Back4Part2 =)

For the last time (hopefully), please read back=) and the posts before this if you have not read them and do not want to get lost reading this.

We now officially enter the 29th of December in Harbin. It snowed heavily throughout the night so when we stepped out of the hotel the next day- WAH! A heavy carpet of snow greeted us. But the hotel bellboys were busy sweeping it away =( Even the cars were laden with snow. You could only tell it was a car because of the tyres.

Here's mum and I that extremely cold morning-
See the man behind us cleaning his car?

-First stop- Sun island! This was seriously the coldest place in the whole trip! Even with my 7 layers of clothing, I was shaking like a leaf. Every time the wind blew, I thought my face would turn to ice and break off. It was so cold that smiling was torture I tell you! So treasure every smile you see here, they were carved on our faces with exquisite pain. SO INCREDIBLY COLD. And oh, by the way, Sun Island is apparently, THE place for snow sculptures exhibition. So guess that explains the cold. But STILL... it was mind-numbingly cold. Heart-numbingly too. You definitely would not have the energy or the mood to be dreaming of any special someone or feeling emo over anything. Just... so so so so so so terribly cold. I am someone who LOVES being cold. I ADORE that cold blast of wind. But even I couldn't take it. Enough advertisements... hehe...

Snow sculpture version of the mascot of Sun Island:
The Paris Hotel (Building on left)! But carved in ice... You can actually go in!

Did I mention this place is really pretty? =D

Footsteps... leading to where...?

I would call this- desolate beauty

A real house made from wood

I surrender all~ Sun Island alright... but you can't feel the sun at all... Oops... I'm supposed to show you the snow sculptures... Sorry got carried away XD Here are some of them!

This is a really cool sculpture- but I don't think I captured any of its majestic air. Sorry!

Do you think this was how Snow White and the 7 Dwarves' house look like in winter? =)

The scenery is... breathtaking... so don't blame me for the scenic photos! They're so much more worth the trouble uploading than the sculptures don't you think?

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father but through me."

-Next, we went to look at tigers! Don't ask me why though, I wasn't paying attention! =P It's like going on safari, so we were all locked up in a bus that brought us around the park.

This is the KING Tiger.
I don't know why is he made king though, he looks about the same as the others!

- We also went to the Song Hua river( again) to watch people SWIM in it. Can you imagine? SWIM!! What was the temperature that day?? -20!!!

That looks like a swimming pool, but it's actually part of the river, except that they cleared the snow off and broke the ice.

See the snow banks? I cannot imagine how cold it must have been for him!
This man was 80 years old by the way!!

If you couldn't tell from the point of view of the shots, we were standing atop the deck of a ship to watch the swimmers.

- As usual, night fell early and by the time we reached St. Sophie's church, it was dark. Which only made the church more enchantingly beautiful.

Such a beautiful place... fit for a King...
But what did China do with it??
They turned it into a cultural museum!!
Pfffttt...
It was just old photos of Harbin inside, and photos of photos are really... not my thing...
so you won't get to see them =)

The rest of the night was spent shopping!!!!! *grins*

-That night I was watching China TV and a singer named 黄圣依 sang this song. The lyrics(some of it)... seem to fit the night, and how I used to feel... Maybe it'll speak to some of you too...

秋天不回来

初秋的天 冰冷的夜 回忆慢慢袭来
真心的爱 就像落叶
为何却要分开
灰色的天 独自彷徨
城市的老地方
真的孤单 走过忧伤 心碎还要逞强 想为你披件外衣 天凉要爱惜自己
没有人比我更疼你
告诉你 在每个
想你的夜里
我哭的好无力
就让秋风带走我的思念 带走我的泪
我还一直静静守候在
相约的地点
求求老天淋湿我的双眼 冰冻我的心
让我不再苦苦奢求你还
回来我身边

*Think those who know me well enough can guess what it means when I bold some parts =)*

Finally, the 30th! We woke up at an unearthly hour and flew back to Beijing where again we did more shopping. * grins some more*
-After the time we spent in Harbin, Beijing was like Genting to us =D
Nothing special to mention about Beijing except that the food was WAY better.
- Oh yes, that night we were brought to some farm to eat farm food Beijing-style, which was... not to my liking at all (I'm trying to be nice here).

They don't look bad here right?
A classic example of how looks can be deceiving.

There... guess what this is!
Can't guess??
It's a type of seaweed!!!
....................
By the way, this is how the dish looks after we finished dinner. =)

-That night I also visited the hot spring available with En Hui and my mum. We were rather excited as it was all our first time. And we weren't worried as the rules demanded that each be clad in swimming attire in the hot spring.

Unfortunately, we never made it past the girls' changing room. It was a positively frightening experience. Once we stepped in, we saw rows and rows of lockers and a big common area. It was one huge room. No separate cubicles or even doors to be seen. So what else do you think we saw??

Naked women. And more naked women. TONS of naked women.
Not just naked women changing. That would be at least understandable.
But naked women walking around!
Naked women sitting together and having a juicy chat!
And not just naked women!
Naked little girls!!
Naked women blowing their hair vigorously with the hair dryer!
And as girls, I'm sure you all know what happens when we do vigorous activities...
*shudders*
TOTAL culture shock.

The three of us looked at each other, our shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
We left.
And met my bro outside.
He had gone into the men's changing room and saw many, many fat men.
Enough said.
We ALL left.

I apologise for the lack of photos here. I'm sure you understand why.

THE 31st!
- We were herded into some tea shop and forced to listen to a lecture on the virtues of the Pu Er tea. Poor tour guide- NONE of us bought anything.

- We did more shopping at the local markets, where those sales people seriously ask for ridiculous prices. My dad bought a jacket for 90 when the man asked for 800! *rolls eyes*

- Then, the airport. We had a fantastic farewell though, right before we boarded our plane. (Beijing's airport is the type whereby you have to walk on the airport itself.)
As we were climbing up the stairs, a gust of wind blew. A STRONG GUST. Blew and blew and blew. A wind with the temperature worthy of Sun Island in Harbin. My face didn't feel as though it belonged to me for at least half an hour after that. Not to mention the hour I spent untangling the knots in my hair after being wind-tossed.

-We arrived back at KLIA around 12am on January 1st. Thus endeth the trip.

*Heaves a sigh of relief*

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Now... for the random thoughts and feelings I've had since the trip ended.

黑色毛衣

~一件黑色毛衣 二个人的回忆...
...你不用在意 流泪也只是刚好而已...
...黑色毛衣 藏在哪里 就让回忆永远停在那里~

Particularly apt... since we DO have to keep all the woolen clothing =)


And a book I've read many times... but still makes me cry every time I read it.
《有个女孩叫Feeling》
By: 藤井树

我认识一个女孩，她的名字叫Feeling
她说，曾经有个男孩子很爱她， 当那个男孩子离开时，
同时带走了她最原始的 feeling；
她说，她不碰爱情， 因为自己有太多感情；
她说，她总是在不同的环境中，遇到相同的爱情，
看着身边的男孩来来去去，却无法让自己为他们停下来；
她说，她不能再一次负荷爱情的流逝，
那像是参加自己的葬礼， 而自己明明想在爱情里呼吸......

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