Hangzhou - September 2018

Hangzhou (Trip to Hangzhou solo) 1-4 September 2018 Hangzhou Sep 2018 Day 1 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160629486265214&type=3 The day started veryyyyyy early as my flight was at 6.40am. Woke up at 4am, left at about 5.15am and reached T4 in about 15 mins. My mum followed to send me off since I'm alone, and also because she wanted to see T4 but the first thing I did when I reach was to collect pocket wifi (remember to get one with VPN if you're getting one for China so you can access FB, whatsapp and Google especially!), run to print my boarding pass and bag tag and run to toilet as I was having a terrible stomachache. Oh no, all the fried rice, black pepper beef with basmati rice and Minang ayam cili padi and paru belado from yesterday were pushing their way through! Chop chop, then went out to drop my bag at the bag drop and rush to get through immigration with a hasty goodbye to my mum as I had another stomachache. It was Subuh when I reached the prayer room, left my bag there and run to toilet. Drama gils please, just as I was done, the toilet roll finished, luckily I'm done. By the time it was 6am already, which is my boarding time actually, so quickly prayed Subuh and half ran to boarding gate. Turns out there was a slight delay to departure, it was drizzling slightly... the flight wasn't exactly peaceful, I was seated next to a 3 year old girl who couldn't sit still, kept brushing her feet at my side, kept standing up and her mum had to keep talking to her. I was listening to chineseasy podcast to brush up on my Chinese, but fell asleep momentarily soon after eating, but just for a short while and somehow got disturbed again. Then the girl became cranky and started screaming. I was truly cranky too, had to calm myself down with mathurat. Then we all know the drama that unfolds at Hong Kong airport are transited. Oh breakfast from sg to hk was fried rice with sambal chicken, and lunch from hk to hzh was plain basmati rice with dhal and beef rendang. We all know how muslim meal is NOT halal meal, so i avoid the meat on flights unless otherwise specified (for Cathay, moml is only halal to and fro Malaysia, Indonesia and middle east if I'm not mistaken. They declared) so can you imagine, I was technically just stuffing on rice. The flight to Hangzhou departed at about 2.35pm (I thought it was supposed to depart at 2.10pm), I was seated right in the middle, right at the back of my plane. I was so tired that I fell asleep straightaway, know the kind where your hanging head lolled left to right and right to left the whole time haha. Paiseh but I was that tired already. Supposed to reach hangzhou at 4.35pm or so, but we only reached at nearly 5pm and I didn't know there was an arrival card for foreigners that I needed to fill in, was already at the front counter lehhhh, had to fill in back and requeue. Luckily almost the whole plane are Chinese nationals and they have automated clearance, so the queue for manual immigration was short. This and that, looked at the time I wouldn't be able to reach my accommodation in time to pray zohor-asar so no choice did a quick one at a corner of the domestic airport (the international airport is more ulu, small and too open! Harizah, its like Gimpo airport) It was about 6.10pm when I was done. I was supposed to have an appointment at 6.30pm actually... So had to postpone that a little, and decided to take taxi instead of the original plan to take the airport shuttle bus! Taxi cost me about 130 yuan whereas the bus would have cost me only about 20 yuan okayyy. Oh well. The taxi driver couldn't speak English so yea I was just pointing to the airbnb address (we all know how incomplete airbnb addresses can be...) and in the end had to make an autoroam call to the airbnb host to communicate in English and Chinese. The journey was about 30 mins, reached my airbnb apartment (had to show some locals the pic of the entrance to find my way) at about 7.15pm. Showered and out in the streets at about 7.45pm to head to the subway for my appointment! You see airbnb offers these experiences with locals. The last time in Korea, I did the paragliding experience. So I took up 2 airbnb experiences for this Hangzhou trip too. They seem more affordable than those tours offered by tour companies. These Hangzhou experiences are new so I get personalised experience with young local ladies who can speak English! Today's experience involved meeting Jessi and Sundri for a "Chinese For Travelers" lesson. Initial plan was to have the lesson while we walk at Westlake but it was further away so they proposed to go to the Nansong Yu Jie (night street market) and I was thinking, why not, I wouldn't dare to explore the night market on my own since I don't know much about it... They're from Guangzhou actually, but they know quite a bit and pointed out some historical sites and monuments, all the while practising my listening, understanding and speaking skills in Chinese. I took Level 1 Mandarin at NTU last time and well... being surrounded with Chinese colleagues and students at work trained my Chinese too... what I was surprised to hear was that they said my accent sounds like Taiwanese haha! What made me happier was when they said they can't believe my age, they thought I just