China Trip #1: Mid-Week 21Travelers: Fhore and Ernesto. A "figure out where you want your life to take you" trip, of sorts. Fhore is in search of supermaxing the Martial Arts skill while Ernesto came along for the fun of it all. He has Wunn's Collection Helper and enough athletic skill points to jog around the countryside all day, and maybe swing a pic-axe.
Length of Stay: 6 days courtesy of Fhore's unique LTR - Prepared Traveler.
Flight Leaves: Right now!
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Ernesto and I land safely in China and catch a shuttle to the hotel. We decide to start our trip off right!
I check in with the Adventure Board and head off in search of the yellow circle on my China map. With my 3 skills points in MA from the book Great-Grandpa Wunn picked up at the Consignment Shop ages ago, which I read after school, I'm so up for the challenge of my first 2 sparring matches. Bring it on!
Julianne Lu makes a great spar partner and is up for my required two go-rounds. That done we hang out and talk. I learn so much in that one afternoon about Chinese Sim culture and her neighbours. We become best friends!
Ernesto, not quite happy just following me around all day, fiddles with Wunn's Collection Helper and heads out for a jog through the countryside in search of gems and metals for Wunn's growing pocket collection.
That face is the same one he had as a teen but those muscles, hmmmm, those are new. And yummy! *Sigh* I wish he would follow me around all day just so I could look at that any time I want to! He did promise to meet up with me at the Academy later today.
He finds an abandoned barn out somewhere and empties the chests he finds under the stack of hay bales.
One day, Ernesto wakes up and rolls the wish I've had since I proposed. We head down to the market in search of a local that can point us in the direction of the best. It takes all morning to get there but boy was it worth it! This is the magnificent view from the very top of the Temple of Heaven, on the little balcony.
Ernesto and I look at each other and read our own wish in the other's eyes. With only a fleeting thought to the wrath of our mothers we are sure to face when we get home, Ernesto and I change into our formal wear and give in to the beauty surrounding us, stretched out as far as the eye can see.
Later that day finds me back at the Academy dishing out some more whooping! This time my competitor and I are more evenly matched it seems, but I still hand her a loss.
I get a call from a local asking if I could check out the old MA Academy up the hill from the current Academy. I call up Ernesto to see if he wants to help out.
We Aieeehya! and butt scratch our way through the piles of rubble in no time and find some interesting treasures underneath. Ernesto says he's going to miss this MA outfit the most when I skill up again. (His favorite colour is Irish Green.)
Ernesto takes the warning about the dark spots seriously and continues forward on his hands and knees. I just giggle at him and head off in another direction to figure out the wall fire traps puzzle.
When I puzzle my way out and come back around, I find Ernesto passed out on the floor amongst his fire traps. After making sure he's ok, I can't help but laugh at the sight of my hunky new husband smokin' hot and crispy!
Ernesto and I complete the mission in the morning and I head back to the Academy for more MA sparring. Again, a seemingly even match but I also hand her a loss!
[Ho Sung Kim, seen here, is a stunningly gorgeous Sim!]
This time Ernesto gets a call to check out the Dragon Cave, so off we go. It's a long walk up another hill but the photo Ernesto takes is almost worth enough to rent a small space in Bridgeport, should we want to.
What to do when you come across strange fridge-like looking things deep inside a fire-breathing cave in a foreign country? Open 'er up and crawl inside, of course! The golden glow has to mean something good, right?
No harm, no foul.
Our last day in China finds me back at the Academy. I take a break from sparring to cash in on some of my wishes and try out a board breaker. It's harder than it looks but Ernesto is getting so good at photography that you can't tell!
Ernesto makes one last trip to the market before our flight leaves to pick up a couple souvenirs for us and the family back home.
*Sigh* Too bad good things always have to end. This was such a magical trip with Ernesto and I eloping and all. Which reminds me, maybe I should call ahead and tell my mother. Give her time to calm down before we get home. Maybe in a little while. *Contented Sigh*
