Hiya guyz. First of all I'd like to explain the thread title.

Terribluck is how my friends and I explain my Terrible luck. Yes, its a combination of the two words. Its true though, my luck is absolutely terrible. It always has been, and it always gets me every day. I never gamble for this reason. In a game of chance and no feat, I will almost always lose.

So I went to China for 4 days, purpose being to watch the total eclipse.

It was over 100 degrees, which is absolute killer for a Minnesotan like me. After enduring a rough trip, we finally came to the last day when... the eclipse was eclipsed by thunderclouds. Poo.

But the trip overall was great. Here are pictures and explanations.

In the thread [link] I said "In other news: I saw a life-size figure of Ronald sitting on a bench in front of the Mcdonalds in the airport. Ran ran roooooo." This time, I took a picture of it.

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Its a true shame that every time I go to the airport I forget to get my camera out fast enough to take a picture of the giant penis. Its in the middle of the freeway, a huge statue that surprisingly resembles a penis (I mean, theres nothing else it COULD be). On the way back from China I saw it at night for the first time, and saw it glowing with lights. Made me want it even more. I will get it on the way back from Korea for sure this time.

Once we arrived in China, we rode around on a bus for most of the time. The stoplights in China have countdown timers! Very convenient. On one of the stops, I saw a magazine stand outside the window. Something really BLARED out at me. I mean, my eyes spotted this out of everything else instantly.

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Flandre Scarlet on the magazine cover? I wanted it, but a group tour means the bus isn't going to stop for me.

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This is the average apartment in which a person lives in. These apartments literally create a giant column and span for miles. Communism and poverty at its best.

Many people ride bikes. I don't think I saw a single bike in my time here in Korea... and they are really under-dressed. But I don't blame them in this temperature. Its horrendous, and I'd probably wear less too if I had to bike around outside.

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Right next to a shopping district was a small river. Very scenic. Some parts of China glow with lights in a beautiful way. Korea does this too of course, but its mostly rave lights rather than stuff like this.

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We rode the small boats, but I usually get motion sickness. Oh gawd. The lights on the back changed to make it look like the dragons were moving. Cool.

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There were umbrellas hanging from the ceiling in the shopping district. Awesum!

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Marketing ploy to the max. Make bland ice cream, put it on a stick, slap a pikachu on the box, and people buy it. Brilliant. And probably illegal.

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This restaurant looked like Rapture. The camera does no justice. If I had a good software, I'd touch it up a bit and it'd really look like it.

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In China, meals are often eaten on tables with spinning glass on them. Food is placed on the glass, and spun around so people sitting on the tables can have a good distribution of food.

The food was... okay. They're somewhat fattening foods, a lot of them being fried and all. It wasn't exactly suited for my tastes. Let me assure you, most of you have never had real chinese food before. Whatever Panda Express / Liann Chin / Chinese Buffets are feeding you are all American made to fit American tastes.

The drinks in China are all warm. It is their belief that the hotter it is, the hotter your beverages should be. I was dying for a cool drink the entire trip. Its not funny when your coke is warm after walking around in a place that's so hot its hard to breath.

And warm beer tastes horrible.

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This waitress was so cute I just HAD to take a picture.

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My sister in her new chinadress. Her new haircut doesn't match her at all. We got it for really cheap. 10 dollars!! This bargain was a result of miscalculating the Won to Yi Yuan fares. We thought they were asking for ten times more than they really were. We literally were demanding that they give us the clothing for 6 dollars, while thinking we were asking for 60 dollars. They settled at 10, and that was when we realized we were doing the math wrong, and jumped at the deal.

By the way, all the money in China have Mao's face wh0ring on them. Every single one! Once again, communism at its finest.

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I got one too. Its a bit big for me though. So finally my picture is revealed. I'm sorry if I disappoint anyone.

In the shopping district, there were lots and lots of mecha stores. Gundams... everywhere... so cheap... and I couldn't buy any because my parents are nazis about what I'm allowed to buy.

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This is an Armillary Sphere. It looks freaking awesome. Its also on the back of the 10,000 won bill in Korea. I have no clue how it works and didn't bother to read about it because it was so hot. I'll look it up later.

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The Observatories. My dad was just in complete ecstasy here. He's really in to astronomy. Really, this trip was for him. Too bad about the clouds blocking the eclipse.

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We visited the silk museum/factory to see how silk products are made. It was pretty... gross.

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It takes over 200 silkworms to weave silk that covers a hand. Gathering items is harder than Mabi makes it! And weaving it sure takes more than rank F!!

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Do you know how fast this elevator moved? My ears! My ears!!

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At the top of the tower, I could see all of Shanghai. Well, as far as I could SEE anyways. Also featuring the bottlecap opener building (as we called it).

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Kitae casts brave +1 and takes one step out into the glass floor. Where I would be looking almost 300 meters above the ground. Scary (<-- is afraid of heights).

In the top of the hotel we stayed in on the final night, there was a rotating restaurant. I ordered rum. First try. It was actually quite good compared to some of the other alcoholic beverages I've had (soju is just terrible).

In one of the hotels we stayed at, we noticed a bug running (at great speed) into our room when we opened the door. My sister freaked, my dad tried to step on it. He hit the first time, but it still moved around, and then he killed it. I noticed ANOTHER bug, a much smaller worm-like thing squirming on the carpet. When I looked at it closer, the bug we had killed was actually a very small gecko (or newt? I've never seen either before). And the squirming bug was actually its tail that got disconnected on the first stomp.

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6AM, everyone set up for the eclipse. Weather is very cloudy. My sister, mom, and I are sitting down doing nothing (eclipse set for 9:30-ish). I, being the NEET that I am, promptly plug in my headphones and go back to sleep.

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Oh durn. It started to rain. You could hear the crowd cheer and boo back and forth as the clouds slightly clear and come back. The glasses were never necessary in the end. I asked for a pink raincoat but got blue instead. :fool:

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The cameras and telescopes... soaked and wasted. Effort bit the dust.

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Total eclipse occurs. It is now pitch dark (and raining). We cannot see the sun or the stars. But it was still kinda cool how it got so dark. My mom is in the picture, camera using flash.

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The clouds WOULD clear after the eclipse is over.

After that we just went to eat lunch and then came back. The restaurant we ate at for lunch that day had waitresses dressed in maid uniforms. Short skirt types. I was half asleep, saw it, and then got all excited... then noticed most of them were rather ugly, and just grumbled as I ate my food.

I saw some H1N1 flu information at the airport on the way back. They really took this opportunity to bash America. Saying things like "Swine flu comes from America. It spread all over the world, infecting innocent people! What shame!" Quite hilarious.