...wait / get told 'no' and thus we go and do something else for the day. Further to our: we thought we were going to have an awesome relaxation spa day only to be told 'mei you' ('no / don't have' in Chinese), we then remembered we had yet more vouchers to a different hotel (also nearby) which offered time in their gym and swimming pool. So, yesterday we thought, why not try there instead? (I don't know why we haven't used all these vouchers before, but hey-ho, we're getting there in our last 4 weeks of living here.) Imagine our delight and joy then when we discovered that it wasn't just a gym and pool that was on offer, but that they too had saunas (and one each apparently, which was awesome - as at the other hotel it was a sauna in the guys' changing room but only a steam room for the ladies) and a giant, cavernous spa that lay adjacent to the large (and empty) swimming pool, complete with fake rocks and palm trees. This hotel's facilities kicked the other hotel's arse!! The only downside was that instead of 12 glorious hours as advertised by the other joint, they limit you to two, but it was just enough time (then we came back to continue the 'rest' portion back in our cool, air-conditioned apartment, ahhh...)
We took many photos of the place (as we're tourists like that) including photos of the very unflattering swimming caps that are mandatory here and the amusing (to us anyway) English signs (my favourite being the 'Men Stop' one, tee-hee. This was at the entrance to the ladies changing room, however there was no 'woman stop' sign for the men's room?). One photo I neglected to take was that of the ashtray in the gym, complete with recently stubbed out ciggie. Only in China hey. Oh, you can't tell from the photos but the no smoking sign shown below was placed, of course, above a table that featured a large, ready-to-use ashtray.
So, here is our day (or some of it) in pictures, starting with a massive, tasty breakfast, before we began cycling over to the hotel.
We took many photos of the place (as we're tourists like that) including photos of the very unflattering swimming caps that are mandatory here and the amusing (to us anyway) English signs (my favourite being the 'Men Stop' one, tee-hee. This was at the entrance to the ladies changing room, however there was no 'woman stop' sign for the men's room?). One photo I neglected to take was that of the ashtray in the gym, complete with recently stubbed out ciggie. Only in China hey. Oh, you can't tell from the photos but the no smoking sign shown below was placed, of course, above a table that featured a large, ready-to-use ashtray.
So, here is our day (or some of it) in pictures, starting with a massive, tasty breakfast, before we began cycling over to the hotel.
Haha, maybe we took too many pictures of a hotel's pool/spa?? I think we were excited to be swimming again. (I know, I had a wonderful swim in the last hotel I stayed at in Beijing last week, but Husband hasn't been in one since Bali last August! Shocker.) It felt soooo good to be splashing around in the water. After 30 very sweaty minutes on the gym's elliptical (active recovery! It must have been years since I was last on an elliptical in a gym, but I was excited to use it to test my legs/continue the active recovery practice) I spent the next hour ish with Husband in our miraculously private pool and spa (lucky us) before then sweating it out some more with a couple of sauna sessions. Ahhh, so refreshing. Kind of felt like we were properly 'on holiday', if you know what I mean.
Now, if you've tuned in or found yourself here because you were actually after some RUNNING news/info, then fear not! I'm back! Yes, I finally went for a run this morning (well, it's been a whole week, and I was getting itchy feet, plus my legs have been feeling fine) as I couldn't resist: perfect morning for it: slightly cloudy and wasn't too hot yet, and yay for all the active recovery, as my legs feel great. It was an 11kms easy paced/recovery run, and although I felt a little bit slower than my usual pace, hopefully this is just temporary and I'll be back into it (properly) next week. Just over 3 weeks to go! Can't wait. Just a bit excited for the Gold Coast half marathon (plus seeing some of my favourite people in the world, albeit too briefly and just for a day or so, but hey).
What are you looking forward to/excited about that's coming up?
Do you like to hang out in spas/saunas too?
Have you been to the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia? Or anywhere else in Oz?
Now, if you've tuned in or found yourself here because you were actually after some RUNNING news/info, then fear not! I'm back! Yes, I finally went for a run this morning (well, it's been a whole week, and I was getting itchy feet, plus my legs have been feeling fine) as I couldn't resist: perfect morning for it: slightly cloudy and wasn't too hot yet, and yay for all the active recovery, as my legs feel great. It was an 11kms easy paced/recovery run, and although I felt a little bit slower than my usual pace, hopefully this is just temporary and I'll be back into it (properly) next week. Just over 3 weeks to go! Can't wait. Just a bit excited for the Gold Coast half marathon (plus seeing some of my favourite people in the world, albeit too briefly and just for a day or so, but hey).
What are you looking forward to/excited about that's coming up?
Do you like to hang out in spas/saunas too?
Have you been to the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia? Or anywhere else in Oz?
RSS Feed
