DAY 701

Aug 3

1) I haven't slept at all tonight. Mainly because my transport (very graciously arranged by Dr. Wang) would come at around 3:15am, which meant I had to be up and ready before that. So I decided against any sleep at all, and just stayed up contemplating what would be my last night here in Suzhou, China.

2) At 3:00am, I say a final goodbye to my accommodation, and head out to the main gate - only to find that it's pouring cats and dogs. Luckily there is some cover from the rain, although after a while the strong winds blow the rain diagonally so I still end up wet. Thankfully, the car arrives soon enough, and I hurriedly store my luggage in the boot and get in. Safe and sound, for now. Phew...

3) I get some rest while on the journey to the airport. Miraculously, I open my eyes just as he pulls over - at the correct terminal. After signing a form (to confirm we arrived at the correct destination), I head inside the airport. The first thing is to check in with Emirates, when I realise there would be a problem. My flight is at 7.00am, and now is only 4.45am, but the queue in front of me is so long that I'm pretty sure we would take an hour at least to check in our luggage.

4) At just past six, I've finally gotten my luggage weighed and stowed away. Hurriedly I head to the customs, and find another long line of people waiting. It should take another hour according to the rate they are going at. Very fortunately, at 6.30am, they suddenly open a new gate, and we are some of the first in line! Because of this, I finish customs immigration and inspection at quarter to seven.

5) As I reach the correct departure gate (very close to the inspection area, thankfully) I realise that the gates haven't even opened yet. Then, a stewardess makes the announcement that there has been a delay due to poor flight visibility. After several moments of waiting, the final departure time is announced at 7:30am - much to everyone's relief. It certainly brought back memories when I was travelling with my parents and we were returning to Ireland, only to have our flight delayed from afternoon all the way till late night!

6) By 7:20am, everyone was invited to board, and we had a safe (if uneventful) flight to Dubai, where we transited. Luckily our luggage was transported directly to the final destination i.e. Dublin, so I didn't have to worry about it. I spent a solid couple of hours just resting and eating complimentary ice cream from Emirates :) In the afternoon, we boarded the connecting flight back to Ireland.

7) The only problem on my mind was the slight delay we had in taking off. This would affect our landing time, meaning we arrived later than usual. Before this, I had promised Niamh to help her carry some stuff back home, where her parents were waiting (and very kindly would drop me off at my accommodation). But in the air, I had no way of contacting them or anyone for that matter. So I felt bad for making them wait for so long. Immediately after clearing immigration and retrieving my baggage, I made a B-line for the exit.

8) After a nice chat with Niamh's parents, they drove me all the way back. It was very nice touching down in Ireland, but it definitely took some adjusting to after so long in a different country. I still remember waking up the next morning thinking I was still in China XD. It was really a couple of near misses that I had, especially with the timing of the flights and transport - so I'm just glad to be safe and in one piece. Anyway, all's well that ends well as they say. That's it for my blog today, and thanks very much for visiting. Have a nice day, cheers! :D

Beautiful Shanghai Pudong International Airport

One last look before I bid farewell to China! :(

The ground floor of our accommodation, taken at 3:00am XD

Flight EK305, scheduled for 7:15am

Shanghai Pudong International Airport

(this was after I cleared customs and everything else, just in case you were wondering ^^)

Indeed, it does look like poor visibility was a problem here

Waiting right at the departure gate

Very spacious and comfy flight

I know some people complain about airplane food, but personally I love it!

(Especially their apple juice, it's really good :))

Complimentary ice cream from Emirates ^^

Mango flavour

Beautiful architecture of Dubai International Airport

Another round of food - oh YES! XD

Guess who got a haircut after MORE than 2 months?!

(back safe and sound)

DAY 700

Aug 2

1) So that's about it - my final day here in Suzhou, China. I attended my last morning seminar, at which Chris gave a brilliant presentation in English. Immediately afterwards, he gave me a brilliant tie tack bearing the "Soochow University" logo. When I asked him if he really wanted me to have this, he said he would get another one after completing his PhD. I felt quite touched that he would give something as precious as that to me. Half anticipating this, I had the night before prepared a sketched portrait of the two of us, taken from the time we saw the sunset at Dushu Lake. I'm not an artist by a long shot, but I suppose that's the best I can come up with.

2) As part of my own "farewell dinner", I had planned to go for a seafood buffet at "Duolunduo" (多伦多). After inviting Niamh, we got on more people from our labs to come. At 4.30pm, we booked a taxi to Suzhou Center (苏州中心), where the buffet is located. We had to wait till 5.30pm for the buffet to begin, but boy oh boy was it worth the wait. I have never seen such a vast array of dishes from all corners of the world. Particularly fascinating was the seafood spread, which truly lived up to its name of a "seafood buffet"!

3) In between all the food and drinks, servers would wheel out extra dishes such as durian pizza (!), and offer us coffee and extra drinks. All in all, it was well worth the 130 yuan price. After our dinner, we walked outside the shopping mall and across to the promenade, chatting away for what seemed like an eternity. Then Chris suggested that we take the subway to the next stop, which would be right across the lake - affording us an even better view of Suzhou Centre. Sadly, by the time we reached, the lights had been switched off!

4) That did nothing to dim the conversation though, as we walked along the now dimly lit promenade, stopping finally to rest on some steps just beside the lake. As it was approaching 11pm (and my transport to the Pudong International Airport was at 3am!), we had no choice but to call it a night. Our friends helped call a taxi for the both of us back to our apartment, where I spent a sleepless night awaiting the ride back to the airport. That would be the conclusion of my stay here in Suzhou, I honestly do not regret one moment of it. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. And this was one of the very best...

5) And that concludes today's edition of my blog. Thank you very much as always for visiting my blog, and have a great week ahead. Cheers! :)

Pencil sketch of Chris and I

Final goodbye to my lab mates in the Molecular Cancer Research Laboratory, 3F 

I've always wanted to try this Korean rice dish, from Family Mart

(it's a bit expensive, but as today was my last day here I figured why not...)

It's really filling with pickled cabbage as the main ingredient - very tasty!

Tie tack from Chris...

Duolunduo Seafood Buffet

("Duolunduo" for some strange reason translates to "Toronto" in English!)

Take a look at all the colourful drinks! <3 <3 <3

Living up to its name of a bonafide seafood buffet!

One cannot help but laugh at the English translations

(the translations are done word for word - which explains the really strange names in English)

This salmon came with the most delectable honey glaze sauce I've ever tasted. 

(10/10 would recommend!)

Beautiful seafood spread :)

The presentation was top-notch in my opinion

Durian pizza!!! <3<3<3

Dessert section was where it fell a bit short for me, as the quality wasn't up to par with the other buffets I've tried here in Suzhou...

(overall still an amazing experience though!)

Oh look guys - we reached the Forbidden City, Beijing!

Group pic yeay ^^

The sign reads "My house is at the Forbidden City"!

A rainbow of colours to cheer us up on our last night out!

Right beneath the Gate of the Orient (also rather affectionally known as the "Trousers"!)

Rainbow Walk

Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre - on the opposite site of the lake from where Suzhou Centre is located

Too bad the lights were off when we got there - it would have been many times more beautiful had they been kept on... ):

A powerful green laser projects into the night sky

A beautiful illuminated bridge