Tack mamma!
2010 01 06
Mamma skickade Helosan till mina torra händer. TACK MAMMA!
Där ligger den bra!
Jag är gladare än jag ser ut att vara.
Mamma skickade Helosan till mina torra händer. TACK MAMMA!
Där ligger den bra!
Jag är gladare än jag ser ut att vara.
Trekking
2010 01 03
There was another reason to go to Suzhou. In Shanghai there are city blocks in all directions for miles. In Suzhou we could take a day of trekking to one of the temples outside in the forests of Suzhou.
On the road again. Shame you cant get a taxi here :)
A nice little bridge over a stream. Just like you would imagine in China.
Nearly there! On top of this hill is the temple!
At the temple. Isn't it beautiful?
And here I am in front of the temple.
HA! Fooled you!
This is just another little garden of Suzhou, and there still is city blocks in all directions after all. Let this be a lesson, you can not trust all that you read on the internet!
Look at that view
2010 01 03
Sista templet! Både för dagen och för vår vistelse i Suzhou. Detta ställe var himla ballt just för att man fick klättra upp för alla hundra tusen trappor och titta på utsikten, till skillnad från Tiger hill. Minns tyvärr inte vad detta tempel hette. Sorri!
Hur som helst s[ fanns det en himla fin tr'dg[rd till detta tempel, som Björn kommer blogga om sen. Tyvärr hann vi inte ta så mycket bilder där eftersom kamerabatteriet dog. Nästa gång ska vi vara bättre förberedda och faktiskt ta med oss laddaren när vi åker iväg!
In English:
Last temple! Both for the day and for the trip. This place was extra fun as we could climb the 1000 stairs and enjoy the view, something we couldn't do at Tiger hill. Unfortunately though, I don't remember the name of this place..!
Buddha of happiness.
Buddha of war.
The most amazing part of this place is that it was open and that you could climb up the stairs all the way
to the top! Which is what we did, of course.
View from the second floor (I think).
The top was filled with tags and messages from all those who have climbed up.
Looking down from the top. It was a scary height and it was really windy.
Sista templet! Både för dagen och för vår vistelse i Suzhou. Detta ställe var himla ballt just för att man fick klättra upp för alla hundra tusen trappor och titta på utsikten, till skillnad från Tiger hill. Minns tyvärr inte vad detta tempel hette. Sorri!
Hur som helst s[ fanns det en himla fin tr'dg[rd till detta tempel, som Björn kommer blogga om sen. Tyvärr hann vi inte ta så mycket bilder där eftersom kamerabatteriet dog. Nästa gång ska vi vara bättre förberedda och faktiskt ta med oss laddaren när vi åker iväg!
In English:
Last temple! Both for the day and for the trip. This place was extra fun as we could climb the 1000 stairs and enjoy the view, something we couldn't do at Tiger hill. Unfortunately though, I don't remember the name of this place..!
Buddha of happiness.
Buddha of war.
The most amazing part of this place is that it was open and that you could climb up the stairs all the way
to the top! Which is what we did, of course.
View from the second floor (I think).
The top was filled with tags and messages from all those who have climbed up.
Looking down from the top. It was a scary height and it was really windy.
Click for a larger image.
Art history
2010 01 03
I found samples of Chinese art history in one of the houses in Lions grove. Beautiful and full of vivid colours! I was really inspired and I wanted to take more photos of the art than I actually did, but we had one more place to go and the camera battery was starting to indicate that it wouldn't live that much longer...
Lions grove, part 2
2010 01 03
Here are the rest of the pictures from Lions grove.
Inside the labyrinth.
On one of the mountains, looking at the view (pond).
Bjorn.
Climbing around wasn't always the easiest as thousands and thoustands of tourists have walked here, transforming the stone and making it smooth and slippery.
I find it hard to keep being serious for long periods of time.
I got hungry, and I had the usual cravings for corn. So I searched and found a small place inside the garden selling corn. Here's Bjorn with it. I stuffed his mouth with it when a couple of Chinese asked to take my picture.
I didn't want my pitcure taken eating corn. Eeryone knows of my addiction. No need to post pictures of it on the intawebs.
Here are the rest of the pictures from Lions grove.
Inside the labyrinth.
On one of the mountains, looking at the view (pond).
Bjorn.
Climbing around wasn't always the easiest as thousands and thoustands of tourists have walked here, transforming the stone and making it smooth and slippery.
I find it hard to keep being serious for long periods of time.
