We joked around that this trip is the 2nd annual "A team" gathering. Last October, a small group of Elaine's colleagues were invited to her boss' home in Bali. This year, most of them gathered again in Beijing.
The main event for the trip is to attend a Jean Michele Jarr concert at the Forbidden City. Eric managed to get his hands on the tickets which are not publicly available. He also arranged for an activities packed Beijing experience for all of us.
We started with a hike on the Great Wall. Ashley & I climbed the same part of the Wall in 1996. After our legs became a bit wobbly, we headed to the Commune by the Wall for lunch.
Then we risked our lives on horse back to reach the "authentic" part of the wall (pre-restoration). Other than Fritz and Eric who managed to look like they were in control of their imported race horses, the rest of us accompanied by horse trainers walking by our side. Very comical indeed.
In the evenings, we headed for all the clubs on our list in the order of Good, Bad and the Ugly. Utlimately we always end up back at Susie Wong's.
October 2004
After climbing the wall, we stopped at the Commune by the Wall for lunch. Each villa was unique and designed by a different archietct. Elaine stayed at the Bamboo House in March 2005. Now....let's go ride some race horses!
