat managed to carve a cave out of the cake.

The balloons started dropping like flies just after less than 2 hours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PATTY!

Are scones supposed to look like this? it’s definitely thick and a little bit moist. brownish color because of the brown sugar. Pretty good, I must say; with apricot spread… but i think it’s supposed to be light and fluffy??

I didn’t bother with exact measurements, and I didn’t have self-raising flour!

Pass? Fail?

Bikes bikes bikes

My very first bike was NOT when I was 5 years old, but late in my twenties, when I came to Beijing last 2008. I remember going with my German friend, walking to Tsinghua University because we heard there’s a good bike shop there. Then she (the German friend, because her Mandarin was way better than mine) was able to haggle the price down to RMB 120 a piece. And then we rode our bikes back to BLCU, with me wobbling and almost hitting every pedestrian because I didn’t really cycle back in the Philippines (if you don’t count the stationary bike); and I was probably just 10 when I learned how to bike but never really owned one.

But anyway, in the course of almost 4 years (?!) here in China, I’ve owned 5 bikes to which only 3 are still with me.

My very first bike bought in Tsinghua University. It was stiff and hard to pedal, and hurts the butt. It’s still locked up in BLCU building 17.

My second bike: bought this second hand, for 100 RMB including the lock. The seat hurts but relatively easy to pedal. I used to bike 5km each way way to work.

And I’ve met the nicest bike repair guy under the bridge. I left it at the old office and never went back to get it.

Spare bike I bought for second hand at 120-150RMB. Still with me but gathering dust. Very comfortable, a little bit too loose to pedal.

My other work bike. Bought for 120RMB second hand with new lock. I bought this so I can bike to and from the subway to my new workplace, which is 1-2km. Unfortunately I stopped using this last December because it was getting cold and I discovered the perks of staff bus! Plus it’s way too dusty in the area where I cycle; just one day of not using it, a layer of dust already covers it. Very smooth to pedal, seat hurts the butt, brakes are crap.

Me and my fixed gear bike. Price is expensivo, let’s just say it still costs maybe 5 times more than the price of my other bikes – combined. Carney paid for half of it. It’s actually already cheap because I bought the frame online for peanuts; but man it’s HEAVY!

Definitely getting an aluminum frame soon (definitely green in color), and thinner rims, and simpler cranksets and nicer seat.

If you’re interested in having a fixed gear bike assembled here in Beijing, check out Natooke!

Boy, was I wrong. It’s deadly cold. :( Although the Harbiners we’ve met along the way are only wearing a shirt and a light jacket. Our driver’s hand was warm, when we shook hands to say goodbye.

Here are some photos from the Ice and Snow World. I didn’t bother with long exposure or framing properly. It was just too cold and we’ve been walking around the whole day.

All in all, it was worth going there, even with freezing hands and feet and wind-burnt cheeks. Although I wouldn’t even think of going there in the middle of December or January as I’m sure temp would be -30C and I’d be very miserable and probably won’t enjoy the ice world.

Tickets is ¥300/each. To know more: here and here.

Especially that my work now is working with a camera full time, dealing with photos and editing, I would rather spend weekends NOT carrying a camera and just relax. But alas, I find myself still bringing my camera with me even when I’m not working.

Though now that I have my sister’s hand-me-down HTC Desire, I’m quite happy with the photos that come out from it.

Here are some photos from last weekend’s workshop from the 5D.

For more information about monthly and weekly workshops, check out Culture Yard’s schedules.

Dashboard Mao