Hotel Kunlun

When Kevin and I lived in Beijing back in 2006, he worked at a law firm, and I worked in a fabulous 5-star hotel across the street. We got to live in the hotel as part of my wages ("So I don't have to pay you as much money!" were my boss's exact words during my final interview), and we loved eating at the amazing restaurants. While I was planning this trip to Beijing, I looked into staying there, but it's quite a bit out of our price range. We did go to visit, though.

I have a few coworkers that still work there, and my plan was to go in, talk to the front desk, and then have them call my old office to see if I could go visit. But as I was walking in the revolving front door, a coworker I remembered actually walked in right beside me. He called another coworker, and we chatted for a while. They got Penny and me some juice at the lobby bar, helped me make reservations at one of the hotel restaurants, and were just gracious all around. It was great to catch up and chat with them.

Penny enjoyed watching the pianist in the lobby:

But she thought she could probably do just as well herself:
I love this flower arrangement on the table as you walk in to the lobby:
We had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant. I forgot to take any pictures, but it was lovely. There is a harp player in the center of the restaurant, and all the tables circle the outside. I remember loving one of their desserts, but the menu has changed a bit. The dessert I loved was tapioca with coconut milk and chopped fruit over the top. What I ended up ordering was tapioca with coconut milk and beans and corn over the top. I rearranged it and added my own fruit, and then it was pretty good. Kevin ordered what turned out to be a tiny pile of rice with sweetened-condensed milk and coconut milk over it with some mango slices. It was good, but a bit pricey. We loved that restaurant and went a couple times every week. The menu has changed, and it's a bit more expensive than we remembered-- but then again, we ate there for free when we lived there. It's hard to beat that!

The next photo is a tribute to my terrible photography skills. There are always fantastic cars parked outside Hotel Kunlun. When I arrived, there was a bright orange Lotus Elise parked in front of the fountain. As Kevin walked through the parking lot, he passed a yellow Ferrari. By the time we finished dinner and I got out my camera, there was this Aston Martin, as well as the black Bentley, which you can kind of see behind the fountain, to the left a bit.