Autumn in Beijing Day 3 - SUMMER PALACE + SILK MARKET

It's our last day in Beijing. Morning 'til lunch was spent walking around Xidan trying to find authentic dumplings, however, we didn't find any. We ended up having early lunch in McDonalds. Then we took the subway to Xiyuan station, the station near the Summer Palace.

Xidan mall - look at what each floor is called

longest escalator in Asia (and probably in the world)

McDonald's - Chinese style

Before going to the Summer palace, we had lunch in Pizza Hut, located right outside the Xiyuan station. We loved their Peach Fruit Tea!:)

 finding a food place

super love! Peach Fruit Tea!

After lunch, we walked going to the Summer Palace. It was really a huge castle! There's a lake inside the huge compound, and there were lots of rooms. It really felt like we're being toured through history. There were also a lot of tourists there, and we were so happy that we saw a group of Filipino tourists...for the first time in our 3-day vacation there! haha!

 outside the palace

 that's really huge inside

 so many Lotus plants

woods effect lol

sorry...lots of photos of me haha! 

 set the camera timer and this was what we've got!

 boats that move around the lake

For some reason, we didn't know who's dressed appropriately haha!

It was a tiring yet interesting tour. We headed to the Silk Market for our last-minute shopping. But when we got there, we decided to have dinner first. We finally found a dumpling restaurant! After dinner, we only had an hour to shop since it's about to close. We bought some souvenirs like fridge magnets and shot glasses. And for "pasalubong" to our friends in the Philippines, we went to the grocery to buy Pejoy (green tea sticks) and Jasmine tea. But just a tip in shopping, don't believe in the first price that a vendor gives you. You can keep haggling 'til you get satisfied with the price. After that quick shopping, we rushed back to the hotel to pack our stuff and catch our flight back to Manila.

 Silk Market (like 168 Mall in Divisoria)

 we finally found a dumpling resto

 pretending that we got scotch (when it's actually soda lol)

lovin' Authentic Chinese Cuisine!:)

We took a cab from the hotel to the airport. Unfortunately, we got down at the wrong terminal so w had to take the free shuttle going Terminal 2. We made it just in time! However, after 30 minutes of waiting, we were informed that our aircraft had problems so we had too wait for 4 hours for another plane to arrive. yes, our flight got 4 hrs delayed! Well, that's the downside of riding budget airlines like Cebu Pacific. We only got noodles/sandwiches and softdrinks/water from the company while waiting. It was such a nightmare! Thank God for the free wifi and charging ports in the airport that saved me from boredom.

planking in the Executive Room of Grand Mercure