I almost forgot to finish off my adventure to Harbin!
The final day in Harbin was spent sleeping in. Before going to Harbin, we were so adamant about waking up at a decent time so that we could spend more of our time on the streets of Harbin rather than in the hotel room… We didn’t take into account the freezing cold weather that makes you want to snuggle and stay in bed.
We started out in search of sustenance and stumbled upon a cozy Chinese looking Korean joint. Unfortunately the menu didn’t have any pictures so we had to make do with our broken Mandarin telling the 复员 we wanted rice/noodles and a chicken/pork/beef. Thankfully it turned out quite yummy and it was spicy enough to warm us up on the inside.
Having come from Beijing where taxi’s were abundant, we were a little surprised at how long it took to hail one down. Then off we went to the Japanese Germ Warfare Base Museum which is a little out of Harbin. The drive was fairly long, I can’t remember if it was around 30mins or longer, and the taxi driver even had to stop to ask for directions.
The Japanese Germ Warfare Base Museum commemorates the hundreds of lives lost at the site. These POWs, civilians or not, were experimented on by the Japanese army’s Unit 731 (其三一部队). Perfectly healthy civilians were injected with viruses, burnt alive, frozen alive, dissected alive… the list goes on, all for the name of research and science.
It was creepily quiet, dark and felt a lot like a dungeon. Definitely felt some eerie vibes. I was a bit thankful the actual site where the experiments took place was in the building down the road… I would have been more freaked if I was standing where hundreds of people were tortured to death.
There were a few times I lost track of my travel buddies and freaked out a bit… Especially in the areas where they have statues and models depicting the various forms of torture.
We felt quite subdued on the taxi ride back.
As a pick me up, we went shopping around Zhong Yang Jie. They have very nice shoes and the fashion is not typically Chinese (I think it’s because they cater for the Russians around the area). We also decided to try a Russian restaurant for dinner but there were so many restaurants on Zhong Yang Jie, we didn’t know where to start!
My cousin told me that I must try the Harbin sausages because they’re supposed to be the ‘best’. I don’t know if maybe we ordered the wrong sausage but I wasn’t that impressed with it. But then again, compared to the pathetic Chinese sausages (long wieners) I would have to agree. At the end of the day, nothing beats the nice fat artery-clogging sausages found at every Aussie BBQ =P
And this then brings my Harbin trip to an end!
We tried out Ninniku Jip, a Modern Korean restaurant in East Victoria Park. It’s a very family friendly restaurant with playground, change tables and kid’s menu. For the second round of dinner, we went to the yummy Thai Corner on Canning Highway. But with my cheeky little nephew there, it was difficult for mum and 2 grandmothers to get any rest.
One of the baby shower activities: Lifeline
Before and after?
Birthday Dinner~
Substitute Birthday Cake!
We’re dog-sitting Tobi again, and the poor old girl is… well, going a bit senile.
