Holiday Inn Xiaoshan Hangzhou - Hangzhou

Please look at the video on this blog for a bit of a walk-around and reflections by me.

Last night we went to a Korean do-it-yourself restaurant. Basically you are given the food raw, cooking utensils and a barbeque and you do it all yourself. It was much more fun to do it this way. I did most of the cooking given my experience of cooking sausages and the like. We ordered Beef, Corn ...

I started the day with a chocolate muffin and hot chocolate from Starbucks. The man at the counter could speak some English, so he knew exactly what I wanted . After that I walked to a garden of the Westlake called Singing Willows. It was somewhat interesting and I spent my time trying to take interesting photos. Following that I went to the supermarket to get some snacks. It is ...

... can walk in, what they are and how much they cost as its all in Chinese.

I decided to walk back and come for lunch and just as I got to the place where I started looking, there the restaurant was! How annoying. For lunch, I had a relatively expensive beef, potato and celery dish and then looked at the shops. I saw a lolly shop and got some of those nice jelly beans. Bubble Gum and Tutti Frutti and none for Tarquin and Dad, what justice!

Today I walked for a while and ended up at Broken Bridge. The sight itself isn't so spectacular, it really is just a bridge, but is a very popular love story in chinese folklore. The story goes that two lovers met on the bridge but then the girl was banished to a temple so they couldn't see eachother. That isn't really the whole story, but I have forgotten it now. From the sounds of that its not so happy, but I think there is a happy ending.

Got a few more waves and ...

Hangzhou is still cold but there is a development, there is now little bits of rain here and there, so my waterproof jacket is coming in handy.

Today I walked around the West Lake by myself and took some pictures and videos which you can see if you click on them. There are less people walking around given it is a work day, so mainly just ...

... is a challenge in itself as there arn't many breaks in traffic and the next pedestrian crossing is sometimes a fair walk away. Dinners continue to be a mixture of many different foods, but seem to always feature rice, chicken and beef. I am certainly not going hungry and havn't been to McDonalds once.

Today we walked on the other side of the west lake near where I am staying and took some beautiful pictures of the lake. Unfortunately the area is in constant fog, so it ...

... very happy to see me. She hasnt seen many foreigners in her lifetime.

The next night we went to a fancy restaurant which is called 'Grandma's'. There is usually a 40 minute wait to get in, but the cousin got there early and her husband picked me up. They order many different foods once again, such as fish, chicken, rice, pork and so on. We also got some potatos shaped as a face, in ...

... one is required to fill out a long form with 2 carbon copies. Then, there's at least 2 other forms to sign (I have no idea what they say). The teller then stamps each piece of paper with a heavy round stamp in several places, then folds the papers very meticulously. They then stand up each time and make a photocopy of the passport EACH TIME (I went to one bank literally 4 days in a row, and each time they made a copy of it....) The whole process takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes ...

... away right in the middle of the vows. Needless to say the people were very angry and chased after the monk. Within minutes of them chasing after the monk a mountain came flying through the air and landed right where the people had been holding the wedding festival. So as it turns out he had saved them and they were then very thankful and honoured the monk. This is the legend about the mountain on the way to Lingyin temple. There are many caves and pathways under ...

After a much better sleep on a soft bed. I had breakfast in the hotel resturant which mainly consisted mainly of berad and jam. I love the bread here, its so light and good!! We then got into a coach that took us to the big Westlake which is one of the major attractions here, it is surounded by hills and gardens, its banks are dotted with temples and pavilions, or that is what the trip notes say, and i find that to be true ...