#sims 4 western bar

[beansbuilds]

The Saloon

A Western themed bar, perfect for the new Horse Pack, or if you just want to have fun :) Requires City Living, built on a 20x30 lot. This bar is packed with fun functional activities like karaoke, dancing, and a mechanical bull!  Thank you to all the CC creators. I hope ya'll have fun with this one!

Early access download here 🌵

[vermutandherring]

Horse Ranch was, without exaggeration, one of the most anticipated additions to The Sims 4. Perhaps, if the previous game had not set such a high bar, expectations for the fourth would have been lower. Although it cannot be less, given the game's initially tarnished reputation. Nevertheless, Horse Ranch significantly raises the bar of the game from the first seconds. The developers expose themselves, proving that the closed world is just an excuse for their own laziness and unwillingness to do anything more than small worlds of the same type. It turns out that even in a limited space there is room for majestic and graceful horses, the appearance of which players have been waiting for almost a dozen years. I often go to extremes, saying on the one hand that subsequent games in the series have the right to repeat themselves. If they don't bring to the industry or even the franchise itself, there's nothing wrong with that as long as it's a good game in its own right. But Sims 4 is not the case. I have repeatedly pointed out that this particular game is a leech, which, nevertheless, we continue to play. This waiting game has gone on too long. But, as they say, patience is rewarded.

The horses in the Horse Ranch expansion pack have undergone a significant improvement compared to The Sims 3. They look really graceful, their faces are no longer obtuse and silly, and in general they look relatively realistic in the game's cartoonish graphics. In the 3d game, you will need a bunch of mods to make the horses closer to their living counterparts and get aesthetic pleasure from their appearance. In the 4th, they are really nice to watch. Especially in a bunch with well-developed animations.

I last played Sims 3 not so long ago, so the contrast in the movements of both the animal and the rider feels good. They no longer slide across the ground like logs, and the reins are not glued tightly to their necks. Now you see how your character literally sets the direction and the horse, leaning and bending to turn or jump, reacts to the control by realistically stomping its hooves.

The style of the game is also focused on the western type of horse riding inherent in American culture. I will not say that this is the best idea, given that many players think of the classical school when they hear the words "horse riding". I myself would prefer to see more classic elements. But it is worth considering that The Sims is originally an American story about the American dream, created by Americans. I think, against the background of numerous additions that represent various cultures of the world, it is worth leaving something for yourself. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that the game has too… No. TOO little horse equipment per se. 3 saddles, 2 bridles and several accessories, including two saddle pads. For the money the add-on costs, it should have featured some more unusual equipment. In addition, the story of Native American tribes is woven into the expansion, so why not develop this theme a little deeper, and add more historical and cultural artifacts?

The first minutes of the game are really fun. Everything seems completely new, you want to try so many things at the same time. But this euphoria quickly passes when you understand that all improvement ends in the appearance and animations. The new discipline – barrel racing – is not impressive at all. All you can do is run in circles around the barrels. That's all. When I say circles, I mean it literally. No eights, complex tricks or at least movement in the other direction. With show jumping, or rather what was left of it, it is even worse. Instead of a chain of obstacles that could be built into an entire arena in The Sims 3, you can practice with just one small obstacle that is as high as your character's knees. At first it is interesting to watch, but then it is so depressing that training horses turns into a mortal routine.

By the way, now your horses have as many as 4 skills. One develops the character of your pet and expands the number of interactions with it, the other 3 - endurance, jumping and agility - have almost no effect on anything. Gold medals at the first levels of competition difficulty are very easy, even if the horse's skills are minimal. And yes, all competitions are our 'favorite' and well-known rabbit holes, where you cannot even conditionally observe the development of the event. What is even more annoying is the fact that now there is practically no point in training. Unlike Sims 3, in the fourth game foals do not inherit skills from their parents, only character traits. If earlier you could breed a foal with almost 100% skills, train it quickly, win a few competitions and sell it for good money, now you have to suffer for a very long time with one horse to get at least something for it. For these reasons, I see no need to keep a mare and a stallion to develop a pedigree. It's too long, too unrewarding and terribly boring. Considering the lags, it is also dangerous for nerves.

What is undoubtedly pleasing against the background of all these endless minuses is the mobility of horses. They no longer stomp endlessly in place when you try to interact with them, they don't need a lot of space to perform actions, and most importantly, no more ugly stalls that take up too much space. Now you have a 3x3 bedding where your horse can sleep, but which you can do without. Fortunately, instead of large, clumsy barns, you can now build luxurious stables. Another plus is that several horses can use the feeder and waterer at the same time.

In addition, all lots have small paddocks nearby. And all areas of the town have barrels and obstacles, so you don't have to place them on your lot. It is enough to build a house and a stable when the training area is nearby. Thus, on the largest lots, you can arrange whole farms and ranches with a bunch of animals.

Speaking of animals, I can't say much about goats and sheep. Yes, they are cute. But like the rest of the livestock, they have a more decorative function, if you, like me, don't really like to dig around with all this craftable stuff. They are not always friendly, they can butt and do not want your attention. Given that we already have rabbits that can help you in the garden, I think goats and sheep could come up with more interesting roles. If you have too many decorative animals, then taking care of them is a nightmare. Fortunately, the ranch hand you can hire is great at their job. In addition to taking care of the animals, they tend the garden, can do things and take care of the animals from Cottage Living. However, sometimes there are weird lags where they idle instead of leaving the lot when the job is done, or quits without notification and you have to hire them again.

Overall I like the new expansion pack. It adds long-awaited new experiences to the routine of Sims' lives. But as with all add-ons for The Sims 4, Horse Ranch is fun right up until you've tried all the features of the set. A week later, I no longer feel a burning desire to return to my ranch, because I know that nothing new or interesting awaits me. Rather the opposite: endless bugs, simulation problems and sheep that hate me. Undoubtedly, if you are crazy about horses and Horse Ranch was a long-awaited addition for you, it is worth your attention. After all, where EA has screwed up, there will always be talented creators and their mods. If horses sound empty to you, I don't think Horse Ranch will be able to dilute your routine for long. In any case, this add-on is not worth its full price, and despite the good idea that players have been waiting for, it is another heartless DLC that openly encroaches on our wallets like never before.

I think at this point I like the scale of the game more, which the new expansion pack adds to the game, which makes its world feel less closed. My sims can sit in the pond while the horses walk in the pasture and the little goats sleep under their feet.

[foundinfantasy]

Not a Modder (Just like to think creatively)

THE SIMS 4 HORSE RANCH

These were ideas I had before the pack came out with just knowing we were getting horses, nectar making, and mini-goats and sheep and just thought of how much more they could've done.

Tabletop dancing -> broken arm, leg, drunken antics, ie consequences

Bulk -> sell to bars, shipping, packaging, (carton of eggs, wine, boxes of apples), (personally would like to see cat and dog food as a purchasable item, cans and bags and tupperware)

Scouts update - > fundraising, bake sales / cookie drive, and horse camp

Lasso -> toddler to elder, child+ competitions

billiards -> social activity for teen+, random outcome, betting, pool hall

motorcycles -> we have bikes, wouldn't this basically be the same animation without the moving feet.

Rodeos - > with zero pixel animal abuse - social event and competition (using mechanical bull riding) at a saloon lot type with saloon doors

glasswork, ironwork, stones -> gold or stones from river, mining, making horseshoes, glassblowing, bead-making

any indigenous gameplay?! Sage harvestable, burnable, craftable sage, weaving skill, dreamcatchers, totems, blankets, books/conversing with sim about culture - > beads, jewelry, knitting addons - > crafting table

horse plow -> attachable wheel barrow to mass harvest all

mischief and politics -> new protests, new policies, and the urban legend of cowtipping

petting zoo - > update to barn to free llama and cow, ability to lock bunnies in, employee a fox, [just adding snakes and lizards]

nectar making - > should've been in mws - winetasting, order bottle during meal, blends, nameable, snob interactions and/or moodlets about the notes, make box wine [low, get drunk quick quality],

stare down - > rude introduction

pianola - > upgradable to play on its own [even though not historically accurate] - > ability to play piano drunk

MY IDEAS AFTER THE PACK WAS RELEASED (and I've spent like two days in game, not bored just drawing out that single drop of gameplay) - this is mainly where the "not a modder" comes in as I have no idea how easy or difficult it would be to add these things.

