Picked the weekly notes back up... I'll write down what happened these past two weeks.
Trip
Last Friday six of us drove out on a road trip. Destination: Nanjing.
Friday night we first got to Bengbu, Anhui, and stayed in Bengbu that night. We found a restaurant with some local character. The auntie running it heard we had come from out of town specifically for this place and was extremely warm. My (outgoing) brother-in-law said "compared to her we all look introverted." The dishes were basically all salty and spicy, maybe that's the local thing, but they were really good with rice. At night my brother and I shared a twin room. The first night I was still pretty stiff; later I loosened up. We each played games in the room for a bit and went to sleep. This brother is especially good-looking. He was on voice with girls playing Honor of Kings; I was playing Wild Rift.
The next day after breakfast we got in the car and hit the road. Breakfast was also a local thing, chicken-soup noodles. Not quite like how we have it here though: that day it was a bowl of chicken soup and a bowl of noodles. I drank all the soup and barely touched the noodles.
We got to Nanjing around one or two in the afternoon. We dropped bags at the hotel first. The hotel was near Xinjiekou. Then we walked to a salted-duck place my sister said was pretty authentic. Turns out a lot of people were lining up, so we went to a nearby shop for duck-blood vermicelli soup. After I finished I took my little niece outside to play. Brother-in-law (the niece's dad) was smoking across the alley. The niece saw him and was about to run over, then a three-wheeler suddenly came. The driver seemed to be looking at his phone. Right before hitting her he slammed the brakes, and I happened to be holding her. Almost hit her. Thinking about it now I still get scared after the fact.
Then we went to Zhan Garden, saw the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom museum and the gardens, walked around, took photos, and came out (the photos are basically all with my sister; I'll just put some random shots that don't show family faces).
Out of Zhan Garden we walked to the Confucius Temple. So many people. On the way to Zhan Garden a taxi driver told us not to buy things at the Confucius Temple, so we only wandered, didn't buy. Originally wanted to sit on a Qinhuai River sightseeing boat; too many people, we gave up.
The next day we went to Hongshan Zoo, saw a lot of animals, though brother-in-law thought it wasn't as good as the safari park they'd been to in Beijing. Lunch might not have been fresh either. Mom, my little niece and I all had diarrhea that night and the next day. We walked Hongshan Zoo all day. Sister bought the niece a little panda plush. The niece loved it, wouldn't let go. Then the three-minute fever: we hadn't even left the zoo and she was already bored of it. That's kids...
Day three we went to the Sun Yat-sen scenic area, visited a temple, ate vegetarian food. The vegetarian meal was a bowl of noodles plus a piece of vegetarian chicken. I thought it tasted pretty good, but I was hungry again fast in the afternoon. Then we climbed the pagoda there. Maybe because each floor isn't very level, it's steep and scary, you don't dare get close to the edge. Nine floors in all. Going up was exhausting, plus I'm a bit afraid of heights. After a few photos Mom, sister and I came down.
Then we went to the Music Stage. Lots of pigeons, and a fountain that changes with the music. Quite a few people. We stayed a bit and left. Then nearby Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. Closed that day. We walked up to the entrance and came back down. That day's trip was over.
Day four morning we went to a small museum (forgot the name... displays related to Dream of the Red Chamber and Cao Xueqin), then a bakery (sister makes desserts, so she has a habit of checking bakeries), then crab-roe noodles. Afternoon, the aquarium. The sea lion even scares people — swimming along and then suddenly jumping at me, I jumped.
At night we went to the lantern festival. Really beautiful.
That was the end of Nanjing. The next day we left Nanjing, stayed one night in Hefei. Brother-in-law had a meal with his uncle; my brother and I went too. Then home, back to normal life.
Graduation project
Besides the trip, I've been busy with my graduation project. A bit of a headache, but I'm slowly getting a thread. Still can't be satisfied with a shallow understanding. Ask why more. I'll talk about the project in detail when it's further along.
Alcohol allergy…
Birthday these two weeks. At dinner I had two glasses of white wine, and then...
Games
Also worth mentioning: I hit Master on Wild Rift. Pretty happy. The ranked system is really disgusting though, often matched with insane teammates. New season added a few new items. Heartsteel is good for fighters and tanks. Aurelion Sol got a rework, Syndra the mage is new, and two assassin junglers are expected. Feels like AD's living space got smaller. Trying to adapt to the new patch, but the graduation project is a bit busy, so I probably won't spend too much time on ranked.
Reading
Finished Chen Hao's Left Ear Listening to the Wind: A Legendary Programmer's Leveling Guide. Now reading the new Elon Musk biography.
Manga
Following Frieren and Jujutsu Kaisen. Planning to continue Delicious in Dungeon too, but haven't started.