July 31, 2008
[jokhang temple] I am thoroughly enjoying free (somewhat) high-speed internet in this hotel. The location is not the greatest -- it took us close to an hour to walk back here from the Potala Palace and through the darkened night streets of Barkhor the other night -- but it is no less luxurious in amenities.
The Chinese name for the Four Points is 福朋 (fu peng) which means "lucky friend" or "happy friend". How appropriate :-)
Back to the internet... It's a little frustrating using the Internet in China. Sometimes you don't know whether it's because the link speed is just excruciatingly slow, or you've hit the Great Firewall of China. I use the latter to explain most sites I can't get to. E.g. websites about Tibet (der).
Anyho, we went to Norbulingka (the Dalai Lama's summer palace) and the Barkhor area yesterday, culminating in a beautiful journey through Jokhang Temple ("House of the Buddha") -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- in the center of Barkhor, a maze of white-washed houses with rainbow awnings fluttering from every one of them.
Built in the 7th century by Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo, Jokhang is the first Buddhist temple in Tibet and also its most sacred and important one. Just like Mecca, Jokhang is where Buddhists from all over the world make their pilgrimage. The temple has been expanded in the past few centuries but the main and oldest temple itself houses several chapels -- the most important one of all houses one of the three oldest statues of Buddha known to man.
Lemme tell ya, I was completely awestruck when I saw the statue. Even if you are not religious, if you are not moved to the core just standing in the presence of the statue, well, then you have no emotions :-p
The unbelievable amount of history and culture -- tracing back 14 or more centuries -- stored on murals, rock paintings, and in statues, books and other artifacts, all of them trapped within the four walls of the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple will leave you completely speechless.
Must. Go. See. @ 08:51 Lhasa
[leaving lhasa] I am still suffering from jet lag, though far less noticeably this time around. After Monday night's almost 14-hour sleep-a-thon, I slept Tuesday night for about 7 1/2 hours and last night for about 9 1/2 hours (!). Not too bad.
It's easier to acclimatize to the local time when someone else -- a private tour -- is driving the schedule for you. If we were on a beach resort somewhere, I would be sleeping on and off throughout the day which would thoroughly leave my body clock screwed up *grin*
Today is our last day in Lhasa. We have one final destination to hit (outside of Lhasa) before being driven to the airport -- Lhasa Gonggar -- for our flight to Lijiang via Chengdu.
Leaving Tibet will be kinda bittersweet for me. I have enjoyed my time here learning about Tibetan culture and history more than I had imagined.
Maybe too much, even.
My initial desire to come to Tibet was to see this mysterious place high up in the clouds which has tantalized the minds of travellers for centuries. And, of course, I really wanted to see the Potala Palace. When I first arrived, I had an iron-clad view that Tibet was -- and still is -- most definitely a part of China and that the Tibetans should just live with it for their own good.
After spending 3 nights and 2 full days here in between visiting the holiest and most important places in Lhasa and seeing with my own eyes the daily lives that the Tibetans lead here in their holy capital, I leave today with a slightly different outlook. What I've seen, what I've learnt, what I've experienced... It really has made me wonder.
I, of course, cannot say anymore than what has already been said. I do want to return to China in the future -- or, more importantly, finish out the rest of my trip at least! -- and I do not want to get anyone in trouble. Such is life in Communist China where self-censorship is the path of least resistance. For someone who has spent his past decade in the US, this concept is completely alien to me.
So, I leave with bittersweet feelings. Bitter because I feel (and will feel) sprinklings of sadness every time I think of this breathtakingly beautiful place high up in the sky where its mystic has not -- and will never be -- completely lost. Sweet because I am very fortunate to have come here, and to have learnt so much about a people and a culture that has been and will continue to be a lightning rod for controversy for much of modern history.
And all they want is to live in peace, clinging on to their centuries-old beliefs, in a place called Tibet. In time, perhaps.
Borrowing a phrase from a news magazine (DestinAsian) article from four years ago: "Tibet may look less and less like itself these days, but below the surface, the faith and spirit of its people survive intact."
You must come and see how piercingly true and sad that all is. @ 08:08 Lhasa
July 30, 2008
[助川] While on one of our Air China flights, I came across this powerful ad in one of their inflight magazines:
It means "Help Sichuan", referring to the magnitude 7.9 Great Sichuan Earthquake that struck Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province -- 50mi west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital -- on 12 May, 2008. The earthquake killed almost 70,000 people and left 4.8mn people homeless.
As a tragedy, it was one of the most devastating to hit China, just three months before the Olympics were scheduled to begin in Beijing. As an event, it brought the people of China together in an unprecedented outpouring of support for the victims -- in just 48 hours after the quake, the Chinese donated $1.5 billion to the relief effort -- as well as for the motherland.
The country is united as we head into the homestretch of the countdown to the Beijing 2008 Olympics -- 10 days to go! @ 07:45 Lhasa
July 29, 2008
[potala palace] Wow. The Potala Palace surpassed all my expectations. It was nothing short of spectacular.
We spent a full Day 1 today doing Potala Palace in the morning, followed by lunch at Snowland (where we tried yak steak -- tastes like really hairy beef), Sera Monastery in the afternoon and ending at Barkhor. A very full day indeed.
Here are some pics from the magnificent Potala Palace:
Um no, I'm not crazy. Believe it or not, I was *forced* to do this by my co-workers, LOL! I'm wondering now: Do I really have to do this happy jump shot in front of the Great Wall?! @ 19:04 Lhasa
[拉萨 lhasa] Good morning from Tibet! Here we are -- on the Roof of the World!
Most important of all, we have both been fine as far as altitude-sickness is concerned. Maybe it's just us, maybe it's the Diamox, but I'm super glad coz that was one of my biggest worries before getting up to this altitude.
Back to Tibet... To give you a sense of how far we've gone since landing in Hong Kong; Lhasa is 1-hour flight-time due north of Kolkata and 2-hours due east of Delhi. Beijing is twice the distance from Lhasa as Lhasa is to Delhi. Even Bangkok is closer to Lhasa than Beijing is!
It is a whole other world up here. We arrived in Lhasa yesterday at 2:40pm after having slept only 2 hours in the past 24 (that's another story for another time). Ladies, Tibet is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S and, more importantly, pollution-free. The scenery is unbeatable. Leaving Lhasa Gonggar Airport, we were greeted with a set of new and fantastic bridges plus a tunnel -- that cost almost $750mn... for a population of 2.6mn! -- that sliced the journey from the airport to the city from 100km to 60km.
