And so I continue my recap of China 2011 with Part Two in Suzhou and Wuxi!

So it’s been just over two weeks since I returned home from my trip to China (which explains my particular absence from the blog, not that that would be noticeable given my blogging track record…) and there is so much to share and reflect on.

I’ll be covering my trip over five posts:

Part 1: A Taste of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing (covered in this post)
Part 2: Breezing Through Suzhou and Wuxi
Part 3: Back in Shanghai
Part 4: Hilarity and High Times in Shanghai
Part 5: When West Marries East (or My Dude Cousin’s Big Fat Chinese -Western Wedding)

(Can you tell that I’m no copy writer?)

Last Monday, as planned, I went up to Bendigo with my folks, mainly to check out the featured exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery, The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London (1937–1948), direct from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was overall a fantastic show of outfits, ranging from refined afternoon wear to the more flamboyant evening gowns, with also a collection of fashion photography from the likes of Richard Avedon on display.

Bendigo is a lovely city. Clean, vintage and with friendly people. And there was a Katies store that was closing down with the cheapest clothes! $5 a piece for most garments, zomg! Not even DFO can compare!

I sort of splurged on the gift range… The bag is beautiful and cute however, and well worth it.

Now I wouldn’t be a true type fan without noticing the amazing signage around this historic city! ‘Total Abstinence Society Inc”—well, that’s one way of putting it, eh? I love the little flourishes and the Nouveau/Deco typefaces.

The flourish in the ‘AND’ is beautiful! But I love the little stencil someone grafittied on top of the sign. It completes the set. ;)

I’m back from Woop Woop! No, in all seriousness, Hobart is a beautiful but quiet (don’t say sleepy) city, home of “our” Princess Mary, or should I say more correctly, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, Countess of Monpeza (and what the heck is it with the use of the possessive term in Australia? Our Nicole, our Cathy, etc. Seems to purport that we jealously protect our limited stock of celebrities and superstars, like cattle or sommat). Anyway, I bought tickets from Tiger Airways during their $9.95 promotions several months back (not likely to happen again, given the state of oil prices at the moment) – initally I’d planned for my family and me to go to Darwin (nice and warm all year round) to avoid the cold weather of June/July, but somehow I opted for Hobart! But I don’t regret it.

Namely I went to Richmond and Port Arthur, the latter of which is the most visited tourist attraction in Tasmania. Richmond sort of reminds me of Marysville and Ballarat in Victoria. Well, they’re all the same when you think about it, only Richmond is much older (and very unlike our Richmond in the ‘burbs!) and has the …