42 - Pictures from my trip to Sichuan, China.

So I promised I would post pictures from my trip to Chengdu and Jiuzhaigou Valley. They're places in a province of China called Sichuan, the province in which last year's Sichuan Great Earthquake took place.

Behold, the photos. I tried to select the best out of thousands, so enjoy?

A statue outside a monastery that has different parts from all twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. I was born in the year of the Sheep, so I'm touching the goat's beard for good luck.


Remember the post on bad translations of Chinese food on my other blog? Well, through this gate was the street that sold all that food.

The Giant Panda Breeding Research Base.

Four of them all battling for bamboo.

Red panda, lucky shot of this one standing.

Jiazhaikou Valley, famous for its spectacular scenery comprising rivers, waterfalls and lakes. We had to take another plane from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou in order to get here. In this photo, I was a little... cold. It doesn't look cold from the photo, but it really was.

Those colors are unreal, man. 熊猫海, Xiong mao hai, "Panda Lake".

Pretty waterfall.

My mom and I at another waterfall.

My mother reckons her photography skills are awesome because it's artistic. What's artistic, apparently, is the tree that's in the way. To me, that defies all logic.

Pretty tree.

Really blue lake.

Blue and green hues of 草海, chao hai, "Grass Lake".

五花海, wu hua hai, "Five Flower Lake".

Side-view of 诺日朗瀑布, nuo ri lang pu bu, "Nuorilang Waterfall".

I'm just trying something...

Still Nuorilang Waterfall. This is hilarious because we were trying out the widescreen function. In case you still haven't found me, I'm in the bottom-right corner.

We flew back to Chengdu and this was taken in the bathroom of the Chengdu airport.

My mother likes taking photos of my slavery as I retrieve our suitcases at baggage claim.

Have you ever stayed in a honeymoon suite with your mother because the hotel couldn't place you anywhere else? This is the consequence: a view of the shower from your bed, with the curtain on the outside of the bathroom. Weird.

Mount Emei, 3099 metres above sea level. The only food they sold there were sausages. Who doesn't like sausages?

Cold.

Everything with a thin layer of snow.



My mother disturbing me in my sleep on the way down the mountain.

Leshan Giant Buddha, viewed from a darn boat. This was what I wanted to see from the very beginning, but the boat we got didn't stop to let us get off and actually walk around and up next to the buddha. But anyway, it's 71 metres tall and the Buddha-in-a-wall to see in one's lifetime.

On the flight back to Hong Kong.

Pretty clouds.

33 - More Chinglish.

(Click to enlarge the images, people.)

Cuiture?

This small error is like a stake in my heart.

It is made worse because the mistakes are mass-produced.

Lifec ycle of si lk wrom. :D




Not-recyclable. The hyphen is not right.
What is more amusing is the symbol underneath. I did not know there was a symbol for the opposite of recycling.

lol.

Courageous use of the semi-colon.


It's so civilized, indeed.

How do omnivores usually throw away their rubbish?

Alright. I'll climb over the fence.


This made me feel so clever.

24 - Going on holiday! But, what about the blog?

Yipes, I've literally spent a whole day blogging. I have to go to dinner too.

So, where is the Hatred King going this winter? Any Hong Konger would start off with just "China", without going into further detail to specify where in China exactly. Why that is, I don't know, but anyway, I am going to Sichuan, the red-colored province in the map. Anyone who watches the news will know there was an earthquake that hit Sichuan in May, killing nearly 70,000 people.

All quakes aside, Sichuan is also known for its many scenic attractions, a few of which I have pictured below. I hope that I can take photos that are even more overwhelming than these. The exact dates of my travel will be from December 26th to December 31st, meaning I just make it for Christmas and New Year celebrations here in Hong Kong.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (More like a zoo, it isn't as creepy as it sounds.)

Jiuzhaigou Valley

Jiuzhaigou Waterfall

Leshan Giant Buddha, stands at 71m tall.

Mount Emei. Clouds, literally, conceal the temples sometimes.

Tell me if you find these Oriental attractions interesting or boring. Then I'll know whether I should talk about it when I get back from it. :)

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So, what happens to the blog while I'm gone?

On the 26th, I will be posting a sort of reflection on 2008 right before I leave (which will be fairly personal). Other than that, there won't be anything major. Any posts to be posted while I'm gone will be published automatically so we'll see if I can dig up anything to blog about.

As for Do you hate it too?, the plan is entirely different. I will include that plan in tomorrow's post for that blog. For now, hope you're enjoying your holiday. I won't be back 'til Christmas, but that will only be for a short Merry Christmas greeting. Eat well, sleep well, make your last week of 2008 worth remembering!