Random Thoughts: The Next Mutation

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PureElegance

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Phantom Pabulum wrote:
If you're in Beijing, I hope you pay a visit to the Eunuch Museum.. http://gorgeousbrian.blogspot.sg/2012/0 ... useum.html
Oh, I already left Beijing and I just got back from Chengdu! That looks pretty awesome though :D I never liked eunuchs TBH. They ruin everything!

The last time I went to Shanghai (with my school) I couldn't enjoy myself AT ALL because the air was so polluted. My whole face dried up and my lips were cracking and I felt really bad.
That's so weird and I'm sorry! I've only felt the pollution once my entire stay here in Shanghai and it was mostly that I felt a bit out of breath. We've been having beautiful weather too lately, perfect for my mom and I to go strolling around the Bund and People's Square, places like that.

I felt the pollution on my second day in Beijing though, towards the end of the day, I got this cough and my lips started getting chapped too. It wasn't terrible though because I was busy doing all these things. I felt a total difference coming back to Shanghai!

I hope you have lots of xiaolongbao. I can't believe I missed that the last time I went.
I really like those, but my favorite are baozi. So delicious! At Yuyuan Gardens the other day I got a box of mini crab dumplings, SO DELICIOUS. I can never eat xiaolongbao properly, even though my friends get all ::zetsubou:: because of that. I don't always love the soup inside and I'd prefer it without it, haha.

I went to Chengdu, Wuhou Memorial Temple, and it was AMAZING! ::squeeeee::
I can't even describe how happy I was! The temple area is HUGE, sprawling! I can't believe they say the suggested time to stay is one hour, you can stay there an entire day. My mom and I were the only foreigners there pretty much, haha. People stared at me and some girls were trying to speak English, asking where I was from and how long I've been in China, aw!

There were so many different types of gardens to stroll through, all with vivid colors, as well as shrines, tombs, tablets, statues, paintings, exhibitions, etc. You can walk through them all day long and feel so relaxed, as if you never want to leave. I can't believe all of this was dedicated to Zhugey and Three Kingdoms hundreds of years ago and I could experience that! All the poems about Zhugey are so beautiful.

Some of my favorites by Du Fu:
His Excellency's shrine, where would it be found?
Past Damask Town, where cypresses grow dense.
Its sunlit court, gem-bright greens—a spring unto themselves.
Leaf-veiled, the orioles' sweet notes to empty air.
Thrice to him Liu Bei sued, keen to rule the realm:
Two reigns Kong Ming served—steady old heart
To die, his host afield, the victory herald yet to come
Weep, oh heroes! Drench your fronts, now and evermore.
Zhuge's mighty name hangs proudly on the upper sphere;
Stern and grand, the royal liege man's likeness claims respect.
In the tri-part world below he spun deep schemes.
In the age-old realm of cloud, one single plume unites our gaze.
Who rank his peers? Yi Yin and Jiang Ziya;
In command he was more sure than Xiao or Cao.
But the stars had turned; he could not save Han's reign,
Toiling to the end, body broken, will unbroken.
He describes the place perfectly! ::squee::

It's amazing how much people love Three Kingdoms here too. Almost everyone had Zhugey's fan and were on the floor bowing to all the generals' statues! I learned so much about all the Three Kingdom's people through the audio guide, even things like Zhugey's relationship with his son :D It's so true that it's the most sacred Three Kingdoms site, it's the best!

At one point I sat on a rock, started crying, and said, "I can't believe I actually have to leave ::weepy:: I'm coming back one day right? ::weepy::" I cancelled the rest of my plans and ended up staying until closing time. This was the reason I came to China, how can I not enjoy myself fully? I got a ton of Zhugey things... A shirt, big wooden scroll, figure of him on a horse, another Beijing Opera figure, old stamps, a book about the temple (including translations of each poem/plaque), a mini-Zhugey figure, a Zhugey pen... ::squee::

I took a million fangirly pictures with Zhugey with my Zhugey action figure ::batsu:: I finally did it after waiting for so many years to go there, this is amazing :D :D :D Okay, done nerding out!
 

Iskanderia

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flowersofnight

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LOL so did you go?
Most of the silly theme restaurants I've looked up didn't look like the actual food was particularly worth eating.

If you're looking for more places to eat:
http://maidrunner.blogspot.com
::batsu:: XD
 

Iskanderia

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Yeah, we went to Alcatraz and the food was good. It was cheap anyway, so even if the food was bad, I wouldn't have been that upset because it was so goddamn fun.
 

flowersofnight

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Iskanderia wrote:
Edit: we're leaving to go to MmM in a minute here. I'll probably buy the cheapest thing in the store.
They have a store again now? I thought the Marui One location closed down and now there were none.
 

