Previous post (here).
14 January 2016
Harbin, China
Taxi driver dropped us at the opposite road to the hotel I booked. Easy peasy to spot the hotel for I have searched for the direction & had it saved in my phone prior the trip. Senang kerja; and this could also prevent us from being scam by taxi driver.
My 2cents: Print or save hotel addresses/ places you plan to go; in Pinyin as it will make things easier. Especially for the taxi driver or any locals you happened to ask direction from. Almost all local I met & asked were so very helpful. Therefore to make them want to help you more, do a favor for them. Make it easy for them by preparing everything in words they can read & understand. Unless kau jenis yang gamble & ada banyak masa mau mencari arah; by all mean bolehlah abaikan this thing.
Anyway, back to my Harbin story.
Property: Harbin Tianyan Holiday Hotel Zhongyang Street
Date: 14 Jan - 16 Jan 2016 (2 nights)
Room Type: Double Room
Price: CNY 516 (RM 302.00)
Booked via booking.com
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| #1 The hotel lobby |
I didn't noticed this at first, but almost all pictures of this hotel that I took are blur. Tangan gigil lapar or kesejukan melampau? Balik Malaysia tengok gambar baru menyesal! Sudah terlambat cik Bedah oii.
Anyway, memang suka gila sama lobby hotel ni. Luas & looks welcoming. Staffs are accommodating as well. Some speaks fluent English (way better than me for sure). This hotel is equipped with elevator so ndaklah risau bawa anak gajah walau dapat bilik upper floor.
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| #2 The reception area |
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| #3 Ensuite bathroom; but frosted glass wall & door? |
Masuk bilik, Jea tengok aku...and aku tengok dia. Why? Mainly because of the bathroom. We're totally okay with the room; spacious & clean. But frosted bathroom walls & door? Style apakah? Teruslah both of us agreed not to switch on the bathroom light at any time. And Jea siap berkarya; tampal certain side of the walls with maps she collected while in Beijing. Adoilah sempat belajar jalan di Beijing while doing business.
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| #4 Can I say the bed is perfectly (??) located right next to the bathroom wall (note where the toilet is facing). Pengsan! |
We didn't stay long in the room. After putting our backpacks, and toilet visits...off we went to explore the street. Main mission was to search for a halal eatery. Lapar oii! Last mencekik dalam train, ramyeon jak pula tu.
According to my research, there is one halal restaurant only walking distance away from our hotel. Alhamdulillah, He made it super easy for us both.
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| #5 Street sign & me; berpisah tiada |
Before sampai restoran ni, kami terlajak jalan. Instead of turning to Xiaman Street, we walked straight up to Da'an Street. Mulalah kejadian malfunction bearing bagai kan. Time lapar, sanalah mau bersesat bagai.
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| #6 Halal restaurant located at the same building as Haolin Business Hotel; only walking distance from our hotel |
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| #7 Green signboard for halal eatery |
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| #8 Fortunately they display their menu like this. Memang cara order paling berkesan. Main tunjuk-tunjuk jak. |
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| #9 Our dinner. Makan panas-panas time sejuk bedi memang nikmat yang tidak perlu didustakan. Alhamdulillah, Dia jadikan sedap di tekak |
Lepas makan, time to have a look at Zhongyang Street at night. Ambil feel lah before touring the next day. I was being super brilliant, didn't wear my jacket with hoodie. Tabahlah whenever angin menampar muka. Luckily ada bawa muffler.
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| #11 Colorful Zhongyang Street |
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| #12 Huge statues made from ice block were aplenty along the street |
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| #13 Rejected the idea to try on this one, takut seluar basah kaedahnya therefore posing jaklah |
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| #15 Energy booster they say |
We wandered randomly without specific place to go. I knew about Saint Sophia Cathedral located somewhere in the city but wasn't bother to look for it. We just followed where the legs took us.
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| #16 Crossing the pedestrian bridge from Zhongyang Street |
And suddenly came across this building (picture below). Baru perasan it is Saint Sophia. Kalau sudah rezeki kan, sampai juga. Didn't even plan to go here on our first night in Harbin. Tapi tulah, sudah Dia tentukan kaki melangkah ke sini.
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| #17 Hence posinglah berkali-kali depan cathedral ni kan. |
"Saint Sophia Cathderal is a Neo-Byzantine Russian Orthodox church dating to 1907, now housing a local history museum"
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| #18 From a slightly different angle |
This cathedral is so beautiful can't help but to keep taking picture of it. But too bad, most of the outcomes were blurred I had to delete them.
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| #19 Trying out the night mode |
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| #20 Another view of Saint Sophia Cathedral from the square, this time a bit far away |
Lepak sini around half an hour juga. Decided to call the night off because it was getting colder. Rasa sampai menusuk tulang. On the way balik sempat singgah street stalls selling all kind of winter wear. Memang berbaloi beli di Harbin (as suggested by Nily). Murah melantun. I bought a maroon muffler & gloves. Still using them untill now (it's been 4 years but they haven't gotten worn off).
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| #21 My most worthwhile purchase I made that evening. Body warmers & also foot warmers |
Sampai hotel, terus bersiram. Ikut turn. Sempat aku melaundry juga, pastu sidai near the heater. Kering in less than 20 minutes. We slept so lena that night. Bayar hutang tidur walhal sudah membongkang sikit punya lama dalam train.
Sejuk-sejuk memang mood melankoli sepanjang masa. Ngantuk jak rasa. Ntahlah kenapa boleh suka winter. Persoalan betul!
Anyway, cerita Day 2 di Harbin insha Allah aku continue next entry.
Till then, wassalam.
eryantierdabdulkarim
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