Up and Down

This was how we got up to reach the Great Wall. 

And how we went down.

Lesson of Productivity

Waiting is no fun, but what you produce while waiting is what counts.

It's a hard knock life.

Westin Xi'An by Neri & Hu.

Hutong Life

The hotel that we stayed in when in Beijing was a unique one. I loved it. First, it's hidden somewhere in the hutong area. Second, it has this independent business feeling which makes it feel like the service and everything were personalised. And three, because it's very chill. Chill, like when you drink a bottle of ginger beer. Just a tad sweet. 

 

We had to walk for about 15-20 minutes with our backpack from the station when we first came to the hotel, simply because we were lost in the middle of hutong. Hutong simply means alleyway in Chinese. This was the housing model in the old China where people share a courtyard and live together using the public facilities like shared toilet. Most of the houses are rather small but the price of the land rises so much these days because of it's location, which is very close to the city centre. These old school hutongs are located around Tiananmen Square, ours is in the Gulou area. 

When we went for breakfast at the hotel's outdoor restaurant in the upper floor, we were able to see the neighbours. Nice view of the hutong, although the sky was a bit greyer than we thought it would be.

At night when we walked out to find some food, we would see families having dinner on the street if front of their house or some men playing mah jong loudly. 

Back on The Road

It's finally time to ride again. This time of the year, felt much familiar to the early days in Europe when I had my old two-wheeler which chain just can't stay quiet. The bike that I got from a second-hand bike shop for locals, subsidised by the government for those in needs. I was a student back then, so I was indeed in need. But these days when I was not a student anymore, I am still, in need. Haha.

But. One day of last week, I went to visit my friend's office in Glen Iris. With determination to explore the city I've always been in but never had enough time to explore, I rode my bike from home and followed the path Google told me. A little bit about the bike, I got it from Tokyo Bike in Collingwood. First, of course I like the bike. Second, I had to get this one because the usual bikes are just too small for me. It's a blue grey Tokyo Bike with 450mm frame, the smaller of its kind. It is just perfect. Easy to manoeuvre, light-weight and compact for a city bike therefore it's easy to carry it on the train and to move around in the house. A very laid-back bike with upright position, making the journey always an easy one.

So my friend told me that there should be a nice bike trail nearby his office, I had to try that route. It's called the Gardiners Creek Trail, a dedicated bike and runner's track. It was nice for Melbourne standard I suppose. I remember when biking in Hildesheim, it was just way nicer, the tracks were leading to small villages around the city and an hour bike took you to a grass field with no end. But it's a nice one for Melbourne too. I entered the track from Malvern East and ended it in Glen Iris. It took about 15 minutes on the track. The whole trip took me 30 minutes. Not too bad.

Biking has a special place in my heart. To me, when I ride, it gives me time to think, it activates the brain a bit faster than when I am walking, it thrills me to ride in my pace and to be able to go somewhere far that I can't explore by walking is an incentive too.

It's closer to summer time now in Melbourne. I don't mind biking in winter really. The feeling of getting out of the house in such cold weather and get the body warmed up by biking, makes me want to go out and ride. Even if it's snowing I wouldn't mind. I never really had bike in summer, I imagine, it will be sweaty and flies are flying around annoying me...

Dividing a Rock

There is a legend in Hua Shan Mountain that a son had to halve a stone into two in order to save his mom. These days, people can just pretend.

Simplicity does not mean less, it means just enough.