Aster Hotel Suzhou

... parking lot was full of them. We enjoyed the chance to get out and walk on our own for the first time in China. It was also interesting to be somewhere that tourists don&#8217;t typically go. There were a lot of stares and waves from the locals.<br><br>We headed to the top tourist destination in Suzhou next; Tiger Hill. At the top of Tiger Hill is a thousand year old Buddhist Temple, which also happens to have a fifteen degree lean. So not ...

... side of the street are homes, shops, eating establishments, hair salons, a scooter mechanic shop, a small hotel, and many street vendors. It seems like the entire neighborhood is out on the street every morning getting ready for the day. As we turn onto the street we often see a little old lady hunched over as she works on her small garden plot beside the road. A few more meters and we pick up the pace as we pass the ...

Suzhou<br><br><br><br>It is gloriously warm in Suzhou as we make our way to the central park. We find ourselves in "pet shop alley". I am tickled by a minah bird outside a shop which greets us with &#8220;Ni hao&#8221;, We understand the &#8221;Hello,&#8221; but unfortunately can't follow the rest of the bird&#8217;s chat. We meander past the fish tanks and flower sellers but then, unfortunately, our route takes us out of the pedestrian area ...

... It's about a 10 minute bike ride. When we get home, on non-clubs nights, we usually hop on the bus and head to the gym (about 20 minutes away). After working out we'll go to one of the many restaurants close to the gym, and then go to Starbucks for coffee and cake (Starbucks is right across the street from the gym). We then usually take a taxi home (about $2.50CAN). Going out to eat is so cheap here that we rarely cook at home, maybe once a week. <br><br><br>

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! I'm dressing up *s * pir*te / cr*cked out gypsy loh*n, it's pretty legend*ry. Tonight were going to Pulp Fiction, who *re ridiculously nice *nd giving free beer to everyone who is dressed up. It should get f*irly rowdy. App*rently none of the chinese dress up so it's b*sic*lly drunk exp*ts flooding b*r street cre*ting *ll sorts of shen*n****ns. <br>H*ve *n *wesome h*lloween!!! <br>-B

... little while here. But we can't really complain too much because at least we had a beautiful day here, including the pleasure of taking a stunning night cruise along the Grand Canal, past beautifully lit up temples and pagodas and the ancient city walls. Suzhou is another of those cities with an old town consisting of beautiful little cobblestone alleyways and quaint little houses but the difference here was that Suzhou also ...

... And we don't realize how dependent (or addicted) we become to the Web for news and keeping in touch with family and friends. I made the trek to the Cyber Bar three times to post for this blog and check email. It was the only way (other than one phone call) in which I could keep in touch with my wife and find out how much my five-month-old daughter has grown. The Cyber Bar is intriguing - dark, dingy and smoky like a ...

On a foggy saturday morning we set off to a bicycle tour along the shore of lake Tai Hu. It was nice, especially the coke in between. But we have missed a lovely coffee shop with black forrest cake and coffee, or gelato italiana. All we got was a coke and the water we carried all the way.

It's hard to believe I've spent over a week here; time has really flown. At first I wasn't sure if I really wanted to stay here at this school - the administration is pretty unorganized. But I decided to give it a shot, and so far I'm enjoying myself. Where am I? I'm in Suzhou, China, where I will be teaching conversational English to students in grades one and six. Suzhou International Foreign Language School is a private boarding school with ...

... to charge us 10 yuan but we were only prepared to pay 4, and we were in the right. Ten minutes later with resolution even further away, our opponents numbers had grown, as six little Chinese men now confronted us. Eventually, after we threatened to steal their little ID cards, they capitulated. Peters and Eppers 1 - 0 People's Republic of Shanghai. Gaining the equivalent of only 50 pence, I reiterated to Peters, as I did most days, "It's not about the money, its the principle ...