First off, lock that dance behind a skill or something

A Wandering Cowboy Mod - a cowboy NPC shows up randomly at my doorstep, is he hurt, is he friendly, is he a burglar, is he here to start a quest???

^^^ same concept but Alien Crash landing

Horses that steers goats/cattle back.

Ability to lead horses

Horse betting / mini game (make my rich sims poor)

Obvi, wild horses

Ability to brush teeth and/or an actual horse bath

Horsegirl books, toys, interactions,

Holster gun match with chances of misfire, with either possibly dying, etc, (historic version of this too)

Gunslingers and Bounty Hunters

obvi, Unicorn things; could be cool if used to cure all sickness/alignments from other mods and/or resets their age and/or work like Father Winter.

Bank Heists

A fiddle or banjo.

Ability to craft all the furniture with woodworking table.

Falling off the horse -> consequences

Replace in-game harvestable grapes with debug grape vines

Dual riders, teach to ride for children, romantic kiss where one sim is on the horse and the other is standing below them, lift onto horse to kiss, thrown over the horse and taken, watching stars together while sitting on horses

Nothing to do with westerns but the rocking horse mod made me want a rocket ride coin machine mod

Add with more thoughts later.

[loorain]

Sims 4 Fontenot Legacy - The Big Date

After another long day putting in work at the restaurant, Sabrina's date night finally comes around. They meet Beau at a Western-style bar for good drinks, good food, and good company.

Beau: ...I just don't get it.

Sabrina: I know it's confusing, it was confusing for me too-

Beau: I mean, broiling just doesn't seem like a good use of the oven when you can just fire up the grill!

Sabrina: It has its purposes, but I don't use the function much myself either.

Beau: No one likes having to turn the oven on if they don't have to. I think there are just better ways to do it.

The evening progresses as the two talk about anything and everything.

And Sabrina keeps the drinks flowing...

Which eventually leads them to the dance floor...

Which escalates before they even have a moment to even think about it.

Sabrina hardly recalls the moment they and Beau ended up back at his place. "Still living in that townhouse" they muse, but the thought disappears as they sit on his bed — an upgrade from his college years — and feel his lips against their own.

Soon enough, the sun begins rising on a fresh day. It's safe to assume neither slept much that night, the sun reminding them of that fact.

Sabrina: Well... that was fun.

Beau: Yeah. It was.

The two stare long and hard at each other, milking in every moment. In this moment, all the struggles they've gone through, miscommunications and misunderstandings, they all seem like leaves in the wind, fleeting and growing ever-so distant. It prompts Sabrina to speak up again.

Sabrina: Being here with you again... it brings back a lot of memories. Mainly good ones.

Beau: Same goes for me.

Sabrina: Of course, you had a cheap single-person bed then. Quite the little upgrade you've managed in here. Still reeks of a bachelor pad though.

Beau chuckles.

Beau: You know me, never had much of an eye for interior design.

Sabrina: Yet, this place still always felt homey even despite that.

Sabrina scoots a little closer and wraps their arms around Beau.

Sabrina: I really meant it when I said I wanted to build back to what we once had. And after tonight, I think we're gradually getting there.

Beau: I would have to agree with that sentiment.

Sabrina: I know I've been wishy-washy in the past, and I'm sorry. I hope you can understand where I was coming from. I've gone through a lot. Now that the restaurant is up and running, and Juno is aging up, I'm feeling like I'm finally getting ahold of my life. I have room for you now. And I want to make you a priority alongside everything else. Beau... I want to end our break. Is that... something you want too?

Beau: I won't ever lie and say I wasn't hurt by you. You've managed to break my heart twice already.

Sabrina's face falls a little, guilt etching into their features.

Beau: But even despite that, we've had so many good times. No one makes me laugh like you do, or grin from ear to ear hearing them talk about flambés and beef wellingtons. I've watched you blossom from a wild 20-something college student to a business owner and parent. Your devotion to your family and, most importantly, yourself is honestly inspiring. So even though there have been some bad times, we have a true bond, and with effort and awareness, we can fix things. Let's try again. For real this time.

Sabrina excitedly grabs his hand.

Sabrina: You really mean that?

Beau: I definitely do. I love you, Sabrina. Always have.

Sabrina: I love you too, Beau. I'm sorry I haven't always shown you that.

Beau: Water under the bridge. Let's just move forward with each other from this point forward, yeah?

Sabrina nods enthusiastically.

Sabrina: Yeah. I'd like that.

[hellcatinnc]

The Sims 4 Horse Ranch Review - Horses & Environment

Now as I promised this would be a separate review based around the horses and the environment that you see in the new world. I love the new world very well put together and very pretty.

Comes with alot of space which is nice since when you ride your horses you can ride them around your yard or you can go on a nature walk or run through the whole town. There isn't a whole lot added within world besides your typical feeders and a few things like the jump bars in the build mode however this is furniture which you can see some of in the house below.

Some more pretty scenery and I'm not sure if this was in a update since its been a bit since I played but there is a free mode camera now so you can move it around like this showing it all.

You can train your horses, hand feed them, brush, love, hug, mount etc you can do most of what you would in real life to a horse which is realistic.

They did such a great job in how beautiful these creatures are. Also nice to see not only can you make your own which you will find pictures further below but you can also adopt a rescue or buy a new horse which is cool.

Its cool in creation you can change the saddles and colors as well as give them hats too. You have the same features as you would as pets to design their coat colors etc. I do not know how this works without owning pets I assume since its a stand alone you should be fine but like I said I own all of the games.

Even able to change the breeds as well totally customizable.

The training is cool to you can have them train on their own as well as ride them and build up a connection with them as well as build up being a great rider so you can enter competitions as well.

All in all my opinion is they out did themselves on the horses I absolutely love them. They look so real as well and there are so many options to customize. I would say if you haven't bout many expansion packs you can definitely rest assure this is one that is actually worth it especially if you love horses, native americans, western, as well as goats.

[spookcy]

Saddles & Spurs Saloon (ft. the cutest cowboy Jeremiah)

Lot Info:

Placed on “Cliff Side Crest” in Strangerville

Lot Type: Bar

Lot Traits: Mean Vibe, Dog Hangout, Convivial

Lot Size: 30 x 20

Extra Info:

No CC

You can also download through the gallery at ID: spookcy

Place using bb.moveobjects on

Tray Files: HERE (google drive) HERE (sfs)

(To add to your game, download the files, unzip them, then add to your tray folder)

[sophieelainadesigns]

THE WESTERN || StrangerVille Saloon || The Sims 4 Renovation

by Sophie Elaina

[ashuriasims]

                                               Simlish Saloon

Download from this link.

Inspiration from Westworld and Mariposa Saloon in the tv series.

Remember to drop by my youtube channel and subscribe if you like what you see. ♥

[fabflubs]

WESTERN SALOON 🤠 Sims 4 BAR Speed Build

[mikkimur-sims]

StrangerVille Reinvented | World No CC | Перестроенный Стрейнджервиль

You can watch video tour in all StrangerVille`s lots from this save on my channel (download link inside). Thank you! =) Вы можете посмотреть видео ту�� по всем лотам Стрейнджервиля на моем канале (ссылка внутри). Спасибо! =)

The save file consists of 11 lots CC Free (7 community lots and 4 residential lots). For instaling you need to place my file into your saves folder (Documents -> Electronic Arts -> The Sims 4 -> Saves) . You`ll find StrangerVille & Glimmerbrook (info here) as a new save in your game. Сохранение состоит из 11 лотов (7 общественных лота и 4 жилых дома). Для установки вам необходимо поместить мой файл в вашу папку Saves . Вы найдете Стрейнджервиль и Глиммербрук (инфо здесь) как новое сохранение в вашей игре.

