Suzhou: City of UNESCO Heritage Sites.

People said, if you live in Shanghai, you have to go to Suzhou for a short trip. So we did. We were pleased with our tour in Hangzhou, so we used the same tour service for Suzhou. We took the bullet train in the morning and reached our hostel. We found out that they removed Tiger Hill from the tour package and switched it with the City Wall that we wanted to visit on the first day. As it is initially not written in the tour website, they only told me this on WeChat wtf. We were effin annoyed that they told us this on last minute. But I kinda understand they want to avoid tons of people as we were visiting Suzhou on a national holiday for something. We were already in front of the Gupanmen when they told me that, luckily W and I haven't bought tickets yet. So we took a bus to the Tiger Hill Pagoda instead. It was a long bus ride. Then we learn that the Tiger Hill Pagoda is a must see place in Suzhou. They said, if you haven't visited the Tiger Hill Pagoda, you've never been in Suzhou :)

First thing we see.

Walking towards the Pagoda passing through the street food stalls.

I seriously have no idea what this is. But I'm intrigued.

More gates.

Pretty greeny.

The whole hallway is full of this.

Things get prettier once we're inside.

:D

The Thousand People/Men's Rock.

Stone Guanyin Temple.

He just had to.

The famous Tiger Hill Pagoda, The Yunyan Pagoda.

Blurry pic but me no care :D

W with the pagoda.

A picture of me taking picture.

View from the top of the hill. Great view of Suzhou on sunny day. Happy dayz!

W and his xiaomi. Proud of the long stick.

He insisted to go up there. Didn't look that high though.

Oh wait it is pretty high.

Of course there's a temple here. Temple everywhere.

More golden Buddha.

FUN FACT: The Yunyan Pagoda is known as the second leaning tower on earth. It is 100 years older than the Italy's Pisa tower. It is more than 1000 years old! As soon as we reached the Tiger Hill Pagoda area, we bought our tickets and some drinks before entering the real thing. The area was full of greens and rocks. We climbed up the hill and took some different routes. Take some nice pictures for instagram to make em bitches jealous LOL! W wanted to leave the area because he wasn't feeling it (and we didn't know shit about this place) until we found this area...

Take a guess!

Willem the flip flops adventurer.

BONSAI GARDEN!!!

Beautiful bokeh effect :D

Lost merman.

LOL tf.

It really is a beautiful place.

*cringe*

Seriously (¯―¯٥) 

Feel the excitement yet?

Excuse my face.

Finding my true zen.

I wish I have a backyard like this. Kinda.. Not really..

We end up going home later than what we expected because we had so much fun in the end. TIPS: if you're bored at the pagoda area, go to the Bonsai garden area instead and medidate. Feel the zen. We figured that we didn't visit all the sites there because we just wanna leave. Shame that we didn't maximize our visit at one of the UNESCO sites (yes, we found out about that after we reached shanghai.. Ayyy!) We stayed in a really nice hostel that looks like a guest hotel, but no window (¯―¯٥) The next morning, after grabbing some brekkie at the nearest Family Mart, W and I went back to the hostel to pick up our stuff while meeting up with our tour guide called Cindy. Cindy is such a sweet lady. Very fun and motherly. She called me her friend (●▽●) ♥ 

Mine is tomato rice, chicken cutlet with omelette and tomato sauce. Ovaltine to boost the energy (●▽●) Shared a latte.

Happy faces. Looking forward to the day.

Our first destination was The Master of The Nets Garden. Why the Master of Nets? Because the dude who drastically redesigned this garden refers to himself as a fisherman which leads the name into the Master of Nets. Got it? FIsherman and nets. Just so you know, he's no ordinary dude. He was a Govt official. So the garden's ownership is passed down from one people to another before it is donated to the government of Suzhou.

Ancient carriage. Not many are produced anymore because lacking supply of people who can do the intricate details.

One of the meeting hall. Not sure if this is for men or women. Yes, there are 2 separate rooms for meet up.

Entry gate.

Inside the room. I'm sure this one is for the men.

