VacAsian Day Five (Wednesday, 7 May, Beijing)

We arose early this morning (thanks to Robin's pesky and unshakeable military habit) to a gray sky over China's capital city and our first glimpse of Beijing by day. The post-dawn hustle and bustle was not so much unlike that of any major city in the US, except that there were an appreciably larger number of Chinese citizens.

We had breakfast at the Made In China restaurant in the hotel, where Huey tried cucumber-celery juice. Trying to place the not unpleasant (but also not terribly appealing) taste, Huey was compelled to acknowledge that "it tastes like cucumber." So there you have it, friends: if you've ever longed for the refreshing flavor of cucumber, but found actual cucumbers (cu)cumbersome and to require too much chewing, our friends in the East have, once again, found the solution!

Still wound up from our trip, and having no planned events until that evening, we opted for a day at the hotel's Oasis Club spa. Robin enjoyed a 60 minute traditional Chinese massage and a 90 minute manicure-pedicure package and Huey endured a 90 minute traditional Chinese massage, complete with VERY intense accupressure, which we both appreciated immensely, and which we followed with a lengthy nap.

As many of you know, the catalyst for our VacAsian was the requirement that Robin attend a week-long international seminar in Beijing as the final requirement of the University of Texas at Austin Executive MBA Program. Robin decided when she began the program almost two years ago that she would extend the week in Beijing in to a longer excursion throughout Asia, and when Huey wisely hitched his wagon to her Superstar, he joined in the planning of what has developed in to the vacation of a lifetime. The international seminar kicked off tonight with a Welcome Reception for Robin's classmates, their partners, and the faculty of the Beijing International MBA Program (BiMBA), who would be facilitating the seminar. The food was delectable, the desserts scrumptious (but no CAKE!!!), and the program ambitious.

Ironically, our evening ended with a movie on HBO about how the bird flu spread from Asia to the United States. Peking duck, anyone?