Gas Station | Cafe | Заправка | Кафе

community, 30x20, 97.144$

Western Railway Station | Вокзал

community, 40x30, 168.906$

StrangerVille Park | Wedding Venue | Парк | Свадебный лот

community, 30x20,  84.419$

Military Base & Laboratory | Gym | Военная база и лаборатория | Спорт зал

community, 50x40,  418.686$

Saloon | Bar | Салун | Бар

community, 20x20,  143.083$

Church of StrangerVille | Library | Церковь | Библиотека

community, 20x20, 181.647$

Restaurant Last Chance | Ресторан "Последний Шанс"

community, 20x15, 47.334$

Abandoned House | Разрушенный дом

residential, 30х20, 100.627$

Cliff Side Crest | Клифсайд Крест (дом)

residential, 30х20, 110.889$

Dream weavers Way | Дрим Уиверс Вэй (дом)

residential, 30х20, 89.203$

Plateau Place | Плато-Плейс (дом)

residential, 40х30, 145.201$

Please do not re-upload or claim as your own!  

Download (save file and tray files)

[tearasshouse]

Vidya ramblings pt 3B

Previous list here.

Onwards and upwards to the B-tier games. I guess its a good sign that we have so much to play, and that the general bar for quality has risen so much year on year, such that B-tier games would easily slot into my A-tier list in a slower year, or C-tier games slotting into B-tier for that matter. I have to deliberately go looking for chaff these days, is what I’m saying. “B-tier games” sound worse than what they actually mean on my list: those I had very few qualms about, or their strengths were enough to compensate for their shortcomings and I generally looked forward to firing them up instead of doing so out of my completionist’s sick, demented obligation. So! Pat yourselves on the back, game devs.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (N3DS)

I’m not an FE mark by any means, but when I’m looking for something to play on a Nintendo platform (3DS is the only one I own), FE games are invariably among the scant handful of their franchises I turn towards. Awakening was my first FE, so as a latter day entrant I have to judge all future games by that metric. I wouldn’t outright call Echoes the better game, although it is a better game in many aspects. The “feet on the ground” dungeon exploration is a nice addition; the art is absolutely gorgeous, the soundtrack is stellar, and despite not having the romances or pair-up feature, the combat was solid, even if the maps and objectives are very rote and frankly dull. The cast was very enjoyable, and plot well, it’s typical dragons and destiny and royalty will save the day, blah blah vanilla FE storytelling. It was a nice distraction in the early months of the pandemic, but I might have to give the edge to Awakening here. I am looking forward to playing all 3 routes of Fates sometime this year or the next though.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)

Finally, I hear you groan, an actual 2020 release. Certainly the most lavish remake I’ve played since... RE2? I should have more nostalgia for this game, as the OG was technically my first JRPG and I’d spent an entire summer on it, with my friend’s PSX copy and his strategy guide laid out in front of me. But, I went into this with hype in check and nostalgia completely dulled, maybe because I actually am just a dried up, withered out old fart with a prune for a heart? Anyway, game is pretty good, there isn’t much to say about it that others haven’t already gushed over or criticized to death. I will say though that it’s been a while since a game’s difficulty tuning and mechanics absolutely kicked my ass. You need to learn the combat system in this or you won’t get very far, certainly not on Hard Mode anyway. I’m a bit wary about the 2nd and 3rd (possibly 4th?) entries in this project. Just how will they re-interpret the world map? How are they possibly going to tie everything up? How much of the OG game will be cut or reconfigured, and how much will be filler? Will we have to sit through more of those interminable “slide through narrow crevices to mask our shit loading times” sections? Will the environment textures actually load up properly? 

Hades (EGS)

Yeah, it’s a Supergiant joint, and I’m a mark for Greek mythology, what more do you need? The only reason it’s on a lower rung here, and it’s not a fault of the game so much as what I look for in games. I’m just not much of an arcade-style, score attacker or rogue/rogue-lite player. If I wanted creative re-use of assets with super high replayability, I’ll go for a MP shooter, or an immersive sim. All that is to say that the game is rather short and repetitive (by design), and the drip-feed of story, character development, unlocks or trying out new builds and personal challenges just doesn’t do it for me. What is here is quality, through and through without a doubt and the whole 31 hours it took me to do my first clear (again, one and done - that’s all for me) were just good old fashion gaming fun.

Death Mark (PS Vita)

Vita means life! This game gets the dubious distinction of being the last physical Vita game I’ll ever buy (I was as surprised as you you must be, mhm!). The only reason it’s on the B-tier list and not the lower rung is a testament to its successfully creeping me out from beginning to end. Which is saying something, because it’s a typical horror story of urban legends manifest as hauntings and curses, done as a very low budget VN fashion. If you’re used to VNs with more QoL features like in ye olde Steins;Gates or some such, well, you’ll be quite disappointed here. No text logs, no touch controls, extreme reuse of very limited assets, etc. I understand that the dev, Experience are uhm, experienced DRPG makers, and that influence is certainly felt in the “boss battles” here, though they are somewhat clunky and use adventure game logic, which is to say not very logical or poorly explained. This is also on Steam, Switch and PS4 so... go forth and acquire.

Gravity Rush Remastered (PS4)

Unlike Tearaway Unfolded, I will say that the PS4 version is the way to go with superior controls, performance, visual fidelity, etc. You lose nothing by going to the big screen. Still one of the most charming things Sony has put out, and like it’s successor, it’s still a somewhat underbaked game. The definition of a cult classic or a B-tier perennial, simply swimming in well-earned 7s. This would rate higher (while still within the B-tier) had it not been my 3rd time going through this, but newcomers will be treated to something fresh and special. Anytime I get to shill for Gravity Rush is an opportunity I will gladly take.

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)

The very definition of a B-tier game in my books! Well crafted and big budgeted enough by the task masters, technicians and actors at Naughty Dog to garner a guaranteed spot here. Again, I don’t mean to sound backhanded, but it’s really hard to truly love something this big, with this much broad appeal and craftsmanship. It really is everything that’s right (and wrong) with Sony’s (Western) first party output this past generation. I was slackjawed during the Madagascar car chase, touched during the dramatic moments between Nate and crew, the flashback sequences with Young Nathan were done really well (again, walking sim sections one and all), and UC4 reminded us about why pirate adventures are awesome (themes of obsession and seeking treasure at your own peril be damned). Crushing Mode in this one is truly diabolical (in the not satisfying, simply die-lots way), while the MP is... okay? Forgettable for the whole hour I devoted to it.

SOMA (Steam)

A downer of a sci-fi tale about post-humanism (or transhumanism?), deceptively snuck within a fairly spooky horror thriller. It’s made by the Swedes behind the Amnesia games, partly set in a curious recreation of my hometown of Toronto, about an average dude going through some pretty extraordinary circumstances, and none of it is treated with extraordinariness. It’s definitely a muted affair, and contributes to that grounded, depressing tone. Yeah the human race is long dead and the few consciousnesses left alive are going to live out the rest of their existences in virtual reality until the batteries run out, so what? Get to it, Simon. Smart and logical spatial puzzles underpin the walking sim aspect of the game, and though there’s the slight survival horror/stealth element, I played on Safe Mode cos I could only imagine how frustrating it would be to die to those things. Check it out, it’s great, but it’s not for everyone and in a pinch I wouldn’t want to play something like this, which is why it ends up here in the B-tier.

[msotherworldly]

Features I Would Like to See in Paralives, Part 2

Features I Would Like to See in Paralives, Part 2

Note: This list can also be enjoyed in video form:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B551WVgN3kw

In a previous post, I discussed six features I would like to see in Paralives. In this post, I’ll be covering six more, including such features as disabilities and holidays. This game has garnered a great deal of buzz over the past month or so, not only because of it’s promise as a Sims competitor, but because of the interaction between the developers and the fans. With their encouragement, fans have been able to share what they would like to see. Here are more features from my wish list.

