SLACKING

I just realized I've been REALLY slow with updates. Everytime I go online I get distracted/don't have patience to deal with uploading pictures. But I did it!

Sunday we took one of our day trips to Suzhou. It took about an hour and a half (bus + traffic) to get there. We went to this place called Tiger Hill which is apparently super famous and has all that historical significance and such. It’s called Tiger Hill because I guess one of the King’s who ruled the area, when he was killed in battle, was buried on the hill and after his funeral a white tiger came and stood on the hill. Something like that… Anyways, the place was absolutely beautiful and serene so I tried to overlook the fact that I was melting into the ground...


the entrance




i see it in the distance!






that's some sort of special rock. you touch it once for good like status/politics, twice for good money and thrice for good love. clearly i touched it twice :]






koiii.


sword pond. i have NO idea why it's called that. our tour guide's english could hardly be called..english..




buddhaaa.


almost...almost...


!!!!




chinese dragon/gargoyle!




After that we went to visit a silk factory. I don’t actually remember what the place was called but i suppose it was pretty exciting. We got to see & touch silk worms and saw the entire process of how silk becomes actually SILK. It’s a pretty brutal process, and although I knew that silk comes from silk worms I didn’t realize that you have to like KILL the worms and stuff. It was pretty sad actually. vegetarians should be up in arms. there are no vegetarians in China though...which reminds me of the time i saw dog and ox penis on the menu of restaurants....


silk works. sooooo soft.


silk cocoons of sorts.


dead worms :(


sorting through the silk worm cocoons or something.


i dont know how big the picture can get but on the bottom are the silk cocoons and on the top are like the spools of silk being spun out of the cocoon. if that makes sense.
[not pictured] dead silk worms at center of cocoon :(


maybe you can see it more clearly now..?


self explanatory.


stretching of silk.


stretchED silk. so soft


wooo runway show!


After the silk factory we stopped by Liu Yuan or the Lingering Garden, which is one of the most famous gardens in China. The garden was built in 1583 and has survived many wars and such. I think that’s why it got it’s name, cause it’s…lingered around…? & you want to linger around in it…? Either way, it was absolutely beautiful. When China makes an effort to preserve itself, it really is very beautiful. I feel the everyday person has no inclination to do so, however... Perhaps you can say that about most countries...?




so pretty..


i like the little girl posing...hah










apparently the rocks look like an eagle attacking a turtle. i guess i get the eagle part...i GUESS


a tall, famous, rock structure thing.


sometimes i forget i'm in CHINA until i look back at my pictures...


bamboo...


secret garden...




she came out of nowhere and started playing!


i'm special..


us + the canadians :)

We came home after our long day of being out and about and tried this supposedly Indian restaurant that was in my H&M magazine. Turns out it’s some sort of Persian/Chinese food but it was good nonetheless. There was dancing and lamb skewers and that’s all I really need to have a good time :]


us trying to find the indian/persian/italian place. we actually look like that a lot of the time...


someone was kind enough to capture my attempt to dance on the stage. they grabbed me i swear there was nothing i could do


we really couldn't figure out what type of food was in this restaurant until we left..


hah.



& that my friends, was my Sunday.


PS. Casual observations that I couldn't really fit into aforementioned entry...

-My transformation into Quasimoto is well under way. My mosquito bites are swelling nicely and my arms and legs are beautifully scarred. & no one shall love me again. The things I do for you, China…

-I’m trying to befriend the cleaning lady. I could really use an extra towel or 2 but there’s kind of a language barrier...

-I finally got to chatting with my Korean roommate the best I could in broken Mandarin and she’s leaving! To go back to Korea! Which leaves me:
with a spacey double (pro),
but without Korean teledramas for entertainment (connn),
but now I can walk around naked (pro)
but who will I practice my Chinese with? (con)
but now I can do whatever I want in my room without being judged (pro)
but my (potential) new roommate could be a bitch (conn)
but the Korean dramas…did I mention the dramas? (con! con!)