Look at this beautiful design! *-*

Smells like old book in the room.

A chill corner.

Cindy explaining some historic stuff to W meanwhile I was roaming around alone like a free spirit LOL!

Beautiful :)

The pond!

Rosy Cloud Pool.

Panoramic shot.

Em pavillion though :D

Just some rocks and moss where the baby tiger drinks some water, if I'm not mistaken.

Baby tiger play area.

Baby tiger's day time bed.

The Library where the dude can do his work while checking his tiger outside from the window.

Real pic of the baby tiger. I didn't lie about the tiger. IZ REAL!

The badass dude and the tiger.

Definitely not the tiger's place to chill.

W is showing us some mad kungfu moves.

Not sure if he's dancing or doing some martial art moves ._.

View of a corner of the pond taken from the top of the stones.

I iz a beautiful grasshopper :)

Werking on dat fierce look.

Posing as if I'm enjoying the day. I did though :D

We all have that one picture of pretending to walk down the stairs like a
graceful princess.

"Oh no, my hat!" pose.

Mr.Awkward is back at it again :P

Taken by Cindy. Can't see our faces though but good enough C:

If you read the photo caption one by one, you'd notice that I mentioned about baby tiger and the badass dude who owns the tiger called Zhang Daqian. It was very famous. The tiger is dead by now but it's story continues to live on #RIPtiger #ViveLeTiger #TigerForever #LoveTiger. Apart of the tiger, another thing that stays in my mind about this place is they have bridge that has zig-zag tracks, instead of straight one. Why? It is believed in ancient China that evil spirits can only walk straight, therefore they will fall into the pond if they happen to follow someone who goes onto the bridge :)) Move along to our next destination, we visited the Panmen aka Pan Gate.

My most favorite part of the Panmen. Looks so cool!

The lever to open up the gate.

That old Chinese writing looks like a man wearing a ballerina tutu saying hi to people 

Garden view. So greeeeeeen!

More greeneries and Chinese style gazebo.

Us at Gupanmen ♥

Ruigang Pagoda at the entrance of Panmen. The oldest pagoda in Suzhou!

The Pan Gate is a part of the City Wall that was the only entrance to the wall that surrounds and protects the Ancient Suzhou. In order to attract more tourists coming in, the govt renovated the old wall and adds attractions around the area. I did spot a play area there. Panmen was my favorite part of the tour because I generally likes the idea of old city wall. For me, old city walls witnessed everything that was going on inside and outside of the city around that time, all the history. It was such a hot sunny day and there are more things to visit so  unfortunately we were kinda rushed at the Panmen and move on to the next destination.. LUNCH!! (●▽●) ♥♥♥

Mandarin fish! A must have in Suzhou. Effin amazing!

Duck. I wasn't a fan but at least W was. I just generally hate cold meat dishes.. This thing is cooked but the fact that it's
served cold and watery and use red spices, it gives me a suggestion that it's raw.

Some veggies to balance the diet.

I made research about what to eat in every cities that I visited and I learned that in Suzhou, Mandarin Fish is a must eat. So I specifically asked Cindy to bring us to a restaurant that sells delicious MF. Cindy later told me that she sent us to the best restaurant in town to eat the MF. Man, that was good fish! I can eat the whole thing by myself if W wasn't there hahaha. Even W was so crazy about it and he's not a seafood guy. I figured that Cindy and our driver ate in different place and they just eat dumplings... I was speechless. I would've asked those 2 to join us. If only I knew what was going on because I already had an impression that we all will sit together and have lunch like what W and I did in HZ with John and our driver. Oh man but oh well.. Then we continued our tour to the No.1 Souzhou Silk Factory! At this point I'm still not sure if it's the best factory in Suzhou of the first one to build in Suzhou (¯―¯٥)

Greens that the silk worms love to eat.

Alleyway in the factory. Very nice.

Mulberry leaf is the best food for the silk worms.

Look at em. Cute but ew!

OMG!!!

It was bizarre to hold this animal.

