Even though we had to get up at the unearthly hour of 3am to catch our flight from Mumbai to Hong Kong, I was so relieved to be leaving for somewhere we could walk down the street without being harrassed or horrified that I was almost upbeat. It was Ross' 28th birthday, meaning he was more than just upbeat, he was positively excited. At 3am. The flight was uneventful, other than me surreptitiously taking photos out the plane window. Is this allowed? I've never seen anyone do it before. I was slightly paranoid my camera would somehow interfere with the workings [View Full Entry]

---

---

We missed to view louts blossom by West Lake during the last summer. I still remember some guys regreted to die and then we were swearing would never miss the next year's. Time flee away under your eyelid,stealthily and fast. It's August now I suddenly recognize that we haven't had a look of this year's louts flower by West Lake. we must catch the last round. Next week we'll have had a big pity to regret one more time, if we stay home today... [View Full Entry]

---

---

Wow, I just finished up a whirlwind time in Hangzhou. This place is known for its lakes, with it’s biggest one called the Wu Xi Lake. The first afternoon we got there, we barely saw the lake, and only by accident. We decided to head over to their bustling night market to see what interesting, realistic fake goods and janky street food we could buy. There weren’t any fake goods and the actual goods were a little pricey by Chinese standards. Not much bargaining was to be had there. We saw a giant pagoda at the top of the hill, and [View Full Entry]

---

---

Today we caught an 18 seater bus to the Water Town about 100km northish from Hangzhou. It picked us up from the hotel at about 7am and on the way through the city Kwan’s father intercepted us on the side of a busy road to give us breakfast! It was a bag of Baou (no idea how to spell it but it’s pronounced bow) and they were like soft doughy pork wontons and they were great. The trip took us out of the city which was what I was hoping for so we could see a bit of the ‘heartland’ so [View Full Entry]

---

---

I've got to say that it's not easy to keep up with this blog, especially when my typing skills are hopeless. Been doing a fair bit of walking and sightseeing around Hangzhou over the last 2 days and they say a photo speaks a thousand words so I thought I would just add a few photos and write about them. A few observations though; Traffic can best be described as fluid motion, if there is a gap that is physically big enough for a bike/car/bus to fit into then you can expect that a bike/car/bus will flow into that gap. Lanes [View Full Entry]

---

---

No breakfast again! We really must get out of this habit! Bed was very firm once again but not uncomfortable. Room was OK but aircon wasn’t working properly so no respite from the warmth and humidity, not as bad as further south though. We are staying at ‘Hangzhou The New Hotel’ (built 1913) next to the West lake. It is a very beautiful area with lotus gardens and many walkways around and across the lake, pagodas, temples, teahouses, boats on the lake and golf carts driving around it. Kwan met us at about 11.00 with a friend Dana who speaks fairly [View Full Entry]

---

---

Skipped breakfast this morning - had another sleep in. Fai picked us up at 9.30 to take us to the track where John was working on his bikes, it was a practice day and he was getting in a few laps. The Chinese government has tightened up security and stopped issuing multiple entry visas due to the Olympic Games and problems with Tibet so John can only make it to the track once or twice a month. John suggested I take one of his other bikes for a ride and I thought it’s not every day you get the opportunity to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Two-hour bus ride from Suzhou to Hanzhou through land that looks as if it’s been flooded recently, but which in reality is rice-paddies with occasional farmers standing thigh deep in the water. Older buildings are soul-less grey boxes with prison windows. The newly-emerging architecture is colourful, with arched windows, red tile roofs and small corner-points as an echo of ancient style. Some have a short spire with three shiny steel balls rising in progressivley smaller size. Decoration, or lightning rod? They look like something from Edison- or Tesla-era electrical science. Hanzhou, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dear Readers, please note that we have struggled at times to keep up with our blog entries either due to unavailable or Chinese sloooooooooow internet access and our busy travel schedule. Please look back beyond the current date to be sure you catch up on anything we may have entered for an earlier date. Thanks for taking the time to read our news. Best regards, The Chaosathome Blog Desk [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hangzhou was described by Marco Polo who allegedly visited the city in 1300 as ‘The City of Heaven’ this is something that we do not think would worthy the same title now but non the less Hangzhou has got some interesting places still woth visiting. The huge West Lake or Xi Hu is situated at the heart of Hangzhou and covers over three square miles, it is surrounded by hills and high rise buildings as well as an underpass which cuts its way underneath the lake from one side to the other. The entire walk reportedly takes a whole day to [View Full Entry]

---

---