1) Extensive Body Sliders

It’s hard to tell if there will be sliders for all characters features, a click and drag system, or the choice to choose from dozens of pre-made options. However the rest of the body can be edited, sliders would be extremely helpful in crafting the overall body shape. A height slider has already been confirmed. I’ve already expressed hope for a slider that can go between masculine and feminine, but two more sliders should be included: one for weight, and one for muscle mass. There should be an option to make someone extremely skinny, or extremely large; if the sliders could be extended even beyond the range offered in Sims 4, we would be close to making anyone we could dream up.

2) Disabilities

The inclusion of prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs would represent an even wider variety of people. It would encourage gamers to think about those who suffer from disabilities, and lead to more diverse storytelling. In addition to wheelchairs and prosthetics, I would love to see other disabilities, including Autism and Down syndrome, the inability to see, hear, or speak, or even conditions such as depression or memory lapses.

An optional menu would allow players to give their Parafolk disabilities, not only editing the severity of them, but also adding more than one if they chose. Older Parafolk or those with disabilities could use canes. For some, you could choose whether the need for a wheelchair was occasional or constant. While these could be difficult to include at launch, seeing different disabilities added through updates and community feedback would be exciting.

3) Continual Updates Post Release

With such a slew of demands and expectations being placed on them, one can imagine how overwhelmed the develops must feel. While there’s hope that all of these features can be implemented, there doesn’t need to be disappointment if not all are included to begin. While a colour wheel would likely need to be added from the start, other features could be added with time. It’s unrealistic to expect every one of our wishes to be included from the get go; if the developers tried to do that, the game would never be released.

While the develops should take their time, they also shouldn’t feel pressured into making the game perfect from launch. An ongoing update system post release would allow the developers to maintain a relationship with the community, implement new ideas as they come forward, as well as address those original ideas which remain in popular demand.

It could be ideal for the Paralives Patreon page to continue as a means of not only paying for the work needed to add new features over time, but as a way to engage with players. The relationship that has been developed so far is a strong one, with the develops demonstrating that they are eager to listen. Allowing them to add features post release would foster that community further, as well as save the developers from burnout. It’s important to remember that they’re, however dedicated, still a small team in comparison to EA, and that expectations should be tempered.

4) Seasons & Holidays

A video was shown that seemed to indicate there would be seasons: a house was shown in Fall with Halloween decorations. Going forward, there’s hope of seeing a weather system where some days are sunny, some are cloudy, others are rainy or even outright stormy, with thunder and lightning. Snow is high on my wish list, as well as the odd blizzard, and each season should come with it’s own activities. You can garden in the summer, rake leaves in the autumn, and build snowmen in the winter. You could choose to decorate according to the season, and varying temperatures would open up choices such as, “have a got chocolate,” “sit in front of fan,” and so on.

There should be the standard holidays, such as Christmas and Halloween, as well as holidays from other cultures, such as Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, or Ramadan. In addition to various holidays from around the world, the option to create your own holidays and to edit a family’s calendar to determine whether they celebrate each holiday or not would be helpful.

5) Inclusive Events

Similar to the holidays, different cultural events could be included. Some shared customs could also be celebrated in different ways. While we wear black to western funerals, other cultures wear white. Where women wear white dresses to their weddings, others wear red. Being able to have different types of weddings according to your culture could be included; players could edit their weddings further to suit their preferences: either partner could choose what to wear, which person would walk down the aisle, or if they even walked down the aisle at all.

Other events should be included as well, such as bar mitzvahs. More events should be added in general, such as going out on dates, starting a protest, hosting a pride parade, having a birthday party, a barbecue, a sleepover with friends, or even a custom event of your own choosing. Baby showers could be a possibility, as well as family dinners based around different customs and holidays.

6) A No Aging Option

Some are legacy players, following their family through the ages. For others, there’s a preference to focus on the same character. Having the choice to toggle aging on and off would open the game up to different play styles. Some become too attached to their creations, and for some they’ve built up the head canon that they are immortal. While there could be an option to age individual characters up manually, as the Sims did with birthday cakes, there should be a choice to disable aging for the played household or all Parafolk collectively.

Player choice, creativity, and being inclusive are the main ideas which influence my wish lists. Because this is such a complex genre, including not only an extensive character creator but game play and a new world, I will be sharing more in a final post.

What features are you most excited for? Are there any features you want that haven’t been mentioned, either here or elsewhere? Let me know, and Happy Parafolking!

[thecarportandspa]

What do we expect while Parking at Perth Airport:

Introduction:

Perth airport parking is divided into two distinct areas, with Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 approximately 10 km from Terminals 3 and 4. Parking at T1 / T2 is divided into short-term options for each terminal and two lots the long term at a certain distance. Perth airport long-term parking rates are the same, regardless of which terminal you fly from.

There is also a further regional car storage Perth, a fast car park, and a parking system that allows you to park right in the terminal, allowing trained personnel to take your car to a designated place while you are out.

What do we expect while Parking at Perth Airport:

The following are the points what do we expect while Parking at the Perth Airport.

Connected with phones and sim cards:

The largest mobile networks have shops in the arrival halls of the airport. At Perth International Airport Parking you will find the Optus and Vodafone branches where you can collect an Australian SIM card and/or a phone and call credit (or top-up).

Changing the Terminal: 

A free shuttle bus operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, between the airport terminals. Please allow enough time for the transfer between terminals. 

Car-hire counters: 

The Arrivals Hall at Perth Budget Airport, Europcar, Hertz, Redspot and Thrifty. Inside Terminal 1, you will see the counters for Avis and Budget and you will have to follow the indications for the other car rental companies.

Airport Wifi: 

Fast and free WiFi is provided in Terminal 1 for added convenience. If you need to search for details, communicate with loved ones, or do some research, you can stay in touch. 

Currency exchange:

 Foreign currency exchange is easy thanks to an exchange branch in the Arrivals Hall of Perth Airport. It is open 24/7 for your convenience. Here you can withdraw any currency that was ordered online or simply make your purchase in the store. The currency exchange offers more than 60 currencies to buy or exchange. Online pre-ordering can save you stress and hassle, as well as online specials, can save you on commission payments.

Kitchen and Bar: 

The Craft Swan Kitchen & Bar showcases Western Australian products and offers high-quality meals from breakfast to dinner. Local craft beers and wine are also offered. A complete children's menu also means traveling with children is easy.

Uber: 

Perth Airport now has a dedicated Uber / shared transportation point.

Conclusion:

Perth International Airport parking is one of the busiest Belmont airports in Australia. The country's economic and social well-being increases. It offers safe travel conditions and creates many job opportunities for local citizens of Belmont.

