I am finally home and my gap year is finished after all this time!
I shall start from where I left off, so we spent 2 nights in Hangzhou. The weather was a little rainy actually but we stayed in a really nice hotel with a great breakfast. We had a bit of confusion with our hotel and though that we were in a hostel nearby but we got there eventually. We spent our day there walking along the West Lake, where we saw a Pagoda. The area was generally very pretty even if the weather was a bit glum. We walked for about 2 hours and our final destination was an Ajisen where we had our vegetable ramen as awlays :)
The next day we moved on to Beijing and took the 300kmph train for 6 and half hours. The journey felt pretty long. At first we though our hotel was pretty far away from everything and we got a very expensive taxi (well £5 but expensive for China anyway!), but in the morning we found a nearby subway after all and also an Ajisen! We were so happy lol.
We went to a theme park which was a hilarious rip off from Disneyland. It had a very similar castle and characters and the slogan was 'Disneyland is too far away, please come here!' we went on quite few rides. Some of the indoor rides you walk through weren't that great but we went on a few fun rollercoasters.
We also met Marlon's dad for dinner three times in the evening. The best meal was at a great sushi place with a famous japanese chef who had come to China. I had some reeeally tasty veggie sushi. I don't think I will ever get bored of sushi!
We also saw the famous sights of the Forbidden City and Tia'na men Square. The square had pretty high security unspurprisingly. The first time we tried to go to the City we were too late for the day so we went back the day after. It was very big and we didn't see half of it in the two hours we were there. The weather was a lot cooler in Beijing and I finally used my jeans. It was almost cold!
The most surprising thing was that Marlon actually ended up coming back with me to London to try and apply for a uni course! Its great having him here. I guess that's the very end of my gap year and I start university in a couple of days now. I am very ready to start but am so glad I took a gap year. From France, Finland to China it was all a challenge but all fantastuc too.
I guess the next chapter begins now with starting university!
Bye byeee xxxxx
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Shanghaiiiiiiiii and Suzhouuuu
You’ve guessed it! I’m now halfway through my 2 weeks travelling with Marlon. We travelled on the same flight from Nanchang to Shanghai, after spending one night in Nanchang. It was quite a mission to get there as the bus from Taining to Nanchang was fully booked to se ended up getting a bus and a taxi which was really expensive. We also had to get up at 4o’clockish as our flight left super early.
Once we were in Shanghai we checked into the international youth hostel we were staying at. It was actually a really great place with a cool bar, nice garden and glass panelled walls downstairs with Buddhist quotes on it. Also had great acoustic music playing all the time and generally a nice feel to it. We stayed in Shanghai 9 nights in the end, so had enough time to have a good look around Shanghai and visit lots of places. The first day we visited the ‘Jade Buddha Temple’ which was a beautiful place which had some great tea that I bought! We visited another temple too a different day called the ‘Jinga’an Temple’ which was nice too but kind of under renovation at the time. We also saw the Shanghai museum which had some interesting exhibitions such as sculptures, paintings, stamps and calligraphy. One of the best trips was to the Shanghai zoo which was pretty expensive but definitely worth it, there was lots too see and I saw a panda eating bamboo which was pretty cute. The only downside was the ‘pets’ section which had a load of dogs in little cells which all looked pretty malnourished and badly kept, which was pretty sad to see But at least they were for sale I guess! Another great day was the last day when we went to ‘Dino Beach’ a big water park. There were lots of slides, a huge wave pool that Marlon loved and a veeery long lazy river. We found a great tag line for it online which said ‘the beach is fake but the fun is real!’ One night we went to the cinema to see ‘Source Code’. The seats were pretty unusual as they were more like 2 seater sofas which was funny.
We had more good food, quite a bit of sushi, a veggie stuff. We also found a great Japanese ramen noodle place called Ajisen which did a great veggie noodle dish we loved that we probably had about 7 times for lunch or dinner over the nine days we were there. It was just that good! We will try and search for an Ajisen in Beijing! We also found a juice and smootbhie bar that did great mango smoothies (we are kind fo addicted to mango smoothies) and also some more unusual Mochi (Japanese gooey sweet thing) flavoured smoothie which we also had quite a lot. Mmmmmmmm it was tasty. There was also a really snazzy cheap bar down the road that had great cocktails that we went to a few times. My favourite was the strawberry margherita.
We visited the different districts too such as the French District although that was a bit of a disaster as we walked around for so long trying to find places on the map that we just gave up in the end. We did find a big supermarket with Rose wine though so that was one success. An area called the Bund we visited was much better it was a long the waterfront with Shanghai’s business centre on the other side so I got some great photos from there in the evening. We got cocktails in a bar outside just by the water which was really nice, especially with all the ships going by in the dark. I think the only other place we visited was the Science museum. It was way more interactive than the London one with soo many crazy games and exhibitions. We went on a ride that took us into someone’s mouth and through their body showing different parts of their insides. We also did a crazy shooting game that involved us getting into a simulator thing that spun round as we shot a target. It was meant to show how astronauts get used to living in a moving shuttle, as their aim goes off completely to start with. We also played some archery. My first arrow didn’t even reach the target lol but I nearly got bull’s-eye the second time ;) The coolest interactive thing was when Marlon and I had to sit at each end of a table and put straps on our heads that measured the BETA waves from our brain. BETA waves increase when you concentrate and we had to concentrate on a ball in the middle of the table and the strap measured our level of concentration. We then moved the ball by concentrating on pushing it to the other side and it would move in the direction that the person concentrating the most wanted it to. I got pretty competitive lol and won in the end.
