Citadines Suzhou Xinghai

... enough.

an hour of tossing the apartment later, i went back to work with three boarding passes. (thank god i travel so much.) got one from my trip to japan, singapore and taiwan. the one for taiwan was over 8000 rmb so that should be good and enough, right?

wrong! went back to the accountant and she said that the one for singapore was from a long time ago- she said a year and a half ago. the others were also old- japan was a year ...

so it's official. i have less than a month in china now. and not surprising, it's beginning to affect my sleep. i woke up this morning at 7. my first class isn't until 1 p.m. so why was i up so early? because of stress and anxiety. despite my better intentions, i always procrastinate til the last minute to do everything. preparing for home hasn't been an exception.

i finally bought the final leg of my trip today. from nyc to nola on 11/17. so i'll be in ny for a week hanging out ...

Today us canadians celebrated Thanksgiving! you must be thinking, "rice on thanksgiving? that's ********" but no my friends we had a TURKEY! And stuffing and potatoes and gravy, oh my god i'm the fullest i've ever been in my life! It was one of the best nights i've had so far actually, I really don't think i've laughed as much as i did tonight since i've gotten here so thats always a plus =). Celebrating thanksgiving with friends is quite ...

A rainy day today due to a typhoon but didn't hinder our day. We visited the Master of the Nets Garden and the Humble Administrator's Garden.
The Humble Administrator's Garden was established in the 16th century by a retired magistrate, Wang Xianchen, and developed over the years as subsequent owners made changes according to the fashion of the day. A 16th century painting shows that originally the garden was less decorative than ...

We leave Shanghai at 9am for Suzhou on the way we visit a water town established about 700 years ago and check out some of the old homes of the wealthy people back then that are surrounded by water canals. We then take a boat ride along the canals.
Had a lovely traditional dinner including a pig hock cooked and marinated in like a soy sauce, it was very nice.
We check into our Suzhou Hotel - Suzhou is about 1 and a half ...

... but nowdays usually go shopping or sightseeing) and half of Suzhou had decided to do the same thing as us. We also visited a well-kept secret - the Pingtan Muesum where you can watch a performance for 1 pound. We also visited the Silk Museum and spent a relaxing afternoon in the Lingering Garden. Watch the VIDEO of the performance at the teahouse!

... br>after spending hours at the bookworm, we headed over to the suzhou museum, my first museum in asia. it was the last thing i.m. pei did before retiring so it was artsy, clean and modern. we got an english headset and were on our way. spent another few hours browsing through the various stuff they had there. it was amazing to see some of the dates on the exhibits. spring and autumn period. oh, that's only from 1500 or so BC! and to see that the ...

... of the sauces that are on the table. It really is the Fondue of China. Each boiling vat has a mixture of ingredients when it is first brought out to the table that help flavor your food. These might be as simple as some spices, some nuts, some meat, or... as I found out that night... animal parts. At one point, I audaciously dove into the not-spicy vat for a bite, digging deep down, in the far corner, hoping to uncover some well-marinated Fish ...

On Monday night most in the group are tired so I head to the Garden of the Master of the Net by myself. It is about a 10-minute walk. Chinese gardens for the uninitiated look nothing like a garden in the West as there is more of an emphasis on rocks. Small pavilions will be scattered through a garden and these buildings are built with the idea of being harmonious with nature, and they must have windows that offer views of the garden. The goal is to make ...

... and tried to collect our thoughts on the pavement. 2 minutes of looking lost in China will pretty much guarantee you quite an audience, and soon enough we were trying to interogate the locals as to where we were, and whether they could help us. Which just as soon degenerated into lots of smiling and comparing of heights... We eventually found our way out of that with ...