Route Map!

13 more nights to my long awaited backpacking trip! 

Meanwhile, our itinerary is almost 95% done. It has been a long 4 months of planning. As Lonely Planet (China) wrote so rightly, "Knowing where to begin travelling around China can be a headache and knowing where to end is equally tough. And that's even before you've begun to think of the stuff in between."

So in the end, we decided on the Golden Triangle. a.k.a, Beijing-Xian-Shanghai route, with some extra stops around them.

Singapore
>Shanghai
>Hangzhou
>Huangshan
>Tunxi
>Suzhou
>Zhujiajiao
>Shanghai
>Xian
>Huashan
>Beijing
>Tianjin
>Chengde
>Beijing
>Shanghai
>Singapore

This is our 3rd official backpacking trip (5th if unofficial), Kh has pointed out something interesting. In every single trip, we do something different.

Vietnam> Beginner's package.
Got to see a bit of everything; city, mountain, sea, ruins, beach. Very easy to travel in. A great place for a backpacker to start off.

Laos+Cambodia> Rough and tough.
Many border crossings. Sharp increase in difficulty level.  Information is scarce and scams are common. Poverty is rampant. Overall a much more authentic experience. Even Vietnam by comparison is touristy.

China> Wintery landscape.
Winter definitely brings about its own set of challenges. An early sunset means we don't have as much time to travel as we normally would. I also have to make many changes to my default packing list. And there are many minor details to take into consideration. This will also be the first time my DSLR is experiencing winter, and that brings about another set of challenges.

Stupid iPhone

Stupid iPhone dictionary... don't know what to say... Look how ridiculous this is!

Voldermort vs Orochimaru

I must have said this before, but I'll say it again; There's an uncanny resemblance between Harry Potter's Voldermort and Naruto's Orochimaru.

	Voldermort	Orochimaru
Who	Ultimate villain in Harry Potter series	Ultimate villain in Naruto (before Shippuden)
Educational Background	Used to be an elite in school.	Used to be an elite in school.
Hobbies	Experimenting in Dark Arts	Experimenting in Forbidden Techniques
Physical form	Does not have an actual body. Current self is just a mishmash of stuff. Soul is split into 7 parts and hidden in horcruxes.	Does not have an actual body. True form comes in the form of a white snake. The soul has to move to a different body once in a few years.
Lifespan	Immortal	Immortal
Ambition	Desires to kill Harry Potter and take over the wizarding world	Desires to destroy Konoha and take over the ninja world
Fetish	Pure bloods	Uchiha bloodline
Family Background	Only child. Lost parents at young age.	Only child. Lost parents at young age.
Invention	The Dark Mark (All disciples have one on their hand)	The Cursed Seal (All disciples have one on their shoulder)
Friends	Undyingly loyal subordinate Bellatrix Lestrange	Undyingly loyal subordinate Kabuto Yakushi

Red and Harry Potter 7

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
The first part of this movie was 2.5 hours long yet many details were not covered. More so for this movie than the first 6, you have to be a reader to understand it. To a non-reader, it's probably a very average movie. I read book 7 twice and I could only remember the gist and not the finer details as there was just so much content. The movie was a little bit confusing even for me. Also, it would have been nice if the air fight (after Harry left his home) was covered more in detail as it was a pretty exciting part of the book. Other than that, the scenes were pretty much similar to how I imagined it to be. Part 1 ends after Dobby's death.

3.5 stars  

Red
Red stands for "Retired: Extremely Dangerous". Lol. I love this movie. It's not everytime you come across an action movie that is acted by old folks. Fave quote:"Kordeski trained you? I trained Kordeski." Too often young people undermine old folks, and we disregard their wealth of experience. I think this movie says it all. I love the humor. It was really entertaining.

3.5 stars

Joke of the Day

Overheard on the MRT:

A: I just found out that Thesaurus isn't a dinosaur.
B: Me too! I always thought it was something like Rhinosaurus.


It is Rhinoceros not Rhinosaurus, and it isn't a dinosaur either, you ignorant fools. Lol.