Monday, December 30, 2002

I decided to join a little tour of Amsterdam and am back now. I guess there are enough people that have lengthy layovers in this airport that they've made a business of giving "between flight tours" of the city. It was a basic bus tour of the main downtown plus a visit to a CHEESE farm. Nothing terribly exciting (as I've been to Amsterdam before)...but it definitely helped me pass time here quickly. Eager to get over to Paris and take a shower. I'm just praying that my luggage is all safe and sound---Northwest/KLM is notorious for losing my luggage...additionally, I was bad and checked in a bit late in Seattle (blame my jet lag from Hong Kong)--so my luggage is labeled as a "late check" and I got an official warning that it might not have made my flight. [sigh] I'll just have to wait and see what happens when I get to Paris...

Sunday, December 29, 2002

In the past 3 days, I've logged in a total of 25 travel hours and who knows how many thousands of frequent flier miles. By the time I reach Paris from Amsterdam, my total travel time will increase to 32 hours (long layover here). My body has no clue what day it is and is confused how my meals jump from breakfast to dinner. The 1 day I had in Seattle just flew by..though it was nice to sleep in my own bed and unload everything from Hong Kong. I even went out with Felix to see Gangs of New York---a very long movie, incredibly bloody, a good story...though somewhat predictable.



The flight over here to Amsterdam wasn't bad actually---the 3 seats to my right were all empty so I had plenty of room to stretch out, read a book and get some sleep. I now have a 6.5 hour layover and am debating what to do. Much to my surprise, the Amsterdam Airport ROCKS! It's so clean, modern, high tech and is full of fun things for a typical layover passenger to do. There are tons of shops, restaurants, cafes, internet docking stations (for 5.9 euros/30 min.), a CASINO and these fun "big mama" chairs as the signs indicate (big round red chairs that look like they're from IKEA)...practically enough to keep me plenty entertained for the next few hours...although I'm really tempted to take a bus/train into the city and check out the Rijksmuseum or the Anne Frank house. The weather is rainy and blegh..so I'm not in the mood to just wander around.



I'm annoyed--the batteries in my iPod ran out on the flight over here..and I was dumb and didn't bring the charger. ah well.



I don't know if I'll be able to find an internet cafe again before tomorrow...so if not, Happy New Year to everyone!

Thursday, December 26, 2002

herb ritts has died: what a loss..so young..so talented.
I spoke too soon...I think that if Hero gets nominated for Best Foreign Film this year, it won't be eligible for any other category in any subsequent year as a result. For shame.
Ben joined us for dinner last night and then took Aaron, his friend Kitty, and I out for a drink afterwards--fun catching up with him. I can't wait til we actually hit the town tonight...partying with Ben is always fun.



I can't believe how much time has passed! I leave tomorrow...so much to try to do before I leave. First up---I really want to watch the movie, Hero, which was just released here last week (December 19 I think). I first heard about this movie at the beginning of this year and have been dying to check it out. Jet Li, Ziyi Zhang, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung....they're all in it. It's got to be great...how sad: it doesn't release in the U.S. until November 2003!! geesh. Kind of strange..because it's eligible now for Best Foreign Film...but not for any other category until next year. Wouldn't that be strange if it won Best Foreign Film this year...and then something like Best Visual Effects and Best Cinematography the following year? I don't know why Miramax has held it back by a year. Anyhow, I'm very much looking forward to it....although Ben is trying to convince me to watch another movie which he thinks is better...which probably won't ever be released in the U.S. Hmm. I wonder if there are any bad VCD copies of Hero floating around that I can bring back to Eugene...



I always notice that the style & trend in HK tends to be about 6 months to a year ahead of the US...it's fun to see what will be in next year. Observations from the streets regarding current trends:

  • flats

  • boots with a sag..that are visibly worn--whether that be with a skirt or over jeans...very much like a trend I remember back in junior high...tend to be suede boots..may have dangly tassels

  • corduroy! it's everywhere--as it is in the US..but it's really everywhere here.



Re-highlighted my hair yesterday..much better.

Wednesday, December 25, 2002

I'm pooped and oh so tired. It's about 11:30pm here and I'm definitely ready for bed. While my parents and brother have already completely adjusted to the time since they traveled in Japan for 1.5 weeks before coming here, I just got here and am still feeling the jet lag. It usually hits me really hard just around dinner time, inconveniently.



Today, we made our usual visit to the cemetery to pay respect to the relatives---we do this every time we come back. I find the cemeteries here fascinating because they're huge and densely packed. What I find spooky is how it's common practice to stick a picture of the deceased on the tombstone (those of you in Seattle may notice this with Bruce Lee's grave--that's not just for kicks). It's kind of disturbing to be walking along and knowing how old someone was when they died, how they looked, etc etc.



I can't remember how long it's been since I've spent an actual Christmas in Hong Kong..but I really don't remember the madness of this holiday on the streets. I just got back to the hotel and there are plenty of shops still open--it's Christmas day! I'm so accustomed to everything being dead on this day in America..everyone staying at home with their loved ones. No--here, people go out, have fun, shop, party, eat late. Vendors are on every corner, trying to sell some sort of glow-in-the-dark sparkling contraption to wave in the air indicating one's love for Christmas. I honestly think that it's great that there's so much enthusiasm out on the streets for this holiday...I guess..I'm just tired and sick of thinking about Christmas (since I've been PM-ing the freakin' holiday for the amzn site for the past who-knows-how-many-months). I was looking forward to some calm. Paris isn't going to be that much settled down either.



