We planned a day trip to Suzhou over the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend. Suzhou’s almost 3 hours if you drive, but the new express train gets you there in about 45 mins. How cool is that?! Been meaning to go for a few weeks now but never got round to it, so figured the long weekend was the perfect time to go, and fortunately it wasnβt too crowded.
We kicked off at the Humble Adminstrator Gardens, which has a totally strange name, but China tends to name things very oddly. Well, thereβs really love meaning behind the Chinese names of the places, but once you translate it to English, it loses its core meaning so ends up sounding a bit weird! These gardens were pretty big, and filled with ponds and bridges and lots of trees. Was lovely, and gave us much needed shade, because the day was HOT HOT HOT!!
Tried to find this specific “Old Suzhou Restaurant”, but when we did, they’d just closed for the afternoon – and it was only 2pm! Arghhh. Fortunately, on the way there, the cabbie pointed out another Suzhou restaurant (name unknown) nearby, so we walked over there and fortunately they were open. The waitresses were giggly and sweet, and recommended a couple of dishes that we blindly agreed to π They recommended well, the food was awesome!
At the humongous Shanghai Train Station
Grabbing breakfast at “Mister Lee”, some Chinese fast food restaurant
Beef noodles, was delish!!
Getting on the new D-train Express
Whizzing from Shanghai –> Suzhou
Travelling First Class, for only 5? extra!
Wandering around a long market street
Guy carving inscriptions in wood
At the Humble Adminstrator’s Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan ???)
Gorgeous flowers in bloom
Hot guy alert!
Climbing up the path
And up amongst the rocks
Trying to be a geisha girl, ROFL!
Chris is…. very excited
They had tons of these pavillions around the gardens
Chris ponders the meaning of life
Lots of little ponds and bridges
Showing off my Tokidoki for Hello Kitty fan π
Me, wondering why the water is so murky. Can’t they clean the stuff?!
LOL
A cute pic of us π
Stopped by a traditional Suzhou restaurant for some lunch
It was so local that there was no English/photo menu. So we just asked
them to bring us their best dishes!
Some sorta green veg cooked in garlic. It was delish!
Boiled shrimp with a splash of vinegar. Ooooh these were awesome.
A huge mound of pork, with fat wobbling away
All carved up – look at that (unhealthy) luscious goodness!!!!!!
It was hands down the best pork we’ve had in our lives.
OMG.. love your sandals!! I couldn’t keep my eyes off them, they keep getting drawn to those pink cuteness LOL
haha i love em too, they’re so bright!
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I love your pink sandals btw π
thanks! it was a fun day trip
OMG.. love your sandals!! I couldn’t keep my eyes off them, they keep getting drawn to those pink cuteness LOL
haha i love em too, they’re so bright!
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I love your pink sandals btw π
thanks! it was a fun day trip
OMG the noodles look amazing.
BTW your sandals are so cute!!!
They were pretty yum.. and cheap! π
hey i was at suzhou too on the long weekend! but the garden was definitely way more crowded when i was there.
Cooooool! Did you enjoy it? Suzhou is really nice I reckon π
Loving them sandals!
I totally love ’em, the pink is too cute!
OMG the noodles look amazing.
BTW your sandals are so cute!!!
They were pretty yum.. and cheap! π
The first green dish is my favorite! I think they are the sweet potato leaves! Mmmmmm!
They were cooked in garlic – so tasty!
hey i was at suzhou too on the long weekend! but the garden was definitely way more crowded when i was there.
Cooooool! Did you enjoy it? Suzhou is really nice I reckon π
Loving them sandals!
I totally love ’em, the pink is too cute!
cute shoes! π
Hehe thanks, they were very appropriate for the stinking HOT weather!
wah the pork!! ♥♥♥
everything’s like SO cheap in china hor??? π
The pork was sooo luscious. The restaurant was more $ than we’d expected, considering it wasn’t fancy or anything, but still worth it!
its still cheap right??? π
Looks like a fun day trip.
It was good fun, but man, it was a bit ambitious tryng to cram so much into just 1 day
Love all these scenic pictures, so beautiful, as is your awesome outfit. The shoes+tee+fan+sunnies are fab
Aww thanks! The pink sandals didn’t really match, but they’re cute so I don’t care π
What a beautiful area! And the food looks GOOD!
it was really nice to go out on a day trip, it’s what I’m loving about shanghai! so many places to check out π
The first green dish is my favorite! I think they are the sweet potato leaves! Mmmmmm!
They were cooked in garlic – so tasty!
Your food pictures are almost enought to make me want to relocate to China for a few years…
Well, that’s our plan too! π
cute shoes! π
Hehe thanks, they were very appropriate for the stinking HOT weather!
wah the pork!! ♥♥♥
everything’s like SO cheap in china hor??? π
The pork was sooo luscious. The restaurant was more $ than we’d expected, considering it wasn’t fancy or anything, but still worth it!
its still cheap right??? π
Looks like a fun day trip.
It was good fun, but man, it was a bit ambitious tryng to cram so much into just 1 day
Love all these scenic pictures, so beautiful, as is your awesome outfit. The shoes+tee+fan+sunnies are fab
Aww thanks! The pink sandals didn’t really match, but they’re cute so I don’t care π
What a beautiful area! And the food looks GOOD!
it was really nice to go out on a day trip, it’s what I’m loving about shanghai! so many places to check out π
Your food pictures are almost enought to make me want to relocate to China for a few years…
Well, that’s our plan too! π