Shanghai Noon

Feel free to experience Shanghai vicariously through these photos. 

Chinese food in China is hit-and-miss for me. About 20% of the food tastes like heaven, the rest is either mediocre or abysmal. But then again, I'm talking about restaurant food and it's a possibility that the tour guide is just taking us to the crappy restaurants. Street food is awesome though.

Hanging meat: one of the first things I saw in Shanghai.

 I really like this shopping street.

 Toffee fruits on a stick. Looks can be deceiving. I had a toffee apple stick and it was reallllly sour.

The infamous stinky tofu. Not as pungent or diarrhoea-looking as I thought it would be. Looked and smelled quite nice.

My coffee jelly and ice cream sundae from Haagen-Dazs.

Can't wait for the semester to be over. Looking forward to going to Singapore at the end of June (with the mother for a shopping holiday).

Kunming Lake

While in Beijing, the tour guide took us to Kunming Lake which was on the grounds of the Summer Palace Gardens. 

The pavillion overlooking the lake.

"Screw the lake police!"...which is what I'm assuming those people are thinking.

The view of the lake was mystifying. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. But then again, it was really early in the morning and I was freezing my non-existent nuts off. I was probably....can't really think of the appropriate word here...

Apparently the view at Kunming Lake is amazing during spring and autumn. I'd like to see it.

BYE ♡

China's Great Wall

If you're ever in Beijing, be sure to stop by the Great Wall of China. It is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World after all.

I only managed to climb up to the first tower. While climbing the damn thing I was severely sweating, panting and burning up. Which, now that I think about it, was beneficial in -14°C  weather. Maybe don't climb the Great Wall in Summer.

"Jesus reigns" scrawled on the Great Wall. How Easter appropriate.

For a ridiculously overpriced price, you can have your name and your lover's name inscribed on a lock and affixed to the Great Wall!

Why, you ask? Beats me. But I suppose it's a nice gesture to 'lock' your love together and have it last forever. And it's a public declaration of love.

The view on the way down. One wrong step and it can mean death by tumbling down and a broken neck. Needless to say, the way down was A LOT easier than the way up.


Back in a while, crocodile.

Beijing: Well...sort of

In December/January my family and I went to Vietnam, China, and then Vietnam again. Overall I quite enjoyed the trip to China. It's a beautiful country rich in history and culture.

Since it was a fast paced, 1 week tour of China; it's a shame that I couldn't wander around at my own pace. That and I was freezing my non-existent nuts off. Being used to the mild winters in Perth, the -14°C cold in Beijing was not pleasant. Bearable...but not pleasant. 

The Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square.

Behold the Forbidden City. Feels like I'm watching another historical c-drama.

And finally some taxis that look like a fusion between motorbikes and steel. Ingenious. 

Vietnam

Hey all. As I sit here in front of my laptop, succumbing to the workload of uni, I present to thee various photos from when I was in Vietnam. I've been to Vietnam so many times that I'm desensitised somewhat to its niceness. But the food is cheap and amazeballs.

A woman selling an abundance of animal jerkies. Jerkied animals include cow, deer and pig.

Oh you know, just the usual traffic. There's not a lot of pedestrian crossings in Vietnam and crossing the street takes a bit of skill:

1. Wait for there to be reasonable distance between yourself and the traffic
2. Hold out your arms (signalling to oncoming traffic that you're crossing) 
3. Walk across the road slowly (so the fast-moving motorbikes can predict your movement and steer around you) 
4. Do not panic

Nice timing.

At Vinpearl, an amusement/waterpark in my mother's home town: Nha Trang. As cute as the little monkey show was, I can't help but suspect there's some animal cruelty involved.

The morning horizon.

 Just going to leave this here...

A friendly vendor at An Dong Market. Don't even bother to haggle. You won't win. *hangs head low in defeat*

Around Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi

Just some snaps around the Dotonbori/Shinsaibashi area. I would have liked to take more photos (and overkill my SD card) but it seems that I tend to not take photos when I'm out shopping.

"みんなに笑顔を届けたい– I want to bring a smile to everyone's face." You go Glico Man! Make the world a smilier place! I like that he has such an over-zealous looking face.

Tourists posing with the Glico Man. I should have posed with him like that too...

Dotonbori Canal is lovely at night.

Sneaky sneaky snap of a cute girl. I'm really envious of her hair. Anyways...


Tschüss!

Kani Doraku Dotonbori

This one time, at bandcamp in Osaka, I went to Kani Doraku in Shinsaibashi for dinner. Ordered the Seifu set to share with a friend, which cost 4800円.  

Kani Doraku's iconic colossal crab.

The front of the restaurant was also a food stall.

Boiled snow crab accompanied by a really nice citrusy dipping sauce. Mmmmmm crab.....

Raw snow crab. It was surprisingly good, as I usually don't like eating sashimi.

Steamed egg custard with crab.

The restaurant interior was traditionally themed. The elegant waitresses were also donning the traditional Japanese garb.

Snow crab gratin. Holy crab this was absolutely divine! Each taste was a delightful melt-in-your-mouth experience.

Deep fried snow crab, crab rolls, crab sushi and clear soup. The sushi was glorious, and the tempura wasn't oily at all. Oh, and there was also fruit.

Man, I love crab! Next time I'm in Japan, I will definitely eat again at Kani Doraku. And I will attempt to experience death by crab, by over-indulging in crab until my stomach gives out.