Happy 31st, Grant!

August 2014:

Happy 31^st, Grant!  
30^th in London, 31^st in Beijing…let’s keep this going! 

A few of our Chinese friends were kind enough to organize a lovely night out on Grant’s actual birthday. 

We sipped a few cocktails at the Grand Hyatt (one of our favorite bars in the city), then made our way over to one of the most famous hot pot restaurants in the city. 

We had a spectacular meal filled with some interesting dishes (we’ve had to become pretty adventurous over here…) – that, paired with the flowing baijiu and good company made it the perfect birthday celebration in Beijing.

Even though the Chinese aren’t too keen on sweets, I decided to bring a cake along…I mean, you have to have a birthday cake, right?!  I really just wanted an excuse to explore the bakery down the street…it teases me with its mouth-watering aroma every time I walk past it :)

Well, little did I know then that it’s Chinese tradition to not eat the cake at a birthday celebration, but smash it in each other’s faces!  Haha  Luckily, I managed a few bites of the delicious cake before it was snatched from my plate!