Pearl Land

Off to visit Pearl Land with my TA Stephanie and her little brother Leefengwe. We took the bus half an hour north of the city to the park, which reminded me of Calgary's Calaway Park in size.




We started things off with a bang. This roller coaster spun like a cork screw and was worthy of small town amusement parks.

The next ride took me for quite a spin. I was lucky I had just injested a nausea pill (I don't do well on rides that spin). It was the classical tea cup ride, and Lee wanted to keep spinning faster and faster, and honestly, it got to the point where I didn't think it would stop. Luckily, no retching.


A few 'sausage on a stick's later, we came to attractions more to my liking. A house of mirrors, where I genuinely bumped my head numerous times, a 'House of Experience', where sculptures of ancient cities, mummies, and polar bears could be gazed upon, and finally, 'Thriller house', basically a haunted house. Two things struck me as unfortunate; the first being stuck behind an old, faint of heart couple who moved slowly making all the surprises known. Secondly, half the features weren't even lit up or 'on' to scare us.

We walked past the 'dancing cow' buffet and had a pizza lunch at an empty restaurant.

The park today had some people, but extremely few compared with Western parks of line ups and crowds. It was a cloudy, foggy, and sometimes rainy day, but lately, that's mostly what it's been.

Forefront to the setting was this statue, watching over as we ate.

I think that perhaps there was something lost in the translation of building this statue, but really? Blood coming from a face that resembles the classical Jesus', from the eyes of the horse, and the hunter's kill. The pizza was good though.

Despite not understanding a single word except Nihao/Hello between Lee and I, we were still able to laugh together and gesture aimlessly as we rode numerous rides that allowed people under 1.4 m tall, like the log ride, space shuttle, and bumper cars, which was my favourite. The snacks were delicious as well, and cheap, perhaps why I chose to eat so much. Sweet popcorn, ice cream, and as I mentioned those ridiculous weiners on a stick made any pang of hunger quelled.
Although we didn't opt for this, it seemed cool that you could order what I imagine any kid in America would want, heaping bowls of sugar.


Colby: this is my kind of ride :) One that is reasonable and predictable, and doesn't spin too much. Although those nausea pills did help.


Throughout the park were miniature versions of kangaroos that would amble about, sometimes eating popcorn out of your hand. They're imported from the more southern locales, but have really turned into a pest for farmers, as they stamp out new sprouts.


This enormous ferris wheel dominated the skyline when the fog cleared somewhat.

It moved slowly, and was slightly disorienting, but only if one stood up in the carriage.

This was the other roller coaster. It never inverted, but at times felt like you'd fly out of the seats as it crested each hill. Very fun.


We headed off for a boat ride, starting to feel tuckered out. Running around a park all day, I've forgotten what it's like to have the energy of a kid.


A roasted (sweet) potato-like snack and a nap on the bus ride later, we headed back into town to behold additional Chinese sights, including a man wearing an orange suit jacket.

And another Park-goer, finding it too hard not to nap in her popcorn, while her young brother watches greedily at the prospect of a snack.


Oh and I went on this ride, too. Do you believe me?


I was invited to have dinner with Stephanie and her family at a fancy seafood restaurant. As usual, her family paid generously, and I was able to bond with her older brother through respectable English. Start-offs included pigeon, a first for myself, especially since I also ate its brain (in lieu of the older brother doing so). There was sweet bun dipped in custard, 1000 year egg on broccolli, crab (which I got a good lesson in how to eat), and salmon dippd in soya sauce and wusabi. This wusabi is like nothing I've ever tasted in Canada; it is potent. A tiny bit envelopes the mouth, throat, and nose for a brief explosion of spicy, bizarre taste, so I liked it.


On a side note, the somewhat vagrant dog that guards the entrance to my compound is racist. Every time I pass her she barks at me, but never to Chinese people. What a bitch.