Chinese Gardens and the market

On Saturday (feeling ever so slightly worse for wear thanks to the night before), I had a little lie in and went out to Saturday craft markets. The weather was amazing and there were so many stalls to look around. It is a really cool market.

The market extends out to the river. So I walked along it to get to the Chinese gardens.

There are also some Japanese gardens but the transport there was not obvious so I decided to go to the Chinese gardens instead which were walkable. 

It is only a city block but they designed it to make it feel much bigger. (I took a tour as well as wondering around on my own).

The floors had geometric patterns which reflect the yin and yang. And there is a large pond with bridges over it in many places. 

One of the many very cool doorways.

The tea house

Many fish.

One of the pagodas. 

The moon door.

I sat outside the tea house with a mug of oolong tea for quite some time, reading and watching the dragon flies. I drifted back to the hotel and grabbed some sushi for a late lunch (the sushi was so good). I was going to sit in Pioneer Square, a big public square not far from my hotel, but there seemed to be a protest going on. As I had seen on the news a riot which started as a protest and got a little out of hand only the week before, I decided against this, headed back to the hotel and chilled out (with a nap) and dinner out.