yeah this trip was actually planned before that summer one
there wasn't even an intermediary flight from the school home-
i just went straight from school to china and back
for most people this prolly isn't a big deal, but it kinda is for me
the captions in this post are pretty long, too.
ig the photos here just warrant more explanation, but not enough
to deserve making entire sections for each
yep!
i had to do a layover in japan (5 hours to, a day and then some on the way back)
since the cheap flight my mom found was to 成田 near tokyo
i didn't get anything too good there, since the place was still pretty far from tokyo proper,
but the airport still did have some cool stuff
this was also my very first time in japan, which is cool
miku greets me in japan (she does not condone the actions of the imperial japanese army in nanking)
the pr that anime has done for japan NEEDS to be studied bro
first thing i did when out of customs was pig out on mcdonalds,
since i was brainwashed by japaneats
(everything here was like 10k yen? i think?)
unfortunately it wasn't as good as they made it out to be.
i did get something new they had with this weird white stuff in there,
so maybe that had something to do with it
i then went over to the terminal where my flight was and got
this beef bowl, where all of it was hidden under what i think are onions.
there was way too many, i actually had to like take muliple spoonfuls
out of the bowl before it became edible
why are they advertising this in japan bro 😭
i first heard of the term "coin locker" from maretu's album "coin locker baby"
finally got to try some omurice before going back to the us
and just one final photo that made me crash out SO HARD
OMG CTUAL SONGS???
for those who don't know ball, most voaloid songs have miku or teto dress up
in some funky outfit or do some gimmick in the music video
however, 99% of miku merch just puts her in the standard techy outfit that
was displayed earlier.
this was the first time i saw merch referring to specific songs!!
unfortunately the gachapon only took cash, so what followed me taking this
photo was a hectic dash across the airport in search of an atm that supported
international transactions.
my woes didn't stop there, as
the minimum amount i had to withdraw was 1000 yen, more than twice what i needed
there was a 220 yen transaction fee
leaving the atm, feeling somewhat violated, i returned to this machine
ONLY TO REALIZE THAT I HADN'T NOTICED A "SOLD OUT" MARKER AT THE BOTTOM
(not displayed in the photo)
I WAS GENUINELY CRASHING OUT ISTG
i settled for pulling on a hololive charm and nikke mini figurine gachapon,
even though i don't really engage with either of the two.
i guess god decided to pity me, though, because on both machines i got
exactly the character that i wanted (laplus darkness and alice)
apparently winter solstice is a moderate thing in china
ok that was japan, but i know you clicked this for china photos
first uh lemme switch to proper grammar since i feel like this one section
needs actual respect and such
Did you know that besides 清明节 (the Qingming Festival), the Chinese
also pay respects to the dead on winter solstice?
I didn't know this until a couple years ago, and since I was here this
winter, I had the chance to pay respects to my late maternal grandmother.
For reasons that should be obvious I didn't really feel the urge to take
any photos in front of her memorial my maternal grandfather had set up, but it was very simple.
It was a framed photo of her in front of some snacks and fruits.
My aunt and cousin were also there.
Following their lead, I took three sticks of incense, lit them with the
candle on the side of the table, and bowed three times.
I never was a religious, or even spiritual person.
Sometimes I get supertitious with regards to things like my gacha luck, but that's about it.
As I bowed, though, I found myself mumbling in disjointed English to my grandmother,
telling her about everything that was going on in my life.
I told her about my progress in school, my status in the job search, stuff
that I would've told her in a video call if she was still alive.
During that moment, more than ever, I wanted to believe, so, so, bad.
That there actually was another side.
That she was enjoying all the food on the table as I bowed three times.
That maybe one day I'd be able to see her again.
That all of this wasn't for nothing.
My mom sometimes asks me if I think about her.
"Of course," I lie, knowing damn well the number of times she's
entered my mind in the past year would be lucky to even break double digits.
Relatives also sometimes tell me how she'll appear in their dreams, back from the afterlife.
She never visits mine.
It's not even like we were distant.
I have very fond memories of her, how she'd let me use her iPad to play Clash of Clans
in the early morning (much to my parents' chagrin),
or how she'd pet me as a little kid to help me go to sleep.
She was with me all the way until high school, which all things considered is pretty good.
Yet I remember how when my dad informed me of her passing, I just sat
there for like five minutes until going back to gaming (Maybe I cried, I forgot).
I probably should feel some bit of guilt for that, but I can't make myself feel anything else.
Ok heavy topics done.
After the incense stuff, my aunt's family took me to a nearby temple
where they'd paid for a spot for my grandmother's nameplate to burn some fake cash.
The idea is that it's the deads' funds in the afterlife.
On the way to my grandfather's house that day I actually saw some people burning
bags of it right by the street, which come to think of it is probably a fire hazard.
That aside, this is where we burned our stuff:
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
I just kinda threw the bag they gave me into the flames and that was good enough.
After that we went inside the template to pay respects to the nameplate.
It took us a bit to find the one with her name among the hundreds of others,
but after a minute, there it was: hung at the very top, straddled between
two other names that I couldn't even pronounce.
(No photos here either because I didn't think it proper to take them inside a temple.)
And yeah, that was basically it for the memorial.
I returned with my aunt and cousin to get some brunch
at a nearby upscale cafe called Money Shop.
These Chinese stores always have the most nonsensical English names, I swear.
