Chasing after the Land of the Rising Sun and then some Part 2 (China)

I guess I’ll quickly go over my trip to China.

China Day 0

I noticed an ad with some random actor I was familiar with in the ANA magazine. It turns out it was Oguri Shun (he looks so different) in an advertisement for Hana Yori Dango Final! O_O Correct me if I’m wrong, please! The picture looked so enticing! I guess I’ll have to pick it up. I also saw a cute advertisement for Honda’s ASIMO and what I’m pretty sure is some advertisement featuring Bi/Rain.

I spent most of the time on the plane re-watching (not finishing) 21. They also had a sample from Takki & Tsubasa’s new single in their music rotation, which was pretty neat. After listening to the sample, I really wanted the CD. I also listened to SG Wannabe’s Lalala, which I believe they sang at the Korean Music Festival. That got me totally addicted to them! I listened to that song so many times on the plane.

I finally had window seats, but it was impossible to see anything except clouds. The food wasn’t that great. At least the noodles were the same. We arrived at the Shanghai Pudong Airport at around 9 PM (1 hour time difference).

We got to our hotel in Suzhou at a few minutes before midnight, due to some road construction that required us to weave around the city.

I also forgot to mention that they had to take our finger prints and take a photo of us while at immigration and customs in Japan. It went more smoothly in China.

China Day 1

We visited Tiger Hill in Suzhou. My great uncle was our psuedo-tourguide. It was nice seeing family members that had essentially baby-sat me since I was a toddler. It was raining pretty hard, the grounds were slippery, and I saw a boy peeing into some crevice, which was a bit disturbing. The area as a whole seemed too rural, and while there was one section of the city that was modernized, the rest seemed trashy, old, dirty, and extremely crowded. People drove recklessly. I saw dead fish along the rivers… And there were hardly any normal toilets. Houses were moldy too.

There were so many beggars and merchants who would nag you to buy this or buy that. They wouldn’t leave you alone. It was annoying. I could never bargain with people like that. Riding the boat and the horse was fun, though! The horse looked so hungry. I felt bad for it. I tried taking a picture with it, but it kept on slapping me with its tail. I felt bad for the guy that was rowing our bought too. For all that hard work, he earned 10 Yuan a day, and he knew a lot too! Then you have all these corrupt officials or managers, who don’t know anything, but have luxurious houses. You think it’s good to have connections here? Well, connections in China mean so much more. They can get you into college when academic merit can’t, which is strange.

Suzhou bridges are pretty unique, and some people like the old lifestyle. People still hang their clothing outside, but everything’s so polluted. China’s in that state of turmoil where people can’t seem to change from their old habits, but yet it’s modernizing at such a fast pace that it’s in conflict with tradition.

The food we ate was pretty unique. I was too afraid to try most of it. For most of our meals, we were able to dine in private rooms, and even with all of those specialty dishes, the bill came out to be a fraction of what it would have been in the US. Sometimes, I’d have McDonald’s with more traditional meals. Other times, I’d be taking seconds and thirds.

I had around half a glass to a glass of beer every night. I didn’t like the ones with more alcohol. Tsingtao was a bit strong. I think I liked Snow the most.

I loved the shrimp, and it seemed like, aside from the few excursions we had, we spent most of our time in Suzhou eating.

After lunch, we had dinner with a lakeside view, and the room we were seated in looked absolutely incredible. We could actually see fish in the water.

The weather is bearable when it’s raining, but right before the rain comes or when it’s sunny, I feel like I’m suffocating. It’s so humid, and when it’s sunny, it burns.

I’d also like to note that my cousin is really cute.

I couldn’t eat enough of the shrimp and shellfish (?)… and we had swan soup (or something similar). It seemed like I was commiting some kind of crime drinking it, but it tasted so good.

I loved the mini furnace/cooker with the air blower (whatever that set is called, I have no idea), and the desserts too!

After dinner, my cousin came with us to this gigantic karaoke bar. It looked so elegant! I wonder how much that night cost. I sang Dou You Yi Ke Hong Liang De Xin for fun, along with a few Broadway songs. My cousin sang to a lot of SHE songs. I think some Guang Liang songs were also among her choices… and I found out she also liked TVXQ (she wants to go to their next Shanghai concert!). The room was huge, new, and fresh. I wish we had something like that around here.

China Day 2

The hotel we were staying at was cheap, but really dirty. Every morning, my other great aunt and uncle would buy us some of the sweetest breakfast foods ever. (Just as a note, but I don’t like sweet bean curd soup or whatever that was…)

The second day, we went to Wuxi.