Cocoon check.

Getting the cocoon string.

More cocoons.

Spun the string.

One of the machineries used in the factory.

Dead larvas. Poor baby :( Boiled to death..

Stretching the raw silk.

At the factory, I felt like such a smart ass! The person explained about how silk is made and how to tell real or fake silk. I learned fashion, I already know this shit outside my head so when the people asked why I know so much about silk, I just told them "I'm a fashion student.". Felt proud but felt like an ass for saying that because people perceive fashion is such a snobby thing to learn and stuff. But my passion is there, what can I do, right? Just shut up? Nope! They asked me, I'll answer what I know. The highlight of this tour in the venue is that we can touch the worms and we can expand the silk fabric in raw form by stretching it manually with hand! FUUUN! (●▽●) No matter how much fun we had in there, we still gotta run to see more things. There are still a lot more to see. Gotta see em all before the sunset. Next stop, the 800 y.o PingJiang Read! Definitely my most most favorite destination in Suzhou!

Fairytale ♥

Beautiful cones! #VSCOCam

Scenery of the road.

AHHH! TOO CUTE! I'M DYINGG! I WANT EM ALL!!!!! ♥♥♥

The water canal :)

Beautiful shops with greeneries and flowers.

Tourists nearby the graffiti. 

We found a cat cafe there but we didn't have time for it so we decided we should go there next time when we have more time. So, PingJiang Street is water lane that has been preserved really well and aged for 1600 years!! Definitely a must visit. Now this street has tons and tons of pretty cafes, shops and restaurants from one end to another end. You can also take a boat ride, like in Venice but with Chinese boat, not a Gondola hahaha. It was the quickest visit ever among all the venues we visited. Shame but it was almost sun set. I truly fell in love with that street. One does not simply missed PingJiang Street when they go to Suzhou. Our next destination is the Hanshan Temple! Yes, more temple. Hello, it's China! Temples are everywhere (¯―¯٥)

With Cindy! But 1. The kid and the man spotted in photo. 2. Pic is not taken in portrait mode wtf.

Welcome to Hanshan temple!

Entrance :)

The atmosphere. Try spot W in this pic :)

Candle burning

One of the entrance door of the temple.

Taken from 3rd floor of the temple.

View. So Japanese looking. LOVE!

Breathtaking :)

Willem at Hanshan Temple :)

I also want to pose despite my hat that makes me look like a stupid.

This is literally the only temple that I have visited with so many floors and entrance door. The fact that everybody can go up this building is amazing! They do have 4 statues to worship in each floor, if you are wondering. The staircase is very steep and all made out of wood, just be careful when you go up and down. Worth the view though. Go check it out! Now, the reason why this temple is so famous is because of their ancient Bell and the poem about it. That poem now is a part of China and Japan's primary school curriculum. Not only that, but also the ringing of the bells on CNY is apparently a major shit to see by the local/foreign visitors and the pilgrims. So, there are 2 bells in this temple and it is believed that one of the bells are made around the same time but in 2 different countries; China and Japan. The original Tang Dynasty bell has been sent to Japan in ancient times, some believes. Pretty cool for bells history! Apparently the Hanshan temple is our last destination of the tour. It was a really fun day and it was really nice to made a new friend, Cindy. We were very very pleased with her guidance if the tour, she talks about the history and stories behind each venue which we are very interested in. If you guys need a private Suzhou trip, make sure to get her as your guide. Her company she's working for, they made some changes with the tour venues now, make sure to get the best tour package.  (click the underlined text to book a tour package in Suzhou!) . The driver and Cindy sent us to the our new hostel near Shilu Pedestrian Street. Chill vibe. We met a Jamaican Chinese backpacker girl who did some sketches of us after we came back from our trip to Shilu Pedestrian Street :)

Happy lemon! My fav place to get drinks. Suck it, Starbucks :P

Round and around.

Happy to see modern Suzhou as well.