We ordered a latte, and I was surprised to see that they actually drew something on it!
My first time seeing latte art!
When I drank it, though, it surprisingly didn't disappear.
Rather, the foam just kinda stayed on top until it deformed at the bottom of the cup.
This photo didn't really have to do much with the previous events,
but it happened on the same day so I figured I'd include it here.
When I was leaving to back to my paternal grandparents' house,
my grandpa asked me if I wanted any of the snacks he'd set out on the memorial.
I refused, 90% out of not being hungry, but 10% out of...principle?
I'm not even sure what principle this would be on.
Something about eating the stuff that was supposed to be for my grandmother
felt off in some way or another.
Like yeah, she's gone, she's certainly not going to be coming back and
having them anytime soon, but...still.
random scenes, things, whatever
ok back to normalspeak.
around christmas i went to 徐家汇 (xujiahui), an intersection with a TON of malls.
the scenery was lowk pretty, so i snapped an above average amount of photos there
yeah this is a general view of most of it
here's another pic. why the hell do city lights never look good in photos?
we have the las vegas sphere at home!
also clipped theese guys filiming what might be some kinda promo on their phone? idk
a massive xmas tree they hung in one of the malls there
there was a chagee there that tried to make its outside part look nice,
but not much you can do when you're NEXT TO A TRASH DUMP LOOOOOOOL
and here's the rest of the stuff that i couldn't really be bothered to categorize
this lot was completely empty this summer and
they already have this much done????
(my grandpa told me this is going to be a dorm for a nearby teaching school)
every year these knockoff legos get better and better...
why do you need "do not disturb" signs for shopping carts HAHAHAHAA
went to see the nutcracker for the first time w/ my maternal grandpa,
it was pretty cool.
pic of the stage before performance
WHA ARE THE ARCADES IN CHINA DOING BRO WHY CAN I GAMBLE FOR BIRDS
(TL: three red die for one parakeet set, two red die for one mlp card pack)
went out on new year's eve and saw this tree still hanging around
they say my hunger's a problem
a good portion of these photos are because my paternal grandfather
wanted me to take pics whenever we ate out for lunch, which was basically every day.
i was annoyed at the time, but i guess now i get a ton of pics for this section!
actual restaurant food
here's some breakfast photos first though:
my first breakfast here,
lowkirkuinely got too much and couldn't finish it all haha
crack cocaine. i will not elaborate.
and now here's a bunch of restaurant pics
first lunch i got was sushi, it was very good
also wanted to see what vietnamese food was like in shanghai,
so i asked my grandparents if we could go get pho
they had some weird stuff like this salad wrap, it was edible at least
overall decent, though i actually prefer us pho more
龟苓膏- slightly bitter jelly in something that tastes like milk tea
at this restaurant (顺德 cuisine i think),
the gimmick is that most of their dishes have been heated
for so long all the water has boiled or something.
i'm probably giving a horrible explanation, so just know
that it tasted nice
beef and fried chicken(?) at a hong kong-ese restaurant
char siu and duck from the same place
my maternal grandfather took me to an art museum and we ate lunch
at their rooftop restaurant.
this was their bread "basket" with some peanut-shaped butter
this tiny serving of octopus over there was like over 120 rmb gg
i mean at least the view we got there was cool
the last lunch i had over there w/ my paternal grandparents,
this restaurant was serving "new shanghainese cuisine" or smth
chinese-style beef meatballs? i have no clue how i should translate this
drinks
i kid you not when i say i bought milk tea or one of its variants
EVERY GODDAMN DAY i was there.
i have a friend that really likes this chain (mollytea).
no clue why, tbh, chagee clears so hard it's not even funny
like the only reason i got a second mollytea (this one)
is bc of the cutesy collab they did here
matcha i got with conservemomenta,
a good friend of mine.
he was still waiting for his cup when i took this.
(the drink was kinda mid given its 20 rmb price tag icl)
the last cup of milk tea i got in china.
got at the chagee in the pvg airport lmao
anime slop, mmmmm
it's not a sanspapyrus photodump with some good ol' anime photos!
first lemme show you this amazing miku plushie i got from those prize pool
things so many shops have:
99% OF GAMBLERS QUIT BEFORE THEY WIN
no like seriously, this plushie is MASSIVE
it was so big i couldn't even put it in my suitcase, now i have to like
mail it back to the us
and now for the sloppening:
a goated rabbit hole cosplay i saw on the subway
i still find it batcrap insane that hsr had a collab with a BANK
like sure, these characters work at hsr's bank of america
but still it's crazy
never underestimate genshin fans bro holy crap
the ccp be reporting on anything these days holy
WHAT IS THIS CAR WRAP HAHAHA
cool-looking 非人哉 (inhuman!) drink cans
they were like sparkling water/soda drinks though, so i didn't get any
massive maomao sculpture, sure
a relic of a time long gone...
(this was on sale along with a bunch of other vtuber birthday autographs)
ultrakill bosses when they turn mad? idk i never played the game
i mean just look at this
and finally a lot of shops have whiteboards where people can draw and post stuff,
so i thought i'd post some clips of those here too:
LOL IT'S THE FIRE PUNCH FACE
are these identity v chars? idk
agnes tachyon, luo xiaohei, a padoru, and furina
dennis and shinobu demon slayer (i think)
honestly no clue who this is, another identity v char?
