thirty is the new beijing

You may think that the birthday frivolities ended with my last post.  So, look away if you must, for I am going to gloat. Unabashedly, selfishly, gleefully. I'm going to do my best bragging.  The kind of bragging only a woman who's just celebrated her 30th birthday in Beijing can do.

I'll spare you the soliloquies I've dramatized in my head about turning 30, and say simply, "I'm 30?!" Despite my own shock about the combination of date and year on the calendar, my day could not have passed more memorably, more beautifully or more tastefully. It started at midnight on the anniversary of that infamous day with a signature blue box and ended mere hours ago after a limousine ride returned us to our home sweet Gongti Xilu.

I woke early on my day, keeping my promise to myself to go to my regularly scheduled yoga class. But I could hardly contain my ohms anticipating my birthday surprise: a stay-cation, China style, at Beijing's Shangri-La Hotel - the only Chinese owned luxury hotel in Beijing.

glitter and glitz

The twinkle of the lobby was still gleaming in my eyes when we were settling into our premiere room; a  thorough exploration of the room's vast 50 sqm of luxury revealed its marble bathroom the size of my current living room (with a tv imbedded into the mirror), a view of the cityscape and third-ring-road, a king size bed and its more threads than I can count sheets, and a walk-in closet happily greeting us with its lush bathrobes patiently awaiting our arrival.

Another surprise and another signature blue box! This time a gift from my parents. I put on my baubles, and we headed to a lunch of tai basil beef salads with a view of the garden and pavilion. Even on a cold December day the sun was shining and the skies were blue (blue in Beijing!).


After lunch, another another surprise! An afternoon of pampering at the hotel's Chi Spa. My own room, my own steam shower, my own afternoon of relaxation, of Himalayan Healing bliss. I was like buttah.

Should I go on?

After my embarrassingly spoiling indulgent delight, there were cocktails before dinner. The hotel's happy hour showered us with free flowing glasses of Veuve Clicquot for me and Jack and Coke on the rocks for Z. There were little blue dishes of crunchy puffed corn, brie and cucumber tea sandwiches, little appetizers of the Asian persuasion, smoked tuna and creme fraiche, perfectly stacked bright beautiful rings of roasted vegetables, salmon burger sliders, fresh fruit, cheese and honey, miniature seaweed salad dishes, winter melon and beef...

We still had dinner on the horizon.

A happy coincidence of the celebration was my parents' gift to us for our birthdays - dinner out on the town.  With the help of the world wide web, they chose Blu Lobster without knowing that Z was simultaneously planning my birthday at the restaurant's host hotel.

Dinner was divine. Remember that post about keeping meals simple and forgetting the frou-frou of fusion cusine? Oh, yeah. Neither do I.







Under thousands of crystal lights hovering above our heads, backlit in blue, the duck pate, black olive tapenade and pesto were a nice start to the meal.

























The amuse bouche of potato cappuccino was inventive and light.   The tomato soup that followed (two soups, why not?) was simple and a perfect touch to a winter evening. I "mmmm'd" my way through every bite of my lobster cannelloni, but saved room for the banana and chocolate cheesecake. And the wine...

Should I go on?

A birthday cake from the Shangri-La surprised us in our suite after dinner.

This morning, another signature blue box. This time from the whole gang. I sparkle like the blue lights in the restaurant.

Then a breakfast of more house-made goodies, warm baked breads, fresh squeezed juices, dim sum delights, smoked salmon, kimchi, omelets, crisp bacon...Then, without abiding by the rumored 30 minute wait, a private swim in the infinity pool. A dip in the whirlpool, the sauna, the steam room. And then again. Are you full and relaxed yet?

Did I leave the Shangri-La? It's possible I'm still there.

Not just any birthday in Beijing.