[myanimerecs]

Tags Masterlist

Here’s all the tags I use for your browsing pleasure. I didn’t realise how many there were until I typed them all out 😅

Ratings:

1/3, 2/3, 3/3 

Adaption:

Game, Light Novel, Live Action, Manga, Novel, Original Work, Song, Visual Novel

Categories:

15th Century, 16th Century, 19th Century

Abstract, Acting, Action, Adult Couple, Adventure, Afterlife, Age Gap, Age Transformation, Aging, Alcohol, Aliens, All Boys School, All Girls School, America, Amusement Park, Androids, Androphobia, Angels, Animal Abuse, Animal Characteristics, Animal Protagonist, Anime Industry, Apartment Life, Apprenticeship, Archery, Arranged Marriage, Art, Assassins, Astronomy, Autobiography, Aviation

Badminton, Bar, Baseball, Basketball, Battle Royale, Bears, Biography, Birds, Blackmail, Board Games, Boarding House, Boarding School, Bodyguards, Body Sharing, Body Swapping, Bookstore, Boss Employee Relationship, Bounty Hunters, Buddhism, Bullying, Butlers

Cafe, Cannibalism, Card Battles, Cars, Cats, Cheats, Chibi, Childcare, Childhood Friends, Childhood Promise, Chinese, Christianity, Christmas, Circus, Classical Music, Club, Cohabitation, College, Comedy, Coming of Age, Conspiracy, Contemporary Fantasy, Convenience Store, Cooking, Countryside, Criminals, Crossdressing, Crossover, Crude, Curse, Cyberpunk, Cyborgs,   Cycling

Dancing, Dark Comedy, Dark Fantasy, Debt, Delinquents, Dementia, Demon, Demon King, Desert, Detective, Doujinshi Industry, Dragons, Drama, Dream World, Drug Use, Dungeon, Dystopia

E/cchi, Educational, Emotional Abuse, England, Environmental, Episodic, Europe

Fake Romance, Family Life, Fantasy, Fashion, Fated Lovers, Feudal Japan, Fishing, Food, Food Protagonist, Forest, Fourth Wall Break, France, Fujoshi

Gag, Gambling, Game, Gangs, Gender Bender, Ghosts, God Human Relationship, Gods, Guilds, Gunfights, Guns, Gymnastics

Hacking, Hamster, Hand to Hand Combat, H/arem, Hell, High Stakes, Historical, Horror, Hosts, Hotel/Inn, Human Experimentation

Ice Skating, Idol, Illness, Inheritance, Insects, Isekai, Island, Isolated Society, Iyashikei

Japanese Mythology, Josei, Jungle

Kids, Kendo, Korean

Lawyers, LGBT, Library, Lifestyle Change, Loneliness, Love Confession, Love Triangle

Magic, Magical Girl, Maid, Manga Industry, Mansion, Married Life, Martial Arts, Master Servant Relationship, Mature Romance, Mature Themes, Mecha, Medical, Medieval, Melancholy, Memory Loss, Mercenaries, Mermaids, Middle Eastern, Military, Mind Games, MMORPG, Monster Girls, Monsters, Motorcycle, Mountain Climbing, Music, Mysterious Shop, Mystery

Neighbours, Newly Co Ed School, Ninja, No Dialogue, Norse Mythology, Novel Industry, N/udity, Nurses

Ocean, Opposites Attract, Orphans, Otaku, Outside World, Overpowered Character

Pandemic, Parody, Pets, Photography, Physical Abuse, Pigs, Pirates, Play or Die, Police, Political, Post Apocalyptic, Poverty, Prehistoric, Prison, Promotional, Prophecy, Proxy Battles, Psychic Powers, Psychological, Psychopaths, PVE, PVP

Rabbits, Racing, Rebellion, Recipes, Reincarnation, Religion, Restaurant, Revenge, Reverse H/arem, Rivalries, Robots, Rock Music, Romance, Rom Com, Roommates, Royalty, RPG, Rugby

Samurai, Sanrio, Satire, School, Sci Fi, Secret Identity, Seinen, Senpai Kouhai Relationship, Serial Killers, S/exual Abuse, S/exual Content, Shinigami, Shoujo, Shoujo Ai, Shounen, Shounen Ai, Showbiz, Siblings, Slapstick, Slice of Life, Soccer, Social Gap, Social Media, Space, Sports, Steampunk, Student Council, Student Teacher Relationship, Sudden Girlfriend Appearance, Suicide, Sumo Wrestling, Superheroes, Supernatural, Superpowers, Survival, Swimming, Swordplay

Teaching, Tennis, Terrorism, The Great Outdoors, Thieves, Thriller, Time Travel, Tourism, Tournaments, Track and Field, Trains, Transfer Student, Trapped in a Game 

Unrequited Love, Urban Fantasy, Urban Legend

Vampire, Vigilantes, Violence, Virtual Reality, Voice Acting, Volleyball

War, Weak to Strong, Werewolves, Western, Work Life, Wrestling, Writers, WWII

Xianxia

Yakuza, Y/aoi, Youkai, Yuri

Zombies, Zoo

Game Only Tags:

Atomospheric, Choices Matter, Cute, Dark, Dating Sim, Female Protagonist, First Person, Free to Play, Gore, Indie, Interactive Fiction, Male Protagonist, Multiple Endings, Otome, Simulation, Single Player, Story Rich, Strategy, Text, Visual Novel

Series:

Fate, Persona, Tales Of, This Boy

Type:

Advertisement, Movie, Music Video, ONA, OVA, Special

No. of Seasons:

1 Season, 2 Seasons, 3 Seasons, 4 Seasons, 5 Seasons, 6 Seasons, 7 Seasons, 8 Seasons, 9 Seasons, 10 Seasons, 11 Seasons, 12 Seasons, 13 Seasons

No. of Episodes:

1-6, 7-13, 14-26, 27-35, 36-50, 51-75, 76-99, 100-199, 200-299, 300-399, 400-499, 500-599, 600-699, 700-799, 800-899, 900-999

So I tried to add links to these but apparently tags with a ‘-’ in them makes them unsearchable in a browser. They show up if you click the tags on mobile though so 🤷‍♀️ 

Length:

Short (1 - 19 eps), Medium (20 - 50 eps), Long (51 - 99 eps), Lengthy (100+ eps)

Other:

Anime Recs, Cartoon Recs, Game Recs, Ongoing, Short Episodes

Random:

Asks, Edit, Fanart, Figma, Figure, Funny, Gif, Gifset, Nendoroid, Not Anime, Photo, Photo Set, Seasonal Anime, Shitpost, Text Post, Video

Just a word of warning that some of the later tags may not show all the entries that have them, for example Gintama doesn’t show up in the lengthy series tag despite being tagged as such. For some reason tumblr only allows the first 20 to be searchable so keep that in mind. 

[fabflubs]

The Sims 4 / Western Bar / Speed Build / no CC #fabflubs #TheSims4

[beardyallen]

Day 3 - An extensive recap

First, I want to extend my apologies to those who have been patiently awaiting this post. I had every intention of writing this yesterday, which got away from me (as you’ll see if you keep reading), and then I had every intention of writing this in the morning, which disappeared (again, as you’ll see if you keep reading). It’s now 5:38pm on Wednesday, February 20th as I’m typing this sentence, and I’m once again exhausted from a long day.

[Edit 2: TL;DR for the following TL;DR -- A bunch of cool stuff happened, including books, dragons, lions, motorcycles, KFC, banks, SIM cards, a Starbucks, public transit, and traveling to two opposite ends of Beijing in a single day. Also my trip went from horribly lonely and daunting to pretty freaking cool and slightly less daunting in less than 24 hours. Done typing this at 8:55pm]

Edit: It’s legit 8:37pm when I’m making this edit, only a bit after posting the original. I wanted to add a tl;dr for those not interesting in reading all of this shit. Basically, I made 4 friends in Beijing, none of them from the same country, only one of them is white, only one is male, and only one is from the US. All three of these descriptions describe CB, my supervisor. His wife, RB, is Indian and works with children orphaned due to birth defects. There’s ML, a half-Brazilian, half-Japanese Communications instructor at ICB, and her friend R, who is herself a former Chinese physician turned public health professional/liaison/something-or-other that seems far more impressive and is exactly what she wants to be. All of them are really cool, interesting people that I’m very glad I had the opportunity to meet. In no particular order, I went to several bookstores, a Starbucks, a KFC early in the morning, the supermarket (twice) and got beer (both times) for ridiculously low prices, experienced the Lantern Festival (still not entirely sure what this is, but there were dragons and lions and motorcycles doing crazy synchronized stunts in a metal globe) at an amusement park, rode 5-6 different subway trains and a city bus, ate 10+ new foods, bought a book (because of course I did) which has both the original English and the translate Chinese characters on each page, tried to open a bank account, then got a SIM card, then actually opened a bank account, finally unpacked my luggage, and spent 3 hours typing this blog post. Also the long flight and trip from the airport to my new apartment were mostly uneventful. See? Even this was super long!]

