No matter how lazy I am, I still feel obliged to write a final post for this eventful year.

Just returned from China 2 days ago after a long hiatus. I must say, I had quite a nice time there, but I was really starting to miss my computer(of all things...how pathetic). Sadly, after taking a long break, my computer got all cranky and the graphics card blew up within 2 hours of onning the comp after I returned, and I wasn't even playing any hardcore game!! Nor watching any hardcore video! Oh my heart...

Besides stoning around in my father's apartment in Shanghai Pudong, I also did a few other interesting things. I will talk about my adventures in "Thousand Island Lake"(千岛湖）and South Korea.

So on some random day, my family decided to have some fun at Thousand Island Lake, which is a huge lake with many islands. We took my father's car and traveled a helluva long way, most of which I spent sleeping, a harmless process which nonetheless became rather hazardous as I somehow managed to stretch my thigh muscle while trying to wrestle my shoe off to sleep more comfortably. How am I going to go NS man...

Finally we reached there and checked in at some random hotel. On the second day, we went for a tour of the lake on this boat and visited three islands. Obviously the local authorities didn't think the natural beauty of the lake was enough, and went to such lengths as dumping random exotic animals on the islands. One of the islands was called "Ostrich Island", and true to its name, had a number of stinky ostriches on it. Another island was called "Poisonous Snake Island", and again, had a few enclosures of snakes. Interesting huh?

Anyway, the highlight of the tour was the lunch, where we ordered a huge plate of fish-head. It wasn't just any ordinary fish, it was the Thousand Island Lake Organic Big Headed Fish. Anyway, they cooked it with beancurd and it was spiffing fantastic!! I stuffed myself to the brim. Then after the tour we checked in at a more imba hotel which had a computer and a TV with lotsa movies. I managed to finish reading an interesting fanfic on soompi and watch 无间道 at night and watch 画皮 the next morning. And discovered that the stupid Dongz and Rongbing tricked me with a fake lame plot of 画皮 when I asked them what it was about a few months ago. Oh well. The actual plot was not that much greater but the actors were really good I think. Oh and that night we actually ate another Thousand Island Lake Organic Big Headed Fish at a shop. That was super killer as it was like 4 kg, and we had it divided into 3 and cooked three different ways. Enough fish for a lifetime!

Then on another random day I went on a 5-day South Korea tour with my mum. It was quite cool. We had a Korean tour guide who is a second generation Chinese migrant. On one of the nights it snowed!! That's the first time I saw snow in more than like 10 years.

Well...there's a few things I think of when I think of Korea. Starcraft, pro-gaming, kimchi, Korean drama, and of course Korean superstars like BoA, Rain, and DBSK. Sadly, the only thing from above that seems to surface very prevalently during the tour was kimchi, which did not fail to appear every single meal. It doesn't exactly taste very nice, but it's unique. I guess it's a cultivated taste, just like smelly tofu or fermented tofu. Well...the only thing from korean dramas that seems to be very prevalent is Bae Yong Jun, whose posters simply appeared everywhere. I did see a small part of a starcraft game on TV though, but obviously it was not very exciting as it was some 2v2 in its late game and one team got completely owned by a swarm of mutalisks. Then I saw Rain on some talk show too but didn't understand a single word he said...duh.

Of course, the tour involved going to many shopping venues, the most interesting of which is probably Myongdong, which is a very nice crowded collection of streets and alleys that have shops and roadside stalls that sell everything from clothes to food to souvenirs. There also happened to be a lot of chiobus, some of whom were wearing outrageously little for such a cold winter time, like bare legs or simply one layer of stocking(the standard is 2-3 layers of thick pants). But good things are not to last...we only spent 2 hours there. We also visited other interesting places like the Seoul imperial palace and Jeju island, and the tour guide did a very good job of explaining a lot of Korean history and whatnots.

If I ever get another chance to visit South Korea again, I would want to go in winter again and this time go to some ski resort(like Hyrum)! :P