Yesterday we arrived in Suzhou pretty late and checked into our hostel. This morning we had breakfast (I’ve been having muesli most days which tastes soooo good after Rising Dragon) and then headed off the Lion Forest Garden. It was a beautiful Chinese garden and I got lots of nice photos. It had a coy carp pool, lots of pretty buildings and a maze or misshapen rock that you could climb all over. We then went to the Suzhou museum which was actually designed by the same Chinese man who designed the Louvre so pretty impressive. We plan to go out tonight for some drinks and then probably visit a temple tomorrow before heading off to Hangzhou. The Old Town area we are in is so lovely with winding streets and little wooden shops and cafes. We are right next to a canal with overhanging Willow trees all along it that looks perfect in the evening. They have so many kooky shops as well with quirky little postcards and trinkets. Just the kind of thing I love.
I think that’s all for now, wow this post may actually be the longest ever! I will probably report next when I am in Beijing! Much love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Once we were in Shanghai we checked into the international youth hostel we were staying at. It was actually a really great place with a cool bar, nice garden and glass panelled walls downstairs with Buddhist quotes on it. Also had great acoustic music playing all the time and generally a nice feel to it. We stayed in Shanghai 9 nights in the end, so had enough time to have a good look around Shanghai and visit lots of places. The first day we visited the ‘Jade Buddha Temple’ which was a beautiful place which had some great tea that I bought! We visited another temple too a different day called the ‘Jinga’an Temple’ which was nice too but kind of under renovation at the time. We also saw the Shanghai museum which had some interesting exhibitions such as sculptures, paintings, stamps and calligraphy. One of the best trips was to the Shanghai zoo which was pretty expensive but definitely worth it, there was lots too see and I saw a panda eating bamboo which was pretty cute. The only downside was the ‘pets’ section which had a load of dogs in little cells which all looked pretty malnourished and badly kept, which was pretty sad to see But at least they were for sale I guess! Another great day was the last day when we went to ‘Dino Beach’ a big water park. There were lots of slides, a huge wave pool that Marlon loved and a veeery long lazy river. We found a great tag line for it online which said ‘the beach is fake but the fun is real!’ One night we went to the cinema to see ‘Source Code’. The seats were pretty unusual as they were more like 2 seater sofas which was funny.
We had more good food, quite a bit of sushi, a veggie stuff. We also found a great Japanese ramen noodle place called Ajisen which did a great veggie noodle dish we loved that we probably had about 7 times for lunch or dinner over the nine days we were there. It was just that good! We will try and search for an Ajisen in Beijing! We also found a juice and smootbhie bar that did great mango smoothies (we are kind fo addicted to mango smoothies) and also some more unusual Mochi (Japanese gooey sweet thing) flavoured smoothie which we also had quite a lot. Mmmmmmmm it was tasty. There was also a really snazzy cheap bar down the road that had great cocktails that we went to a few times. My favourite was the strawberry margherita.
We visited the different districts too such as the French District although that was a bit of a disaster as we walked around for so long trying to find places on the map that we just gave up in the end. We did find a big supermarket with Rose wine though so that was one success. An area called the Bund we visited was much better it was a long the waterfront with Shanghai’s business centre on the other side so I got some great photos from there in the evening. We got cocktails in a bar outside just by the water which was really nice, especially with all the ships going by in the dark. I think the only other place we visited was the Science museum. It was way more interactive than the London one with soo many crazy games and exhibitions. We went on a ride that took us into someone’s mouth and through their body showing different parts of their insides. We also did a crazy shooting game that involved us getting into a simulator thing that spun round as we shot a target. It was meant to show how astronauts get used to living in a moving shuttle, as their aim goes off completely to start with. We also played some archery. My first arrow didn’t even reach the target lol but I nearly got bull’s-eye the second time ;) The coolest interactive thing was when Marlon and I had to sit at each end of a table and put straps on our heads that measured the BETA waves from our brain. BETA waves increase when you concentrate and we had to concentrate on a ball in the middle of the table and the strap measured our level of concentration. We then moved the ball by concentrating on pushing it to the other side and it would move in the direction that the person concentrating the most wanted it to. I got pretty competitive lol and won in the end.
Yesterday we arrived in Suzhou pretty late and checked into our hostel. This morning we had breakfast (I’ve been having muesli most days which tastes soooo good after Rising Dragon) and then headed off the Lion Forest Garden. It was a beautiful Chinese garden and I got lots of nice photos. It had a coy carp pool, lots of pretty buildings and a maze or misshapen rock that you could climb all over. We then went to the Suzhou museum which was actually designed by the same Chinese man who designed the Louvre so pretty impressive. We plan to go out tonight for some drinks and then probably visit a temple tomorrow before heading off to Hangzhou. The Old Town area we are in is so lovely with winding streets and little wooden shops and cafes. We are right next to a canal with overhanging Willow trees all along it that looks perfect in the evening. They have so many kooky shops as well with quirky little postcards and trinkets. Just the kind of thing I love.
I think that’s all for now, wow this post may actually be the longest ever! I will probably report next when I am in Beijing! Much love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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