Take it easy, sit back and relax
Eating, Drinking, and Having Fun in Hangzhou
On the 1st of this month, I hung out with a friend in Hangzhou. We ate at Pizza Hut, Hama Sushi, and Haidilao.
Then we went to Gonglian CC.
We went to some other places too, but I won't go into detail — mainly hanging out at my friend's place or just playing on the computer at the hotel (traveling without parents is just pure relaxation)
Summary: Super happy! My friend was with me the whole time. This was also my first time visiting Hangzhou, and it left a really great first impression. I want to go again (
Traveling to Nanjing with My Friend's Parents
At first, I was thinking "I'll just ride along to Nanjing since it's on the way home," since going from Hangzhou to Nanjing and then back to Anhui is pretty convenient. But then it turned into wanting to spend more time hanging out with my friend (
So I rode along with my friend's parents to Nanjing. On the way, I even wrote Thoughts on Meeting My Friend's Parents, though I later learned that his family situation isn't exactly peaceful either. Sigh, every family has its own struggles.
Then I went with his family to the Presidential Palace, the Qinhuai River, and so on. Honestly, I'm not really into visiting these kinds of tourist spots. I'd rather go play maimai (awmc is hopeless). Or go experience rail transit (hsm is hopeless). For example, what I wanted to experience most in Nanjing was riding from Jinniuhu all the way to Gaochun (3 hours, 150km, iron butt).
Dealing with My Friend's Parents in Nanjing
The next day, my friend got dragged to Niushou Mountain by his parents. Since the tickets were too expensive and I really didn't want to visit these tourist spots, I didn't go along and just stayed at the hotel to sleep (dodged a bullet).
That evening we went to Confucius Temple. After walking around, we couldn't take it anymore and wanted to go to an "otaku mall" or something. So we used the excuse of "going to play arcade games (maimai)" to let my friend's parents head back to the hotel first.
Then we went to check out Aqua City.
Summary: Since I went with my friend, it was still pretty fun. The main issue was being influenced by his parents — we ended up going to a lot of tourist spots that neither of us wanted to visit. And I didn't get to do my rail transit experience either, ざんねん~
Early-Month Trip to Hefei
This trip to Hefei was also to meet an online friend, nothing much to say. Went there and came back the same day. Took my online friend to eat at Hama Sushi and went to hyw to play. Had a great time overall.
On the way back that evening, I specifically bought a ticket from Hefei West Station to experience the newly opened station.
Then headed up to the platform and took the train home!
Switching to an iPhone and Chinese New Year
In the middle of the month, a local friend got a new iPhone 16 Pro, and he just gave me his iPhone 13 Pro (yes, you read that right — he just gave it to me, just like that). Got a new phone case, replaced the battery, and it works great!
As for Chinese New Year, I feel like it's no different from any other day — just have a meal and it's over. I no longer have that childhood excitement for Spring Festival. It just passes like an ordinary, unremarkable day.
Of course, there are still noticeable differences — for example, on New Year's Eve, the mall closed at 6 PM! I had just arrived at the arcade and it was already closing (sad).
Oh right, the night before New Year's Eve, I went to see Cosmic Princess Kaguya!. It was so good!!! I kinda regret not watching it on New Year's Eve itself — could have treated it as my Spring Festival Gala (
End-of-Month: Hangzhou Friend Comes to Hefei to Visit Me
The friend I went to Hangzhou and Nanjing with at the beginning of the month came to Hefei to visit me, but this time his family tagged along again (he's almost fed up with his parents at this point). Fortunately, this time the parents didn't interfere with his schedule and let him go out on his own with us.
Then I called up the online friend I met in Hefei at the beginning of the month, and together we ate at Hama Sushi, went to hyw, and watched Cosmic Princess Kaguya! together at the hotel. It was honestly amazing that day — I hadn't been this happy in a long time!
Finally, we strolled around the pedestrian street with friends and had a meal at Haidilao. Then I headed home.
The true essence of traveling is not about how many famous landmarks you check off, but about the companions you travel with — mintdesu
Summary: It was also super happy! Really! Super happy!
An Unexpected Encounter with VR
After watching Cosmic Princess Kaguya! at the hotel, my friend wanted to buy a Quest 3S, saying "I want to log into Tsukuyomi." And the very next day, he actually bought one.
After seeing it, I was totally craving one too, plus my friend said "You should buy one too! Then we can log into Tsukuyomi together." I was really tempted, and in the end, I couldn't hold back — -2000¥.
Since getting it, I've literally been using it every day — if not playing games, then watching videos. I feel like I don't even need to buy a TV anymore (this very article was written while wearing the headset, hanging out in VRChat, streaming my desktop through the SteamVR menu qwq).
And I seriously don't get motion sick at all. Sitting at my desk wearing the headset and playing Euro Truck Simulator, not even a hint of dizziness. At least tonight I've already been wearing it for 6 hours straight, and aside from my eyes being a bit tired, everything else is fine (
Monthly Summary
I think the February ramblings are already long enough to be a standalone article — it really was an amazing month.