Thereafter, the road to Lhasa was bumpy as hell. And narrow. And dangerous. But the scenery was magnificent so we barely cared. We drove through the New Lhasa first (aka Lhasa Vegas), which was modern, kitschy and very, very Chinese, before hitting the Old Lhasa (aka Barkhor). It looked like a fortress with all the PLA (aka Red Army) soldiers patrolling its narrow canyon-like streets. I can't wait to explore that area.
We are in the center of the Tibetan Plateau, an immense upland averaging over 4,950m/16,250ft above sea level. It includes almost all the world's territory higher than 4,000m/13,000ft and is surrounded by peaks that reach 6,000m/20,000+ft. Its southern rim, the Himalaya-Karakoram complex, contains not just Mount Everest (world's tallest at 29,029ft) and all 13 other peaks higher than 8,000m, but hundreds of 7,000m peaks each higher than anywhere else on Earth. At 2.5mn sq km (four times the size of France), this is Earth's highest and biggest plateau and its importance cannot be overstated enough -- almost all of Asia's major rivers are sourced from here. They include Asia's longest and world's 3rd longest (after the Amazon and the Nile) -- the Yangtze -- as well as the Mekong (world's 12th longest), the Yellow (world's 6th longest), the Indus (lifeline of Pakistan), the Yarlong/Brahmaputra (world's highest and Tibet's largest), and the Ganges (India's most revered).
I love being here coz, well, I can look down on everybody LOL.
I knew I would love Lhasa the moment I found out that the sun would set at 9pm while we're here. Yay!
The most bizarre thing about China is that even though the country spans 4 different timezones, all of China sets their clock to Beijing time (UTC+8). What that means is that for Chinese cities on the same latitude -- e.g. Shanghai and Lhasa -- the sun will rise many, many hours later for a city farthest west from Beijing (like Lhasa) compared to one on the same longitude as Beijing (like Shanghai). Take today for example -- the sun will rise at 5am in Shanghai today, but 7am in Lhasa. It gets weird in winter coz the sun rises at 9am and sets at 7pm. I know, right? Perfect!! I love Lhasa. Everything here also runs 2 hours later than Beijing -- gov't offices open at 9:30 instead of 7:30. It's like a dream, innit?
Anyho, Lhasa ("place of the gods" and capital of Tibet) is a breathtaking (literally) 12,000ft above sea level and located at about the same latitude as Houston. About a quarter of a million people live here or 10% of all of Tibet -- which, BTDubs, 93% of whom are ethnic Tibetans so shut it already about the Chinese swamping into Tibet :-p
Anyways, the weather is somewhat cool here -- 50s (eek!) and 70s. I was kinda expecting kwazy hot and humid weather throughout China, but our tour-of-China is taking us to four places with gradually increasing temps -- Lhasa being the coolest, followed by still-cool Lijiang, scorching Hangzhou and, finally, super-hot-and-humid Beijing. Apparently Lhasa gets 85% of its annual rainfall in June, July, August and September but I've been told ut only rains at night. Hmm, bizarre. Lhasa is also known as "sunshine city" with annual sunshine time reaching 3,000 hours -- 1,800 more than Chengdu and 1,100 more than Shanghai.
Unfortunately (or fortunately?), we are stuck with a tour guide our entire time in Tibet. Joining a tour is the easiest way for individuals to get a Tibet Travel Permit (without which you cannot board a plane for Tibet) so this is how we ended up in a private tour group (der, I wasn't gonna join a "follow the yellow flag" big tour thingie that moves around in a bus). I know, boring. After our experience in Xian a couple of years ago, I am almost dreading the next few days. But we'll see...
Oh, lemme tell you about the hotel we are staying in for the next three nights -- the Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa. The location is quite nice, within walking distance of Barkhor and the Potala Palace is just a bit farther (who cares, we have a guide and driver). This is also the newest and most luxurious (wha??) hotel in town and it shows. Who knew a Four Points (in Lhasa of all places!) would have free hi-speed internet access, fluffy slippers/robes (I don't stay in hotels without), 24-hour room service (at a Four Points??), and -- hold on to your pearls, ladies -- a plasma screen! In Tibet! Not to mention, a gorgeous bathroom that is glass-walled and looks out into the bedroom and the courtyard. Wow. This is, like, the most gorgeous Four Points I've ever seen.
I am in shock. The best part? Free. Tony's Starwood points. Yay us.
There is also a shocking lack of foreigners here in Lhasa. This hotel is practically empty. That's no surprise considering Tibet only officially reopened to foreigners 5 weeks ago.
Okie dok's, we are off to see the Potala Palace in a few. Yup, our guide got us tickets for 9:20am without having us queue in a long line at 0-dark-30 in the morning the day before (like one of my co-workers did *giggle*). I *heart* my travel agency... and they better *heart* me back considering how much I'm paying them!! @ 07:41 Lhasa
[harrowing] I can't even begin to describe the harrowing journey we've had trying to get to this point, but suffice to say we are here in Lhasa, Tibet in one piece and we are looking forward to our three days' worth of tours here.
This was how we got here yesterday:
July 28th was a complete blur. We had to go through so much more than the simple map above suggests but it's 4:30am-ish here and I think I'll elaborate more on our trials and tribulations at a later time.
We arrived in Lhasa yesterday to bright blue skies and brilliant sunshine. Perfect. The weather forecast for our next three days here looks promising:
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
High: 24°C (75°F) |
High: 23°C (73°F) |
High: 23°C (74°F) |
Trust me when I say that it is a shock that something is going to go somewhat right on this trip so far!
Back to sleep, zzz... 04:47 Lhasa
July 28, 2008
[woe is me] [I'm writing this after the fact but posting it for the day it happened, so bear with me]
Well, our best laid plans went awry.
We did NOT land in Hong Kong at 5pm like we were expecting. Instead, we spent almost NINE hours at Macau's International Airport before finally landing in Hong Kong at 2:15am on the 28th. Yes, Macau... like, on the other side of the Pearl River Delta. All of 23 miles away. I could've WALKED to Hong Kong from Macau in nine hours.
Why did we land in Macau instead of HK? Well...
Just as we were about to land in Hong Kong, some strong thunderstorms rolled through and caused two planes in front of us to miss their approaches. Since we had been flying for 15+ hours at that point, our plane was running low on fuel (ORD-HKG is approaching the 747's maximum range anyway) and we had to refuel. The closest "friendly" airport was Macau so that's where the pilot chose to land. No biggie. I can understand why he made that decision. I would rather land, refuel and make another go at HK after the storms pass than, well, crash into the ocean.