Cerceaux

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That restaurant looks cool as do a bunch of the other wacky theme restaurants. I'd like to go to Princess Heart cafe, but it's like $60 for lunch. A really really cute lunch but still.
flowersofnight wrote:
If you're looking for more places to eat:
http://maidrunner.blogspot.com
::batsu:: XD
jzd0qv.jpg

::zetsubou::
 

Iskanderia

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flowersofnight wrote:
Iskanderia wrote:
Edit: we're leaving to go to MmM in a minute here. I'll probably buy the cheapest thing in the store.
They have a store again now? I thought the Marui One location closed down and now there were none.

It's like a shared store with other brands. Pretty underwhelming. I didn't buy anything, though in the same building there was a little VK record store and I managed to get a couple cool things.

So, last night was the most fun I've ever had on vacation. We wandered around Akihabara and went to a maid cafe (which was even more mental than expected - I mean this in the best way possible), followed by drinks at the Gundam cafe (I don't care about Gundam, but it was cute).

The best part of the night was when we ended up in what we thought was a pirate-themed maid cafe but was more of a pirate-themed hostess club (it wasn't creepy though and there were other women in there). We spent an hour talking through a translation app to two girls who looked like Kamijo cosplayers. We started talking about music and they got all excited that I knew MM and they ran to put on Merveilles, which they played in its entirety.

It doesn't sound that amazing but I assure you it was. The whole night was about doing uniquely Japanese things. Continuing the theme, we're going to a rabbit cafe and an owl cafe later. You mean I can pet bunnies and owls while drinking a beer (or coffee or tea - but let's face it, I'll be having a beer)? Thank you, Japan.

I also saw some dark shit yesterday though too. We went into this 7-floor adult megastore for laughs, knowing it was bound to be weirder than the ones in the US. What I didn't expect to find was a a blowup doll of a toddler. It was very obviously supposed to be a two or three year-old girl. There were others of slightly older looking girls too. I couldn't get out of there fast enough.
 

flowersofnight

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Iskanderia wrote:
though in the same building there was a little VK record store and I managed to get a couple cool things.
Forgot to mention, you should go to this place in Nakano:
http://www.flower-record.com/
Just for the experience if nothing else XD Most everything will be fantastically overpriced, but they have many things.
 

Madmoiselle_Silk

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flowersofnight wrote:
Iskanderia wrote:
though in the same building there was a little VK record store and I managed to get a couple cool things.
Forgot to mention, you should go to this place in Nakano:
http://www.flower-record.com/
Just for the experience if nothing else XD Most everything will be fantastically overpriced, but they have many things.
I planned on visiting flower records store last time in tokyo, but no way I'm paying that much for stuff I can find for less than half O_-

Iskanderia, did you check Puresound and Closet Child in Shinjuku? The Closet Child has been like a goldmine to me XD I've found both Közi's fanclub magazines and 2 pamphlets with Klaha (1 signed!!).
 

Demanufacturer

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So, how's everyone doing here lately? :)
Once a year i drop by to check out this good ol'forum :p
Last few days i have been ''rediscovering'' my love for Japanese music, so naturally i start to follow this forum again.
It seems to be fairly quiet though :(
 

flowersofnight

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My sister and the rest of the crew came down to visit this weekend and my brother-in-law got for-real attacked by my mom's dogs. Still don't know if his hand is really broken or not. I'm just glad Matilda was upstairs sleeping at the time.
Don't keep pets, people. Just don't do it.
 

faith

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I hardly feel the need to point out that this is not indicative of the whole pet owning experience for all people, nor the extreme falacies of that statement. My cats would never attack someone...and much as I dislike big dogs, I know quite a few who wouldn't do it either. Dobermans included.
 

Iskanderia

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Madmoiselle_Silk wrote:
flowersofnight wrote:
Iskanderia wrote:
though in the same building there was a little VK record store and I managed to get a couple cool things.
Forgot to mention, you should go to this place in Nakano:
http://www.flower-record.com/
Just for the experience if nothing else XD Most everything will be fantastically overpriced, but they have many things.
I planned on visiting flower records store last time in tokyo, but no way I'm paying that much for stuff I can find for less than half O_-

Iskanderia, did you check Puresound and Closet Child in Shinjuku? The Closet Child has been like a goldmine to me XD I've found both Közi's fanclub magazines and 2 pamphlets with Klaha (1 signed!!).

We went to *a* Closet Child in Shinjuku today but it only had clothes and no jrock junk, so maybe I went to the wrong one.


Our last two nights here we're staying in the hotel where Lost in Translation (which I will forever after refer to as "the documentary, Lost in Translation") was filmed. It's crazy nice.
 

PureElegance

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So I have an interview with this man: http://www.cravath.com/echesler/
in five hours along with a bunch of deans because I'm a finalist for his scholarship. Holy toledo, he's the chairman of one of the super best law firms ever in the US and was its leader for a while! My friend after class said, "Wow, you're meeting a lot of high rollers," haha. I can't believe I'll be on the phone with him though, how strange is that! It's exciting, but I'm pretty nervous too and I'm preparing now ^^; Everyone says I'll do great and all, but gah!

I looked him up and one thing that really stood out to me was his Masters degree in Russian Studies, focusing on Stalinism. That's it, there you go.