graduated from uni like them hehe At the very end of the street market, just nice, we passed by halal stalls, so yeay I recce where to find halal food already! And I realised we passed by the street to my airbnb on the way to the subway station, the night market street is actually just one street away! So perhaps ill drop by there again tmr to video and record the things the two ladies showed me today. Oh and yes, where the halal food are is where the phoenix mosque is, I purposely chose this area to stay at for it so hope to get to have another adventure tmr! Right now my head and eyes hurt as they're so tired and my feet hurt too, i think I'd walked 20,000 steps or more but I have no forgot to prove it! Till tmr then! Hangzhou Sep 2018 Day 2 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160631763410214&type=3 Good morning! I'm officially hungry as I was too sleepy to eat last night. Time to try out my Chinese! And nope, this shop doesn't have English menu (ying wen cai dan) huhu, lets just point to whatever seems like jirou mian (chicken noodles) here with the least qingcai (veggies) and point point zhege nage la ah haha After breakfast or shall I say brunch, off we trot to to Westlake! Why "we", cos I don't feel alone with many people following my posts haha, I feel more secure this way, even though I was getting the stares and there were MANY people looking at me when I take photo of myself using the tripod, including a few who look into my camera and tell me whether to move left or right Some more and a few who actually chuckled seeing what I was trying to do haha! Alhamdulillah thereafter was good! Good for scenery photos though it was difficult to get the sun to shine on my face, (tak cukup nur sebab NurHarizah Hamzah not with me maybe) and the heat, oh the scorching sun was relentless! Hope my sunblock works and I don't go home red as a cooked lobster! Westlake is biiiiiig! I spent hours from about 11.30am I think till about 3pm, and I haven't reached halfway it seems! Not very sure as i can't recognise the landmarks very well... there are many stalls and shops along the way, drink stalls, cafes, provision shops, costume stalls (I was tempted but the shopkeepers at every single of such stall are all male so I paiseh la), painting stalls, even silk and tea shops as hangzhou is supposedly famous for these two. There are several historical sites along the way too! I was looking for any suitable spot i can be least paiseh to record a live video, but don't have la, I couldn't pluck up the courage until the very end so yeah, no live videos but the photo updates serve to say "I'm good! Don't worry about me!" especially to my mum hehe. She even gave me tips how to heat up food without microwave hehe. Some people call every night to speak to their family members to tell them they're safe, I do it differently, as this is more live update. There were many people. It wasn't crowded, but I have to wait a while before I can take a pic without people instead. At certain places, its almost impossible. Some pics actually show of the people that photobombed after I had clicked the timer and was about to get into position but they took the place instead, ok lor, I take you la. There were a couple of people with those big DSLR cameras, like pro photographers, that take my picture while I was taking a pic using timer haha, sometimes I pretenders timer is up and get to my phone cos I don't want my photo to be taken, without permission! Who knows where my photo may end up at leh, cannot anyhow haha. Anyway, passed by a line friends shop! No I'm not excited of the character, I don't really know them, all I wanted was air con cos it was super hot. Outdoor activities should be confined to before 10.30am or after 3.30pm dui bu dui? Haha, RAMS fail. But yea, any air con place along the way, which isn't many, I take the opportunity to drop by to cool down a little. There were many places to rest along the way, but Hangzhou has pee smell almost everywhere so I was careful where I sit... Pretty place ain't it? Some say should try coming at night also, but I'd rather stay close to accommodation after dark la, for safety reasons... there's actually a well-known show on the waters at night, but yea, lets give that a miss. At the point of turning back, i decided to take a different route back to my airbnb and I bumped into Marco polo hehe. He was one of my inspirations in wanting to visit Hangzhou, and especially Westlake. "Marco Polo wrote, “it is without a doubt the finest and most splendid city in the world.” Centuries later, Hangzhou’s West Lake, the imperial pleasure garden with pavilions, bridges, temples and spacious lake for boating, is beautifully preserved. In the late 13th century, Marco Polo visited Hangzhou many times, traveling around China as the “eyes and ears” of Kublai Khan. Not only was Marco Polo taken with the natural scenery, but Hangzhou (also called Kinsai, Quinsai, Hangchow) reminded him of Venice. The natural scenery of West Lake (Xi Hu) was enhanced by pavilions for moon viewing, causeways for strolling to islands, weeping willows and flowering trees along the water and inspired Chinese poets. This Song dynasty poet wrote: The lovely Spring breeze has come Back to the Lake of the West The Spring waters are so clear and Green they