So why did we end up spending 9 hours in Macau? Surely it doesn't take that long to refuel... Well, the storms that hit HK hit Macau as well i.e. refueling was delayed. That meant the crew had been working for more than 24 hours which made them illegal i.e. the fatigue level of the flight crew/attendants would've jeopardized the safety of the passengers onboard. And so at one point, we had fuel but, since United doesn't fly to Macau, we had no legal crew.
United ended up ferrying some peeps over to Macau from HK (the Saigon crew) but the next ferry did not leave HK Airport until 10pm (yes, FIVE hours after we had landed in Macau) i.e. they didn't get to Macau until 11pm or so. The captain made the decision to let us off the plane at 10pm (thank God!) which meant that, by then, we had spent a full 21 hours on the plane. It was disgusting. In the interim, there was a mutiny downstairs and people were screaming. I dared not imagine what was going on in coach. We, on the upper deck, were perfectly blissed out with constant beverage service from our still-chirpy flight attendants.
Oh before I forget, we had this minor issue of making our connection from Shenzhen (a ferry ride away from Hong Kong) to Chengdu and overnighting there before going to Lhasa on the 28th at 8:10am. Well, that obvi was NOT gonna happen at this point. Tony and I frantically called United to reschedule everything and finally got the whole thing moved till the morning of the 28th. We also had to cancel our hotel in Chengdu. It was almost a miracle that everything worked out in the end. The logistics were a nightmare, and we could've easily lost an entire day in Tibet if we had not been more savvy.
Anyho, at the terminal, they gave us meal vouchers which I very happily redeemed for noodle soup with pork belly and lobster balls. Yum. We then blissed out in the invitation-only First Class Lounge which afforded us a bird's-eye view of the heathens down below slumming miserably on the chairs looking like the unwashed masses. We had free internet, food and drinks in the lounge, yay.
The ferry dumped our new crew in Macau and they then had to fight their way to the airport and inspect the plane blah blah. It wasn't until 12:15am before they let us back on the plane and everybody was really agitated and impatient after 2+ hours in the terminal waiting to get to HK. Once we boarded, more issues ensued and, long story short, we didn't take off until 1:45am. OMB, I thought I was going to die on the plane!
We finally, FINALLY landed in Hong Kong at 2:15am (on Monday the 28th now). We cleared immigration/customs, got our bags and ran to the taxi line and caught a HK$320 ($41), 30-min cab ride to Huanggang -- the only HK-Shenzhen border-crossing that opens 24 hours -- cleared HK immigration/customs, caught a bus over to the Chinese side, cleared China immigration/customs, dragged our somewhat heavy bags over to the other side of the road and then took a taxi to our hotel in Shenzhen.
Um, never heard of Shenzhen? It's a city of 12mn people and it pretty much surrounds Hong Kong on the Chinese side. The whole border crossing thing was surprisingly uncomplicated, though, at 3am everything is breezy.
We finally checked in at 3:45am. Guess what time our flight to Chengdu and onward to Lhasa was? 8:20am. ARGH. We barely slept 2 hours, had room service breakfast, cabbed it to Shenzhen's Bao'an International Airport -- China's fifth busiest -- and then almost did not make our flight to Chengdu due to a screw up with the rebooking.
Eventually, we boarded the 2-hour Air China flight to Chengdu and spent 2 1/2 hours in transit before taking a 1h 50m flight to Lhasa. By the time we got to Lhasa, it was 2:40pm and our tour guide and driver were waiting for us. We got to the hotel at 4pm, crashed at 5:30pm and passed out for about 14 hours with a few hours of awake time in between. Could you blame us?
Woe. Is. Me! @ 18:36 on 29 JUL, Lhasa
July 27, 2008
[chinese food] The pre-landing lunch/snack-thingie -- beef pastrami -- was disgusting. (a) I don't eat beef, and (b) sandwich on a flight to HK?? WhyTF can't they serve dim sum or something. Pathetic. But I was starving, so I ate it all up like it was my last supper.
I am *so* looking forward to chinese food. We do have to get dinner at some point before jetting off to Chengdu, and we will be in Shenzhen's Airport during that time. Hmm, I wonder what we'll find there :-)
The food of my people rules!
Okie dok's, we are starting out descent... 30+ more mins before touching down in HK. My laptop battery is dying as well. Lates! @ 16:20 GMT+8
[UA895 ORD-HKG] We are about 2 hours from landing, cruising at a higher-than-normal altitude of 40,000ft, cutting across the Chinese heartland from Beijing to Wuhan and into Hk. Yup, we just flew by Beijing.
Back when I was looking for flights, the airfares to any city in China itself were scorchingly high. Even the flight to HK wasn't cheap ($1600 or so) but it was cheaper than flying into Beijing or Shanghai. Plus, there were guaranteed upgraded seats available to HK so I snatched 'em up. Well, the airfares to Beijing/Shanghai have dropped since but if I had waited for the lower fares, I would've been flying in coach and that's a big no-no.
And that's how we ended up on this, one of the longest non-stop flights in the world (after EWR-SIN, JFK-BKK, LAX-SIN, LAX-BKK and EWR-HKG). Lunch/movie got me through the first 2 hours, I then slept for 11 hours (!) and we are *still* two hours from landing. Argh.
Lunch just now (err, 12 hours ago?) was decent enough -- crab salad and kung pao chicken with noodles. I skipped dessert and passed out instead. Who knew I could sleep 11 hours on the plane? It's not like the seats are that comfortable (United's Business Class is dated and tragic). I must just be super sleep-deprived.
Anyho, we have our usual left-side, last row seats in the upper deck (17 A&B) of this 747-400 -- my favorite spot in this not-so-huge-anymore-compared-to-the-A380 plane. It's so much quieter up here than downstairs. Plus, you don't have the heathens from the back trying to use your bathrooms since it's all-Business (26 seats) up here. You do have to share your 2 bathrooms with the cockpit though and that can be a pain since you can't use ANY of the bathrooms when the cockpit door is open *grumble*. The kitchen is behind us but it's rarely noisy except around meal times which is just perfect for me. Plus, we get served first and you all know how I dislike waiting :-)
Service, sadly, is predictably pathetic on these United trans-Pacific flights. You have to be pretty senior to get these routes and, consequently, you get tired, old matrons that redefine "service with a snarl" working these ultra-long flights instead of pretty young things who are more likely to try harder to please. It's the whole you-can't-discriminate-based-on-age thingie in the States that puts US-based airlines at a disadvantage compared to bolder and more merit-based airlines such as Singapore Airlines.
