October 3, 2025

 Going back to last year to finish the posts about Mid-Autumn Moon Festival in the beginning of Oct., on the 3rd I met up again with sister friend from day 1 (if you remember when I posted about that, lol) and spent the day with her and family. Same sister-friend I toured Gulangyu island with. 

We stopped by the fruit shop first...

then headed to the underground supermarket to pick up food for a picnic later on.

To get to the supermarket we passed by a bunch of small stores.

I think China has many genius ideas. For example, they sell hard plastic, disposable dish sets, including spoons, chopsticks, cups, bowls, and even tablecloths.

Their section of pocky stick flavors does not disappoint. 😄

And look at these Oreo flavors. 

We went back to her house, picked up her husband and son, and drove to the beach. 

Arriving at low tide means that many people were digging in the mud for seafood. We joined them right away.

How to dig in this mud, which by the way, is really soft and good for your skin. 

1. Walk out until the mud reaches mid-calf or knee.

2. Scoop a large handful of mud put in a basket like this with holes.

3. Use the basket like a strainer and swirl it around in the water to wash away the mud.

4. Dump the remaining seafood in a sturdy bag or bucket. 

Look at all that seafood. Mostly shells with a little edible creature inside and a few worms.

Or if you don't care about your clothes, of course feel free to sit in the mud. 😂

This goddess statue is visible from the beach. It's called Guanyin and people pray to it for safety, peace, and protection. She's placed near the sea because it's believed she watches over people at the ocean. In Buddhism she symbolizes mercy, compassion, and kindness. What's sadly heartbreaking is that people have gods for everything, but they don't realize that all these traits they admire and desire originated and are found in the one true God, Jehovah. 

"He's got the whole word in his hands" are the words that entered my head when I first saw "World Peace"/ "Hands of Peace." Hands represent humanity and the Earth is the world so it symbolizes peace for the whole world. 

This was the best time! A man nearby found an octopus in the mud and gave it to us. Originally, we were going to take home and eat, but after observing it for a long while we decided to let it live in its natural habitat.

The suctions of its legs felt a little weird on my hand, especially when trying to pull them off. 

Amazing creature. I wish the videos of I took would upload here but they won't. We watched it swim and close its eyes in the sunlight. 

You can see his head and eye.

Eye is open.

My friend's son did bring this crab home though.

Afterward we sat on the grass to enjoy the picnic and scenery.

Some people next to us found an octopus and kept it. Amazingly the octopus tried to climb out of the bottle. 

The bathroom sink at home. 😂