Prologue

I was having lunch with an old friend in Soho (HK) today and I found out that the first guy I officially went on a date with is gay. Well, let's just say that I *officially* found out today that he has finally come out. I knew there was something horribly wrong when he held my hand at Toys 'R Us and it felt terrible. Or maybe it was McDonald's. That was a bright idea on the part of my then best friend. She just wanted me to come on a triple date with her and above-referenced lunch friend. Ugh, that entire afternoon still makes me shudder. I think I remember slow-dancing with him to Take My Breath Away at one of our school dances. That song always gives me the creeps but maybe now I will think back on it more fondly. I have added him to facebook so hopefully he doesn't hate me too much for being so repulsed by his attempts at affection. Poor guy. I should have been nicer to him. Perhaps my dating life since then has just been relationship karma for that fledgling experience. If only I had known then all the things I know now...

Ah well, lunch was fun and then I bought two pairs of shoes at Vickie's. Let me tell you, this might be my new favourite shoe store. They do custom shoes in 4 weeks. The styles and colours are fabulous and the prices are totally inexpensive. I wish I had more time here so I could go back and place an order. Next time. Someone please remind me!

Seaside, OR

Probably one of my favourite places on the planet. If you come here, stay in unit 408 at the Seaside Beach Club Condos. The view from the picture window is mind blowing and I'm all warm and toasty under a blanket on the couch. MFV wants to go outside (he's never done this before) so I should hustle. And no Asshat, we have not eloped. But we haven't quite killed each other (yet) either. There's a whole day ahead of us though...

Homeless and unemployed

It's Friday morning at the end of a life-changing week. I'm sitting on Jesus' couch watching Olympic coverage. It's 9.30 am and I'm still in my pjs. I'm backing up my laptop in case I have to give it back while I'm in BC. My stuff is in Mr and Mrs Happy's basement - thank God for them - and my car is with Baby's friend which is also a relief. A couple of the grad students helped keep me sane on moving day which was one of the longest days of my life. So I am now officially homeless. I will be unemployed at the end of next week so I guess that makes me a hobo. I have decided to stay in Vancouver indefinitely until I make a decision about work. I figure it makes more sense to be there where it's warm and I can at least get outside during the day. I'll be staying with MFV and we will hopefully not want to kill each other after a few days. If I decide to come back to Toronto, I will have nowhere to live so I'm not anxious to return until I have to. I am hoping to see King Tut before I leave so I should get moving with my morning. Next time I write will probably be the other side of our road trip to Oregon.

New Years Resolution

This year I have decided to be more circumspect with my verbal communication. I intend to finish my sentences and choose my words more precisely. This means slowing down (take a page from the Barack Obama interview guide!) and being more mindful of the words coming out of my brain and into the world via my mouth... which sometimes has a tendency to lag behind my thoughts to the detriment of everyone around me.

Also, I will be turning 40 in 8 years and I am going to create a list of 8 Things to Do Before I Turn 40. I haven't thought of everything yet but I figure I don't have to decide today. Here is the beginning of my list:

1. Perform on stage. This will likely be either dance or acting. The thought freaks me out but I'll get there eventually.
2. Learn a language... and then use it in that country. I'm thinking Italian at the moment.
3. Discipline and love another creature. I'm thinking puppy but I suppose I might accidentally get pregnant and have a little MiniMsB.
4. See my photo on a wall. Not my own wall.
5. Live in another country. I have my sights set on Melbourne, Australia in 2011.
...

Got any New Year's Resolutions you would like to share?

1 more sleep!

Mexico tomorrow :) Yay sun, sand, surf and tequila. My plans include reading, napping, eating, drinking, going in the ocean and possibly trips to Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. Maybe some snorkeling if I don't get scared off by a school of fish. I still have to pack and tidy the house and take out garbage. I just need to write down that I had the most awesome day today. I went to the gym for pilates class and a run (check those off the Shawshank list), then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Toronto Island Marina on a boat drinking and eating and meeting new people. So relaxing. Also, I had a puff of a j and then a hit off a plastic water bottle bong with Pink Dress so that's a new one for our friendship. The funny part is that we were hanging out with 50+ year olds and the bong was a gift from a 16-year old grandchild! I want to be that kind of grandma. Okay, must pack and such before bed. If you hear horror stories about four female Canadian grad students getting kidnapped, murdered and chopped into tiny pieces... well I guess that will out me!