We are scheduled to arrive at 5pm HK time (+12 from EDT) which is slightly later than expected. That gives us only 4 hours to make it across the HK-China border from Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport to Shenzhen's Baoan International Airport for our connecting flight to Chengdu. I am a little worried since we have never done the ferry transfer from HK Airport to Shenzhen Airport before but I am hoping it will be relatively fast and painless.
We will be overnighting in Chengdu before jetting off to Lhasa (Tibet!) tomorrow for Day 1 of our 15-day tour of China culminating with the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing, yay!
Hmm, I'm getting sleepy again... no surprise since my body thinks it's 3:30am. But it's actually 3:30pm in HK/China so I shall force myself to stay up for the remainder of the flight. I'm already looking forward to lunch. I'm starving considering I haven't eaten in about 13 hours. Coz, y'know, I'm still a growing boy :-D
Hungwy. Eat. Now. @ 15:37 GMT+8
July 26, 2008
[up close] Check out how close we are to the plane that we're taking to HK:
Tony (yes, that's him!) and I are seated at the corner of this RCC closest to Gate 18. The jumbo jet is HUGE...
...and LONG!
Just the way I like 'em :-D
30 more minutes to boarding... I am *so* ready for lunch! @ 11:03 ORD
[beijing weather] Much ado has been made about the pollution in Beijing.
Yes, it can be bad. Or it can be very good. We saw these extremes first hand back in 2006/07 when we transited in Beijing on two separate occasions -- voluntarily on the outbound and involuntarily (read: too hungover to fly) on the return. The first was asthma-inducingly horrendous -- you couldn't even see the buildings across the street. The second was as perfect as weather could get -- bright blue cloudless skies and snow on the ground.
I am a little bit anxious about the pollution this time around, especially since we are there in summer. Plus I'm allergic to smoke or anything that irritates the eyes/lungs. Good thing we only have one event outdoors -- Beach Volleyball.
Anyho, BeijingAir is a fun little website that I will be using on a daily basis to check up on the air quality in Beijing. It is similar to our own Metropolitan Washington Air Quality Index map, except for the definition of the air quality itself.
It is interesting to note that the US AQI scale defines anything above 100 as bad -- Code Orange is 101-150 and the chronic Code Red (when buses are free) is 151-200. The AQI does not have a definition for anything over 300.
The BeijingAir, on the other hand, defines 101-200 as "medium". Code Red is "medium"?? I don't think so. 200-300 is moderate (??) and 300 above is considered "heavy" (aka wear a mask!). Wow. I think I would have to take cover for anything above 200. I am hoping it stays below that throughout.
This other website -- Beijing Olympic Meteorology Service Center -- is also pretty cool coz it gives you detailed weather forecasts of the Olympic venues themselves. It won't matter for the indoor events but it's still nice to know how hot it is going to be in Beijing... e.g. right now, 11:30pm in Beijing, it is still 86° at the Bird's Nest!
This is gonna be the hot, sweaty and sticky Olympics... oh wait, that made it sound like orgy is an Olympic sport :-D @ 10:30 ORD
[2 down...] ...and, um, I don't even want to think about how many more hours to go, LOL! Such are the jarring statistics of flying to Asia; something I do all too often, many many times a year... by choice! Yes, I'm officially a kwazy twanny.
We are in... Chicago! Still in the US *groan*.
We glided past the awe-inspiring Chicago skyline to the left of the plane -- I was in 2A, perfect! -- on our way into O'Hare this morning under brilliantly bright blue skies. The cloud-piercing skyscrapers that flank a shimmering emerald-green Lake Michigan were so close you could almost touch the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Tower -- Chicago's tallest and third tallest respectively. In short, it is a beautiful morning here in Chicago.
It was also a beautiful morning -- albeit hot, hazy and humid -- in DC when we departed out of National. My gaze lingered wistfully a little longer than usual outside the window realizing that I would not be back in DC again for another 18 days. Even today, after 11+ years of flying out of National, I am still moved by the sweeping and monumental panorama of (from the left) the Pentagon, the skyscrapers of Rosslyn, the National Cathedral in the distance, the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial in perfect alignment, and the dome of the Capitol to the far right; surrounded, these days, by so many cranes (around the new baseball stadium) you would think we were in Dubai or Shanghai instead of DC.
Our quick hop to Chicago was pleasant enough -- the flight attendant in First was amazing. I'm not sure if it was because I had drank my dinner last night, but breakfast onboard this morning sure tasted good. If United is suffering from high jet fuel prices, you couldn't tell by the spread they served at breakfast. Omelette, sausages, potatoes, croissant, fruit plate, etc. Yum.
We have three hours in Chicago this time around. Much to Rick's chagrin, we could've gotten on the 9:40 or 10:30 out of DCA but the former was cancelled today and the latter would've gotten us here with zero time to spare. Plus, you never know with O'Hare; especially in winter. Not missing the sole connecting flight to HK and screwing up our entire itinerary was uber-important.
We are comfortably seated in this newly expanded Red Carpet Club, sandwiched between two giant fuel-thirsty 747s -- one bound for Shanghai, and the other for HK (ours!) -- at Gates 16 and 18. Snacks and drinks are free, the Internet is speedy, and it's nice and quiet in here.
So far so good. It's a pretty great travel day. Well, except for the little snafu at DCA when they swapped our plane for a bigger one (A320 v A319) and scattered our seats coz our records weren't linked together. We quickly fixed that onboard but this is the second time this has happened to us this month (CUN-IAD was the other) and I intend to make United pay...
...coz, y'know, hell hath no fury like switching a gaysian's seat assignment *snap* @ 09:54 ORD
[olympic-bound] We are on our way to the Olympics!
Totes ferosh.
What isn't so ferosh is the fact that I drank enough sangria last night at Rob/Mikko's to shit an apple. Plus an orange or two. And THEN I made the mistake of crawling up to Rick's (it was only two blocks away, der) for Abbey's going away.
Drank more there. Woke up this morning. Not fetch.
Lemme tell ya, Tony's jabbing wake-up poke this morning at 6:45am was quite a shock to the system. I really, Really need to stop drinking my dinner the night before flying. You'd think I would've learnt my lesson by now -- um, New Year's Eve Shanghai and missing our connecting flight in Beijing.
PLUS, we will not be seeing a shower for the next 28 hours (!). Argh.