The last you all heard from me here was as I was sitting in a bar in the Vancouver Airport, Sunday morning. Which was sort of 2 days ago, but sort of 3. Time zones are funky, especially when you cross the International Date Line. *shrug*

After I finished writing that post, I lumbered over to my gate and waited to board with the other couple hundred passengers. At one point, I noticed an older woman (probably in her 60′s or 70′s?) trucking along on one of those things that I can only manage to call a human-conveyor-belt that you see in airports. I mention this as she, had she been on carpeted flooring, she would have been making good time; as it so happens, she was on the conveyor belt that was going opposite of her destination. She was still making progress, but every so slowly, and seemed maddeningly oblivious to the fact that the floor was fighting her at every step. Fortunately, she made it to the other end without incident, although the same cannot be said for when she attempted to enter the next belt; a concerned employee using that particular belt in the intended fashion beckoned that she stop and try the other. So she stopped walking. And didn’t do anything, even when her feet made it back to where she had started. Naturally, she took a pretty solid tumble, lessened only by the shocked, and rightfully flustered, employee, who managed to help her to her feet as half of the onlookers gawked.

The actual flight, all 9 hours of it, went off rather uneventfully. Especially compared to the above story. It was nice having the longer flight second, as completing the first gave me an unearned sense of accomplishment; I’m nervous for my return as I’ll have actually achieved something when I get back to Vancouver, only to have to sit back down for three more hours. Seems less enticing, especially as I won’t be going back to an apartment that I’m renting. Oh well: that’s a problem for Future-Me, as are most things. I will say that the food on the flight was quite satisfying, and the complementary wine was much tastier than expected! And I managed to read a good chunk of Dan Brown’s Origin.

After landing in the Beijing airport, I managed to get through customs without too much trouble and had my first several experiences of what I’ll just refer to here as stranger-staring. #sarcasticwoo

I was met near baggage claim by an undergraduate at the University who chose to call himself Paul. I would later find out that, although it is common practice for Chinese residents to give themselves “American” or “Western” names, they don’t seem to share those names with their fellow residents.

Needless to say, I was exhausted and just wanted to eat something and lie down without dealing with anymore people. To his credit, Paul was an excellent host, his English was quite good, and he helped me to my apartment without incident. I think he was expecting to escort me to dinner at one of the nearby dining halls on campus (Princess Building), but I (hopefully graciously) conveyed that I would really rather just go to bed. After he left, I took a stroll on campus to the Princess Building to check it out for myself, and then stopped at a nearby convenience store to grab some snacks. GUYS! THEY HAVE CUCUMBER-FLAVORED LAYS POTATO CHIPS!!! And so many other flavors that are mind-boggling, and somehow simultaneously vague and specific.

Once I was back in my apartment, I chowed down on some fruit bread, drank some water, had a moment of near paralyzing fear/anxiety/regret/shame/etc., scolded myself for being (I think understandably) pathetic, and then went to sleep. By that point, I had been up for nearly 23 hours, and it was somehow already 7pm on Monday, Feb. 18. I slept until 6am the next morning.

That morning, I got in touch with CB, my supervisor, who was more than happy to meet with me around 11am. So I spent the morning figuring out how to be an adult person in Beijing. Several standard things took place that were daunting only because I’m in Beijing: showering, brushing my teeth, grabbing some toilet paper to carry with me, deciding how much cash to keep in my wallet, etc. I also came to the disturbing realization that there are precisely three outlets, each with one port. One of them was occupied by the television, one by the mini-fridge, and one was free to charge my tablet; it was then that I decided to try to go shopping and track down a power strip.

Day 2: Merry Mart

First, I want to say one quick thing: the exchange rate from RMB (also called yuan) to USD is approximately 0.15:1. So, as an example, I spotted a can of beer for 5.90 yuan, or roughly $0.90. For those of you who know me, you may understand why this was my first example.

Now, the supermarket that I was heading towards is located on the other side of the north gate of the CAU (China Agricultural University, which houses ICB, or the International College of Beijing, where I’m living and instructing), and my apartment is in the very southeast corner of campus, about a 10 minute walk away. And it’s not even 8am yet. I mention this as, when I approached the supermarket, or rather the building housing the supermarket and a dozen or so other shops, I noticed a KFC right next door. Now, I shouldn’t have been shocked to see the advertisements were for food that you would never find at a KFC in the States, but I was. What I feel completely justified in being shocked at was that the KFC was already quite busy. Naturally, I stepped inside and saw that a “Chicken Burger” with a glass of milk (and maybe a side?) was going for 12 yuan, or $1.80. So cheap!!

I stepped out without buying anything and continued into the supermarket. Oh, the wonders I beheld. I’ll try to keep it short, but I’ll point out that I’ve never paid so much attention in the produce and meat sections of a supermarket as I did yesterday. Once I made it past these sections, I experienced an onslaught of packing that looked both familiar and foreign (yes, I realized how stupid that sounds as I typed it). As I was on a bit of a mission (for hand soap and a couple power strips), I contained my curiosity as best I could. But I did take a peak at all of the flavors of Lays Chips in the snack section...

Fortunately, I managed to find a power strip! They had Philips power strips going for 70 yuan (~$10.50) and some from a company I’ve never heard of for 30/40 yuan. Naturally, I grabbed on of the cheaper variety. It seems I didn’t bring enough cash the first time. I moved on, failing to find anything that I could guarantee was hand soap, but let me tell you: after being around people who I could not understand, guessing at products based on the images along, and recognizing that I’m waaaaay in over my head, I have never been so happy to see a can of Budweiser in my life!

Now, I can’t be certain, but I’m pretty sure a 3-pack 16-oz or 500 mL or whatever-their-volume cans came out to 9 yuan, or $1.35. What a deal! (Fast forward to this morning, and I stumbled an even better find: 500 mL cans of Guiness with nitrous rockets for 15 yuan ($2.25) a pop! In the States, those usually run $16 for four!)

After spotting way more milk (a recent trend, apparently) than I’ve ever seen, ultra-pasteurized so it can sit on an uncooled shelf for months at a time, heaps and heaps of “sanitary tissue” and slew of snacks that boggled my poor, unworldly mind, I made my way to the checkout. Fortunately, I stick out so damn much that people just expect that I don’t speak Chinese; the look of mild irritation isn’t grating at all, it just lets me know that I’m not the only one who feels moderately uncomfortable at my residing in Beijing for these next 4 months. The interaction at the stand was pleasant enough, and we mimed our way through the bits that weren’t communicable. Then I headed back home to meet with CB.

Day 2: The Book

So, I’m already feeling wildly unprepared to teaching a senior-level mathematics course, but one of the few things that was keeping me grounded was that the book was to be selected by administrators at ICB/CAU, so that would save me having to make most of the decisions regarding content for my Probability class. Moreover, the university would provide the textbooks to the students. Little did I know, and little did CB know, and little did the person supposedly in charge of retrieving said textbooks from the library, no textbook was on file for this class. #sarcasticwoo

FORTUNATELY (can’t believe how many lucky breaks I’m catching!), there happened to be a textbook titled Probability and Statistics for Engineers and something-or-other. To be honest, my eyes glazed over at “Engineers,” not because they are lesser scientists, because they are most assuredly not, but because they just don’t appreciate the fine nuances of theoretical mathematics. That is to say, they’re lesser scientists. ;) #allinjest #imsuretheyvegotsickerburnsforme So, I guess I’m teaching from an Engineering textbook.

