Meeting of Reykjavik Breidholt Rotary Club in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove
in Rotary

Yes, no error here!
We had already met the delegation of the Rotary Club in our lunch on 15 October, see earlier post.

This time, H.E. Stefán Skjaldarson, ambassador of Iceland,  and his wife Mrs. Birgit Nyborg invited several of the Beijing Rotary members to his residence for a buffet reception. The occasion was a rather official Rotary meeting of the Iceland Rotary Club. The Club delegates made a couple of Icelandic speeches (now that was worse than a Chinese dialect for me!) and gave their banner, Club hat and some beautiful stone eggs to the ambassador and his wife. I tried to figure out first if they were Iceland dinosaur eggs but that was wrong, what a pity. But the eggs were really great pieces of art … I love stones…

Many thanks to the ambassador, all the Rotarian friends from Iceland for their hospitality in … Beijing!

InterNations Beijing: “the” Oktoberbierfest!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Sometimes pictures talk more than words.

On Sunday 13 October over 200 members of InterNations Beijing filled a private tent in Paulaner (Kempinski Hotel). It started 12:00 (lunch) and according to the brave, it went on till 8 pm.

Lots of Paulaner beer, German sausages, fun performances by the German performers who managed to get the timid Chinese into some more lively action.

As said, the pictures talk! No comments!

Rotary lunch: 3 ambassadors!

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove
in Rotary

On 15 October our Rotary Club of Beijing had its weekly lunch, this time we were honored with the presence of three ambassadors: H.E. Manuel Valencia (Spain), H.E. Stefán Skjaldarson (Iceland – a Rotarian) and H.E. Sèdozan jean-Claude Apithy (Benin, member of our club). That guaranteed a pretty full house for once.

Also, a group of Rotarians from Iceland visited our club, exchanging banners and introducing their clubs. As Sergeant-at-Arms I had a hard time reading their names but one of the Iceland ladies graciously volunteered to help me pronounce at least the first names.

The speaker of today was the Spanish ambassador who gave a rather optimistic picture on how Spain is economically improving and could regain its glamor. We certainly need some optimism in Europe…

Beijing can be a fun city: see here why

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Life in Beijing, never boring, despite our daily griping…
See some shots.

With my daughter we tried the new Friday restaurant in Shimao Shopping Center (Gongti Bei Lu, opposite the Jingkelong Supermarket. We stuffed ourselves with really great spare ribs (yeah, dabao was needed!).
If you want the juiciest hamburger in town with some creative beer, head to Greatleap Brewery, near the Holiday Express in Chunxiu Lu. Mostly completely packed, noisy and filled with happy customers.
Then the birthday dinner party of my friend Judy, in the Scarlett (Hotel G). Great birthday cake by the way…
And Stella Artois continues to flood the beer market. Even the rather wild and super busy Heaven Supermarket (Sanlitun, opposite the Bentley store) was doing a promotion. Not sure the crowd was paying much attention while emptying massive amount of Hoegaarden, Duvel, and many more imported beers at rock-bottom prices. The place is now gearing up for the winter season. Do not ask if they have any license do anything but hey, we like the cheap beer and food!

My office with the Sony NEX-6

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove
in general

Yeah, adults also have their toys.

I am still struggling to grasp the main points of the 250 something pages of the manual but I am discovering a great camera. Shoots great, especially in dim light. Even if the pictures seem a bit dark, I can adjust them pretty well in my MacBook with the simple Preview program.
See two pics taken in my office from the same location.