Suzhou

John and I have made it to Suzhou, a touristy place with hundreds of dudes trying to Shanghai us to their probably fake hotel, and instead mug us behind a public urinal. But we chose JinJyang Inn, the same as in Shanghai. Very responsible. Unfortunately I had misread the map, and now we are officially stuck in the sticks, not far from the Shangri-La, actually, but far from things to see. So tomorrow we're moving to a more central, slightly more expencive place.

 

Since we came kind of late we haven't seen any old or culturally significant things today, but rather splurged in made-in-china heaven, clothes and bits on DVDs. I'm still in Safe Mode food-wise, after my little digestive reboot, but today I successfully completed a meal at a Korean restaurant, even defying the waitress' attempts at suggesting meals for the western palate. But lately I've been in a culinary fetal position, going back to the familiar, safe, unadventurous and dependable -- McDonald's and Starbucks. While I'm usually not there a lot when I'm at home, they still seem like a safe-haven. Besides, Starbucks seem to be one of few that understand that when you're in a noisy city where dudes want to sell you stuff everywhere, then you may not want 80's hits pumped into your ear.

 

Yesterday I spend some time shopping various souvenirs, and probably ended up getting dooped repeatedly. I may not be stupid enough to think that the dudes wife made the chopsticks, and that he's my friend, but that doesn't mean that I didn't pay too much. I also bought a green t-shirt with a big red star, but failed to close a deal with nice communist propaganda posters. Maybe I was rude, or maybe they weren't as fake as I thought. I'll end up having to buy a new suitcase.

 

We're in Suzhou to see old temples and gardens. Tomorrow maybe we'll climb a 76 m high pagoda. That's impressive, considering it was built in the 16th century, but may not give the overview as the Jinmao skyskraper did at the 88th floor. Anyways, no pics, I'm on a kinda restricted PC.