Our flight today takes us on a quick 2-hour hop to Chicago followed by a 3-hour layover (on purpose). Our onward connection to Hong Kong will take us over the North Pole on a butt-flattening 15 1/2-hour flight (in Business, der), arriving on Sunday evening in Asia. Then we have a little more than 4 hours to get from Hong Kong to Shenzhen Airport (by ferry, presumably) in China for a domestic flight to Chengdu (capital of Sichuan!), overnighting there, then taking a early morning flight on Monday the 28th to Tibet.
Are you tired yet?
All's I can say for now is I love free wi-fi in the Red Carpet Clubs, and they better have breakfast ready for me onboard on our flight to Chicago (I think they do in First *shrug*).
Let the travels begin! @ 07:59 DCA
July 25, 2008
[olympic crush] This -- Olympic ticket sale in Beijing starts stampede -- may be the first event of the 2008 Olympics!
A marathon queue outside the Olympic Stadium that was a mile-long, 50,000 people strong and 2-days' wait "competed" for 820,000 tickets that were released today (only 250,000 of those were for events in Beijing). Sadly, I wasn't able to queue for those tickets and, judging from the news reports, not that I would've wanted to either! No sleep, 95° heat and 80% humidity? No thanks.
Shockingly, this is what we've been dealing with trying to get highly-coveted and ridiculously scarce tickets for these Olympic Games -- China's "Dream of the Century". I mean, how do you compete with a domestic population of 1.3 billion fighting for just under 7 million tickets; only 25% of which have been put on sale to foreigners?
We actually did not manage to get a single ticket from the US allotment... not that we tried very hard. My initial application was for Opening Ceremony tickets and if we didn't get it, I wasn't gonna go. Well, surprise, surprise, we didn't get the tix. But I still really, really wanted to go and by then the US allotment had already sold out (this was, like, eons ago... totes ridick!).
Thanks to my bestie, Su Ann, we managed to secure tickets from the generous HK allotment (fighting with 7mn ppl for tickets is much easier than 300+mn ppl!). That's how we got tix to Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics -- both are pretty popular sports. If we were to sell those tickets today on eBay, we would make a killing!
And eBay is also how we ended up with awesome Category A seats to a Diving event at the Water Cube -- one of the two venues that everyone is trying to get into. Men's Diving even! *squeal* Just don't ask me how many times over face value I had to fork out for those tickets, but they are worth not having to stand in line for 2 days in 95° heat for, TRUST! Still, it was sticker shock and a reality check on how many ppl are fighting for very few seats to these impossibly popular events.
As the news report suggests, tickets to any event in the Water Cube (National Aquatics Center) and the Bird's Nest (National Stadium) are damn near impossible to get. Like everyone else, I have been trying desperately to get into those showpiece stadiums in the Olympic Green in Beijing.
I've been trying really, Really hard for Swimming tickets to no avail -- most of them are upwards of $750 per ticket or about TWENTY times face value! And I'm also bummed that I haven't been able to get tickets to the Bird's Nest, but that's coz of our schedule as well. We are leaving Beijing before the Athletics events start i.e. our only chance to see the Bird's Nest (from the inside, that is) is to go to the Opening Ceremonies and we already know that's impossible.
Lemme tell ya, this has been quite an eye-opening experience. Even with larger-than-most resources, it's been very, very difficult to get seats to these Games.
I should be happy with the tix that we have... But I'm gonna keep trying, dammit!! This sucks. Long time. @ 10:00
July 24, 2008
[2 weeks] We are now just over 2 weeks from the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (08-08-08 at 8:08pm!). Check out these pictures of Beijing's Olympic venues and the "new" Beijing.
The Olympic Green in Beijing from high above the Earth
The National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube) and The National Stadium (Bird's Nest)
The spectacular $500mn, Herzog & de Meuron designed, 91000-seat Beijing National Stadium
22.4 miles of steel weighing 45,000 tonnes interweaved to form the spectacular structure
The stunning $200mn, 17000-seat Beijing National Aquatics Center
Almost 25 acres of ETFE cladding provides it with an iridescent bubble wrap
The controversial $470mn glass and titanium dome of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (The Egg)
The gravity-defying $800mn, 234m/755ft tall, Rem Koolhaas designed China Ctrl TV HQ Building in Beijing CBD
Amazing! @ 16:33
July 20, 2008
[all beijing] Yes, it's gonna be all Beijing, all the time on here from now on. If you don't like it, well, you're a tranny :-p
The Olympics are coming! @ 10:20
[beijing subway] Only 6 more days before we leave for China, and 19 more days before the Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing!
Today also marks Beijing's attempt at easing congestion and reducing pollution during the Olympics/Paralympics by imposing "odd-even" license plate traffic restriction system i.e. vehicles will only be allowed to be driven every other day. An estimated 45% of the city's 3.3mn cars will be off the roads on any given day.
And they will all be cramming into the already overburdened Beijing subway system which is really a victim of its own success -- it only costs a flat fare of 2 yuan (30 cents!) for one unlimited ride ticket. The result? The system's record ridership is about 4.3 million; five times higher than DC's record ridership day or roughly equivalent to the ridership of the entire DC Metro system for an entire workweek. Startling.
As recent as 2000, Beijing's subway was only 33.5mi (54km) long with 2 lines (Lines 1 and 2 in the map above). One year after that, Beijing won the right to host the Olympics and yesterday, 8 years later and just 20 days left before the start of the Games, Beijing unveiled 3 new lines (the ones that are in color above) -- 2 of which I will be using to get to the Games from where our hotel is.
Today, Beijing's subway has quadrupled in length to 8 lines, 123 stations and about 124mi (200km) of tracks. It is now the busiest subway system in China though it is only the second longest; after the Shanghai Metro. It is interesting to note that both Beijing's and Shanghai's subway systems have now eclipsed Hong Kong's in size and ridership.
Based on this map, we will most likely be traveling from Dongsi or Dengshikou on the purple line (Line 5), changing for the light blue line (Line 10) and then changing again for the green line (Line Lucky 8!) to get to the Olympic Green. I know, it sounds tedious, but I am so excited I just pee'd.
Beijing Subway's mind-boggling expansion doesn't stop at the Olympics. Plans call for 19 lines and 348mi (561km) of tracks by 2015. That would easily surpass NYC (228mi) and London's (258mi) in size, and perhaps challenge Tokyo Metro's status as the busiest subway system in the world.
Not to be outdone, Shanghai's Metro is also slated to surpass 500km in length by 2010. Did you know that Shanghai had no subways until 1995?
It really is hard to imagine how far China has come in just the past decade alone. Here's a head-snapping statistic for you -- China's GDP has grown an average of 9.9% every year for the past THIRTY. In 1978, GDP was 362.4bn yuan. Last year, GDP was 24.7 trillion yuan -- almost a 70-fold increase. And it grew 10.4% for the first half of this year.
And the Olympics will be China's coming-out party, just as 1964 was Tokyo's and 1988 was Seoul's. @ 10:19
July 19, 2008
[beijing baby!] Our tickets to 4 Olympic events are here!!! *squeal*
These are for Beach Volleyball and Gymnastics on the 9th (Day 2). We also have tickets for two events on the 10th (Day 3), though we'll probably skip the Archery one. The other ticket is Gymnastics so we'll be seeing lots of those, yay.
I'm desperately trying to get tickets to Swimming and Diving on eBay, which is costing me a fortune (like one Diving ticket alone is going for more than all 8 tickets in our possession right now). I'm also praying that the impossible happens and I can somehow shit out a pair of Opening Ceremony tickets even though I know it's not gonna happen.
Just under 3 more weeks till Beijing 2008!
Hot. Literally. @ 14:35
July 17, 2008
[stupid and fat] Newsflash: More than a quarter of all Americans are now obese (BMI >30 or 5'9" and >200lbs).
OK, that's not news.
CDC's top 10 obese states:
1. Mississippi
2. Alabama
3. Tennessee
4. Louisiana
5. West Virginia
6. Arkansas
7. South Carolina
8. Georgia
9. Oklahoma
10. Texas
Conclusion? Red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red, red... Red states, that is.
Republicunts are not just stupid. They're fat, LOL!
Just so y'all know, my BMI is between 21 and 22. Less than 18 is considered underweight. I am one stomach flu away from going below 18 :-D
p.s. Crisis at work entering Day 4... and getting worse! Argh! @ 17:26
July 16, 2008
[howeebuhl] Racist and Irreverent party of two...
Me:: What is DDR?
Blake:: Dance dance revolution!!!
Me:: You are so gay... and 11... and Japanese!
Blake:: A trannytastic combo!
Me:: It's trantastic *eyes rolling*. Our bwains are detaching due to lack of contact
Blake:: I will wewead all of Kiat.net while woo are away
Me:: Fee-ahce! There wiw be a test when I wetuhn
Blake:: Wiw spehwing be ohn da test? [Kiat: Um, how did we go from Yellow to Black??]
Me:: Spehwing and gwammah ah not impohtahn
Blake:: Goo cause I dun wan tew disgwace mah famahwe wih mah howeebuhl mawk ohn da test
Me:: That took you a rong time, ROR
Blake:: Sowee I was taking a dick up my ass
... your front of the bus is leaving!
p.s. Totes busy at work. No time for anything/body. Get in line if you want to see me b4 China *snap* @ 18:24
July 14, 2008
[3oz] This is *totes* X-rated but I don't care coz I laughed my chinky lil' yellow ass off when I read it:
Blake:: Who are you kidding? You don't cook!
Me:: I do! I don't touch raw meat (err...) but I am very good at measuring out the ingredients :-D
Blake:: When guys cum in your mouth, do you tell them "oh wow! You had a full 3oz there"
ROTFLMAO!!! The funny thing is I don't even know how much 3oz is (is that a lot? like, enough for a facial? LOL!)... stupid Imperial measurements.
So irreverent... so early in the morning... and so early in the week! Is Friday here yet? @ 09:55
July 10, 2008
[187 mg/dL] I am about to fall asleep at my desk, LOL! Let's just say that Tokyo called last night... They are 13 hours ahead of EDT, you do the math.
I didn't get to bed till 1:30am and they woke me up again at 7 this morning. Ugh. I *SO* need a vacation... Wait, didn't I just get back from one 4 days ago? And aren't I leaving for another in 2 weeks' time? *giggle*
So my doctor called... blood test stuff. All negative where it should be, yay. He told me my total cholesterol level was 187 mg/dL which really means nothing but it's below 200 so that's all that matters. More importantly, though, my HDL is 61 mg/dL which is very good (average for men is 45). My LDL is 60 mg/dL which is also awesome (<100 is good). Yea, yea the HDL and LDL numbers don't add up to the total and I have no clue why.
He noted that my triglyceride level was a little high -- 330 mg/dL (!). He did say that it was due to the fact that I had come in just after lunch, phew.
I pressed him for causes of high triglyceride levels and he mentioned the following:
overweight/obese -- he laughed at that
physical inactivity -- he gave me hell about not exercising *eyes-rolling*
cigarette smoking -- been there, done that, kicked it
excess alcohol consumption -- he wagged his finger at my "20" number (per week)and... *drumroll*
a diet very high in carbs
I was like, "der... I'm Asian, I eat rice three times a day" *snap*
He chuckled. Oh well, I'm healthy. That's the gist of it. Now I just need sleep!
And I got back on my blood pressure meds again last night :-( Woe is me. @ 14:00
July 9, 2008
[geek sex] Blake and I are, like, the only gay geeks that we know (well, besides Chris)... So this text exchange is only funny if you are a geek yourself :-p
Blake:: Luckily I don't know much about their load balancers... But omg I hate their TS methodology
Me:: You said load... giggle
Blake:: Omg I want someone to make a load balancer and call it a bukkake
Me:: You just made me laugh... On the sidewalk... With 5 ppl staring at me!! Lol
You just made me want to be a load balancer for the first time in my life
Blake:: Hahaha well let's put you to work :-)
Me:: Turn me on and I'll start redistributing cumnections!
That's as close as Blake and I will ever come to having phone sex, LOL!
Yes, only gays can turn an IT conversation (or just ANY conversation) into a sexual one in 4.2 seconds. @ 19:04
July 8, 2008
[drunk atm-ing] OK, so... I (and most ppl) have kinda sorta always known that ATM withdrawals with your credit card (aka cash advance) incurs finance charges the day the withdrawal is made i.e. no grace period and/or waiting for the credit card due date.
But did you guys know that the credit card companies also exact a fee for the privilege of using the cash advance feature?
Well, it just so happens that I was drunk one day at Cobalt (80s nights are evil! *sneers at Blake*) and accidentally used my credit card at the ATM instead of my ATM card (note to self: change my CC PIN so that it doesn't match my ATM card PIN!).
Guess how much I got hit with as a Cash Advance Transaction Fee by Chase? TEN dollars!
Holy Mother of Trannies...
Lesson learnt, ladies: Don't Drink and Get Cash! @ 21:45
[136/90] Ugh, that was not a fun doctor's visit. I have to get back on my blood pressure meds :-(
Well, I already knew it wasn't gonna be fun to begin with coz I didn't get to go see Dr Harry *pout*. They stopped accepting my insurance and after the jaw-dropping bill for my physical from this past February, I just *had* to find a new doctor. The new doc is not bad, he's a little farther -- 3 blocks away instead of 2 -- but I guess I'm just annoyed coz he delivered the bad news (136/90!). Plus, Dr Harry is way cuter *swoon*. BUT the new practice does have tons of fierce black chicks. Tranny Ferosh!
Oh, funny... he asked me the same barrage of questions that doctors ask when you first go to them. One of them was how many alcoholic drinks I consume in a week on average. I sat there for a minute and just giggled. He was like, "I won't judge you" so I said, "around 20" and his eyes about landed on my lap.
Anyways, I have scripts for the BP pills and for Diamox (for Tibet). Sigh, here I thought I was finally and completely off all meds (I quit the allergy pills too)...
Oh well, better living through chemistry! @ 15:59
[a ferosha fourth] Me gusta Playa largo, largo tiempo! -- I like Playa (del Carmen, that is) long, long time!
Wow, what a sunsational Fourth weekend in Mexico. We jetted down on Thursday for three nights with Chris/Dave, Rob/Mikko, and Rob's KWAZY family -- Erin/Keely/Mariele/Stephanie and Doug/Madison -- and we had, well, no sleep LOL!
The trip did not start out well at all. First off, there was, well, Ted. Ugh. 3+ hours of it. Yuck.
Second, nothing says Bienvenidos a Mexico like a 2-hour line at immigration and customs!! Stank. And then it took us ONE hour at the incompetent Hertz counter to get our rental car. It took longer for us to get from Cancun Airport to Playa then it did from DC to Cancun. Tragic. And totes needing tequila.
And we got it as soon as we arrived in C/D/R/M's 2-br apartment palace on Calle 28 / 5ta Av for a home-cooked fish-travaganza with uber-explosive jalapenos and met all of Rob's trannies. Totes delish and ferosh.
Actually, all my vaca worries disappeared as soon as I saw our room at the Deseo. Wow. Yes, I had read all the nasty reviews about it being noisy, blah blah. But, honestly ladies, we did not come here for peace/quiet and/or sleep. We came here to party and the Deseo was a temple to sophistication. Imagine hammocks on the balcony overlooking the main 5ta Av drag, ultra-minimalistic rooms, open-air corridors that overlook the bar/lounge/pool area -- complete with fab beds -- which is suspended over 5ta Av, and squirt a bunch of amazingly hot staff all over the top and you have the Deseo. Super tranny ferosh.
If you go to Playa and you want the best downtown where all the action is, splurge on the Deseo. You will not be sorry. Oh, and make sure you use the ear plugs provided on the bedside table. They are a necessity.
Well, pictures speak a thousand words, so...
Deseo, Playa and Tulum
That link also includes some pics of 5ta Av and Tulum -- which is about the only thing we did in PDC outside of sleeping, eating, beaching, drinking and partying, LOL! BTDubs, the sleeping, eating, beaching, drinking and partying pics are here:
Fourth of July Party Weekend @ Playa
Fierce vaca!!
Highlights:
Playa del Carmen:: 36 miles south of Cancun and a world away, Playa is what Cancun is not -- low-rise, relaxed, and not a fat ugly white trash American in sight. Hot. No Hooters, no TGIFridays, no Rainforest Cafe. Fierce. Yet, the beach at Playa is just as nice (if not nicer) and the ocean was pure perfection -- shallow with crystal clear blue waters at bathtub temps. It was utter bliss. I was amazed at the very Euro-vibe of the town itself. And it's not a sleepy little fishing village either -- Playa is happening, thriving and even pulsating (especially at night). All the hotels, restaurants, stores, bars and clubs are boutique-ish (no chains, thank God) and the scene was decidedly sophisticated. Well, that was until the cruise ship docked (either in Cozumel or Calica) and the hordes of unwashed masses started parading up and down the streets. Tragic.
Hot and humid:: The weather was, well, hotter than balls and more humid that a rainforest which was to be expected. What we didn't expect was the clear blue skies and lack of rain which made for perfect beach weather on Fri and Sat. Note to self: two beach days is not enough! Even then, I crisped and look pertty much like a Mexican after the first hour. AND I have a tan line that will make you blush ;-) Anyho, the humidity was such that I didn't have to moisturize and my skin felt wonderful (if you don't mind the rash-inducing heat). Plus, the heat and humidity was far less noticeable on the beach with the wonderful ocean breeze. All in all, it was close to perfection.
Mamita's Beach:: Wow. We planted ourselves in the middle of Mamita's which is basically a sea of uber-cool beds and lounge chairs under canopies and umbrellas. With beachside service. Fee-ahrce! We occupied a chunk of the area called Kool Beach (think Ku De Ta in Bali) which also has a pool -- really handy for bouncing from ocean to pool and back -- surrounded by fantastic outdoor beds. Also with poolside service. It was slightly expensive but, seriously ladies, drinking outside, on the beach, on an outdoor bed, between the pool and the ocean, with Mexican waiters bringing you unlimited amount of food and alcohol... There's no price tag for that! Restrooms (nice and clean!) and an outdoor bar/restaurants completes the picture. Best yet, it was only a block from 5ta Av! Puts Rehomo to shame.
"Jackie Chan!":: So on one of the scorchingly hot and meltingly humid mornings (um, all of them), we strolled down 5ta Av. for some window shopping. The one thing that's very nice about Playa is the lack of touts. Perhaps it's because of the ridick summer heat (even the locals are weary of it), but it was nice nonetheless. When we encountered one, we almost ignored him because it wasn't a constant bother like it would be in other poor countries. This one tout called out to Tony first: "Hey, Mister! Mister!". We didn't even hear him, at which point he goes: "Konichiwa!" presumably to get my attention. LOL! Creative. Then he goes: "Ni hao!". I'm somewhat giggling at this point so he knows he's got us somewhat. Finally he goes in for the kill: "Hey, Jackie Chan!". Tony starts ROTFL-ing. I gave him this look like I was gonna shoot "I'm gonna kill you, you racist wetback" daggers out of my eyes. OK OK, snaps for creativity but still... how rude! ;-p
"You Chinese?!":: I don't know what it is with the Mexicans and me, but the prettiest lil' Mexican thing swam up to me while I was bobbing in the ocean and screeched, "You Chinese?!" with the cutest lil' Mexican accent. Lemme back up -- my arrival in Playa doubled the Asian population (the only other one works at the chinese takeout) and, noticeably, I was the only minority on the beach. So this chica was quite excited to find me so she could practise her one-semester-of-Chinese with me. She was not too bad but I would've totes ignored her if not for her scorchingly hot bf (OMB! I almost became a bean queen... or just came). "I teach (show?) him Chinese, OK?" *giggle*. Aaaaanyho, she would swim away after successfully completing a mini-convo with me in Chinese, and then she kept swimming back every 30 mintues to start another mini-convo coz, presumably, that's how long it took her to form another few sentences in Chinese. How adorable. Speaking of language issues...
25:: That's the age all the locals that we met thought that I was. And when I told them I was treinta y uno, they were like "nooooo...". Either they were being polite or I'm just workin' it like I'm still in my 20s. Regardless, I ruv the Mexicans rong time!
No Entiendo:: Note to self -- My Spanish gets better if I'm drunk and their English gets better if they're drunk, so the best way to converse with a local is when you're both drunk! Perfecto! I did learn a few key phrases... OK, I learnt how to say penis in more ways than one LOL. Here goes: pito, verga, chile and chorizo *giggles mischievously*!!
Sleep:: Or lack thereof. If you come to Playa with 4 of your closest drunken gay friends and their equally drunk relatives, expect to sleep, on average and at most, 5 hours each night. Those five hours will probably be after sunrise (*evil grins at Chris*). Why? Coz...
Sesenta y Nueve:: The appropriately named Playa 69 -- the only gay bar in Playa -- opens at 9pm but no one shows up until 1am (what is this, Spain??), which means the party doesn't really start till 2am and you really don't want to leave until 5am coz, well, the (awesome) music gets pumpin' and you just can't stop heaving to the beat. It's, in a word, KWAZY. BTDubs, the bathrooms there? Whore dens. If you don't get groped or blown or, at the very least, peeked at in there, you, um, don't have a penis. Serious tawdriness! Speaking of tawdry...
My friends are whores:: LOL! It's twue. It's nothing new but, OMB, the potent concoction of drunk slutty friends on vaca and Mexican/Mayan boys who circle foreigners like beans on tortillas redefines "slut"! And I'm not saying it in a bad way :-D Unless your slutty friends leave you faster than you can say "cerveza!" once they've found their Mexican/Mayan du jour. I love them but not so much, LOL!
As you can imagine, the weekend was way too short and coming home was a major drag. In Ted. For 2h 45m. We were all on the same flight home and seated in the same Exit Row (11!) so that made it totes better. The free wine (I *heart* 1K dwink coupons rong time!) helped more :-D
Sigh. All in all, I'd go back in two seconds. If not for the 7198 other seconds spent waiting in line at Immigration and Customs! @ 14:35
[math and science] Check out WaPo's "At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality":
Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall... Asian American students got 219, or 45 percent of the total, while white students got 205, or 42 percent. About 38 percent of the school's students were Asian American in the past school year.
A plurality of Asian American students in a high school class would be an anomaly in the Washington region, where fewer than one in 10 residents is Asian American. In Fairfax, which supplies most of the school's students, people of Asian descent account for 16 percent of the population, census data show. That percentage has doubled since 1990 and is the highest in the area.
Asians are smart, der.
One of the incoming students -- Yuging Zhang, 14 -- is from China...
Yuqing, 14, said he has heard that T.J. is very competitive but added that he looks forward to focusing on his favorite subjects, math and science.
Talk about perpetuating the stereotype, oy.
(Yes, it's true) @ 08:45
[sticky and sweet II] Oh! The setlist for Madonna's new tour is out!! (thanks Aaron!)
Candy Shop
Beat Goes On (Pharrell and Kanye on video)
Human NatureInto The Groove + Jump
Heartbeat
Music (Fedde Le Grande version)
She's Not MeDevil Would Recognize You (live on piano)
Miles Away
Spanish Lesson
La Isla Bonita (Live Earth Lela Pala Tute version)
You Must Love Me4 Minutes
Impressive Instant
Ray of LIght
Hung Up
Give It 2 MeAnd Borderline somewhere in there
*squeals, puddles and faints*
Less than five more months! Nov 20 cannot come soon enough. Though, I could so do without hearing Spanish Lesson. Potty break! @ 08:29
[shocked] My officemate just walked in and gasp. He sees me and deadpans:
"You're here? Couldn't sleep, huh?"
LOL!
His shift is 0600-1500, so he says to me:
"Well, I guess it's almost time for me to go home."
LOL! Bee-yotch :-) It's funny how our shifts barely overlap (I'm more of a 0930-1830 girl)... @ 08:25
[0800 72°] OMB, I got to work at 8 today!
Yes, that's a.m. :-p
It was a very nice walk too on what will be a hot and humid day in DC that will rival a Cambodian rainforest. All of 72° on my early morning walk in to work. It was quite pleasant if I may add.
I should do this more often... (um, no) @ 08:12
July 4, 2008
[232] Happy Fourth! From Mexico!! :-D @ 08:15 Playa del Carmen
July 3, 2008
[off to la playa] In just under 3 hours, we will be off to Mexico! This will be our first trip to Mexico since DF and PV 16 months ago, and our first time back in the Yucatan area in 6 years.
I know, I know, summer in Mexico?? Kwazy, right? It's not like we weren't warned beforehand:
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
High: 35°C (95°F) |
High: 33°C (91°F) |
High: 32°C (89°F) |
In a gist: Hair-flatteningly hot and humid.
They are calling for a heat index of 105°F (41°C!) tomorrow. Ugh... I can't wait! *giggle* @ 10:01
July 2, 2008
[sticky and sweet] OMB, I just bought four TENTH row tickets to Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour in Philly!!! *squeals and faints* @ 15:35
31 :: jokhang temple
31 :: leaving lhasa
30 :: 助川
29 :: potala palace
29 :: 拉萨 lhasa
29 :: harrowing
28 :: woe is me
27 :: chinese food
27 :: UA895 ORD-HKG
26 :: up close
26 :: beijing weather
26 :: 2 down...
26 :: olympic-bound
25 :: olympic crush
24 :: 2 weeks
20 :: all beijing
20 :: beijing subway
19 :: beijing baby!
17 :: stupid and fat
16 :: howeebuhl
14 :: 3oz
10 :: 187 mg/dL
09 :: geek sex
08 :: drunk atm-ing
08 :: 136/90
08 :: a ferosha fourth
08 :: math and science
08 :: sticky and sweet II
08 :: shocked
08 :: 0800 72°
04 :: 232
03 :: off to la playa
02 :: sticky and sweet