Renaissance Suzhou

... 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>

... late and kept acting a bit weird and then virtually rammed a chinese fag in my mouth (which are gross..way too strong)! and lit it before I could exhale..I was getting a bit freaked out as I was desperate for a wee and he wouldn't let me go until I had smoked the cigarette! (and all I kept thinking was 'but I'm 28 years old and you won't let me go for a wee..there's something seriously wrong here)! Then he dashed off and and I was well confused ...

... strict. Leaving here was quite difficult, not because we loved it so much but due to lack of information and incorrect advice. There is apparantly a boat to Suzhou but good luck finding it, instead we hunted down a bus from one of the 4 bus stations, of course we went to all of them before arriving exhausted at the right one. Suzhou once known as Venice of the East due to it being built around a series of ...

... for the blue skies above. <br><br> <br> <br>I then joined the crowds on the streets and made my way towards the Blue Wave Pavilion (Cangland Ting) which is found down near the corner of Renming Lu and Zhuhui/Xiish Lu and across the road there is an old Confucious Temple. To enter the Blue Wave Pavilion you have to head down a little street that has a ...

... were to attract other fish there. We bought some lovely souvenirs there before we left, and had New Zealand Natural Ice Cream (of course) for lunch. On the way back to Shanghai in peak hour traffic our driver decided to have a shave! I am just grateful it was a man, I'm not sure a woman could shave her legs and not crash the bus! Only in China!

... O'Briens at Melbournes 'South Gate'. After a few New Castle Browns we moved onto the British Bull Dog as Oscars big screen was buggered. The British Bull Dog was another cool environment. Where Oscars was brightly lit 'The Dog' was dark, but the beer was cold and just as expensive. The big screen was big and the footy was on. There was only one problem! The problem was the ...

Communicating with the Chinese is my number one obstacle. I went for a walk today, and some shopping came out of it. From the famous riverside Bund, I walked North. I passed a book store a few kilometers along and bought a Chinese-English dictionary for four dollars. It immediately came in handy for asking the way to the WC. I just had to look up the word and show it to the bookstore staff. Some may learn to speak Chinese. I, on the other ...

... 3AM. I grabbed a cab, which was just a guy and a girl in an unmarked car (completely sketchy) and come to find out, although when I was asking them how much the ride was, they had no idea where the hostel was. They were actually really nice, and we tried to talk as much as we could. Finally we get to the hostel at 4AM, and the security guy at the front desk points to a piece of paper that says "Reception hours: 7AM to 2AM." So I pull out my reservation ...

... the amazon river - very stroppy they were too. By this time it was sunset so it was straight up the Jinmao tower (4th tallest building in the world) to watch the sun go down over Shanghai - spectacular. As a little treat we decided to hit the bar on the floor below the observation deck to watch the bright lights of the city, the views were amazing - if you've seen mission impossible 3 you'll have some idea of how good shanghai looks at night. The ...