Food in Beijing:

Breakfast: I normally have one or all of the following -

1. Fruits - Mainly bananas, apples, grapes and plums .. You get lots more in the supermarket, such as peaches and pears .. I love those fruits but to be truthful, I am too lazy to peel them!
2. Fried eggs (with or without toast with frozen butter) - It is the simplest and quickest to make - takes approximately 3-4 mins
3. Toast - With sliced (if i am in a hurry) or spread cheese (if I am not) or strawberry jam (awesome)

Lunch: Have started getting lunch in Justin's apartment, where we have got a cook in, but before that I used to normally have the following (in the restaurant right across office):

1. Rice ("mi fan" in Chinese)
2. Free chinese tea ("mien fei chha")
3. Vegetables - Mixed vegetables, egg plant (never liked it so much before), some green leafy vege, string beans (cooked in Sichuan style, this is my favourite - Have taken over the leftover home a couple of times for dinner)

But...now I get a wide variety of vegetables with rice and since Aude (a Swiss Trainee at Lowes) and I are vegetarians, we get 3 vegetarian and 1 non-veg dish (as a consolation to the others - some times they dont even get the priviledge of that one!). Some of the veges are:

1. That green leafy vege (again) with tofu
2. Celery
3. Onion with tomato gravy (I love this one)
4. Cauliflower with tomato gravy
5. Beans
6. Egg plant (I like the way they make it here)
7. Some vege like "toru" / cucumber
8. Pumpkin

Dinner: It just happens to be out most of the time. Recently, I have been to Subway (twice, coz you get a Veggie Delite which is a pretty filling and cheap option), Souk (you get lebanese food like pita, hummus, falafel and also pizzas and pastas) and Grandma's Kitchen (western food - english breakfasts, pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, burgers, gingerale, lemonade, etc.). Justin and his wife treated us at the Grandma's since me and 2 colleagues of mine had to stay in for overtime. So.. you know what follows ...... .... I hogged!! I had half a 12" pizza, sizzled vegetables with egg and toast, tomato with vege soup and a lemonade!!

But in the event that I have to have something at home, I normally have what Sumit and I cook on Sunday (if there is still some left) like egg curry, aloo ka sabji (Sumit cooks these and it turns out just right!), gajar matar and gobhi (these turn out just about edible as I cook them) with rice (the pressure cooker got spoilt as I tried cooking the rice once, forgetting to put the water in, I haven't got it repaired as yet and therefore, I haven't been cooking rice for the past one week!) or roti / paratha (something I discovered in the nearby convenience store). The rotis are like a boon. They are 1 kuai each and enough for 1 meal.

Fillers: All the junk you can possibly think of -

Biscuits - I like the Ritz strawberry ones
Rice / Millet chips
Muffins - These are my favourite, but the most expensive as well

Conclusion: I am always hungry and I am a hog!