Quiet time

I took a sick day today. I'm sure, if you read my previous post, you are unsurprised. But I feel much better for having stayed home not doing anything all day except wonder whether my landlady has been paying for cable for 3 years which I have not been getting. I digress. I had a very quiet day. I worked for a bit in the morning but had to go back to bed. I was sitting here at my desk with the heater on, wrapped in a blanket, shivering. Serves me right, I know. But I woke up in the afternoon carrying around a heavy lethargy. I slowly started feeling normal in the evening, even lonely and pathetic for missing my thesis, and I hope this will be the end of the thesis defense exhaustion. I don't know, maybe it will take a bit longer.

Did I mention already that I'm going to Mexico for a week on Sunday? Oh yes, lithe 25-year old bikini bodies. I'm also concerned about spending that much time with people. I'm used to being alone. I'm used to making autonomous decisions and then changing my mind and nobody being the wiser. I hope it will be a fun, relaxing girls trip. And, most of all, I hope I don't return wishing that I had booked a solo trip to Jamaica.

Couch to 5K - Item 3 on the Shawshank List

I went to the gym today. It's on my bucket list (which is actually more of a Shawshank list) and I decided I needed some motivation so I Googled Couch to 5K and found Carli's website with some running playlists. I downloaded Week 1 and it is really great. It helped me get to the gym, kept me on the treadmill and I was actually disappointed when it was over! I am not exactly new to running but I have neglected the gym for the past two months. I just figured that, if I had enough energy to work out, I should be working on my thesis instead, right? Anyway, it felt good to go back to the gym and the workout was pretty straightforward. I won't say it was easy but it wasn't too challenging and I'm looking forward to going to the gym for the rest of this week.

This is not entirely an altruistic goal. I'm going to Mexico for a week next Sunday and the thought of standing next to 20-something-year old bikini clad bodies is excruciatingly intimidating. Now that I find myself in my 30s, I definitely have better self-esteem and that translates into better body image. I have some problem areas which I never had in my 20s but gravity and stress and age have taken their toll. So I'm working on the abs, the shoulders and triceps and overall cardio this week.

The hard part will be to eat better. I went out for Indian in Yorkville last night and ended up painfully full. I walked home but was still uncomfortable after the chilly evening half-hour walk. Then, this afternoon, I had high tea (again in Yorkville, my credit cards are weeping) and walked home again. I no longer stuff myself at tea because of my egg allergy but I did inhale a lot of cream and scones. God, so yummy. It was a party in my mouth this weekend. (Friday night was bubbles and fondue with the grad students followed by a tiny bit of bar hopping in Little Italy).

The final part of the plan is to run a 5K in November at the end of the 9 week program. Ontario is going to be mighty chilly at that time of year so maybe I should look for a run in Vancouver. Or the Caribbean somewhere :) I haven't fully thought that through yet but I will have a lot more free brain power now that the thesis is done.

Here is the rest of my Shawshank list:

1. Read the paper
2. Make dim sum
3. Go to the gym -- check!
4. Go to the library
5. Go to my favourite restaurant in Little Italy
6. Clean apartment -- check!
7. Purge stuff in "office"
8. Sell microwave
9. Sell U2 tickets
10. Go to the movies (at least two)
11. Start watching Entourage
12. Lie on the grass - it's getting too cold for this :(
13. Look into fall classes (culinary, photography, Italian)
14. Watch documentaries and nap
15. Take new drug plan info to pharmacy (yes, boring but it needs to be done)

Jolt

I know I don't normally blog in the morning but I had to write this down. I woke up with a jolt about 20 minutes ago thinking, "what day is it today? I know I have to be somewhere but where?" After a moment, I remembered that I don't have to be anywhere but the girls are coming over in half an hour or so and we're leaving for Port Elgin. I haven't showered, had breakfast or packed and the house is a disaster. Argh.

I need

A man. Or a butler. Or a nanny. These are the things I would like to do but won't because I feel guilty about not thesising:

1. Clear the 4 cups off my desk and put them in the dishwasher.
2. Clean the bathroom. More specifically the toilet and the shower stall. The floor and the tub can wait.
3. Fold and put away the mountains of laundry in my laundry basket and on the back of the couch.
4. Tidy up the kitchen. Oh those pesky sesame seed bagel crumbs.
5. Mop the floors. The dog was here and he's drippy when watering himself from his water bowl.
6. Vacuum.
7. Buy some groceries so that A's parents don't have to feed me every other night.
8. Take out the recycling.
9. Take out the garbage.
10. Iron. Ah, who am I kidding? I wouldn't do that even if I had an entire month off. I'll just walk around looking wrinkled.