might be freshly painted. The clouds of perfume are sweeter Than can be imagined. In the Gentle East wind the petals Fall like grains of rice. “Spring Day on West Lake” by Ouyang Xiu, translated Kenneth Rexroth, One Hundred Poems from the Chinese (1)" Source: https://seetheworld.travelforkids.com/hangzhou-kinsai-marco-polos-favorite-city-in-china/ According to the map, it'd take me 25 mins back to Ding' An road subway station by foot but I took longer than that either cos I was walking slowly, or I stopped too many times for picture opportunities as I'd plucked up the courage by now to not be so self-conscious about people staring, or both, such that I took much longer haha, but I think it was still less than 1 hour... There were many treasures I saw along my shortcut! Halal food (the dumpling pic sure is mouth-watering!)and halal gelato (the rainbow colour was calling out for my attention the moment I laid my eyes on it haha) apart of the beautiful architecture and murals along the way. Oh the gelato incident was funny, I misunderstood the shop assistant when she said shi wu kuai. I thought I heard si wu kuai, and thought wah so ex and actually gave her 3 pieces of 20 yuan, she look at me puzzled and returned me 2 pieces of the 20 yuan plus change of wu kuai lol! I laughed at myself after that. How could I thought one scoop like that is SGD9 when it was only SGD3! And of course, before heading back I dropped by the phoenix mosque! It was super quiet, there was only one person in the musollah and he was sleeping so I didn't step in, I just went around the small compound and took some photos, saw two Muslim men, one grandfather whom I said salaam to. The security guard spoke to me asking from where, wonder if he knows Xin jia po haha, after the trump-Kim summit, should be la right? Even before that, Singapore had always been thought to be part of China weren't we haha. Dinner time! Dongyishun supposedly one of the better halal restaurants, its only 6 mins walk from my airbnb! This hungry bunny is hungry but not hungry enough for rice, so i opted for kebab. I thought the picture doesn't depict the actual food, boy was I wrong... it really turns out as big chunks of meat. The meat taste is a little too strong for my liking. Maybe I'll hop over across the street to see what the other smaller halal food shop ssells haha. Oh and I ordered the famous longjing tea, lets see how it tastes! Hangzhou Sep 2018 Day 3 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10160636424870214&type=3 Another good morning in Hangzhou! I think it was raining last night but alhamdulillab the weather is bright and sunny for another day of exploration! Started the day pretty early. Meeting Sun, another airbnb experience host at 10am, and since the meeting point is pretty far by foot, I decided to take a taxi. It was about 23 kuai, about SGD4.50 or so for a 20 mins ride. The meeting point is at a busstop outside the botanical gardens and it was like in the middle of a jungle that the taxi driver dropped me at haha, but because I was using my GPS, I was certain he had sent me to the right place. Decided to take some pics of myself while waiting, but well, as you can see, kena photobomb again haha, ok lor I take YOU sitting at my spot, you become my model ok. When Sun arrived, we went around the botanical gardens first. It's past spring so most of the flowers are dead but I can imagine how pretty the place could be in spring! As I was still warming up, I didn't take a lot of my photos and was just taking pics of the place around. After the botanical gardens, we walked along Westlake and saw many pavilions, there was a lady planning saxophone and a man playing the flute. And... I'd already warmed up a little so I asked Sun to take a photo of me. But just a little, still paused, so there was only 2 poses? Haha compared to yesterday! Next up we walked towards the Solitary hill, heading towards the broken bridge, near which there's a boat rental place. At the foot of the solitary hill, apparently there's a couple of museums and galleries, and also a library and several restaurants. But I just took a peak at one of the museum, and decided nah , not worth my painful feet walking. I badly wanted to rest my feet actually. So just nice, at the boat rental, I could sit down and drive. It was slow, I was telling Sun how I wish I can increase the speed haha. So this boat rental at the north lake, I think? It's a small part, not much to see, but it's cheaper than the boat whereby there is a driver and tea provided at the larger main part of the lake. You have to put a deposit of 200 kuai, but you get back your money after that, after deducting the fee of 30 kuai 1/2 hour if I'm not mistaken. Honestly, you won't spend more than 30 mins. There was a light breeze so it was quite nice. By this time, we were quite hungry. Both of us didn't eat breakfast haha. For her it was because she forgot to eat dinner yesterday night until it was already 10pm. I'm like, FORGOT TO EAT?? How could you?? Whereas I can't eat breakfast too early, otherwise I need the toilet! Hungry, we are, very, so I quickly docked the boat and off we head to find lunch! She understood Muslims need to eat halal food, so she helped search for the nearest one. She did ask me to elaborate more about what halal actually