I got hungry, and I had the usual cravings for corn. So I searched and found a small place inside the garden selling corn. Here's Bjorn with it. I stuffed his mouth with it when a couple of Chinese asked to take my picture.
I didn't want my pitcure taken eating corn. Eeryone knows of my addiction. No need to post pictures of it on the intawebs.
Lions grove, part 1
2010 01 03
Lions grove, tempel nummer fyra i ordningen. Ingen aning om när det är byggt, för här anges inte sånt i årtal utan i dynastier... och det är inte något vi fick lära oss i skolan direkt.
In English:
Lions grove was temple number four that we visited. I don't know when it was built, because that's always written in dynasties here. And of course we never studied Chinese history in school, so I have no clue to what dates the dynasties are connected.
Click for a larger image.
This is a panorama shot I took, showing a small piece of the garden. It looks much smaller in the panorama
picture than in reality. To create this I merged about 50 pictures together...
Lions grove, tempel nummer fyra i ordningen. Ingen aning om när det är byggt, för här anges inte sånt i årtal utan i dynastier... och det är inte något vi fick lära oss i skolan direkt.
In English:
Lions grove was temple number four that we visited. I don't know when it was built, because that's always written in dynasties here. And of course we never studied Chinese history in school, so I have no clue to what dates the dynasties are connected.
Fantastic rooftop decorations. That is the details in them are fantastic.
Antique furniture and home decorations on display.
Antique furniture and home decorations on display.
Outside the sun was shining bright and warm on last years leaves.
The doors were incredibly high! As were the doorsteps. All ancient Chinese buildings have these high doorsteps.
I asked Rachel as to why they were built that way. She said it was just the architectural fashion of the time.
The doors were incredibly high! As were the doorsteps. All ancient Chinese buildings have these high doorsteps.
I asked Rachel as to why they were built that way. She said it was just the architectural fashion of the time.
Look at those carvings! They were absolutely breathtaking.
Here's a close up so that you can se some of the details in the carving.
Here's a close up so that you can se some of the details in the carving.
Doorways come in all geometrical shapes. I love it!
This place was a man made maze of sandstone. There were tunnels and bridges and mountains and hills to climb and walk through. Inspiring! and it would have made the most awesome place to play hide and seek when I was a kid...
No garden is complete without a pond. Water, and running water, brings harmony and calm... I think it was.
I never really did study the art of Feng shui (pronounced föng schwei).
No garden is complete without a pond. Water, and running water, brings harmony and calm... I think it was.
I never really did study the art of Feng shui (pronounced föng schwei).
Click for a larger image.
This is a panorama shot I took, showing a small piece of the garden. It looks much smaller in the panorama
picture than in reality. To create this I merged about 50 pictures together...
Good Morning Suzhou
2010 01 03
After a good night's sleep we got ready for another day of sightseeing in Suzhou.
Fishes are a part of nearly any pond in china. And they always think they might get fed so you get a huge cluster of fishes when walking next to the pond as well.
Hungry fishes does not realize they are tasy themselves.
I'd like to order three duck heads.
Yes, that would be all.
Mag found this kid's bike, that reminded her of Louizas bike.
I think its a bit disturbing that the bear is holding the handles that have impaled his skull.
So you wonder if the fish we serve at our restaurant is fresh? How about going out on the street and inspect it?
Ladies and Gentlemen: Only in china.
Suzhou nights!
2010 01 02
Time to go and get some more food. We make this blog from your requests: Pictures of us, and pictures of food.
And we also add some pictures of architechture.
Main street of old Suzhou. Commercialized and lit with neon, the ancestors are proud!
Serious face is hungry.
I love the names of chinese stores...
Finally at a restaurant. We switched tables a couple of times, there had been a wedding earlier so the main room was a mess and pretty cold. Everyone is happy but me (no noodles yet on the table)
Mmm, noodles. The dish closest to the camera tastes just like chicken mcNuggets, and you eat it with ketchup.
Kiss, kiss.
More pictures of us
2010 01 02
Lovely surroundings. Truly, they were beautiful and I'd love to come back and see it in spring.
I just had to climb over there!
I have no idea why Bjorn wanted me to take this pic. But he did, and I obided.
Okay, so we finally escaped the tourist crowd, phew! Where do we go and what do we do now?
Well, since our parents asked for more pictures of us in the blog... we're over delivering.
Well, since our parents asked for more pictures of us in the blog... we're over delivering.
Lovely surroundings. Truly, they were beautiful and I'd love to come back and see it in spring.
I just had to climb over there!
I have no idea why Bjorn wanted me to take this pic. But he did, and I obided.