I finally met the stereotypical dumb American tourists. My mom and I were picked up by Fiona, our Chinese tour guide who was super nice. She's a student at Shanghai Normal Uni. She said, "Wow, you're a really smart girl!" because I knew about Zhugey and we talked so much. We arrived at the other group's hotel and waited like 30 minutes for them, which is so inconsiderate of them since we had to get on a ship. When they arrived, they were all, "It's okay right? We'll make it in time?" No, it's not okay! We had to wait another hour to get on the next ship because of them, lame-os, and it started raining.

Throughout the ride to the ship, on the little train on East Nanjing Road, and the ride back home they made stupid comments about China the entire time.

- "I mean you see some of the babies are naked here, it's crazy!" "I think it's a pride thing, they're really proud of that, letting it all hang out."
- "*german accent* The Bund Tunnel was WAY overpriced and SO STUPID. It was so stupid!!!""
- "It's like these people just come together and sing, it's crazy!" "I'm sure they have cheap recorders."
- "The Pudong aquarium was sooo overpriced, oh my goodness."
- "It's like they shop all day." "And I can't imagine their shoes are that good quality to be walking around in all day."
- "They had their museums and other things for free for a long period of time, like six months." "Yeah, to shove culture down the Chinese people's throats."
- "Do people even go to the theaters here?"
- "There are so many bridal shops here, they're huge!" "Do you want to hear my theory about that? They're fronts for ladies of the night."
- "I hate taxi scams!"
- "*german accent* Don't be embarrassed to haggle. Just think about how much you would be willing to pay for a spoon with no name on it."
- [arriving, mostly Chinese people there] "Get ready to be the main attraction."
- [asking me] "Do you see them looking at you? You just got stared at a lot."
etc. etc. etc.

The worse part is that Fiona was sitting there with them the entire time and they didn't even care. My mom and I wanted to get away from them so we paid for the VIP section of the ship, and Fiona came in with us soon afterwards and said, "It's a lot warmer in here! :D"

Then the lady from Albany, NY peered between my mom and I and whispered in our ears, "Are you connected to the US government? *long pause*"
"Uh...? *imagines assassination attempts, kidnappings, etc*"
"Did you get the email about the bird flu here? >__>"
"I saw it on the news and my school emailed me about it..."

What the heck ::meev::
 

Madmoiselle_Silk

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Iskanderia wrote:
Madmoiselle_Silk wrote:
flowersofnight wrote:
Iskanderia wrote:
though in the same building there was a little VK record store and I managed to get a couple cool things.
Forgot to mention, you should go to this place in Nakano:
http://www.flower-record.com/
Just for the experience if nothing else XD Most everything will be fantastically overpriced, but they have many things.
I planned on visiting flower records store last time in tokyo, but no way I'm paying that much for stuff I can find for less than half O_-

Iskanderia, did you check Puresound and Closet Child in Shinjuku? The Closet Child has been like a goldmine to me XD I've found both Közi's fanclub magazines and 2 pamphlets with Klaha (1 signed!!).

We went to *a* Closet Child in Shinjuku today but it only had clothes and no jrock junk, so maybe I went to the wrong one.


Our last two nights here we're staying in the hotel where Lost in Translation (which I will forever after refer to as "the documentary, Lost in Translation") was filmed. It's crazy nice.
If you continue up on that same road you'll find Closet child's cd shop and Puresound, it's worth checking up
 

faith

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Why didn't Hora talk about this?

http://www.tokyotimes.com/2012/lebron-j ... s-in-asia/

Turns out there is a DD in Tokyo near the Tokyo Dome.
I have an interview with my would be manager tin Japan on Thursday...hope everything goes well.
He wants to know what I want to do, but I can't very well say "karaoke, eat candy, hang out a drag clubs, and stalk Dunkin donuts" can I...
 

flowersofnight

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PureElegance wrote:
- "There are so many bridal shops here, they're huge!" "Do you want to hear my theory about that? They're fronts for ladies of the night."

- "*german accent* Don't be embarrassed to haggle. Just think about how much you would be willing to pay for a spoon with no name on it."
All true. Never pay list price for a woman.

faith wrote:
He wants to know what I want to do, but I can't very well say "karaoke, eat candy, hang out a drag clubs, and stalk Dunkin donuts" can I...
"Oh I mostly want to snuggle kittens, skateboard, play midnight basketball, convalesce, and get the new Metal Gear before anyone else. .... Oh and uh, professional development blablabla" ::hora::

@Iskanderia - About Closet Child, I got some good music stuff at the one in Harajuku some years ago. Have you been down that way already? It's worth doing once, but only once XD
 

Iskanderia

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We went to Harajuku on Sunday when there's supposed to be the big Loli Extravaganza but they've apparently shut it down because the Japanese hate fun and love rules or some shit but I didn't look for Closet Child.

It's not a big deal. I collect only Scape artist stuff (and not even that seriously) and I have all the major releases at this point. I'd love some Kozi fanclub magazines or some mon amour issues, but I can really just get that stuff online if I'm just dying for them.
 
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