Our final day in Hangzhou. Well....half day actually, as our flight home is at 2:30pm so we planned to be on our way to the airport by 11:30am. Journey from hotel to airport is approximately 50mins to an hour depending on traffic.
We woke up early, had a leisurely breakfast & then decided to go for a stroll. No concrete plans as to what we wanted to see. We walked out the hotel entrance, took two right turns to get onto the main road & followed the road from there. It was a long street flanked by offices, upmarket boutiques, pubs, eateries, car showrooms (Maserati, BMW, Porsche.....etc) and budget hotels on both sides. The West Lake is located just behind the row of buildings on the left of the road.
The street along which we strolled.
A happening & busy pub at night.
Bicycles for rent.
The kiosk from which to get your prepaid bicycle rental card.
Instructions
Card dispenser machine
Place card on card reader & bicycle will be released from lock.
The frontage of an art academy along the street
Luxury car showrooms
West Lake is just beyond the road (on the left of the photo)
We took a right turn here & that put us on a road
with a couple of 4 star hotels on the right side
After the hotels were rows of smaller shops.
A view of the temple (don't know exactly what this building is) from the street.
We kept walking & walking....most shops weren't opened yet so we peeped into their display windows. Finally some shops began to open for business at 10am. To our good luck, we came upon a 2 yuan & a 10 yuan shop. That would be RM1 & RM5 shops to us Malaysians.
2 Yuan shop (in the back)
10 Yuan shop (in the foreground)
I browsed the 2 yuan shop but they had mostly household utensils and some small trinkets. I bought several handphone tags featuring the Expo2010 mascot. It was at the 10 yuan shop that my husband & I lingered. I might have ended up buying most of what was in the shop if we weren't running out of time to get to the airport.
They had hair accessories.....the type with stones & 'crystal's on. They had brooches, belts, keychains.......I can't recall now......my eyes & mind were in a blur.....but I recall I liked what I saw. If only I had more time! :) ( and also more space in my luggage).
My favourite shop on the entire trip! hehehehe
After satiating my hunger for shopping at the 10yuan shop, we headed back to the hotel. Just another 5-8 mins walk.
Back in our room, we repacked our luggage to accommodate the new items we had purchased. Then it was time to say goodbye. I said goodbye to my little fighting fish named Peter. They have one in every room and also a rubik's cube sitting next to the mini aquarium. These I gathered from the accompanying note beside the fish, were to entertain those who brought kids with them.
Peter & the Rubik's Cube
'Hey there, young fella. My name is Peter. I don't feel lonely anymore now that you're here.
Are you good at Rubik's cube? If you can figure out 3 sides, I'll buy you a cup of coffee at the Cafe.
(Sadly, I'm hopeless at Rubik's cube. The best I can manage is one side. Wish my eldest son was
with me on the trip. I could then have had one free cuppa haha)
Almost forgot to tell you. I'm on a diet and a nutritionist is taking care of me.
Please don't feed me anything; I have a problem controlling my appetite. You know us fish..... :)
If I don't look well please dial '9' and call for a doctor, thanks.
Well then, do you want to chat first or play the Rubik's cube?'
We arrived at the airport and proceeded to the check-in counter. After having completed that we decided to go to the old wing of the airport for lunch. Allan wanted to try China's very own fast food outlet chain: Kung Fu....something. :)
It was quite tasty really.
But the meat was too hard for my liking. I remembered the veg, rice & soup were nice though.
At the airport, waiting to board the plane, which was 1/2 hour delayed.
Goodbye Hangzhou! Goodbye China! I had a wonderful time in Shanghai & Hangzhou. Especially fond memories of the time spent with the other line dancers and of course, it goes without saying, the time I spent with my husband. Allan says he wants to visit again and the next time it would be with the children. :)
Till we land on your shores again China,
'Zàijiàn!' 再见!
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