Tuesday, November 29, 2005

25th November - Hangzhou, Shanghai

Today as u might have predicted was the best sleep i've ever had. Pity though because we had to leave early in the morning so we could visit a few sightseeing destinations before heading back to Shanghai. Since we didn't use the breakfast coupons for breakfast the hotel let us use it for the hotel bakery, that's where i stumbled upon these:



OK, so perhaps its not such a big deal, but I've NEVER SEEN THEM IN CHINESE before so let me be! XD


First stop was Liu He Pagoda. Liu He Pagoda is a really old chinese pagoda which was destroyed and rebuilt several times.



From the outside appearance the pagoda looks like a 13 storey pagoda. When a pagoda is built, it is either 13 stories for royalty or 7 stories for commoners. In the case of Liu He Pagoda, the outward appearance of the pagoda shows 13 stories whereas inside it only has 7 stories. So don't ask me what it means - i don't know. Katy mentioned something about how its a pagoda built around a pagoda or something like that.


China's secret nuclear cabbage program outside LiuHe Pagoda

Liu He Pagoda is a hexagon. The 6 sides of the pagoda are meant to represent thr 6 directions of buddha- heaven, earth, north, south, east, west (forgive me if i'm wrong). The pagoda was built by the order of Wu King with the intention of scaring of evil spirits and tidal waves with his magnificent structure.


Ancient love messages etched onto pagoda by love-sick monks

When we finally reached the top of the pagoda (dad counted 234 steps) we got a view of the area around the pagoda as well as the Qian Tang river.


Left: Hip hip hooray!! We reached the top!
Right: Poledancing, big one too :p Now we know what entertainment the monks enjoyed


The Qian Tang river is supposed to be only a branch of the Huanghe river, but its SO DAMN BIG. Shudders me to think of the actual thing.


Left: LiuHe Pagoda surrounded by forest.
Right: View of Qiantang river and a 2 level bridge (1 for vehicles, 1 for trains).

When we had all come down from the pagoda we had a quick rest at the wonderful green vicinity of the pagoda.


Traditional music played in the LiuHe garden
I only noticed this when i was viewing the photo - the flutist doesn't have pupils O.o

Having missed a proper breakfast, we had a big brunch and then hurried off for a quick stop before we headed out of Hang Zhou.


No wedding here. During lunch and dinner time this restaurant is fully packed!

The Broken Bridge is one of Hang Zhou's famous bridges that revolve around a famous romantic tragedy of Madam White Snake. The broken bridge is the actual place where Lady White and Xu Xian meet.


Broken Bridge. Sadly most of the lotuses were dead due to oncoming winter.

The bridge is so named because during winter when the snow falls on the briddge there is supposedly an illusion that makes the bridge seem broken. Another reason is that the White Causeway from the Solitary Hill was cut off here....dun ask me what that means :S

---

The trip back was a long one, and when we reached shanghai dad had to go to the MAS office to change some ticket stuff. Eventually we reached the hotel pretty late.


Overturned truck on the way back to Shanghai

Dinner was at South Beauty once again in Super Brand mall, but this restaurant was on the absolute top floor - the 10th.


Da Bao (takeaway bag) for Uncle Kuan

This restaurant was a bit more high-class than the other restaurant we went to in Super Brand Mall. The only sad thing is that some of the food was a bit spicy. I like spicy, but i can't handle too much :(


Dinner setting


Open kitchen. SO MANY CHEFS!!!
note: some have red collars some have blue collars



Left: Chili display at the main entrance to restaurant (of course fake chilis lah!)
Right: One of our dishes, glutinous rice balls or something like that, sweet, light and tasty. YUM!

"We are all victims of casuality. I drank too much wine, I must take a piss. Cause and effect." Merovingian


This is the urinal for the restaurant...i just find it weird... I guess girls wun get this, but to the guys..
I'M MEANT TO PEE ONTO ICE!!??

No comments: