Hangzhou....I never thot I'll even like you..
Just thot I post some something on my maiden trip to China; Hangzhou to be exact. I was invited as one of the VIP guests by the production team of Fashion Asia Awards, on behalf of Guangxi TV China. It was a kind of a last minute thing so had a whirlwind of a time getting my visa done and other last minute arrangement...lucky I have Nndar who has a travel agency to advise me on these stuff. If you need a good travel agent, get in touch with her...She's a gem!
I arrived in Hangzhou after a 5 hours flight from sunny Malaysia...and upon arriving at around 11pm, I was quite surprised with how cold it was...the drizzle does not help as well. It was less than 10 degrees and for someone yang takut sejuk..it was freezing! There were 7 of us from Malaysia arriving in the same flight. Two of them our renowned designer Carven Ong and also Alex Lim, a hair stylist who owns La Mode Coiffure in Pavillion. They were competing in different categories of awards. And I'm proud to announce that Alex Lim won the Asian Stylist of The Year category. Although Carven didn't win the designer of the year category, I think he gave the other nominees a tough fight with his beautiful creation. At the end of that 3 nights in Hangzhou all of us became fast friends. The group include Maggie, a journalist from Feminine magazine and Jann from China Press. And Yazid, Carven's assistant who lost his i-phone in Hangzhou...Bad luck!!
On the second day I attended a meeting on the formation of Asian Fashion Media Association. Each of the delegates had to do a welcoming speech, which was translated beautifully into Mandarin and vice verse. After that all of us were taken for a Chinese dinner. Inilah yang dikatakan darurat, where I had to eat at a place that I would not even enter if I were at home. Makanlah veggie, tofu yang crispy, sedap and freshly steamed fish aje..Walaupun at the back of my head I know that even the utensils used are technically not halal, Allah je lar yang tau...
When we got back to the hotel, my journalist friends invited me out to go to West Lake, one of Hangzhou's famous tourist attractions, on our own, just us girls. West Lake is beautiful in that cool weather. People were sitting down where a musical fountain was in action. It was real nice and the area surrounding West Lake was just as great. We spent about 2 hours there.
On the third day, it was a whole day of press conferences and at night we were taken to the venue of the award in Zhejian University of Communications, where they have set up a red carpet event. We, to our surprise had to walk the red carpet and later was asked to go on stage to present an award each...Giler ar!! We were totally unprepared for it! 
Lucky it turned out alright..I met some of the most wonderful people of Hangzhou, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and our fellow Malaysians. Even Alex was telling me in the flight home that, both he and Carven has been to a lot of trips with the media and this trip is the first time that they felt they can be themselves...So nice.
We only managed to have a day on our own on the last day. All of us went to the city to SHOP!! Things are so cheap...but in terms of clothing and shoes they are only selling winter stuff, to me macam pointless lar...bila pulak aku nak pakai winter jacket bulu-bulu bagai kan? In the end, I only got myself a pair of leather boots at around RM120 and a bootie shoe which cost only RM25..cik mur kan. I feel a bit disadvantaged as I can't speak Mandarin and all the vendors are practically hopeless in English. Lucky I have Jann with me who helped, even quarreled with a lady who practically shouted at her when she backed off from a bargain..That was supposed to be scary but tapi sebab akak tak paham bahasa...so boleh cool lagi lar..
We went back to West Lake, took lotsa pics..and thank goodness found Starbucks!! Yeay!. The malls are very good with the likes of Zara and all other designer labels. We also found a Chinese Muslim restaurant where I can finally eat with a clear conscience.
Hangzhou was a good experience indeed. I can almost say I like it....but I like Mesia more lar.
I arrived in Hangzhou after a 5 hours flight from sunny Malaysia...and upon arriving at around 11pm, I was quite surprised with how cold it was...the drizzle does not help as well. It was less than 10 degrees and for someone yang takut sejuk..it was freezing! There were 7 of us from Malaysia arriving in the same flight. Two of them our renowned designer Carven Ong and also Alex Lim, a hair stylist who owns La Mode Coiffure in Pavillion. They were competing in different categories of awards. And I'm proud to announce that Alex Lim won the Asian Stylist of The Year category. Although Carven didn't win the designer of the year category, I think he gave the other nominees a tough fight with his beautiful creation. At the end of that 3 nights in Hangzhou all of us became fast friends. The group include Maggie, a journalist from Feminine magazine and Jann from China Press. And Yazid, Carven's assistant who lost his i-phone in Hangzhou...Bad luck!!
On the second day I attended a meeting on the formation of Asian Fashion Media Association. Each of the delegates had to do a welcoming speech, which was translated beautifully into Mandarin and vice verse. After that all of us were taken for a Chinese dinner. Inilah yang dikatakan darurat, where I had to eat at a place that I would not even enter if I were at home. Makanlah veggie, tofu yang crispy, sedap and freshly steamed fish aje..Walaupun at the back of my head I know that even the utensils used are technically not halal, Allah je lar yang tau...
When we got back to the hotel, my journalist friends invited me out to go to West Lake, one of Hangzhou's famous tourist attractions, on our own, just us girls. West Lake is beautiful in that cool weather. People were sitting down where a musical fountain was in action. It was real nice and the area surrounding West Lake was just as great. We spent about 2 hours there.
On the third day, it was a whole day of press conferences and at night we were taken to the venue of the award in Zhejian University of Communications, where they have set up a red carpet event. We, to our surprise had to walk the red carpet and later was asked to go on stage to present an award each...Giler ar!! We were totally unprepared for it! 
Lucky it turned out alright..I met some of the most wonderful people of Hangzhou, Indonesia, Thailand, Mongolia and our fellow Malaysians. Even Alex was telling me in the flight home that, both he and Carven has been to a lot of trips with the media and this trip is the first time that they felt they can be themselves...So nice.
We only managed to have a day on our own on the last day. All of us went to the city to SHOP!! Things are so cheap...but in terms of clothing and shoes they are only selling winter stuff, to me macam pointless lar...bila pulak aku nak pakai winter jacket bulu-bulu bagai kan? In the end, I only got myself a pair of leather boots at around RM120 and a bootie shoe which cost only RM25..cik mur kan. I feel a bit disadvantaged as I can't speak Mandarin and all the vendors are practically hopeless in English. Lucky I have Jann with me who helped, even quarreled with a lady who practically shouted at her when she backed off from a bargain..That was supposed to be scary but tapi sebab akak tak paham bahasa...so boleh cool lagi lar..
We went back to West Lake, took lotsa pics..and thank goodness found Starbucks!! Yeay!. The malls are very good with the likes of Zara and all other designer labels. We also found a Chinese Muslim restaurant where I can finally eat with a clear conscience.
Hangzhou was a good experience indeed. I can almost say I like it....but I like Mesia more lar.
Comments
You nicely summed up the issue. I would add that this doesn’t exactly concenplate often. xD Anyway, good post…