{"id":304,"date":"2013-08-18T22:32:12","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T15:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=304"},"modified":"2013-08-18T22:46:53","modified_gmt":"2013-08-18T15:46:53","slug":"haircut-burger-cup-81713","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/?p=304","title":{"rendered":"Haircut & “Burger Cup”, 8\/17\/13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Judy heads out for a haircut.\u00a0 She\u2019s been asking around, trying to find a good stylist, and settled on \u201cAlex\u201d at the Beijing Hilton.\u00a0 She got his name from her middle school principal.\u00a0 It works out well and we\u2019re both<\/span> relieved.\u00a0 The interesting thing about this, and many other similar services, is that customers purchase a \u201ccard\u201d, and load money on it.\u00a0 Then each visit is deducted (at a discount price), until the card needs to be reloaded.\u00a0 Today\u2019s visit was free since Judy purchased a loaded card.<\/p>\n

A BISS faculty friend calls Judy, and invites the two of us to accompany her and her husband to the \u201cBeijing Burger Cup\u201d.\u00a0 When I left DFW, the Burger Championship was just starting up.\u00a0 I read today that \u201cRodeo Goat\u201d beat out \u201cChophouse\u201d from Arlington.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried both, and they are really good.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I\u2019ve landed in Beijing during a similar contest (32 restaurants in brackets).\u00a0 Today is the finals.\u00a0 The final 8 restaurants are set up at BCIS (Beijing City International School) for a \u201ccookoff\u201d.<\/p>\n

We meet Deb and Graham (from Australia), at the subway station.\u00a0 Graham is a \u201ctrailing spouse\u201d like me.\u00a0 They\u2019ve been here for one year.\u00a0 Graham spent much of that time exploring Beijing, so he\u2019s the leader.\u00a0 We get off the train and start walking, arriving after 20 minutes at the school.\u00a0 It costs $18 for two.\u00a0 We each receive a ticket for a burger and a drink, and a ballot.\u00a0 We\u2019re early and the grills are just getting going.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>

One of the attendees – looking for a burger!<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019m the first to try a burger (surprise).\u00a0 I pick out \u201cTim\u2019s Texas Barbecue\u201d, and get a really big burger. It has cheese and a grilled Hatch Chili Pepper.\u00a0 I would have a hard time finding this in Ft. Worth.\u00a0 There don\u2019t seem to be any Texans around, but the manager tells me the owner is from Seguin, TX.\u00a0 He just happens to be on vacation.<\/p>\n

\"I'm<\/a>

I’m eyeing the Hatch chilies they’re grilling, making sure mine gets the proper treatment!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"One<\/a>

One of the sample burgers. After 8 restaurants, a person could get a little stuffed!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"I<\/a>

I didn’t see anyone eating this burger from “Flamme”<\/p><\/div>\n

While we\u2019re sitting, and I\u2019m eating, one of the other burger spots brings over a burger cut into fourths, for us to try.\u00a0 Now we begin to figure it out.\u00a0 Each place has sample burgers, and if you want a really big burger, you can use your \u201cburger ticket\u201d.\u00a0 By the time we sample all the burgers, we\u2019re stuffed.\u00a0 There is a blue-grass band performing, and we spend the evening eating, enjoying the beautiful weather, and listening to the band.\u00a0 We wait for the announcement of the winner and walk out around 9:00 pm.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The end of the evening is getting close.<\/p><\/div>\n

When we arrive at the area around the station, it has been transformed.\u00a0 It\u2019s a large concrete area with landscaping throughout, but now there are crowds everywhere.\u00a0 We head across to the station.\u00a0 We first observe some martial artists practicing, right next to a large group of older citizens singing what sounds like traditional music.\u00a0 There are a two tenor saxes playing the melody, along with some basic percussion instruments., and the crowd is heartily joining in.\u00a0 Nearby, around 40 people of all ages are jumping rope, following a leader, with music, in unison.\u00a0 There, of course, are a few skaters weaving in and out of cones they set up.\u00a0 Next are some traditional dancers (around 20) paired up and enjoying the evening.\u00a0 There is a \u201chip-hop \/ breakdance\u201d group working it out.\u00a0 We\u2019re almost swallowed up by 60 of more couples ball-room dancing.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember any previous time I\u2019ve observed so many people enjoying themselves in so many diverse ways, all at once..\u00a0 None of it seems to be \u201corganized\u201d, but just a regular happening for the neighborhood on a Saturday night.\u00a0 Very fun!<\/p>\n

We catch the train, arriving home around 10:00 pm.\u00a0 We are worn out and stuffed with burgers.\u00a0 Probably no weight was lost today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judy heads out for a haircut.\u00a0 She\u2019s been asking around, trying to find a good stylist, and settled on \u201cAlex\u201d at the Beijing Hilton.\u00a0 She got his name from her middle school principal.\u00a0 It works out well and we\u2019re both … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions\/312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}