Beijing - a once a lifetime trip

Did I mention that Communism played a big part in my life? I grew up in East Germany, so was a Young Pioneer at school, queued up outside stores for canned pineapple, oranges and bananas, did not know what a kiwi was until I was 9 years old.

I am fascinated by Communism and especially countries, where it is still active. Today, I will fly to Beijing for a week and I am excited, a bit nervous and feel incredibly lucky. You see, the lucky bit is that I have to pay fuck all. My company is sending me for training, it's a 3 day course and because of the timing of the flights and by adding a couple more days to sightsee, I will only fly back next week Sunday. I want to do so much! The Great Wall, Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, eat Peking Duck, maybe do Tai Chi in one of the parks in the morning.

There's a plan in my pocket to keep me from stuffing my face with food and going overboard and I even found  meeting in Beijing that I plan on going to. I'll call people, do step work, read literature, write out my fears etc. I feel ok about this.

The last few days have been sane too from a food perspective. I had the odd snack that wasn't in the plan, but I don't have to be perfect.

I'm still in bed as I write this, so will get my butt in gear, have breakfast, finish packing, run to a meeting and then head off.

Just two pictures of my meals the last few days:

Breakfast whilst working from home - fried egg and avocado on brown soda bread.

Lunch of crunchy veggie salad with meatballs and a horseradish & goats cheese drizzle.