means in terms if its preparation, and I hope I did justice. She asked if I stick to veggies in foreign countries, and I told her no, I'd make sure to research for halal eateries at my destinations, or if bring my own halal food, but no, no veggies cos I don't eat veggie. And she said, "you should eat your veggie." Like in a very straight face, lol ok one more person asking me to eat veggie. She said I could change the way I prepare the veggie to suit my taste, and I'm like trying to justify I eat cooked carrots! I eat fruits! Some fruits... Haha Anyway, heading to the eatery we saw someone selling kites. It was not very windy and he was trying hard to lift the kite, oklah it's in the sky and not plummeting into the lake... At the eatery, I thought of trying out the delicious looking dumpling but I didn't want to look greedy, so I decided to eat the noodles first and see if I want go add afterwards. Thank God I didn't order dumplings, I was so full eating the noodles! It felt like a very big bowl but Sun said no, it is a normal serving, but what made mine appear a lot is because I eat too slow, so the handmade noodles soaked up the soup and expanded. Osmosis guys, osmosis. So yea, I couldn't finish mine. There was chilli and vinegar by the side and you can choose to customise how much you want to add of each. I tried without both first, bland, haha. After eating, I was thirsty. Looking into their display fridge, I chose a small packet drink, cos I just drank a whole bottle of orange juice immediately after alighting from the boat. Sun laughed at me. She said I'm like a kid, eat kid portion, drink kid drink. Haha she was drinking coffee from Starbucks. So there, there's a photo showing the kid meal and the adult meal. Anyway, Sun explained to me that in Hangzhou, or perhaps in the whole of China, locals do not pay by cash. Paying by cash is frowned upon actually. They either pay by almost or by Wechat. Everything is paid by e-wallet . The downside is, if you forget to pay your monthly bill, your data is cut off, and that's it, you have no money at all! After lunch, we have one last place to visit: a teamwork within their youth and children center! Unfortunately we arrived during their lunch break. The rides would not be open until 1 hour more so forget it la even though I wanted to ride the pirate ship. Good thing also la ah, taking a ride right after lunch isn't exactly a brilliant idea after all. Sun shared that many people choose to take wedding photo shoot at the themepark because many young people meet at the center where almost every hangzhou youth would have gone to for lessons like learning an instrument etc. The themepark is the last stop so Sun sent me to the nearest subway station to show me how to buy a ticket. Actually there is an English option la dey... Along the way Sun pointed out a famous milktea shop and helped me order red tea with milk on top of it. Not bad, wished I'd asked for more than just 50% of sugar though... We also passed by a cinema and there was a Hindustan show showing! Apparently according to Sun, it's the in thing now. People like Hindustan because of the positive messages, but I told her that Hindustan is just about love to me haha. Ok, don't want to argue with any Hindustan fans here. Anyway, after alighting from the subway, I headed home taking a different route and hoho found the street selling halal meat. Chinese muslim ladies were selling them, and one said salaam to me as she passed by me! I want to take a selfie with them but shy ah. This street is actually just behind the mosque. I decided to past by the costume stall on the way back and as I was taking a photo of their photos, a lady walked up to me. Finally a lady shopkeeper! I wanted to wear a costume like Huan zhu ge ge's pink and blue costume but there want an adult version huhu so I tried the Han Xiang (who is a Muslim uighur princess in the show if I'm not mistaken) and two more costumes. Each costume is 30 kuai (SGD6) and comes with a pic. In total I striked 15 poses, directed by her. She wanted to sell me all at 30 kuai x 15 photos, and I used what i learned saying "pian yi dian er" (more discount laaa)! She offered 28 kuai per piece, and then 20 kuai per piece and I insisted "wo mei you qian" (I don't have money) to which she replied "ni you" (you have) and I'm like "eh eh dekni, my money or your money" lol! In the end I looked through more of the pics and chose 5 more of the nicer ones for 20 kuai each (SGD 4), can lahhh. So for SGD38 I received 9 pieces in total (1 free cos she printed the wrong one lol), haha not bad ah I ask for discount in Chinese. I used Google translate to ask her if she can transfer the photos to my phone, but she say cannot so hardcopy it is then. No softcopy huhu. Funny la auntie. Right now, I've showered and washed another set of clothes and waiting to go out. I wanted to go to the fake Paris (near linping station at one end of metro line 1) or the fake Venice (near xianghu station which is the other end of line 1) but while I know how to take the subway now, the directions are too complicated with needing to change to bus etc. I then thought to catching the sunset at Westlake (time check is 4.48pm and sunset is at 6.25pm or so), don't mind going there early but its raining! Noooo... hope it stops soon!