Weekend in Suzhou - part I

Suzhou is a very popular tourist destination just outside Shanghai.  We took the high-speed train, and the ride was only 30 minutes.  Suzhou is known for it's canals, bridges and beautiful gardens.  It's a water town and called the "Venice of China".  
     Maneuvering the train station in Shanghai was probably the most challenging part of our trip.  Thank goodness Chris bought our tickets ahead of time.  Like everywhere else, the station is very, very hot & crowded.  There was no one in our waiting area to answer any questions or give any directions. I saw one man at a kiosk, and I tried to ask him for help but he was only selling lottery tickets.  We tried to study the sign boards (very confusing) and tried to listen to the loud speaker (in Chinese, and very muffled and tinny).
     We did spy a women holding a ticket with the same train # as us, so we resolved to follow her.  That    was the answer.  Phew.
     We stayed at the Marriott, and took advantage of the concierge to arrange an English-speaking tour and train tickets home the next day.  I mistakenly thought of Suzhou as only a scenic and historic destination, but Suzhou also has a lot of manufacturing and a "hi-tech" business center.

Shanghai station

We took a taxi to Lingering Gardens.  From the outside, it looks like nothing, a stone wall and small entry way.   But inside, it just goes on and on.  There is a large wooden lacquer map in the first room, in-laid with stone and mother-or-pearl.  It shows all the parts of the garden.  Lingering Gardens is known for it's ancient rock gardens, as well as the design the ponds and bridges.  In the center of the pond, a woman in traditional dress played a Chinese instrument and sang.  It was surprising to see, but the music really added to the beauty of the experience. Through-out the gardens, we would see different performers - all playing traditional instruments.

 There are several moon gates in the gardens.   This is very traditional in wealthy homes and palaces.  The idea is to pass through a moon gate, is to walk through into joy and happiness.  Lots of couples walk-through a moon gate during a wedding ceremony.

Long ago, the wealthy felt it was important to surround themselves with elements of nature to maintain balance and harmony.  Although they had to live in the city, they wanted idealized scenes of nature inside their palace walls.  So they designed gardens with rocks to emulate mountains & peaks, and cultivated bonsai to mimic great trees.  They could walk on winding pathways from scene-to-scene, and rest in pagodas or small houses along the way.  

Auspicious Cloud Capped Peak

grape vine trellis

Katie

As in many parks and gardens in China, I am always impressed by the artistic stone pathways.  I keep thinking of a craftsman on his knees for years to produce works of art.

tea house

bonsai

clean girls

After a long day, we had a great dinner and hot showers.  Ready for the next day's adventure.

Another Sunday Brunch

I love going to brunch.  I love looking at all the food stations.  I love having Champagne.  I love everything about it.

Last Sunday, we had brunch at Le Royal Meridien.  The hotel is on the top floor of the Brilliance Shimao International Plaza, in the center of the pedestrian area of Nanjing Road by People's Square.  More than half the diners were Western, the rest Chinese.  Like many of the big hotel brunches, there were food stations for sushi, carved meats, dim sum, seafood, etc.  But since the Meridien is a european hotel group, there were also food stations for charcuterie, caviar and foie gras.  There was a fantastic Indian-Malaysian food station with curries, laksa and tandoori meats as well.

The restaurant had a BBQ & smoker just outside on the patio - we could see it from our table.  Different chefs walked the room serving skewers of meat, chicken wings and sausages.  Also BBQ oysters with shallots - very awesome!

Weirdly out of place, there were a couple of girls in slutty-nurse uniforms that pushed a cart with toy syringes of drink-shots, and oddly, thermoses of soup(?).  This is not TGIFridays!  Kinda awkward at an upscale brunch like this.

There was a magician, named Calvin, who went from table-to-table entertaining with sleight of hand tricks. He did a few tricks with the girls, and they loved it.  

whole roasted salmon

hot dogs, sliders

foie gras ready to sear

desserts

so much chocolate goodness

just checkin' it out

yum

hmmmm

American-style breakfast

cannot...stop...watching...

cotton candy for lunch? you betcha

Calvin & assistants

did not expect that

pink bib... that's supposed to make it alright?

mine

caviar, foie gras, dim sum

C & K

Things I saw this week in Shanghai

Princess Mishelle lives on our street.  She has two cars with the exact same paint job.  BMW and a convertible Mini Cooper.  Both cars have her name on them, and both have Hello Kitty car seat covers.  She's twenty-something, talks on her phone while driving and when she has the top down on the Mini, she has a cute Alaskan Husky dog that rides in the back.  

     She either has a rich father, or a rich "Daddy".

Not to be outdone by Princess Mishelle, her neighbor has a new paint job on his Bentley.  A Fushia iridescent highlight on the white mother-of-pearl top coat.  The pink reflection is really eye-catching in the sun.

Uniqlo has a line of Disney-themed products.  T-shirts and kids clothes, I get,…but mens sleeping pants with pink or green camouflage Mickey?  Really?

 
 This display comes out every summer.  The mannequin is covered with mats made of tiles of bamboo. Or is it fake plastic bamboo - not sure.  In China, lots of people do not have air conditioners.  It's so humid, that people lay on / sit on / sleep on mats made from these tiles.  They keep you cooler, and do not attract mold.  Stacked behind the mannequin are "pillows" or head-rests made with stringing the tiles taut around a plastic tube.  It's actually pretty ingenious and inexpensive.

Wine prices here are pretty high, especially anything imported from the US or Europe.  Australian & New Zealand wine is better, South American wine is very inexpensive.  Chinese wine is crap.

But beer is cheap.  So lots of companies bottle for the Chinese market and sell everywhere.   

Belgium Wheat Beer

Steinlager 

making brownies for fathers' day

blue ice cream? why Katie, why.

Dinner with Katie

A few weeks ago, I had a special day with just me and my Katie.  Emily was staying at a friend's house and Chris was working late.  Katie and I did some shopping, ran errands and had dinner "just the two of us" at Cantina Agave.  It was nice to have her all to myself.  

We talked and laughed and let things slow down for a little while.  I have to remind myself that the kids' "China Experience" is all their own - and separate from mine.  They maneuver their world (school, friends, family) the best they can.  They have less control, but are naturally more open.  They also need a break sometimes.  

I asked the girls if they wanted to sign-up for any summer activities or camps, but they weren't interested.  It was around the end of school, and I think they were just tired.  They want to hang-out, swim, shop for the next few weeks before we head back to California.  I like that idea too. 

Katie's dinner

my dinner

our drinks