One thing I am looking forward to: going away this weekend with three other grad students. One of the girls has in-laws with a house in Port Elgin. We're taking our laptops, printers and journal articles and the plan is to spend three days working and bitching and moaning and complaining. I hope it doesn't fall through because I really need a change of scene and to get out of this stinky city.

Oh wait, that's not the stench of piles of garbage on the street because of the strike. That's the whiff of BS coming off my thesis. We don't call it thesis feces for nothing!

Down Undah?

I got an email from a coworker in Australia. We used to work together in Vancouver. He asked me if I wanted to go to Melbourne for a 6 month secondment.

I'm seriously considering it. If the timing works out, and they don't need someone until September, and I can finish my thesis by the middle to end of August, I will probably go.

Crazy? I think so. Good crazy.

I heart NYC

I really do. I only met one person who doesn't love NYC. That person is the mother of a friend I grew up with. They're close, close family friends. She (the mom) has retired to a sleepy village in India and complained about the noise and traffic and traffic in New York. The groom's mother told her that nobody in India can complain about the noise and traffic in NYC. She makes a good point. NYC is a lot like India and a lot like Hong Kong. It's loud, it's fast, it's noisy and it's smelly.

It's friggin' fabulous. It felt like I had finally come home. I would live there in a heartbeat. Not forever. But for a couple of years. Anyone wanna come with?

Angry Sunday

I had a very angry day today. The highlights (lowlights?) were:

1. Having tea with two girlfriends who, when I texted to let them know I would be a few minutes late, decided to order for me, despite knowing about my food allergies. And despite the fact I told them in my original email that I was planning to have a smoked salmon bagel. And knowing that I was coming from the gym and would therefore be starving. I was not impressed.

2. Then they proceeded to discuss the picky eating habits of their young children (I submit, if they have children with picky eating habits, they should have known better than to order my lunch!) I was bored out of my mind and had basically nothing to contribute.

3. The tea platter they ordered was overpriced, didn't have enough food on it and I couldn't eat 90% of it because it consisted of pastries and desserts. I ate three "sandwiches" which consisted of a thin slice of cucumber on a piece of baguette smothered in cream cheese and pepper. Ugh. I also ate a raisin bun disguised as a scone.

I would have ordered a real meal but the waitress was so awful that I decided she wasn't worthy of a larger tip. She didn't offer me a menu after I arrived, didn't check on us and was bitchy and rude. Fortunately, one of the girls felt guilty enough about the whole incident that she picked up the bill.

I wish I hadn't gone. I came home angry and frustrated and hungry and cold. I crashed on the couch for two hours and now I'm wide awake. Tomorrow is going to be painful.

Moving onto better news, there might be a weekend trip to LA in April with Baby and a weekend trip to NYC in May for an old family friend's wedding. I should probably only choose one (ie the wedding) so I can afford to pay tuition fees at the end of April but I want so badly to get away from my so called life. Sigh.

I back! Sort of...

So it appears that my dial up internet access in Delhi did not like blogger. Most days I couldn't even get into my email which was a real pain. Although, it may not have mattered really as I had very little time for writing. I barely touched my journal which was with me every moment of every day! It's strange. Last time I traveled like this three years ago, it was all I could do to not fill up my journal before the end of my trip. I guess there was just too much going on this time around. There's lots to write about but I'm going to stick with my journal until I get home. There is only one user login on this laptop and the last thing I need is my parents finding my blog! The mortification... See you all soonly though. I'm home next Monday night. Erm, unless Grey takes me to his place from the airport. But I might insist on going home to my own shower and sheets and water pillow and ergonomic keyboard. It has been a good trip overall but I have been homesick like never before. I can't wait!

Happy New Year!

Happy noo dear everyone! I am in Calcutta and on an unsecured wireless network but I don't really have any time to myself to write. Anyway, this year seems to have started off somewhat mediocrely. I'll have to think about new years resolutions a bit over the next little while. A couple that come to mind right away: to eat more Mayo Clinic Top 10 Foods and to give people my undivided attention.

Chomp!