During this brief window of time with CB, I learned how various countries measure the breathability of the air, acquired a facemask, and snagged an air purifier. Things necessary to life in Beijing! I was then invited out to lunch with CB and his wife RB; I was unaware that their would be fourth, ML. Having never met RB, and being unaware that ML existed, I waited for the 20 minutes that CB needed to get a couple things ready before lunch in my room, then headed down to the entrance of the Guest House (where my apartment and office are located, in case I haven’t mentioned it by name yet). Waiting there was a 30-something Asian-descent woman who somehow didn’t look like she was a native Chinese resident. Best guess: RB. She smiles at me and asks if I’m here to have lunch with R, to which I say confirm and ask if that’s her. Turns out it’s ML, and a reference to a particular Disney movie popped into my head. (I bet you’re not thinking of the same one I was, though!) Anyway, it’s 12:30pm at that point, and I wouldn’t spend the next 11 hours with ML, a Communications instructor for ICB who has only been in Beijing since September, barely speaks any Chinese and gets by reading it as she knows Japanese. Turns out she was born in Brazil, though! That certainly explained why her features were not quite Chinese.

CB and RB showed up a few awkward, mostly silent, minutes later as, not anticipating a fourth left me just socially awkward enough to just keep my mouth shut and let my mind wander. RB led the way to a Chinese restaurant around the corner, and we had a ridiculously cheap meal. Everything was delicious, even the rice noodles and cabbage dish! CB asked how open I was to trying things I’ve never had before, and I responded that I’m hear to make the make the most of this opportunity. He followed up with, “So, you’ll try chicken feet?” I’ve never so quickly doubted my convictions before! Fortunately, the food we order was basic enough fare for a Chinese restaurant, so I didn’t have to prove my grit just yet.

Day 2: The Big Adventure

During the meal, ML mentioned that the “lantern festival” was that night, and that she’d be joining a friend of her’s somewhere in Beijing, TBD. CB mentioned off-handedly that there was a 4-story bookstore several kilometers away. My interest was piqued, but having no means of transportation, I kept my mouth shut. ML did not. She expressed serious interest in venturing out to the store, and I asked if it would be in imposition if I joined. After lunch, CB and RB gave us a rough pin location for the building, walked us over to a bus stop, explained to me how to use my transit card (Thanks, CG!!!), and saw us off on our adventure. At this point, it seems relevant to mention that, although I have two cell phones (my usual American one, and a Chinese phone bought secondhand from ES) (THANKS ES!!!), I don’t have internet access or any real means to contact CB or RB. I also don’t access to a map app (see: I don’t have internet access). As it turns out, ML’s access is hindered by the fact that her iPhone is apparently dated enough to not operate at full capacity with a Chinese SIM card. So she has spotty internet. SPOILERS: Her cell phone would die later that evening. #dundundun

The bus ride was uneventful, and we got off where we thought was should. Without the name of the bookstore or any solid evidence to suggest precisely where the bookstore was, ML then confides in me that she has frequently found herself incapable of finding her destination, wandered around for several hours, then given up and went home. My confidence was soaring. But, as they say, “When in Beijing...”

After finding a map of the surrounding area and comparing it to a screenshot of the rough-pin-location of the bookstore in question, I managed to match shapes cut out by walkways and roads and spot where we should be heading. The pin led us to a bookstore. But this bookstore had only one floor, although the building housing it had 20 floors and an elevator that looked out over the surrounding area. Needless to say, we rode the elevator for a moment before deciding to continue exploring. Stepping outside, we tried to reach CB...and we did! He gave us a more accurate pin and the name of the bookstore. Only one of those two things wound up being helpful.

On our way over to the new location (2 more blocks West), we stumbled on a developed “alley” that housed a wide plethora of shops, including....A BOOKSTORE!!! Dudes and Dudettes: let me tell you, this bookstore was amazing!! Check out the pictures below:

So cool! But this wasn’t where the pin was located, only had two floors, and when we scaled the spiral staircase, some 20-something employees started walking towards us and speaking in Mandarin. ML goes, “I’m sorry, we don’t speak any Mandarin, but we think we know what you’re trying to say. Have a nice day!” And we walked out of the store with our tails tucked loosely between our legs.

I was I could accurately convey all of the things I saw that struck me as fascinating while we explored this area of Beijing, but honestly there was just too much, and I can’t imagine you all are still reading this carefully, given that I’m not exactly giving the “Reader’s Digest” version of events. Or so you may think. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m doing my best to keep this short while still conveying how crazy this day was. And we’re only a couple hours into my afternoon/evening with ML. I applaud any and all who keep reading attentively. I’ll try to make it entertaining.

I will say that in this alley, I got stared down by a police officer. Mildly intimidating and recalled to mind the other intimidating visual to grace me. Just after checking out at the supermarket that morning, while I was packing the couple of items I had purchased into my backpack, I looked up and saw, for the first time in my life, 4 full sets of riot gear. Helmet, vest, nightstick (or whatever it’s called), and some sort of gun in a padded case. Sure, I know that I’ve been around those things before in my life, but never were they in plain view, seemingly on display.

After a few more minutes, a few more crossed streets, and pulling ML out of the way of a car that didn’t seem to care that she was there, we made our way to the pin’s location. And none of the stores around us bore the name of the 4-story bookstore. But we did find another bookstore.........and it turned out to be the right one! Crazy!! Of course, this was after trying out what we guessed was a calligraphy shop that seemed to primarily sell books? The words on the door were somewhat misleading. Anyway, let me tell you: in spite of being in a bookstore filled with words that I can’t understand, I still felt so calm and secure being surrounded by all of those books!

At this point, ML and I seemed to have figured out each other’s senses of humor and made frequent jokes and shared stores as we roamed the shelves, looking desperately for books written in English. After searching all four floors, some twice, we find a section with no markings nearby that happened to have some books in English. After looking over all of the classics (pretty much all they had), discussing the ones we’ve read, conversing about those we haven’t, we each picked one out to buy. I’ve seen Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World referenced too many times in crossword puzzles and trivia questions to not have developed an absurd curiousity for this book I’ve never read. So naturally I bought it. It seems like a rather nice-looking copy, no artwork to speak of, but elegant in a somewhat formal-Chinese kind of way. It came to 26 yuan, or about $3.90. HOW AM I BUYING A BOOK FOR THAT CHEAP?! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING WITH MY LIFE?! *sigh* Well, I seem to be getting by without my Kindle fine enough for now...(THANKS AGAIN RS FOR SHIPPING IT TO ME!!! I’ll let you know as soon as it arrives!)

Day 2: The Lantern Festival

At this point, ML had heard from her friend who I will just call R (have yet to become privy to her family name), and we were given the name of the place we were headed towards: Happy Park. By now, it was around 4:15pm, and we needed to somehow figure out where Happy Park was, how to get there, and manage to not get lost in the process by 6:30pm. So we went for tea. The place we stopped in was what seemed to be a solid attempt at a German tea/coffee shop-slash-bakery. And I got a cup of English Breakfast Tea for 22 yuan ($3.30). Not the best deal, but I learned an invaluable lesson: just take a picture of what you want to order! So simple, so elegant, so effective!!! I was also by this time learning that most people make purchases using the main “social media” app, WeChat. In fact, many shops and restaurants don’t carry any cash as WeChat is just a more effective means of payment. You can link a debit card to your account and you’re good to go! (More on this in Day 3).

<I’ve been writing for almost 2 hours! Yikes!!!> <I wonder if I can get a book deal out of this...>

Without really knowing where to find a subway station, ML and I headed back to where the bus dropped us off, thinking at the very least we could head back to campus and the subway station there. (Also, for those of you who don’t know: I’ve never ridden a subway. Sure, I use RTD rails almost daily in Denver, but somehow this just seemed different. Especially given how many lines there are and that we didn’t actually know where we were going...) We found a bus heading back towards campus, hopped on, and almost immediately spotted a subway station. The bus didn’t drop us off for 2-3 more blocks...

After meandering back to the subway station, we found a map and lo-and-behold there was a stop dedicated to whatever Happy Park is. And it’s on the complete opposite side of town. #unethusedyay #adventuretime We plotted our course and hopped on the train without incident if you don’t count the pile of vomit that I would almost certainly have stepped in had ML not avoided it just before me! *phew* The subway itself was on par, if not nicer, than the trains in Denver, if only a bit louder. Confined spaces and all that. By the time we made our three transfers and got to the other side of Beijing, the sun had set, it was 6:20pm, and we had made it just in time! R met us at the station minutes after.

