Sandra Jacob and Abhilash Kandathil hail from Trivandrum in Kerala, India and have been living in Beijing for five years. Both of them work as project managers in Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk division. They came here when Abhilash got a job transfer from Thomson Reuters’Bangalore office. Their son, 11-month-old Abraham, was born at Amcare Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Recently, beijingkids caught up with the Kandathils to find out what this young, dynamic family likes to do in its spare time.
Best Venue for a Special Occasion
China Grill at the Park Hyatt; it’s quiet and the night view is spectacular. It’s also special to us because we celebrated our first wedding anniversary there.
Family Ritual
Every Sunday, we go to the South Cathedral in Xuanwumen for the 10.30am mass.
Date Night
SALT in Lido. We like its proximity to us, prompt service, food, presentation, and setting.
Favorite Neighborhoods
Sanlitun and Lido
Favorite Summer Activities
We enjoy alfresco meals and go to nearby parks for evening walks; Si’de Park in Lido is our favorite. We used to go to Olympic Forest Park, but we haven’t gone there yet because of the rains.
Recent Discoveries
Green Tea Restaurant at Shimao Department Store. It had delicious food that didn’t burn a hole in our pocket.
Best Day Trip
We love the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall and have been there in every season except winter.
Favorite Way to Relax
We often treat ourselves to massages at Hummingbird in Central Park or Oriental Taipan’s Dongzhimen branch. If we’re too bored to cook, we head to The Taj Pavilion in Lido or Alsafir on Xiaoyun Lu.
Best Places to Play
Outdoors, we love the bustling atmosphere at the Temple of Heaven. Indoors, we like going to the play area at Hualian Mall in Wangjing.
Favorite Family Restaurant
Let’s Burger at Solana. They have clean highchairs, child-friendly cutlery, and a changing
table in the restroom.
photo by Lova
This article originally appeared on p96 of the beijingkids August 2013 issue.
Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com
