jet lagged

I went to sleep at 11:30 pm, and woke up at 3:00 am, and can't fall back asleep again... I can't seem to get past the 3:00 am hump if I went to sleep at a normal time. What to do? What to do???

Being awake at 3:00 am is not a good thing. It is a very lonely time of night/morning because everyone I know in the same time zone as I am is pretty much asleep.

These past few weeks, apart from myself, I've learned that several people have also lost a loved one due to illness/old age. I should really care about my parents more as they grow older. I'm sad that my mom worries about me so much that she has to fly to Toronto from Beijing so often. It is really tiring for her at her age to be flying all the time. I wish I can not let her worry so much, but I'm afraid she will always worry about me unless I'm not alone here or I move to Beijing to live with her and my dad. Not much I can do I'm afraid. Well, I can move to Beijing, and I'm starting to entertain thoughts of that. Even though my desire is to stay here in Toronto. I don't think I will be happy in Beijing. But yet, may be I am being very selfish, and I shouldn't be thinking of my own happiness, but I should honor my parents.

Ughhhh.. I hate jet lag. I just want to go back to sleep and stop thinking stuff that makes me depressed.

unconscious mutterings

Some unconscious mutterings in the midst of my severe jet lag:

1. Hollywood:: Squares
   
2. Censor:: Blacked Out
   
3. Nascar:: Race
   
4. Lube:: Oil
   
5. Mortgage:: Debt
   
6. Freedom:: Fighters
   
7. Champion:: Winner
   
8. Reality TV:: Survivor
   
9. New York:: Big Apple
   
10. Tease:: Joke
    

Scribbler

meg wants to see our scribbles, so here's mine:

You can make your own too at The Scribbler.

hungry?

Grilled scorpions, bugs, sea horses... sold at many of the food stalls in Wangfujin Road, Beijing. Yummy...

Click on image for larger picture.

pictures

I finally uploaded the pictures I took from my trip tio Beijing and Hong Kong. If you are interested, you can view then here. :)

It's been a while....


You are Marcie!


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first saw this at shirl's

Now that I'm back in Toronto, I also feel maladjusted (is that a word?). I feel kinda weird still. This is so bad, I don't feel at home in Beijing or in Hong Kong, now that I'm back here, I feel weird too. May be it's the jet lag...

Hopefully, I'll get over it soon.

There is seemingly so many things waiting for me to do, and I don't feel like doing it. Meetings, practices, e-mails to send, laundry to do, pictures to download.. ack, I better get over this weird feeling and jet lag by tomorrow so I can start doing some of these things. :)

I thought I was over my jet lag when I was able to stay up till 12 midnight before I went to sleep. But it's only 3:14 am and I'm now wide awake... yuck! :(

Anyway, the flight back was long, but I got back safe and sound. I enjoyed spending time with my parents, and seeing most of my cousins again. I haven't seen some of my cousins in ages. The memorial service was pretty good. All the cousins that were there, my aunt and myself sang a song that a few cousins wrote for my Grandmother. They rewrote the lyrics to Always on My Mind and sang it at the funeral in Indonesia, so we decided to sing it again at the memorial service in Hong Kong. As I listened to one of my cousins read the history of my grandmother, I realized that I didn't know her well at all. I learned that she was in her school basketball team when she was young! I could never picture my Grandmother being an athelete!! It was also very touching when my mother got up to thank the friends and relatives that came to the memorial.

I can't believe I'm back in Toronto after 2 weeks. It still feels like a dream.

I'm back!! Just got back today so I'm very tired. Will blog more once I'm adjusted to the time difference. :)

This is going to be my last post in Beijing. I'm leaving for Hong Kong tomorrow, and won't be able to post until I return to Canada. I'm really counting down the days before I can go back.

It was nice to be able to spend some time with my parents though.

I don't think I'll ever get used to living in Beijing. So crowded, so many cars. People drive really crazy around here. Bikes, people, cars all trying to go in different directions at the same time!

And for some reason, I can view my own blog here in this computer. I can only post... :)

One good thing is shopping is really cheap here. I bought lots of stuff.

Anyway, signing off for now. Next time I blog, I'll be back home!

Yesterday, I attended the Sunday Service at the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. It was really cool as there are people of many different nationalities there. A true international church. You can only go in if you hold a foreign passport, due to government regulations. Interesting thing is they have just started to go through the 40 days of Purpose Driven Life campaign, something my home church did a while ago.

KFC & Starbucks

Today I went to KFC with my mom and had a Mexican style wrap and a Beijing style wrap. The Beijing style wrap is pretty cool, kinda like Peking duck.

Then we went shopping again, then we went to Starbucks for some coffee. I bought a few packs of sunflower seeds, souvenirs for my friends. Pretty cheap of me, huh? :)

Now I'm back in my mom's office with nothing to do, but to wait for my dad to come pick us up for dinner. We're going to the best Peking Duck restaurant in town.... I bought a whole bunch of Chinese serial drama VCDs and DVDs, I guess I can watch some while I wait. Mom's getting a foot massage next door.

Still miss home a lot.

homesick

I'm homesick already... which is kinda weird since I'm staying with both my parents here in Beijing. But home is where the heart is. I think to me, home is Richmond Hill. I miss my friends and my bed. :)

By the way, "Ni Hao Ma?" is "How Are You?" in Mandarin.

Ni Hao Ma?