When we turned to see where we were headed, I was floored. Right in front of us with giant glowing words spelling out (in two languages) “Happy Park” was an amusement park that rivals some Disney parks in it’s show-y-ness. As it was dark, I can’t say precisely how big it was, but I was impressed. Tickets for entry were 145 yuan (roughly $20), which I fortunately had brought along that morning, not realizing precisely how crazy the day would get.

Once inside, R informed us that there’d be a show starting in a few minutes. We tried to find a spot, but the girls had trouble seeing over the heads of the people ahead of us. In fact, I had to stand on my tiptoes as most of the people in front of me were holding up their children, phones, and self-sticks. There was a small mound that almost certainly was not intended for foot-traffic, but nonetheless had a solid 75 people standing on 6-foot-tall trees. When we joined the crowd up there, hoping for a better vantage point, we were disappoint. That is, until ML decided to climb a tree. And I joined her. Naturally. I don’t have pictures of the entire show, sadly. I was too busy being floored and hoping that my one leg that was supporting my weight would hold up! I’m also not including them here as I have to format the videos. But stay tuned in the near future for videos!!

After the show, we wandered around the park for several more hours. I was quite impressed. And the food we got was quite delicious!! Small, fried potatos balls, and donut-hole sized balls loosely-based on a Japanese dish that I couldn’t possibly spell correctly, topped with dried fish. YUM! Check out the pictures of some of the attractions we saw:

This was the interior of an Aquariam-themed section of the park. It was a welcome respite near the end of the night, given that it felt like it was nearing 10F outside.

A Mayan temple, with a restaurant inside and, probably, a water-slide ride built into it? Hard to say. If only our phones hadn’t died and we weren’t so cold by the time we made it to the Athenian/Spartan-inspired section of the park! So many cool statues and buildings!

A still shot as 5 motorcyclists entered the arena after some drum-dancers! Stay tuned for videos of them riding inside the wire ball on the right! [Edit 3: the videos will likely get posted as gifs. Quality will probs be not great. One of them will involve the motorcyclists doing loop-stunts, and the other will involve a dragon-dance with dope fireworks. I didn’t get any video of the lion-dancers from earlier in the show, but take my word for it: it was dope as fuck. So much so that I don’t feel bad about dropping an f-bomb in this edit. I can’t possibly find the words after 3.5 hours of writing to convey just how cool this show was!]

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what this is, but it looked cool!

This was a small bridge, reminiscent of the bridges in Europe where people write their initials on padlocks and toss the keys into the river below. From what we could tell (thanks to R’s understanding of her native tongue), the pieces all talk about the love between family, friends or significant others.

After the Aquarium-themed building got us toasty warm, and it was ticking closer and closer to 10pm, we bee-lined it out of the park and back to to the subway station. Another three transfers, some more conversation, and we were back on campus. While on the trains, either to or from Happy Park, I don’t remember which, ML commented on how quiet I had been earlier that day while waiting for CB and RB before lunch. Given how quiet I was at lunch, she was understandably worried that the pattern would continue. If you know me, you know it just takes a bit for me to get comfortable and figure out how to talk to you. Needless to say, I told too many stories with a surplus of details in each of the bookstores, on each of the trains, and all of the time in between. I’m thinking ML is going to be a pretty solid friend these next couple of months, if I she doesn’t get sick of my stories first!

As I alluded to above, it was around 11pm before we were back in the Guest House. I was ridiculously pooped but not entirely unimpressed at how not-jet-lagged I was! I passed out soon thereafter and woke up for the third and final time around 7am.

Day 3: Merry Mart II, the Second Part

Alas, morning came; and with it came a surplus of energy to spent getting my life together in Beijing. I still hadn’t unpacked my luggage, there were too many things my apartment was still missing, and I didn’t have a reliable means of feeding myself as I had been warned (and witnessed) that many places just simply don’t carry cash. And naturally don’t accept American credit cards.

So I packed a small bag and headed out again. I stopped by Starbucks, attempted to order a Black Tea Latte from the girl who said “Morning” to me, and made the false assumption that this particular colloquialism implied English-fluency. I wound up with a regular Latte. Still good, though! After that, I made my way to the KFC near the Merry Mart only to find that this establishment is one described above. My cash wouldn’t do me much good there. *shrug*

In the Merry Mart, I grabbed several more bread-based food items, a microwavable meal in a bowl, another power strip, some gum, and more chips. Pringles. American flavors. Two cans of Guiness, and two bottles of hand soap. This time, I kept track of the price of each individual item so I knew how much cash to have ready at the register. This time went far more smoothly, and I filled my entire backpack with items that ran up to 134 yuan (~$20). HOW?! HOW AM I GETTING SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE I LOVE THIS!!!

Day 3: Getting my shit together

After that, my mind was set on opening a bank account to connect to my WeChat account. I reached out to CB, who graciously offered his assistance for a small amount of time. Ideally, this wouldn’t take too long. After all, he has plenty of work to be getting on with!

Well, the first bank we tried didn’t work because I’m not staying in town for more than 2 years. The second bank was more accepting. He translated exceptionally while I filled out documents written completely in Chinese. I was having an internal panic attack as I did something that felt incredibly wrong or anything. No, not at all. It’s totally okay to sign your name on documents that you can’t read. Yup, totally okay...

As it turns out, the bank would need to send me verification texts, so I gave them my phone number. But my American phone number wouldn’t work for them (they didn’t even try!), so after 30 minutes of waiting and 10 minutes of paperwork, CB and I headed down the street to get a SIM card and a cellular plan. Oh boy. All told, I think I waited for another hour there while CB got some work done; the paperwork and discussions took another 20-30 minutes. Once I had my phone situated, CB assured me that I could handle the rest of the bank stuff on my own as the staff would certainly recognize me and remember what I wanted. Plus, most of the paperwork was already filled out, right? Right? *sigh

The staff at the bank were less than enthused to find that CB hadn’t joined me. This was gonna be a blast, let me tell ya...

All told, I filled out twice as much paperwork as the staff scrambled to find a way to communicate with the moronic American who didn’t have the slightest idea what was going on around him. Of course, filling out this paperwork and determining exactly what they wanted and whether or not I wrote down the right things (i.e. understood exactly what information they were after) included 5-8 different sessions with several different employees, each with somewhere between 10-70 min wait-times. On the plus side, I’m almost done with Dan Brown’s Origin. Not his best work, but certainly entertaining enough to pass the time in a bank surrounded by people who probably would rather I not exist. To be clear, I don’t begrudge them at all; their service was impeccable, and their patience was never-ending, and the entire thing was significantly less annoying than it had any right to be, given the language barrier.

I left their establishment many hours later with a debit card, Chinese bank account, and the means to buy stuff wherever I wanted to go. And a significant amount of confidence that I can get through the next four months quite contentedly. Granted, I didn’t do nearly as much to earn this confidence as the staff at my new bank did!

After the fiasco at the bank, I went back to the Guest House, unpacked my suitcases, and laid down in bed to type this novella. That was several hours ago.

Convinced that I’ve had a crazy few days?

A coworker from Denver asked me how China has been so far, and I told him that it “[w]ent from shit to fantastic so damn fast.” Hopefully my long, rambling story has here has justified that claim for those of you reading this.

There was only one other day in my life that I can recall feeling as justifiably petrified as I did Monday night. I described the feeling as trying to wake up from a dream only to find that you’re wide awake. I was encouraged earlier today to remember that I don’t have to get through all 4 months of this experience at once; I just need to take it one day at a time. I usually don’t find these adages and idioms to be particularly helpful, but this one seems to be true.

In the future, blog posts probably won’t be nearly as long. Thanks for reading!

Now to finish this beer and book!

Sláinte,

BeardyAllen