Being famous
2010 01 02
People wanted their picture taken with me. Bjorn stood behind me, laughed and took pictures of the crowd taking pictures of me.
Finally, I got to take a pic of Bjorn with (part) the crowd!
If you've ever wondered what it's like, being famous and hunted down by paparazzis and fans... well. I know the feeling now. Being fair skinned and having light har (or blue hair or a mohawk or a...) in China will let you know too.
Walking around and taking funny pictures in an otherwise empty park we suddenly stumbled into this crowd of tourists. And then we were stuck there for I guess 10 minutes or so, being photographed, before excusing ourselves.
Walking around and taking funny pictures in an otherwise empty park we suddenly stumbled into this crowd of tourists. And then we were stuck there for I guess 10 minutes or so, being photographed, before excusing ourselves.
People wanted their picture taken with me. Bjorn stood behind me, laughed and took pictures of the crowd taking pictures of me.
Finally, I got to take a pic of Bjorn with (part) the crowd!
Being a tourist.
2010 01 02
Såhär är vi turister i Kina:
This is how we roll. Tourist style:
Serious Björn is serious.
Quit fumbling and take a picture!
Oh, you got that? Hahaha!
So funny, I can't stop laughing. Lololol.
Serious philosopher is serious.
Serious men meetup.
View.
Sorry, I don't remember the name of this place.
KAWAII DESU!
Spratteldockan och tjurgubben.
Happy girl and serious man.
WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES MAKING FUN OF THIS PLACE! LOOK! THE FRENCH ARE DOING IT TOO!
At a chinese restaurant in Suzhou
2010 01 02
Before going further, we decided to get some food.
A nice bridge, notice the structures further down in the canal as well.
We ordered things that weren't on the menu (Ok, rachel ordered things) and it was pretty tasty actually.
Best part of eating chicken in China, you get the head as well!
Do not play with the food! It's for eating!
French chicken say: "Trés bon!"
Swedish chicken says: "You want to take it outside?"
Bluehaired chicken is not amused.
Cat and fish enjoys sombreros! Next place!
In the canals of Suzhou
2010 01 02
To the bat-tank!
Ok, so there was no bat-tank. There wasn't any tank at all! I felt so tricked.
The boat that waited for us was some kind of tourist hell. Look at my sad sad face! All alone in that boat.
The following images are the view we got of Suzhou from the canals.
To the bat-tank!
Ok, so there was no bat-tank. There wasn't any tank at all! I felt so tricked.
The boat that waited for us was some kind of tourist hell. Look at my sad sad face! All alone in that boat.
The following images are the view we got of Suzhou from the canals.
Arnaud sqished me when opening the window from his side. UGH!
Björn was so bored that he fell asleep. No wonder, our guide was talking chingrish and singing...
The boat finally stopped and let us off. 20 min, the guide said, is what you have to view this silk museum. Museum my ass, it was a silk factory with a smallish museum.
An "old" piece of silk embroidery.
Replica of some famous emperors golden suit. Embroidered with 9 dragons as the number 9 is the highest of all the single numbers. Dragons and gold, you do the math.
Preserved silkwoems. I don't orka upload those pictures.
Old silk fabric weaving stuff.
Silk fabrics are made from silk made by a single larvae. The silk used for isolation (in clothes and blnkets, etc.) is made from two silk larvae in the same cocoon, a male and a female.
The whole tour ended with a silk garment fashion show with the most bored girls ever.
This elder lady was very graceful though.
Tiger hill, part 2
2010 01 02
Welcome back. Here are some more pictures from Tiger Hill, Suzhou.
Openings in the walls to the temple. They came in many geometic shapes and designs. I really like chinese architechture.
Roofing. Very traditional style and filled with ornaments.
The bridge overlooking the bigger square.
For some reasons there were holes in the bridge over the little lake. The metal bars seems to have been a later addition. The water is about 10 meters down too so the question is why the holes were there.
And as always there are ugly fat french tourists ruining what would have been a great picture.
Mag wanted a picture with her in the foreground and the huge chinese characters that probably says: "Death to all Foreign Devils" in the background. Unfortunately so did all the chinese people except they wanted to stand next to the charachters, so trying to get a good picture whitout a billion chinese people in the way was quite tricky.
Some kind of drain inside the mountain, and in blue a menu from ancient times. The chicken soup was much less expensive in those days.
In the cave in the background lives the guardian dragon of the temple. The monks feed her a bluehaired girl every hour to avoid it's wrath.
