Suzhou!

 I didn't have a chance to ride the Maglev yet (581km/hr = 361mph), but going 284km/hr (176mph) isn't too bad either.

 Walking around Shangtang street. Looks like Venice in China!

 The Zhuo Zheng Garden, one of Suzhou's many gardens.

 

Shanghai - World Expo!

Our main reason for stopping through Shanghai was to go to the World Expo. China spent more money on the World Expo than they did on the Beijing Olympics in 2008!

 This picture of the Macau Pavilion is for Sirena!

 There were lots of people! Crowds + 35C+ temperatures... fun fun!

 The US Pavilion!

 Here is Haibao, the official mascot of the World Expo, whom you could see EVERYWHERE!

Krispy Kreme!

There is only ONE Krispy Kreme in all of China and I found it in Shanghai! They have the whole doughnut conveyor belt inside too! My taste buds tell me the doughnuts taste just as good (though slightly different...).

 

Shanghai - The Bund!

Some pix of the Shanghai skyline and the Bund.

 
 
 
 

Chinese Fajitas!

What happens when you're deprived of Mexican food in China? You find a way to cope, like this! At a really awesome restaurant in Hangzhou, Grandmother's Kitchen (外婆家), I ordered 2 of my favorite dishes: teppanyaki tea tree mushrooms and roti prata. Who says you can't have fajitas in China?

 

Hangzhou!

 In Hangzhou, we visited the Gong Chen Bridge, which is one of the more well-known bridges that span the Grand Canal (a canal whose sections were combined around 1500 years ago to connect the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers).
 We took a short boat ride to the middle of West Lake.
 Here a view of the area around the lake at night. Reminds me a bit of the Acropolis.
 To end the day, we watched the musical water fountain show - not as grand as the Bellagio one, but still really good!

Chinese Restaurant!

Look! I found a Chinese restaurant in China (in Hangzhou actually)! 

Beijing!

I went to Beijing (again...) where I took my mom and sister to the Forbidden City, Great Wall, Olympic Stadium... etc. Since I've already posted pix from these places when i took my dad, I'll post some other interesting pix.

 The Wangfujing food street - very crowded!

 What's for lunch? BBQ scorpions? These guys are roasted while they're alive! I'm going to add this to my long list of reasons for being a vegetarian...

 Suzhou street at the Summer Palace (yes, it was raining...)

  The marble boat at the Summer Palace.

Shopping in Dongmen (东门)

When Susan came to visit, she told me she wanted to buy some bags and wallets... so I took her to Dongmen!

LV purses...
 99 cent store, eat your heart out. Here's the rmb9.9 store (usd1.50) where you can pick up stuff like Gucci wallets, thermoses, clocks, watches...
 

Padres vs Mariners

My dad works for Petco, so he scored us some box seats for the Padres vs Mariners Game on June 12, 2010 (yes, the post is a bit late...).

Final score... Padres 7, Mariners 1. Sweet!

 
 

Seattle!

It's right about time for me to catch up on my blog posts. My last post was from Chicago, about 2 months ago when I started my 2 months of "traveling."

Chicago -> Seattle -> San Francisco -> San Diego -> HK/Shenzhen -> Macau -> Beijing -> Hangzhou -> Suzhou -> Shanghai

In Seattle, I got to meet up with Mike and Solina, whom I haven't seen in a long time. Since it was the 4th of July weekend, Alex and Julie decided to fly up and hang out with us!

 Here is me, Alex, and Julie out clubbing with Mike's med school classmates.

 Hanging out with the Fremont Troll!

 Some pleasant walk at a nice park. I forget where, but I do remember that the weather was beautiful, and the strawberrys Solina bought were really sweet!

 Alex decides to show us some "stupid" iPhone app called the "Impossible Game." We all spend the next hour trying to beat it. 2 med students, 2 facebook developers, and 1 mechancal engineer vs 1 "stupid" iPhone app = lots of "stupid" fun!