Our driver got a ticket. It was funny. There was some new regulation, so that drivers could no longer make turns at a certain area. Rather than posting a sign about it before the turn, police officers were stopping drivers after they had made the turn, to tell them they couldn’t do it. There was practically a line for offenders! Corruption!

It was SO HOT that day. We went to one park and saw so many fish swarm by for food.

After a somewhat forgettable lunch (the best part was the indoor air-conditioning), we went to another park. This time, we rode a boat to an island (I think the lake was Taihu). All I remember was climbing a lot of really uneven steps and feeling faint for half the trip. I saw and heard a rooster, but it was at the wrong time of day. My mom bought a pearl necklace (it turns out she bought several more from another place in Suzhou at greatly reduced prices). We passed by an artificial waterfall and many statues. We also visited this gigantic temple.

Then we went to see my aunt’s (second aunt?) new house. It was huge! I loved the interior design, although the quality of the craftsmanship wasn’t too great. But it was so spacious, modern, and refreshing (Note to self: I want a multi-story house). Ironically, the area outside of the house was really rundown and poor, but my uncle had a company there, so they decided to purchase land and build a house. My aunt rarely goes there, since it’s a bit of a drive from Suzhou.

On the way, we saw some gas truck that had turned over, which resulted in more traffic, and we had to find a way around it.

Dinner was interesting. I was too afraid to touch the snails. I tried the raw lobster, which turned out to be really good (it was still twitching). The wasabi that we had was the strongest I had ever tasted. I felt like smoke was coming out of my nose.

Again, let me note that I love tasting soup.

When we got back to the hotel, I managed to catch a little bit of a Chinese dubbed Cardcaptor Sakura.

[I freaked out for a moment, because I tried to save the entry, and it said post too large. I thought I lost 2 days' worth of commentary.]

China Day 3

We went fishing! Which was a lot of fun. My great uncle tried to get out of paying the entrance fee to the park, because we had eaten at the restaurant the day before, and we didn’t take advantage of the free entrance. Somehow, after a little bit of an argument, we managed to get in. I saw some really cute puppies at a pet store. I like pets; I’m just really bad at taking care of them.

Fishing was fun! My great uncle didn’t catch any, and I was having no luck at the beginning. It’s much easier to catch goldfish in shallow waters. I only managed to catch 4 fish. One was huge! I caught another gold one and 2 orange/black ones. My cousin caught more than 10, and my brother also caught 4.

They all ended up dying, which was sad, but I guess it was too hot, and there was too little oxygen. (They died either at my cousin’s house or while we were eating). The 2 that my cousin caught last year also died. We used a bait that smelled like candy and tiny hooks. The area was nice, and there were also monkeys.

We at lunch across the street, again in a private room. I loved the shrimp (Sauteed shrimp?, if I spelled it correctly), and my cousin helped me to tie my hair (or what is it called when you clip it in a circle?) Afterwards, we visited my mom’s family’s old house. It was moldy. And then we walked to my aunt’s store. My mom bought a cute giraffe signature stamp and my brother bought this expensive bottle. She gave us a few necklaces and Beijing ’08 merchandise (she did that last time too), and we cooled down while it was raining. The thunder was loud too!

Afterwards, we went to the store next door, and I tried on qi pao’s. I ended up buying a qi pao like blouse, which I thought was cute, and one of those metal hair “chopsticks.” (I liked the one my cousin got more. Haha.) The old setting (people rowing boats under bridges) is nice when it’s clean.

There was also this one guy selling these insects…

For dinner, my mom invited all of her relatives to eat. We had 2 tables this time. There was this egg tart or something similar that tasted really good. The hot pot was good too!

So many of my more distant relatives and family friends smoke. It’s annoying.

China Day 4

We went to Hangzhou, and took a boat ride to several islands (in West Lake?). My great aunt and uncle were supposed to be leaving, but they managed to return their train tickets. Hangzhou seemed to be much nicer than Suzhou. It wasn’t too crowded, and it was clean. I saw a lot of people taking their wedding photos outdoors.

We went to another area with lots of fish and fed them popcorn, and I saw a peacock.

The view was nice, but it was just too hot. I saw a caterpillar and a butterfly, but they were just so hard to capture (on film, that is).

We also went to a supposedly famous restaurant. They had this chicken that was cooked the way that the beggars of years’ past used to cook them (with newspapers and dirt). The meal was ridiculously expensive, compared to all of our previous meals, but it was because we had some kind of fish fin soup (I wonder if it was shark fin), that the restaurant was famous for.

