BIG Lego pieces!!!

I've been out of the loop for a while, I tried to make a wishlist but there were SO many sets which had retired (or are about to) plus so many new sets, new pieces, new colors for some pieces.. I found it overwhelming 😅 but I was hoping my giftee would like a couple of themes I could browse without much of a headache (and I was lucky as that was the case), however I had to think of something to ask to my gifter...

I've been wanting to switch to the Modular Integrated Landscaping System (MILS) for a while and there was this big piece which made things much easier. I asked my gifter to send me big squared black pieces 😂 so different from the colorful sets there are out there.. and they delivered!

Now this (picture 2) is my slightly modified Spring Lantern Festival. On itself it's already modular as not only it can conect to lego's modular buildings but also can be rearranged (pics 3 and 4, from brickset); because it's no longer the year of the ox replacing the statue with a wicked tree (main part of Lego's Bonsai set) meant only one of these configurarions would look good, however the link between the sections was very flimsy so, what better set to start my conversion to MILS?

I used 6 of the 8 pieces my gifter sent me, added some technic pins to them (pic. 5... ignore the flat, aka tile, gray pieces) and there I had it, my first MILS base. I still had to move my set's baseplates underneath there blocks (they are mostly hollow) and moving the build is normally easy (pic. 6) but I can't say the same of other section as I had to rebuild it almost completely xD

After a couple of hours, I had it; my first MILS build (pic.7). Now it can easy and strongly conect to other modules (and I can lift the whole thing with one hand!) and, when I don't plan on adding a buling on top, I can instead use technic bricks (with holes) on the sides of plates and StudsNotOnTop techniques to build roads, rives, a beach.. or whatever I want under sidewalk level :)

Thank you gifter for this first step into what will be the most important aspect of my Lego city some day ^^