Greetings from Beijing! I'm able to find internet access at my mom's office. :) As you can see, I survived my plane trip to Hong Kong. It was long, almost 20 hours including the 1 hour layover in Vancouver. I sat next to a young girl who kept punching me in her sleep. There was also a toddler sitting near me that screamed almost the whole trip. But I survived! Now I'm in Beijing. Just arrived last night. I'm going to be here for a week. I'm just happy because I can check my e-mail now and get rid of all the spam.

I'll probably get more chances to post since there's not much to do around here.

Almost time to go. For some reason I feel very nervous and jittery, to the point that my hands are shaking... This will be my last post before I go.

Be back in 2 weeks!

I might lose comments in a week since my subscription to Squawkbox Pro expires on 2/13. and it won't let me renew early. So if you want to leave me any comments, use my tag-board. :) Otherwise, I may not be able to see your comments.

I feel better now. I'm sorry for being whiny earlier. I'm actually quite thankful now. God has provided lots. I don't have to go to Indonesia, my number worry. Other small stuff that I have been worrying about has been taken care of. I get to go to a warmer place. I'll probably get to go shopping a lot. I don't have to worry about work, since I'm not working. The timing is actually good, since I decided not to take any classes this semester.

I'm almost all packed. I have should have enough things to occupy me on the flight if I can't sleep. I'm able to get a non-stop flight back, and the flight is not too long. I have a friend coming to pick me up when I return!

What else can I ask for?? :)

Well, today's the day... I leave for HK tonight. Honestly speaking, I'm not looking forward to it. I'm not looking forward to the flight, and I just feel like there is so much that i need to do here. But I have no choice. I have to go.

I thought I had already come to terms with going, but when I woke up this morning, I just have this feeling that I don't want to go. And for some reason, I also feel very lonely right now. I guess I wish I'm not making that long trip alone. I'm already looking forward to coming back. The flight is non-stop, and only around 14 hours, as opposed to my trip there, which including a stopover in Vancouver, will be around 19 hours. Also I have a ride back from the airport when I get return, but tonight I'll have to take a cab to the airport. One good thing is I am leaving at night, so I do still have the rest of today to prepare my heart.

Well, enough whining. I'm going to try to change my attitude, and enjoy this trip. Think good thoughts, think of all the shopping I can do there.. :)

Not sure if I'll be able to blog in Hong Kong as I don't have internet access. I'll be back in a couple of weeks.

It's funny, it's only just two weeks, but I feel like I'm leaving for much longer.. Well, I'm sure once I get there, it'll be time to come back before I know it. :)

Got my plane tickets to HK today! So funny, I looked at the plane ticket, thought about the flight and all of a sudden, felt air sick... As you can tell, I don't like to fly that much.

Today I went out and got a new suitcase, a book to read on the plane, and a bunch of snacks. I'm pretty much set. Just need to buy some Bonamine. Bonamine is going to be my lifesaver on my trip. :)

Word of the Day

Serendipity

ser·en·dip·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (srn-dp-t)
n. pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

I like this word. I liked the movie too.

I've decided that my URL is too easy to remember, so I'm going to change it to this:

http://www.hugeurl.com/?MzI2MmUyMTRhYmU2YTkxNWM1NTU4MTQzN2IwNTE0MDEmMTIm
Vm0wd2QyUXlVWGxXYTJoV1YwZG9WVll3Wkc5alJsWjBUVlpPV0Zac2JETlhhMUpUVmpGYWMy
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MTBVMU14VVhsVVdHaGhVMFphVmxscldrdGpSbFp4VW10MFYxWnNjRWhXVjNSTFlUQXhSVkpz
VGxaU2JFWXpWVVpGT1ZCUlBUMD0=

Want your own huge url? You can get it here ==> http://www.hugeurl.com/

Stolen from silas.

I finally also got to talk to my mom just now. And I feel so much better now that I've actually talked to her. She sounds okay. My grandmother will be cremated tomorrow, and it was her wish that her ashes be scattered in the ocean, so that will be done tomorrow.

Well, I finally nail some dates down, only from me calling my sister. Good thing too, since the dates are not the ones that I have planned... And my mom still wants to talk to me after their service, so even the new dates, I have to confirm with my mom first. But at least the dates now are more solid.

But just thankful I know more now!

Sandals- peaceful, daydreamy, and thoughtful, you
often find yourself staring into space. When
you aren't out volunteering you are often just
dreaming away. You enjoy the company of
friends sometimes but enjoy peace and quiet.
[please vote! thank you! :)]


What Kind of Shoe Are You?
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The morning has gone by. My dad never called to let me know what I should do regarding my travel plans. I wasted the whole morning waiting for the phone call...

I wish I could just finalize the plan so I can prepare my heart.

This sounds so familiar. I think I was going through the same scenario around this time last year. Trying to make plans to go to HK to visit my Grandmother, except this time is is for a different purpose.

I don't think I have come to terms yet that my Grandmother has passed away. It'll probably hit me when I get to Hong Kong.

Here's some comic relief:

Hot Menu Item!

No thanks, I'll stick to my low carb diet. :)

The hardest thing to do is to wait. I wish I have my travel plans confirmed already. Oh well, just need to wait one more day.

I always get so anxious before I travel....

Looks like I don't have to leave as urgently as I thought. Originally I have to go to Indonesia for my Grandmother's funeral, but now I can just go to Hong Kong for the memorial service which will probably be next week. Therefore, I will have a few more days to prepare.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers during this time.