i'm back from hangzhou...
it was cold when we arrived, and vikko picked us up... we grabbed some chow, then managed to find some transport into hangzhou, but the van that was to ferry us to hangzhou was terrible, with the clutch slipping continually, the poor driver had to keep restarting the van...
but we did manage to make it to hangzhou safely, although we made a few rounds at a particularly big traffic interchange in hangzhou.. keke
checked in, went out for a very very good dinner, eating like kings, and then rushed off to meet some important people for the competition, a local dj who was the host, 2 mr zhangs... one a representative of the zhejiang skating federation, the other was zhang li, aka jia gou, who was the organizer of this current competition...
the grounds are fantastic, big, flat, with amenities nearby, the ground markings have lights below them that correspond to ifsa requirements... but it was so so so so cold... finally managed to catch some sleep at 2am
woke up and went back to xi cheng, (competition grounds), and we proceeded with the speed and pure jump competitions.. and the competition dragged all the way till 7pm... being winter, the sky turned dark at 530.. so it was quite difficult for the jumpers... who managed to hit a height of 1.1m... dinner was at a local restaurant nearby.. everybody crammed together, it was nice and fun... then we went down to wulin, which was the usual gathering place for all the skaters in hangzhou.. and a big bunch of people went to skate xi hu (westlake)... while most of us decided we should go back to the hotel to rest.. managed to catch some sleep at 3am.. hahaha..
woke up at 7am and rushed down to the new venue for the competition, which was a sports complex on one of the university campuses on the outskirts of hangzhou... the ground wasn't too good for slides as compared to the previous day, but it sufficed as the rain didn't come down on us, thus preventing the competition from going on...
the freestyle slalom competition had some hiccups in the morning, but it carried on well into the night, and the competitors were of a very very high standard... judging wasn't simple with the wind chill being at maybe -10 deg C... and me and eX sitting there freezing our butts off.... but it was a good competition, and the prizes were nice, and the competitors were friendly..
and dinner was at a restaurant nearby, with a big bunch of competitors attending the competition... taught them the yum seng custom... and then it started snowing! snowy christmas! a white snowy christmas! wooo... haha.. it was great with the snow.. and the next morning we went out to tour xihu with rain.... visited yue fen.. the tomb of yue fei... before proceeding to this ktv, qian gui, aka partyworld which served a buffet for people to eat and sing...
slept at like 4am this time... and woke up at 9 to go out to this temple... ling ying shi.. where the famous ji gong had his head shaved and became a monk... it was really snowing like mad this time, so didn't get to skate... but in the end.. we had a snowfight in ling ying shi... hurhurhurhur...
went shopping for shoes in town, followed by lunch at this xiao fei yang, steamboat restaurant... then after that returned to the hotel to nuah around, before rushing out to qian gui again.. this time there were less people but we sang till a lot of people fell asleep from exhaustion, and so we decided to return to the hotel to pack and prepare for the trip home..
and finally i'm back here...
photos and videos are on http://nytemare.lobang.net/Hangzhou
it was cold when we arrived, and vikko picked us up... we grabbed some chow, then managed to find some transport into hangzhou, but the van that was to ferry us to hangzhou was terrible, with the clutch slipping continually, the poor driver had to keep restarting the van...
but we did manage to make it to hangzhou safely, although we made a few rounds at a particularly big traffic interchange in hangzhou.. keke
checked in, went out for a very very good dinner, eating like kings, and then rushed off to meet some important people for the competition, a local dj who was the host, 2 mr zhangs... one a representative of the zhejiang skating federation, the other was zhang li, aka jia gou, who was the organizer of this current competition...
the grounds are fantastic, big, flat, with amenities nearby, the ground markings have lights below them that correspond to ifsa requirements... but it was so so so so cold... finally managed to catch some sleep at 2am
woke up and went back to xi cheng, (competition grounds), and we proceeded with the speed and pure jump competitions.. and the competition dragged all the way till 7pm... being winter, the sky turned dark at 530.. so it was quite difficult for the jumpers... who managed to hit a height of 1.1m... dinner was at a local restaurant nearby.. everybody crammed together, it was nice and fun... then we went down to wulin, which was the usual gathering place for all the skaters in hangzhou.. and a big bunch of people went to skate xi hu (westlake)... while most of us decided we should go back to the hotel to rest.. managed to catch some sleep at 3am.. hahaha..
woke up at 7am and rushed down to the new venue for the competition, which was a sports complex on one of the university campuses on the outskirts of hangzhou... the ground wasn't too good for slides as compared to the previous day, but it sufficed as the rain didn't come down on us, thus preventing the competition from going on...
the freestyle slalom competition had some hiccups in the morning, but it carried on well into the night, and the competitors were of a very very high standard... judging wasn't simple with the wind chill being at maybe -10 deg C... and me and eX sitting there freezing our butts off.... but it was a good competition, and the prizes were nice, and the competitors were friendly..
and dinner was at a restaurant nearby, with a big bunch of competitors attending the competition... taught them the yum seng custom... and then it started snowing! snowy christmas! a white snowy christmas! wooo... haha.. it was great with the snow.. and the next morning we went out to tour xihu with rain.... visited yue fen.. the tomb of yue fei... before proceeding to this ktv, qian gui, aka partyworld which served a buffet for people to eat and sing...
slept at like 4am this time... and woke up at 9 to go out to this temple... ling ying shi.. where the famous ji gong had his head shaved and became a monk... it was really snowing like mad this time, so didn't get to skate... but in the end.. we had a snowfight in ling ying shi... hurhurhurhur...
went shopping for shoes in town, followed by lunch at this xiao fei yang, steamboat restaurant... then after that returned to the hotel to nuah around, before rushing out to qian gui again.. this time there were less people but we sang till a lot of people fell asleep from exhaustion, and so we decided to return to the hotel to pack and prepare for the trip home..
and finally i'm back here...
photos and videos are on http://nytemare.lobang.net/Hangzhou
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