We passed by tea farms (what are they called if they’re not farms?). I love long jing cha. And we crossed the bridge that was designed by my piano teacher’s grandfather. My piano teacher’s grandfather was a famous Chinese architect, and I think the bridge he had engineered was destroyed because of the Japanese invasion, so it was later rebuilt. My piano teacher’s father was one of the first, if not the first, Chinese graduates of Juilliard, and my teacher starred in a famous Chinese movie when she was young (she also is a professional concert pianist).

China Day 5

We went shopping in Suzhou. There were a lot of places to go shopping, and a lot of multi-story department stores!

I passed by a name-brand called “Basic House” (but I didn’t get a chance to look through it) and I noticed an ad that had to be with Yoon Eun Hye of Coffee Prince and Goong fame (and it is!, or I’m pretty sure it is!). I was on the hunt for “fobby” (which shouldn’t be a derogatory term in my usage) clothing. I managed to find 2 dress-type blouses that I would wear, and a really cute skirt, but that was it. I need to go shopping by myself, not with other people. I tried on a few outfits that I thought were cute, but my mom and aunt didn’t like them (I have strange tastes, somewhat old-fashioned too). I was actually hoping I’d see some Lee Jun Ki posters or TVXQ posters, but I didn’t.

After spending a few hours at the department stores, we had lunch at McDonald’s. We then went shopping through the small, bootleg filled stores. I got a few hair accessories. My mom bought a few “watches” and pearl necklaces. And then she went to a gigantic store that sold Chinese snacks.

Afterwards, we went to a jewelry shop. My mom spent quite a bit of money there. She bought me a jade bracelet (the old one that my aunt gave me doesn’t fit any more, I think…), which cost 280 some yuan. She bought another for 300 some yuan. The one that she got 3 years ago cost 200 dollars, and the quality wasn’t as good. :o Jade has to be as transparent as possible, or so my mom says.

Afterwards, we rode a 3-wheeled car (as my parents called it) to the restaurant. I only had a little over a cup of beer. My brother said that my cheeks were red.

The soup was delicious, as always.

It turns out that my great uncle is fairly well known around Suzhou, so he gets a lot of discounts, and he has a lot of VIP gold cards.

I forgot to mention that I got 6 mosquito bites (all on my legs) during the first day in Suzhou. I had over 13 by the time I arrived in Shanghai, and I got another on my arm in Shanghai (Otherwise, I have huge marks on my legs. I wonder how long it’ll take before they disappear.) Either you wear pants and become annoyed to death by how much you sweat or you wear a skirt and get stung by mosquitoes. Stupid humidity.

My brother had 2 bites on his forehead.

China Day 6

We went to Shanghai. We took the scenic route, passing all of the new buildings and some interesting modern art. There was this really cute sculpture with a lot of ants lifting this log. It was cute! (And so was the penguin) Most of the trip went smoothly, but we wasted 45 minutes lining up to get to a toll booth because the road was under construction. I guess, due to the delay, they didn’t charge us. The ride from the toll booth to the inner city was pretty rough and bumpy to the point that it was painful to sit in the car sometimes.

We stayed at the same hotel we stayed at last time. It’s going to be closed down starting next (or this?) week to prepare for the Olympics. Some Olympic event is going to be held by or in the Shanghai Indoor Stadium (my parents said it was soccer, but I’m not sure). We got a new room, but it wasn’t facing the city (only the inside of the outdoor stadium)… and although we had a fancy new bathroom, the room was even smaller than the room my great uncle got. There were 2 singles for beds… and 4 of us had to sleep in one room. The prices were equivalent though.

We were supposed to go and eat with my mom’s friend, but we were a bit late for lunch, so, instead, we had Chinese fast food/snacks and such. It was good, I guess. The baos tasted good. I wanted milk tea boba, but instead I think I got taro or something strange. There was some really loud fight between a husband and his wife. It was hilarious.

(Karaoke bars are called KTVs in China, and at least in Suzhou, McDonalds is becoming more popular than KFC)

So I got to see Kobayashi and Coney Island and the new 10-minute hotdog eating contest. I was so disappointed that he lost, but I knew before I watched it on Chinese TV, since I had read about it in Suzhou. There was free internet in Suzhou, but Internet at the Shanghai hotel cost 100 yuan.

