Phew, what a day it has been! I woke up at around 8:00AM this morning, after sleeping for roughly 12 hours. Not bad, considering that I had not slept for 24 hours. The problem with traveling to a country that is exactly 12 hours ahead of you is adjusting to the time zone. This process can be difficult, but is extremely crucial, and it all comes down to how you spend  the first night. The trick is to not fall asleep until your normal bedtime; otherwise, your internal clock will be screwed for the next three days or so. Trust me, feeling sleepy at 5:30PM and waking up 6:00AM everyday is not a particularly fun experience. Luckily, it seems that I’ve been able to overcome any major side effects of jetlag this time around, thanks to my cousin. To pass the time, she took me to her future apartment, where she will be staying once she gets married next month. The apartment is not huge, but my cousin and her husband Feng did do a very good job of decorating. The furniture all have a very nice flora motif, and the lights and lamps are aesthetically unique. Two identical Sony Bravia HDTVs serve as the focal point of the one bedroom apartment, along with a brand new (unlocked) X-BOX 360 gaming system. By unlocked, I mean that the console itself is modified so that it can play pirated game discs. So while consoles themselves run as much as 2200 RMB (more than $300), the games are as cheap as 5 RMB (less than $1). Now it’s no contest where one would want to purchase a gaming console. After playing various games on the 360 for a few hours, we went out to eat. By the time the day was over, I was totally burnt out, but I hadn’t slept a wink since the morning before. Success!