I have become a regular fixture at Fei Fei tailoring on Sundays, where I either go to be refitted for my suits that keep getting bigger, or to help someone else pick out a suit. It's a wonder I've made it this far though, considering I've only managed to learn "two buttons" and "three buttons" in Chinese and occasionally, if the wind blows the right way, I can remember the words for pants and jacket. Despite my horrible grasp of Chinese, I have still managed to have two suits made and assisted in picking out two suits and a tux for Chase, a suit for Will and a suit for Zach. I might be unstoppable if I could actually speak the language. On second thought, I might just be wearing well fitted clothes and have no money. It’s going to be strange to come home to the US and not make a weekly visit to the tailor.
Chase and I also decided to take advantage of the “Best Brunch in Beijing,” at the Westin Hotel. Compared to the 3 RMB I might have paid on the street for an egg crepe-like thing, my Sunday brunch was a bit pricey, but when I considered it was all I could eat and drink, I couldn’t pass it up. And like I said, living large here just doesn’t cost nearly the same as it does to do at home.
We decided not to act like we were brunching at the Golden Corral, so we paced ourselves and took advantage of each and every delicious option that the Westin provided. There was no need to bring back all of our plates back at once (and even if we had, the fine service people probably would have whisked them away to make more room), so we took a stroll around, mapped out our strategy and then enjoyed the novelty of eating with a fork.
We started with a quick peruse around the cold section, which featured delicious seafood and salads (it’s so hard to find good pasta salad in China). Chase raved about the corn salad with mint, which may very well have been the only thing I did not sample that afternoon. After that, we moved onto the grill for steak and scallops and then for a brief respite with fresh fruit and cheese. From there, we did pasta and shark fin soup (which is apparently a delicacy, but has the consistency of mucus, so I will not be repeating THAT) and then some more fruit and finally we moved to dessert, where they offered just about everything you could possibly want, all meticulously displayed and delicious. While my dad would argue that cake in a shot glass should really only be called "hint of cake," I would argue that cake in a shot glass merely gives you the opportunity to try lots of different desserts, without getting too full.
The Westin also features some really fabulous entertainment, so we got to watch performances by mimes and knife throwers and Peking Opera dancers. My favorite entertainment though, was the man who kept coming back to take shots from the bottle of Smirnoff vodka artfully displayed I the ice sculpture close to where Chase and I were sitting. This particular gentleman elected to get his money’s worth by drinking it, so he came back every twenty minutes or so. He looked to be in his mid-thirties and kept bringing an older guy with him, who I thought might have been his boss, but he introduced him to someone else as his father. At one point he knocked a bowl of fish eggs on the floor, only to pick them up and put them back on the counter with the dirty spoon in them. It’s a good thing I wasn’t really feeling any fish eggs or sushi, though I did feel bad for the poor unfortunate soul who came up behind him. I didn't see anyone come searching for fish eggs, but something tells me that the busy bee workers at the hotel whisked them away while Chase and I were searching for more food.
After brunch, we sat on the squashy couches in the lounge and watched the world go by for a few hours and then wandered around the luxury goods mall.
And now I need to figure out how to maintain such a lifestyle when I do not live in a developing country.
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