Speaking of which, I hate the Great Firewall of China. Livejournal was blocked. Wiki was blocked, for the most part. Ironically, Youtube wasn’t. Everything lagged… and although Facebook worked on the first night, it didn’t work on subsequent nights, or lagged insanely. I hated the time difference, because it was so hard to talk to people in the States. I talked to Scott and Yuehan (who helped me set up a QQ account, so I could talk to my cousin)…

At night, we went to this gigantic mall nearby. It was Western-styled (individual stores), but it was so much bigger than your average mall. Everything was really expensive (who said stuff in China was cheap?!… not anymore!). Even the dress I bought in Suzhou cost 200+ yuan. Of course, it was all about high fashion. The floors were themed, and the directories were touch screen! On the top floor, there were all of these electronics stores (Sony, Canon, Samsung, Panasonic, Apple – expensive etc.). We had dinner on the floor below it. There was this chicken that tasted like popcorn chicken. The tofu was delicious (and modern! it wasn’t anything formal like the food we had been eating all week), and I had red bean shaved ice and the BEST milk tea boba ever (although it was really expensive). I just realized then that they used red tea to make milk tea boba. I need to try making some myself, then. But one glass cost 25 yuan. My brother had some chocolate version, which didn’t taste quite as good (but still good). It cost 35 yuan. There were also some rotating sushi bars and hot pot restaurants that I wish we got to try.

The restaurant we went to smelled really bad, because one of its most popular dishes was called “fried stinky tofu.” Yeah, they wrote that, in English. The other was “steamed stinky tofu with chopped chili.” The soup was good too.

We took the subway to the hotel, which was again convenient, although we had to walk a bit. The Chinese subways are similar to the ones in Tokyo, but they’re a bit newer.

The Chinese seem to follow Japanese trends. The only thing I object to is putting that gigantic air conditioner box on the outside of a building. It rusts and looks horrible, and what if one of those boxes falls?

Oh, and sometime before going to the restaurant, my cousin came over. He’s almost 30, so it’s hard to imagine him as my cousin.

Shanghai is also pretty crowded and colorful at night. People were playing soccer by the hotel.

It was sometime around then that I watched the two Venus sisters play a few sets during the Wimbledon final. Venus has a better record than Serena on grass, no? I guess it’s exciting to see some sibling rivalry, but either way, it would have been a Williams that would have won it.

Nadal v. Federer on the other hand… Nadal played splendidly. But Federer had so many service aces, and I was hoping he’d win to tie the record. He’s supposed to be king of the grass. I like both players. I just want to see someone break a lot of records in my generation. When one gained the advantage, the other would always hit a winner, but in the end, Nadal seemed to go further. So many match points and this and that! And the longest, most epic Wimbledon final ever!

China Day 7

We had breakfast that cost $30 per person. It was a buffet, of course, but there wasn’t enough time to enjoy it, and of course, no one ate $30 in food. It turns out that the seafood buffet would have cost half as much per person on Saturday and Sunday nights (and on Sunday night, I didn’t eat, because I spent so much time shopping… but I would have loved raw tuna.) I liked the noodles, the red tea, and the miso soup. (I also liked the orange juice and the pineapple juice.)

Anyways. After breakfast, my great aunt and uncle went out with another relative, while my cousin drove my parents, my brother, and I to his house. His daughter was adorable! She had quite the temper, but for someone who was only 3 years old, she was incredibly talented (and brilliant!). We went to eat with my dad’s friend. They had sashimi, although it wasn’t exactly as fresh as I had hoped. I thought, at first, that my dad’s friend had 2 children. It turns out that the guy was his daughter’s boyfriend. (He’s pretty good looking too… hahaha).

My niece (is that what I should call her?) was so cute. We went to this Chuck E. Cheese like amusement center (minus the food), and we went on this really cute ride. It was like a roller coaster for toddlers, or something. I could barely fit in the car. She dragged me along every which where. We played some games, and she rode on some other rides, and then we left.

I wanted to go shopping with my cousin’s wife, but I also wanted to say good-bye to my great uncle and aunt, so I went back to the hotel. They left, and then 2 of my mom’s friends came. We went shopping for clothing (my mom told them I wanted to find Japanese/Korean style clothing). At first, I didn’t find much. I saw a Best Buy (and Toys R Us), which was kind of strange. My mom bought a few sweaters (discounted during the summer) and a pair of sandals. After going through 3 department stores, I ended up buying 3 dresses. Each cost around 800 yuan (exchange rate is approximately 7 yuan for a dollar, although the dollar is worth less now)… Well, they were brand name dresses…

We passed by another Haagen Dazs before we got to the taxi stop.