Wasn't that sweet? :)

The next morning we went out on our own. I found an article on the internet about Suzhou's Little Tokyo so we headed there asap. Basically Little Tokyo of Suzhou is a street full of Japanese restaurants, izakayas and bars. It was very dead when we arrived there and only few shops that are opened. We explored the whole street and ended going to a restaurant at one of the first fews at our starting line called "Okonomi Jiro". The reason why we went there because of their interesting signboard outside and the menu they offered, okonomiyaki!

Our okonomiyaki! Beef Beef, no worries.

I always visualise a huge monster going to smash that motorcycle LOL! I watched
too much Ultraman.

So summer-y :D

More lanterns.

And more lanterns.

I have things for lanterns. I find them beautiful, despite the word 'BEER' on there lmao.

Isn't this the best chalkboard sign ever?! LOVE!!!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Menu page. Yum!! Looking at this made me so hungry C:

Selfie with bb @ Okonomi Jiro xoxo

Him and his Asahi beer!

Me pretending to be nice mannered and all.

Our food. Best food ever!

Itadakimasu! :DD

Executing the okonomiyaki :D

Kaarage chicken ♥

LOVE THIS SHOT ♥♥♥

So that was W's first okonomiyaki and he's completely crazy about it. He bought some okonomiyaki sauce when we were back in Shanghai lmao. We were so spooked in Little Tokyo so we went to the Suzhou Lake to check out the Pants Building. It's a building that looks like a pair of trousers named the Gate of The East. W and I decided not to go under that building because it'll feel like we walk under a crotch. No, thank you. So we went to the other side of the river and enjoying the view. Found a group of Flamingos and very pretty flower shop. W was such an attraction for the local because he's.. Caucasian. LOL! Classic! :))

Flamingos and the Pants at the misty background.

The flower shop :D

Rocking bf's shorts that day. #touristfashion #menocare

One of the sculpture in the park.

The Misty Pants.

Under the bridge. Beautiful! :)

So we went under a bridge nearby along the river. We spent quite a long time to explore most of the area because the park is HUGE. Then we got bored because the weather sucks, can't see the BP clearly. Lake was too misty. So we went to PingJiang Road again because yesterday wasn't enough :P

You can purchase these cards btw.

Beautiful!! My kind of place!!

Awww Shiba Inu cup :) So much cuteness!

The wall is so nice with all the letters and sticky notes. So personal.

Corner to work and read. FUN!

LOOK AT THESE DRAWINGS OF CATS!!!! OMGGGGG!!!

One of the greenest restaurants in Pingjiang Street.

Less busy part of the street ft W's xiaomi.

The graffiti. Don't ask me what it says. Me no read Chinese very well.

Bouquets of flowers. Wanted to buy one but too mafan to carry it back to Shanghai.

'Venice'.

Corner cafe. CUTE!

Macaroons and succulents. I'm must've been in Heaven omg...

Remember when I said earlier that I wanted to visit the cat cafe in Pingjiang Street if I have time? Well, I did. So I dragged W to go into the cafe with me despite his allergies (I have allergies to but #crazycatladyforlive!). IT. WAS. PURRADISE!!!

KITTYYYYYY!!!!! :D

The only dog there and a French Bulldog. He's grounded right now. His name is Cucumber LOL! Bulldoggo Cumberbark.

Sleepy kitty C:

Beautiful beast :')

Sleepy cat no.2.

Kitty kiss xoxo

This feline likes the texture of my hat.

Nawwwhhhh! Look at these pretty siamese kitties!!! I WANT!

Willem and the Chosen One.

Happy blurry selfie.

They smell something in the bag.

One of em is entertained by a game,

Look at em fairy lights above W!

Catch the red dot!

Bengal King ;)

Please please please DO GO HERE IF YOU LOVE CATS!!! Owner speaks very good English, she stayed in The States before.

Had the owner's wechat and we still keep in touch till now. If I have the time to go back to Suzhou, I'll definitely visit the cat cafe again and the other part of Suzhou's City Gate. Suzhou is definitely one of the most beautiful city we have ever been. Can't wait for our next trip. Till next time!

BYE!