Honestly, sometimes India makes me miserable. I would have slept well but I got bitten three times: twice on the chin and once on the arm. I don't know where the mosquito came from since it's January (!) but naturally it would find me somehow. I'm all swollen and puffy and itchy and grumpy. Other than that, things are great. I'm online (it's dial up but surprisingly fast), I have already had my favourite dessert (rasmalai), my parent's new flat is amazing - high ceilings, marble floors, spa-style bathrooms - if a bit cavernous for just two of us. And we've already talked to the important people so hopefully today will be good, whenever we figure out what we're doing exactly.

We booked our tickets to Calcutta for Monday afternoon. I somehow have to find a way to tell my grandfather that I won't be staying with him because A has rented a flat close to her ailing grandmother. When there are this many people to coordinate with, things get much more difficult. Today will likely be the reverse. We have no real plans. I'm hoping to do some shopping but it's Sunday and I never know in Asia when things are going to be open. In Hong Kong, everything was open on Christmas Eve and most things were open Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Even the grocery store was open til 10 pm on Christmas Day. It was great, actually. For those of us who don't celebrate and feel like we're misisng out, it was good to get all of my errands done. It didn't feel like a special day at all until we went out with some friends for dinner.

One thing I wanted to mention after my last post was the food on Cathay Pacific. It was actually excellent. My dad's omelette, hash brown and sausage was decent as far as plane food goes. But I chose the Indian vegetarian option (because I'm allergic to eggs - have I mentioned that before?) and it was good. I mean, it was comparable to street food in any Little India anywhere in the world. It may have even been as good as real Indian food from India! I was very impressed. And the service on CP is as good as I remember. My dad can be a pretty surly old man sometimes and the flight attendants accommodated his every grunted request for water and a newspaper.

In the absence of familia drama, I have discovered a new source of anxiety. How will I manage to travel in India on my own when my parents are gone? Sometimes I doubt that I will come here when there is no longer anyone left to visit. But worse, what happens when my parents want to travel here and I have to be the responsible one? The one who arranges for a driver to pick us up a the airport, instructs the cook and housekeeper, orders the water and makes sure the flat is livable? I am having to do some of that already because my dad is approaching 70 and apparently just barely manages to muddle through these things now. Even finding the keys to the locker at the bank took a half hour phone call to my mother and an extensive search of all of the locked cupboards in the bedrooms. Sigh. I can't worry about that now but I'm going to have to learn the language at some point. And make some of my own connections so that I'm not completely at a loss when I do have to be the grown up.

Okay, must go respond to C le V's emails before my dad gets up.

Hong Kong International Airport

I'm at HKIA waiting for my flight and I got 30 minutes free internet access! All I had to do was buy a bottle of water which I was going to do anyway. This airport is probably one of the best places in the entire world. It's huge, for a start and the gates are connected by a rapid light rail. You can buy just about anything imaginable from chocolate to wonton soup to Chanel. I tried to buy some Duty Free alcohol for New Years Eve but I couldn't find anything that I though A and I would both enjoy. Well, champagne but I'm not sure I should put that in my checked luggage on the flight to city #3. Anyway, I digress.

This airport is amazing. I think everyone should fly through here at least once. It's efficient and pretty and clean and quiet despite the thousands and millions traveling through here daily. Even checking in is super easy. You can check your luggage up to 24 hours before your flight at one of a number of airport stations in the city. Then all you need is your boarding pass, travel documents and carry-on luggage. I have taken some photos which I will probably upload when I get home in January. I should probably go as I left my dad at the gate and he thinks I'm just buying water when I actually went to the washroom, walked around this wing of the airport and window shopped.

Outbound leg 2

Okay, I'm off to city #2 for a couple of days before heading onto city #3. It is more than likely my internet access will be severely restricted for several days, if not until the middle of January when I return to city #1. I will try my best to get online without compromising my blog. Wish me luck! Happy New Year everyone.

Oh, and just as a little teaser, I'm doing this just after New Years...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundarbans
I'll try not to get dead ;)

Curry Christmas

It's Christmas yo! My mom asked me yesterday whether I wanted her to buy a ham and roast it or something. Or just eat chicken curry leftovers from two days ago. I voted for the chicken curry leftovers. Last night, my parents and I went to one of the ubiquitous tourist night markets with my friend, The Actress, from high school, her parents and another close family friend, Mr K. It was pretty fun actually. I got used to all of the crowds very quickly but my lungs and sinuses are definitely suffering from the poor air quality. It's still a little chilly here but The Actress' mother was trying to convince me they were swimming in the ocean last weekend because it was so hot. Figures I would bring the cold Canuck weather with me!