A stone scroll over the passageway.
A Circular opening in the wall. Me and Arnaud and a some chinese people trying to figure out what we are doing.
This kid ran around with a huge hello kitty...stick? Really cute.
Mag and Arthur hurried downhill to search for a hello kitty stick to call their own.
Ever wondered how we get so much silly photos into the blog. Here is a behind the camera shot.
And this is the end result. Not sure why or what the purpose of this pose was. Never mind, put it on the blog.
Beneath the hill was a little street filled with merchandize that we had to cross to get to the car. Scam? Of course not!
One of us is better at posing, who it ids remains a secret.
The canals in Suzhou. Reminds a lot about Venice, the boats and how they are operated are just the same.
Mista! Mista! Wanna buy laser? Watch? Bag?
And also the chinese people trying to get through the overcrowded streets on their scooters.
After a while in china, you will prefer this man that does not run up to you screaming in your ear that you should buy fake merchandize.
You find shops everywhere, looking like anything. The chinese are very creative when it comes to making money. This one is built on top of a bike, very handy if you cant get a shop at this tourist-filled street.
Note A) The scales B) The restaurant in the background.
Allright. That was it. Time to go to the canals o Suzhou!
And sorry for this blog entry being what, 3 months late. Mag blames it all on me not writing it, she may be right.
Tiger hill, part 1
2010 01 02
Just a quick visit to the hotel to check in and use the bathroom and we were off to our first temple. This is Tiger hill, looking like a fortress surrounded by a lovely garden. The weather was sunny and mild and perfect for some temple exploring!
Our guide to the left. Entrance to Tiger hill to the right.
Just after the entrance there was a small bridge (as Suzhou is like Venice with its many canals) where we
saw these boats. Very sweet!
I took a picture of one of the small monsters (lions? tigers? bears?) and Bjorn and Yohann decided to enter
the picture. And ofc we had Arnaud to take a picture of me taking a picture of Bjorn and Yohann.
My pic.
Arnaud decided being in the pic was better than taking pictures himself.
From the left: Arnaud, Yohann, Bjorn.
Then I saw ponies and ran away.
The teenieweenie tiniest ponies ever! They were smallish category B ponies, like a small Gotlandsruss or
big Shetland pony.
It's hard to give you a good size comparison, as I lost the rest of the company when I ran off to take these pics.
But I found the others, they had just started climbing Tiger hill without me. (ken lee!)
Not on the top top, but another top!
Me. Look at my blue blue hair. It's so blue!
Bjorn.
The final (actual) stairs to Tiger hill. Or, at leat that's what I thought. But there was one more. They were
all very short, though.
Bjorn. Monster.
Me. Talking.
Buddha.
Me n' ma homie.
THE thing. Yep, we don't really know what this was. A castle? Fortress? Temple? We had lost our guide,
the French guys and Rachel (the Chinese girl who made this trip happen) so we didn't have anyone to ask
and all the signs were in Chinese only.
Just a quick visit to the hotel to check in and use the bathroom and we were off to our first temple. This is Tiger hill, looking like a fortress surrounded by a lovely garden. The weather was sunny and mild and perfect for some temple exploring!
Our guide to the left. Entrance to Tiger hill to the right.
Just after the entrance there was a small bridge (as Suzhou is like Venice with its many canals) where we
saw these boats. Very sweet!
I took a picture of one of the small monsters (lions? tigers? bears?) and Bjorn and Yohann decided to enter
the picture. And ofc we had Arnaud to take a picture of me taking a picture of Bjorn and Yohann.
My pic.
Arnaud decided being in the pic was better than taking pictures himself.
From the left: Arnaud, Yohann, Bjorn.
Then I saw ponies and ran away.
The teenieweenie tiniest ponies ever! They were smallish category B ponies, like a small Gotlandsruss or
big Shetland pony.
It's hard to give you a good size comparison, as I lost the rest of the company when I ran off to take these pics.
But I found the others, they had just started climbing Tiger hill without me. (ken lee!)
Not on the top top, but another top!
Me. Look at my blue blue hair. It's so blue!
Bjorn.
The final (actual) stairs to Tiger hill. Or, at leat that's what I thought. But there was one more. They were
all very short, though.
Bjorn. Monster.
Me. Talking.
Buddha.
Me n' ma homie.
THE thing. Yep, we don't really know what this was. A castle? Fortress? Temple? We had lost our guide,
the French guys and Rachel (the Chinese girl who made this trip happen) so we didn't have anyone to ask
and all the signs were in Chinese only.
