The Peking Duck Experience

Ces and I showed up at the Made in China restaurant for our 8:45 p.m. on Monday, May 12, Peking Duck experience.  Not being into ducks, this was going to be our first experience.  What better place to savor a Peking Duck for the first time but in Peking (now Beijing), China!

We were both anxious, not really knowing if we'd like the taste.  What a pleasant surprise.  It was really, truly delicious.  The skin which we were told to dip light with white sugar tasted better than the crispy lechon (roast pig) skin that is a Filipino delicacy to die for.  In fact, we liked the duck much better!

We thought we'd have rice with the duck.  But no, our waitress Cathy showed us how to spread the paper-thin pancake and put in the meat that you flavor with plum sauce, garlic sauce, thin slices of cucumber and leeks and roll them up.  Voila!  You start helping yourself with it using the chopsticks.  We actually, loved them!  We loved them so much, we finished all the duck!  Whoa, poor Peking Duck!  It's now dancing in our stomach!

We started the dinner with a spicy hot and sour soup and waited a while for the chef to carve the duck in front of us.  In simple strokes, his razor sharp knife produced thin slices of duck meat.

Ces wound up her dinner with a well-presented serving of fresh seasonal fruits and a passion fruit sorbet and coffee.  I finished mine with stir-fried vegetable enriched with thin slices of garlic and dried shrimps.  I loved this one, too!

Passing by the lobby on our way up to our room, a trio of singers caught our attention.  We decided to sit down for another round of coffee and dessert.  At the break, the trio came around and introduced themselves.  They were Filipino singers, Conservatory of Music graduates of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.  Armando and Maricel Aguilar are married to each other.  Janet (Family name?) was the third member.  They had a pianist and a guitarist with them.  They are booked to sing nightly for six months at this Hyatt property.  They have a long-term contract to sing at Hyatt facilities in Southeast Asia.  They just finished their stint in Indonesia.

This was a night to remember.  What a Peking Duck experience!