I didn't buy anything but The Actress bought a lot of useless junk. Grey asked me to look for Coach for his assistant and I did find a couple that I liked but I have no idea what she might want since I've never met her. We didn't walk back through the market (basically a lane) so I didn't go back for the purse. I have lots of time though so I can go back there in January if I decide that's what I want to buy.

I got an email from Capitaine le Vomi. He started it off "hello sweatheart". Not sure if that was a typo or intentional. He said he was looking forward to my coming back. Is that the same as telling me he misses me? As far as I'm concerned, he's as far away now as he was before for all the talking and visiting we've ever done. Plus I'm still not sure I can overlook the vomit weekend fiasco yet.

Anyway, I'm getting off the computer now before the 'rentals barge in and wonder what the heck blogger is. The mortification if they ever found this private, online journal! Plans for today include pjs and tv. Plans for tomorrow include dinner with a long lost and very close friend from high school. She's nuts but I have a feeling we'll connect just like old times.

Jet lag brain

Jet lag sucks. I was hoping to stay up til at least 10 pm but I don't think that's going to happen. Granted, the documentary on the Amazon River wasn't helping. So just a quick post and then I'm going to put in my ear plugs and go to bed. When I woke up this morning, I was still anxious. Likely only getting 1.5 hours sleep didn't help any. But by the time I got to the gate and wrote a few words in my journal, I was actually looking forward to the trip. Not the flight, although it wasn't that bad and I slept quite a lot. I was even looking forward to seeing my parents at the airport which is unusual enough to warrant mentioning. However, my mother decided not to come to the airport so it was just me and my dad. That's okay too. It took us a good hour at least to get home and driving around this city was harrowing, just as I remember it. My dad suggested that I try driving his car but I won't. Not least because it's the wrong side of the road (the right side, actually) but also because it's a nice car and everything is crazy here. My heart was in my mouth the entire ride home which just goes to show how quickly you can get used to "better" conditions. I was born and raised here so I should be used to it. I'll get used to it again quickly. I always do.

After I got here, I spent an hour on the phone with A. It helps to be closer in time zones although she hasn't got over her jetlag and she's been in this half of the world for over a week now. Then in the evening, my mother dragged me over to a neighbour's. They moved shortly after my parents moved but they were our neighbours since I was in Grade 5. I took french classes and ballet classes with their older daughter but hadn't seen her in 15 years. It was weird. She's different. I must be too. Not sure if I'll be seeing her again this week. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we might not be able to do everything we want to because things might close early. Then again, they might not. We were thinking of going to the night market tomorrow. Grey asked me to find out how much Coach purses went for in this part of the world for his administrative assistant so I might have to do some shopping. But what I really want is to stay "home" and do nothing.

A couple of you have asked where "home" is. I was going to tell you but let's play a guessing game. I'll drop hints and you can make some edumacated deductions. But I have to confess, I made a mistake with the flight time. It was actually closer to 16 hours from Toronto.

Frazzled

I would love to write about the wedding because Grey and I had a lovely time together. He was the ideal date and I invited him to our work event in February because he was so good.

But I'm too frazzled and anxious right trying to get organized to leave to think about yesterday at the moment. I just finished packing but I still don't feel ready to leave. Perhaps because I have finally found a place that feels like "home", I no longer feel as though I am going "home" anymore. It's unexpected and unsettling. I miss home and I haven't even left yet.

Anyway, suitcases are packed, I'm checked in (second last row on the plane, window seat, 14 hour direct flight) so I just have to check my bags, proceed through security and pick up a bottle of water. I have a blanket, a pillow, change of shoes so I don't have to wear my woolly winter boots when I get off the plane, snacks, books, ear plugs and a sleep mask. I just went through my travel checklist and remembered bug spray and sunscreen. Not sure if I should take a hat. I probably should, just in case. Hopefully it doesn't get squashed in my suitcase. Have I mentioned I hate packing for two different climates while leaving a third, completely different one? Ugh.

It doesn't help that Capitaine le Vomi called this evening and we talked for an hour and a half when I should have been packing. He quite specifically asked me what date I would be back and when I would find out about flying to New Brunswick. I think that means he wants to see me.

Mass confusion prevails. Now would be a great time for bed.