It’s funny how the taxis in Shanghai are much newer than the ones in Suzhou (maybe it has to do with the Olympics, since I remember that they were a lot dirtier last time). They also had touch screens.

So we got home without having any dinner, but I managed to catch a Shounen Club episode airing on NHK.

China Day 8

My cousin from Suzhou and my other great uncle came over (my cousin had just finished exams). They had a nice view of the city from their room, although their bathroom was older, their room was bigger.

We took the subway/train to this one road, so my parents could buy clothing. The place we had gone to last time had been shut down. I guess it was too well known for having bootlegs and fake brand names. After we got off the subway, I saw this one guy selling really adorable tiny fish in cute tanks. I commented that it was too bad I couldn’t take it home. I guess he thought I lived nearby, because he told me it wouldn’t leak. We had to walk a long time to get to the road. We passed by some more beggars and what my dad said were human feces (from workers during the night). Ugh, disgusting! I hope I didn’t step on any. The place itself was like a junkyard. There were lots of people carting gigantic bags of clothing everywhere. Yes, it was also a place where people bought fake brand names. Supposedly, the only way you wouldn’t get ripped off is if the shopkeepers believed you were from around here. They were pretty mean too. People would buy clothing in bulk to resell at their stores. It was run-down and old, and most of the clothing sucked.

Some were ridiculously priced too! But my parents managed to find a few (emphasis on few) good deals. We ate at a McDonalds, which seemed to be cleaner than everything around it, and then we took a taxi to Nanjing Road.

I wanted to spend more time in Nanjing Road, but my parents were hosting a dinner party and my cousin wanted to go swimming, so I couldn’t. The department stores there were nice (and full of tourists).

My dad went to this Chinese srt shop and bought a lot of brushes (I guess he wants to start painting again when he retires or finds some free time). There was this huge brush outside that I had to take a picture of. They were selling jade bracelets for many times the price I got mine for, and I’m pretty sure mine is real. They had paper for fans, ink, and everything.

We went to one department store to try on some clothing. I was looking for a brand that I saw at Suzhou and in the other mall. I found out it was a Japanese brand in Suzhou, where I bought one dress, but I didn’t get to look through the area at the other mall. I like how most of these brand-name stores sell one-of-a-kind clothing (like the qi pao type blouse I bought, and supposedly, some of my dresses).

Well, I couldn’t find it. I did set my eyes on this one dress from a British company (supposedly?) Scott Field? But the dress was 1500 yuan. It was gorgeous! Although orange isn’t my favorite color, I loved the collar. I wish I could have gotten it.

Instead, I bought this overall-type thing that I doubt I’ll ever wear, because my parents said it was cute. It looks good on my cousin, but I think I’m too short and stumpy. LOL. Fat? I’m a petite small here in the States, but I’m a medium (or sometimes, I can barely squeeze into a small) in China. D:

So we went back to the hotel by subway. For some reason, they gave me the wrong pass. Everyone else got through the gate, but the machine kept on rejecting my pass, even though we paid the right fair for all passes. I was totally freaked out, and I held up the line. In the end, I crawed throw the gate after my parents told me to do it.

I went swimming with my cousin and my dad. It turns out that we have to have fitness cards. Otherwise, we’re not allowed to swim. Each card cost $5, but it’s supposed to be valid for a year (useless for me, right?). We had to get our blood pressures taken. Mine was supposedly 100/60, which is really low, considering my blood pressure is usually slightly high. We had our own lockers! The strangest thing was that there was no one in the pool. The lifeguard had to sit around while we swam.

I haven’t been in a pool for the longest time. One day, I’ll learn to free-style.

After swimming, we went to the restaurant to choose the dishes. I knew I wanted shrimp. The soup was good, and so were the clams and the fish. I had a lot of food that night. My dad invited his friends and his relatives. My mom invited her friends. There were 3 tables and roughly 35 people in all. There were lots of beer and soft drinks, and the entire meal cost quite a bit of money. Even though it was a chain restaurant, everything was expensive, since it was well known.

After choosing the cold and main dishes, my dad, my uncle, and I went out. We went to the local Target-like store to look at DVDs. I remembered then that I really wanted to buy a pencil pouch in China. I didn’t buy the pencil case at Sekaido, because it seemed too expensive, and I had gotten that cheaper one in the shopping area that closed. I didn’t find anything good.

When we came back, my dad saw a bootleg seller. I wasn’t going to buy bootlegged anime that often had no subtitles when I could watch it online. My dad bought a few Chinese dramas.

