This week in China

I must being at the beginning...

The Swissotel (My Current Living Conditions): Well what can I say. I get hung up on when I order IRD, there are no F&B standards that are followed. Its a little sad. But the topper of it all. I have had breakfast every day at 720pm. Everyday the same host asks me my room number and if I am with Fairmont. Once, just once, REMEMBER who I am and just say good morning. Once, please! Or I might start making up room numbers.  Also every day the same kids calls me a taxi and asks me where I am going.  I actually yelled at him the other day because he just had no idea where I could be going.  "The same place I go to every day at 8am - give me a break here"  He had no idea I was angry.

The Fairmont Beijing: The hotel it's self is beautiful. Italian marble covers nearly ever surface. All spaces are open and have great flow. Everything is very feng shui and I can not move any furniture. The building has two towers the Reignwood Building and the Fairmont Building which are joined with a section of building holding the spa, fairmont gold and the pool. They are owned by one man - Dr. CC (Not what he is called to his face). I get the impression that he just wants a hotel to show that he can have one. He also have a personal Opera theater in his building and Placido Domingo on contact to come sing for him. This theatre is one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever seen and It's hard not to sneak in at the end of a long day and just sit on the stage and sing. Dr. CC made all of his money because he invented (and marketed very well) Redbull. So opposite the Fairmont sign on the building is a massive Redbull sign.

The Flaws: Well, construction workers here have NO attention to detail. Floors are not flat, walls do not always meet flush with the adjoining walls, they forgot to (just ignored to) put in grease traps and kitchen drainage. It's fun. We have no water or consistent power in our main kitchens as of yet. It's pretty difficult. Also from an H&S standpoint this place is a mess. Marble floors in the bars and no matting. Heavy doors that open to kitchens and debussing areas that have two and three steps directly outside the door. So dangerous. My favorite! Fire doors everywhere! That can not be propped open and do not stay open if you try because they are so heavy. They are not marked whether to push or pull and are often locked. SCARY! We have not gone through any fire training but hopefully will this coming week post the Mandarin Oriental fire.

Some getting used to: No one eats dessert in this country. After 5 days without a piece of chocolate I started to go a little nuts. Yesterday I went to the market to find a Dairy Milk and YES I was successful. But in general no one eats dessert - ever. After dinner fruit is customary - and that is why they are smaller here! New York Cheesecake does not exist. The food is amazing everywhere. I went to the Grand Hyatt to have dinner and see the lounge. We have almost a copy of their restaurant concepts. We had Peking Duck, jelly fish, pigs ear, fried whole fish, and some chestnuts and cabbage. Everything was amazing. The lounge "Red Moon" was a beautiful bar. It was long and narrow and to well laid out. The bar sold sushi and cocktails, they had a great whisky list (must have imported many items). They also had a cigar space with a large selection of cubans, red leather chairs and the best ventilation system I've ever experienced. No smoke lingered in this space at all. As an overview the people here are very gracious.

Ok... that's about it for me. My wake up call will happen in about 10 minutes. Its the part of the day where a lovely asian woman SCREAMS at me "It's 6:30 perfect, wake up call" and hangs up. If I didn't want to wake then, I'd have no choice. It's like my mother is here to get me out of bed. 10 minutes later a second call will come even if I dont want it, and I'll get screamed at again "2 time 6:40 perfect, Wake up call".. I'm up I"m up!

I miss you all so much. I'm all adjusted and comfortable. I can find my way around through the building, and the teams know who I am. It's great. I've made a few fast friends. This weekend I have rented a driver for the day with a few others and we are going to the wall, and the summer palace.