Olas Tapas Cafe and my loooooong walk today

We had dinner last night with friends at Olas Tapas Cafe at The Village, Sanlitun. It serves ... drumroll... spanish tapas and mainly tapas only. There are salads and pastas but no other main courses. Some of the individual tapas dishes are substantial enough to be an entire meal. Just throw in a salad and voila. We had the Lamb chops ( 5chops per serve), Grilled chicken breast with cheese (3 pcs per serve), Grilled tenderloin ( 3pcs per serve), Grilled Pork cutlet ( 3pcs per serve), Andalusian Calamari, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Angel Hair Aglio Olio and a bottle of Spanish wine- Crianza I think.. The wine was excellent. It better be at over 200RMB a bottle. There were 6 of us eating and we all agreed that the lamb chops were really good. They were cooked to perfection! Tender, moist and not too rare. Olas Tapas Cafe is opened by the same folks who run MARE spanish restaurant so the menu and quality of food is pretty similar. Prices too. Tapas were mostly priced between 50-75 RMB per dish. Restaurant decor was heavy on the reds and oranges. I didn't pay much attention to it. There were just 2 things that didn't sit well with me (a) the tables were a tad high especially if you're short like me and you're sitting on the couch, makes eating really uncomfortable (b) the wine glasses reminded me of the ice-cream cups we used to get in Singapore's Swensons. If we're paying a premium for wine, shouldn't it be served in proper wine glasses? While travelling on budget in Barcelona, Daniel & I were always served wine in proper wine glasses even at the smallest, most un-touristy bars frequented by craggy old spanish fishermen. If nothing else, I would go back to Olas for the lamb chops :)

Today, I had to go to the district police station to get my "Registration of temporary residence" so that I can get my visa renewed. Last year, I had the worst time ever searching for this place when the stupid cab driver told me to alight and "simply cross the overhead bridge" to get to the station. Turns out, there is a river after the overhead bridge, and no way to cross it except after a 400m walk! And I couldn't just hop onto another cab because I was stuck within a residential area with no roads. Just dirt tracks!!!! That was the worst day ever. I ended up speed walking for over 30mins, most of it among rundown old houses and construction sites. I don't usually mind long walks but it was 5 degrees outdoors. I was only wearing a tee, short wool coat, short skirt, leggings and boots. COLD and potentially dangerous!!

So this time, I bundled myself in a down jacket, checked out the location and gave precise directions to the cabby. Still had to walk but only about 100m because there was a truck blocking the entrance into the 2 lane alley where the police station is hidden. Ah.. that was another thing that irked me.. why the hell is a police station hidden where people can't find it and where the police cars can't get out?! Thankfully everything went quite smoothly today and that put me in a good mood. I decided then to walk home from the station. The fact that I ate so much last night also prompted this decision. I thought the walk would be good exercise. So off I went... I walked and walked and walked some more... it took me 35mins brisk walking to get from the doorstep of the station to home. After about 300- 400m, I snapped this pix on my mobile. If you're good with your directions and you know where I live, you'll have a pretty good idea how far I walked. I reckon the lamb chops have been "walked' away. You think??