So we went back, and had dinner. I spent most of my time talking to my cousin. There was a boy who was younger than me across the table. He seemed to communicate really well with the adults, while we were in our own world, fangirling about TVXQ. My niece also came up to me and took random photos with my camera. I was worried that she would break it.

Motor cycles are really popular in China. I forgot to mention that when we came home (before going shopping), my cousin had to go to 3 gas stations to fill his tank. 2 had run out of gas. He said there were people waiting for gas at midnight. Gas was only a bit cheaper in China than in the States. It was pretty crazy.

People who had handbags were given additional seat covers, and for people who felt cold, the restaurant passed out capes. Haha. Superman!

One table didn’t finish their portion of shrimp, so I started eating more. I took a box to the hotel, but I forgot to put it into the refrigerator /cry.

After the dinner, the restaurant was passing out ice cream that cost 3 yuan each. The container looked like a Haagen Dazs container to trick people into thinking it was really expensive ice cream. Bleh.

US Day 0

The next day, we left the hotel at 6:30 AM.

On the way to the airport, we saw some army officers (or were they just ordinary police officers?) training, and we saw a lot of people doing their morning exercises. My parents were freaking out the night before, because we thought we could only carry 20 kg per person. It turns out each person could have 23 kg of checked-in luggage (and even though our first one was 25 kg, they didn’t charge us).

We were dropped off at the wrong terminal, so we had to walk quite a ways before we could even check in.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity before we boarded the rather empty plane. I think I just listened to music the entire time, but I did take a few pictures of boats, really brown water? (was it just because it was shallow?), and some parts of Japan that we flew over. Lunch was good. Smoked salmon, noodles, and some other salads and meats topped off with a Kit-Kat bar.

At Narita Airport, I went shopping! I bought the August issues of Potato and Duet (what happens to unsold copies of the July issue, anyways?), a few Hello Kitty sets, and I don’t know what else. I didn’t see any pencil pouches, and when I went to the Duty Free Akihabara, they had TVXQ singles, KAT-TUN singles, and all of these other CD’s, but they didn’t have Takki & Tsubasa. I also bought an alpha gel pen, and I passed by a Hermes store. I saw a huge Gundam figure and Wii games/other Gundam models at another store (along with trading cards and Pokemon figures). A specialty shop sold yukata for $60. They came with those really uncomfortable shoes, but I think they were just plastic. I also saw Akihabara maid cookies. I was tempted to spend $6 on a box of 12 cookies, but in the end, I was just satisfied with a photograph of the sets. Japanese candy is cute.

The trip back to the US sucked. I watched the rest of 21 and listened to hours and hours of JPOP and KPOP. I did watch this one Canadian show called Just for Laughs (I think?) that really cracked me up. It was a 10 hour flight (compared to the 3 hour flight from Shanghai Pudong to Narita), and I needed to sleep, but it was so hard.

I can’t stand the way they design airline/tour bus chairs. My neck gets cramped, because the head support sticks out too much. It was so hard to sleep! I tried folding my arms and using the table for support, but the person in front of me adjusted her seat so that it was hitting my head. Ugh. SO. UNCOMFORTABLE.

And when we got to the US, I felt really weak, sore, and tired. My dad got mad at me and called me stupid, because I told him that he wasn’t supposed to stand there. I’m so tired of either my parents or myself not noticing some sign and getting reprimanded for doing something we didn’t know was wrong. I jsut wanted to avoid that situation. So I was really upset. They had to screen our luggage at customs because my parents brought a lot of food with them. The food was acceptable, but I guess they needed to make sure we weren’t carrying any meat and other items. Actually, I guess they screened everyone from China.

So we waited. I was mad. I think I passed by what I thought was a Square Enix building by the airport (does one even exist?). Maybe I was just out of it. My parents said I could buy a Macbook Pro that afternoon, but I declined. And then I started using my computer.

Simple, no?

Just for your information, I like collecting bags from the stores I go to, and I like collecting pamphlets too! (and even directories…) The Akiba map is so cool!

My parents also got a few tea cups.

And I think I read when I was in Japan that Scotty Nyugen won some major poker competition, although I can’t remember its name. (low bets, not just Texas hold-em style, second to the Main Event in prestige)

I wonder if it’s illegal to take photos of currency…

I bet no one’s going to read these 2 posts, and the things I forgot to mention I’ve mentioned on AIM, in Facebook posts, or in e-mails, so at least for the time being, I’m done?

[July 12, 2008 4 AM]

In other news, this entry was so long that I had to break it into 2 separate parts. D: