Aster Hotel Suzhou

... talking/arguing/convincing, she finally told me rationale behind it. apparently the accountant thinks that e-tickets/receipts can be used more than once but a boarding pass is only good once.

so i hurried back home, desperate to find any boarding passes. boarding passes are usually the first things i throw away when i'm traveling. when do you ever need it after you travel??? at all the previous places i've worked at, an e-ticket is more ...

... what's changed? what's remained the same?

lil was telling me that she had a friend in australia that just recently left the states. as a joke, she asked her friend what's changed back home? it's only been a year so how much could have really changed, right?

well her friend tells her that blockbusters don't really exist anymore. like a lot of other stores, they're all closing, and selling their dvds for $1. and you can rent movies at these machines all over the place ...

... refreshing experience in my opinion. I mean, most years i do the routine two family dinners, both a little boring and containing not near enough booze to get me through happy and content. Also you could never play a decent game of Trevors Ass at a family dinner haha. Trev i'm hoping you'll read this because then at least one person will get my joke! But anyways, great night, great company, and great laughs =). 
Happy turkey eating!
-B

... is now. The garden is separated into three principal parts, east, central and west. The eastern section has colourful flowers but is of less interest than the other two.

We enjoyed a cruise on the one thousand year old Grand Canal then went to an embroidery workshop and had lunch at a nearby restaurant.

That night we took a taxi to a shopping area and checked out the local shops, found a KFC and had a burger for tea.

... from Shanghai and known as a garden city. The traffic is horrendous and road rules are very limited, there are push bikes, motor bikes and scooters everywhere, helmets not worn and even the babies are taken on the bikes and held by a parent. Enjoyed a walk along the street dodging the bikes parked on the footpaths and taking our lives in our hands when we crossed the road, even when it's on a crossing with the green light.

... hostel when the friend arrived. Not only did they help me get to my hostel but they walked with me to a place where I could find something to eat. I was so fortunate (and grateful) to run into such nice people. Suzhou is a very nice city and what is especially nice is the location of my hostel here. I am right on a relatively narrow "pedestrian only" street called Piang Jiang that goes right by a water canal. In Suzhou and the surrounding areas these water canals ...

lacey's friend phil is over in china right now, visiting. they spent a
week in beijing and are now spending the rest of his trip (another 10
days) traveling around the surrounding areas. since none of us were
working together, leah and i tagged along. today, we decided to go to suzhou.

i love traveling with white people in china. you're allowed to break all kinds of rules with no one harassing you. they just ...

... on a bed which surely didn't have a snip of padding on its mattress. Suzhou is famous for its gardens which are sprinkled all over the city, some are tiny, some huge. I developed a strange interest in silk after visiting a specialist museum. I spent my evenings relaxing in tiny, lovely coffee shops and just thinking about the fantastic sights I've seen during my time in China and planning my next adventures. New Year's Eve was spent alone in a ...

... and we were able to leave Shijiazhuang and travel on our own to other cities because of her skill with Chinese. As an aside (or soapbox), learning a language as an adult is the wrong age. Why don't public schools in the U.S. start formalized training of a second language with kindergarten? We shouldn't be debating whether to make English the official language, but pushing for bilingual education at an early age like what's done in China and Europe. However, I know learning Chinese ...

... wandered about, usually by accident, but there just wasn't much spare time. Hence, the following shots are a bit of a motley collection of various sporadic wanderings. Suzhou has a fairly good central city (lots of DVD's!) and some really spectacular gardens. Its not that I've gone all cultured and sensitive, its just that they are incredibly well landscaped. They're ...