I have to admit, I miss him. ;-)

Tuesday, December 24, 2002

Absolute madness. That's the only way that I can describe the streets of Hong Kong at this moment. Nathan Rd. has been closed off in Tsim Sha Tsui and people are spilling onto the streets donning their Santa hats, smiling, singing Christmas songs and enduring the usual holiday cheer. It's interesting how different it is from home---I would think that at this time, anyone that's out and about on the streets is completely stressed and only out in order to get a last minute gift. Instead of cozing up to a fireplace, sitting at home quietly watching some football game and sipping eggnog, people here pour out onto the streets with friends, celebrating Christmas as if it were New Year's eve. So insane...I felt like I was pushing myself through a crowd of post-concertgoers. What should've been a 5 minute walk from the Giordano store back to the hotel took more like 20 minutes.



The flight over was surprisingly not that bad. We even arrived an hour early. When I was in Vancouver, I had planned to meet up with Pierre who was also stopping in Vancouver on his way back to Montreal; unfortunately, we didn't account for the division between the international & domestic terminals...and ended up having to talk to each other on our cell phones through the glass wall of a random Japanese restaurant that stood between the 2 terminals. ha ha.



I've been doing nothing but eating good food since coming back. Shortly after landing, my grandmother whisked me off to eat at this incredibly good French restaurant, Gaddi's, in the classic Peninsula Hotel. And tonight, we had our usual grand Chinese dinner at Fook Lam Moon. I'm stuffed.



Hopefully, I can meet up with Andrew and Ben who are living here now. So few days that I'm here...

Sunday, December 22, 2002

I'm not sure why I do this to myself every night before a trip..but I just procrastinate to no end with my packing. It's 4:20am right now and phoebe is picking me up in approximately 3 hours. In a way, this all nighter is intentionally to prepare for the intense jet lag I'm sure I'm going to experience..and to also simply force my body to sleep as much as possible on the very long 17 hour journey to Hong Kong. I actually have my clothes taken care of considering I'm only going to be there for 5-6 days...and it's likely that I'll be shopping so there's no need for me to bring a lot of clothes. I'm actually spending time more now preparing all my gifts to my relatives. I got this sudden "miraculous" idea today to put together a bunch of photos that my grandmother doesn't have of me into a nice flip photo album...nice idea eh? Uh..yeah..except that I've had no time to print out a bunch of photos. So, I'm sitting here now, annoyed at my printer because it isn't printing anything..it's just sitting there. argh.



anyhow, must get back to my packing.

Thursday, December 19, 2002

man, december is a busy month. i'm absolutely longing for an evening of doing absolutely nothing...just sitting at home by myself, taking a nice bubble bath, reading a good book, not worrying about making sure i take care of this errand or preparing for this party. my christmas card writing went way down the tube this year. typically, i start writing christmas cards way before thanksgiving so that i can get the international ones sent by the beginning of december. this year it's just not happening. so--if you get a christmas card from me, consider yourself lucky....but don't be hurt if you don't get one...it's more that i'm just plain lazy this year.



i went snowboarding on saturday at crystal with jigna, matt, sri, aileen and gray. it was wet...but it was fun. i just loved being back on the board, up in the mountain, breathing in the fresh frigid air, and enjoying the satisfaction of not falling down after getting off the chair lift. the rain was not cool though..typically, i'd be all upset over the conditions and consider it a bad day...but since this was my first run of the season, I just had a blast. the strangest part was going all the way down to the bottom where there really wasn't any snow left..and all remained were puddles of water. very different feeling to be going through that, hearing a "whoosh" as my board skid through the water.



if you've been reading my blog for awhile (wow, i just realized it's been over 2 years since i first started writing it), you may've heard me talk here and there about how november is always my bizarre month for suddenly meeting someone. i never set expectations..but it happens. anyhow, the difficult thing about that is that i end up meeting someone and then christmas rolls around...which is awkward. i'm left with the predicament of "do i get him a gift? or not? is it expected? would he be upset if i didn't get him anything? what if one person gets a gift but the other doesn't?" it's just an awkward and early phase in any relationship to be bestowing gifts upon one another. plus, if you do decide to get a gift, you have to be careful...because it can make or break the relationship right there. oh yes. for example, i can't, say, get a sweater---that's too "we're in a relationship now and we're serious enough that i can add to your wardrobe". at the same time, i can't get something lame like a CD because then it's like "doh--maybe this is her way of easing out of the relationship..because this is a friendship type of present" (unless of course it's a CD mix). this is a really tricky type of present to get---it has to be one that is sweet, small and personal---one that establishes that you care and hope to continue things...yet not over the top.



i'm pretty excited about the present i got. i've never gotten anything like this for anyone...but this has more of a personal story to it...thus, i'm proud. i just hope he likes it and appreciates it for the sentimentality behind it. oh--so yeah, new guy in my life...but i'm not prepared to publicly write about him yet. if you haven't noticed, i tend to avoid the whole subject of men in my blogs....just don't want someone i'm dating to find out what i think of him through my online journal. anyhow, once things get more comfortable with the guy, you'll start hearing me drop his name here and there in various entries. however, i will say that i am happy and that things are going surprisingly well.



i miss snail mail. it makes me sad that i get more christmas cards from businesses than from friends now.



ack, need to pack for hong kong...this is not a trip to be packing for the night before (that's what i always say)

Friday, December 13, 2002

check out froogle. it's neat.



this is just wrong.



been insanely busy at work preparing for the holidays. madness i tell you. there's nothing like working in the retail world during the holidays.



can't wait til this is all over...going on a nice long vacation--first to Hong Kong for Christmas to meet up with the family..and then to Paris for New Year's. Should be fabulous.