The children in Hangzhou

Hello again....it has been quite a while since my last entry...I have been busy with work....holidays and some daily chores ….it’s difficult to get organize without the maid around ....this is the price I have to pay after relying on the maid so much ....:( plus my limitation of doing some heavy household chores after my prolapsed disc incident……..but I consider myself as lucky since I can always call the Ah yee to come for cleaning the apartment with minimum fee if I want to but had not done so since I thought that I can burnt some fats while cleaning the apartment and getting things organize…LOL…..

Rozi came with the kids to spend the last school holiday with me. We went backpacking to Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou.

They reached Hangzhou on Sat 08th March via Airasia (thank god for that! otherwise, I can't really afford to fly them to China). I went to Xiaoshan airport to pick them up at midnight as Rozi is not very familiar with Hangzhou. This will also be Rozi’s training ground on how to move around in Hangzhou so that I can leave him independently on his next trip to see me. Brought them out of gate no 5 at the airport and bought 6 bus tickets which cost RMB 15 each for adult to Hangzhou downtown (Wulinmen). Then, we came down at the 2nd bus stop before continuing our journey in a 10 minutes ride by cab to the Best Western Premier Hotel which cost about RMB 12. Since we were bringing 4 children and Nabihah a.k.a Ayong has been considered as adult since she is already 15, we booked two rooms so that she can share with her sisters and leave Adam with us (Adam has been very attached to Ayong since he was a baby …due to my temporary disability during my confinement…). ..but as usual Adam refused to sleep with us……

We woke up early and I prepared some instant noodles in the cup with 2 in 1 Milo they brought from Malaysia for breakfast. Then, we went out, took a cab and started our first visit to the West Lake. We walked around the lake for nearly 3 hours. Here are some of the photos I managed to capture while we were in Hangzhou:

One of the tree in full bloom during Spring at the West Lake

The kids having splendid time by the lake

Me and my wonderful children........

Adam & Nadhirah enjoying their cotton candy

Rozi with his adorable children (as he always brag to me.............)

My favorite spots in West Lake

The children at the Centre of the West Lake

At Wushan Market...........

Having lunch outside the Muslim coffeeshop located at the entrance of Hangzhou Silk Market

We enjoyed their curry beef rice andstir fried beef .....hhhmmmmm yummmmyyy.....

Then, we continue our 3 hours journey by bus to my apartment in the evening. They spend one night in my apartment before we took 4 hours bus ride to Shanghai on Monday morning. We reached Shanghai in the afternoon and straight ahead to the railway station to purchase the night train to Beijing. We did not managed to get the soft sleeper so have to be on soft seat for 16 hours journey.


Prior to the journey, I briefed the children and I assigned each of them with a duty. Ayong in charged for the luggage, Rozi looked after Adam while on the move and read the map, Ueya and Wawa check the room before check out to ensure that we did not left anything behind. I am in charge of the cash and communication since I am the only one in the group who can speak little Mandarin. I had also earlier set up the time frame for the children to get organize such as who goes to the bathroom first, how many minutes they were allowable to spend taking bath….I made the rule that Ayong should use the bathroom first, follow by Najwa and Nadhirah. Then Najwa & Nadhirah should immediately come to our room for breakfast right after they had dressed up, then, Ayong will bath Adam and get him dressed up. During my last trip back in February, I also remind the children to do some exercise for instance brisk walking in the evening, so that they will not feel tire while backpacking and enough stamina to move fast. I warn them this will not be an easy trip as we need to stick to our plan for 6 days travel covering Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and back to Shanghai. They have also been informed that Mom & Dad do not want to listen to any complaint or grievances during the whole trip. Rozi left the children to choose whether they want to continue with the plan or just stay in door in my apartment. The children have been in the high spirit since they wanted to visit Great Wall of China more than anything else.


I had also giving them some tips on the different cultural values and warned they may see some funny behaviors along the journey..….whatever it is to make sure that they keep it by themselves first then only make a comment at the right time appropriately.

To be continue.......