the old memories 2

random thoughts from scanning old photos:

• time was when after a wedding one would receive a keepsake envelope of photographs of the happy couple the banquet table and select candids
• time was also when after an event one poor bugger would go around like a human excel with a list for you to fill up which photos you wanted to purchase order those photos collect your monies sort out your orders a couple of weeks later and deliver them to you. possibly the most unsung hero of our youth
• remember the big notice boards with sheets of numbered photographs for you to decide which to order? 

am i glad we are in the digital age.

less ded

the ol' reliable appetite is back. it is a wonderful thing to be able to enjoy one's food, i tell you. the preacher is right that there is nothing better than to rejoice in the here and now and in food and drink that our good God gives.

in other news, a 5 per cent weight loss over four days has reduced me to looking like a haggard horse.

the old memories

random reflections on digitizing our early collection of family photos:

• the faces look happy 
• we did quite a bit together
• my babies are grown up now

and i think, humbly gratefully although admittedly not necessarily theologically accurately, so somewhere in my youth or childhood, i must have done something good.

the psychology of money - morgan housel (2020)

a most interesting read because it never occurs to me to think about how we think about money. meta-finance, if you like. or possibly meta-financial planning.

he is surprisingly (ok, i judge) self-effacing a little bit altruistic and quite refreshing for an american writer although he runs true to verbiage.

worth a read, with bits of skimming.

half ded 2

gingerly emerging from the grogginess of the past week

like the fragile butterfly breaking out from the cocoon

first day after many without overt myalgia

and coffee tastes good again

cautiously optimistic

thank God for HOM and O who allow me to be sick without having to lift a finger to help myself. and thank God for E for sensing i need his company more than he hates my hugs.

half ded

let's just say the perfect storm requires more than that.

specifically, you might add in non-stop vomiting diarrhea and the mother of all bodyaches.

after 4 days of near-starvation i graduate to a diet of chicken soup and japanese cheesecake today.

practice-changer

most valuable app 2025, is wot i say. i spend the day digitizing 12 years of photos. perhaps that's why my body aches so badly.

glycemic chaos

eastbound jet lag

hacking cough

new sensor

a perfect storm, if you ask me

stock take

just the other day i accidentally write '24. soon we'll be saying the latter half of the year.

not done:

dinners with old friends

cross-stitching. felting. embroidery. piano

reading theology

done:

reading lots of (fairly eclectic) books

four trips (excluding JB)

babysitting

still:

working (part-time)

enjoying the work (mostly)

pipe dreams 2

continuing our close relationship with the plumber as different problems surface for re-plumbing. today we check out a new, less financially depleting one. 

he is promising and will henceforth go on the speed dial.

sploot

the long-suffering E who tolerates our hugs despite his clear distaste for overly chummy displays of affection.

the secret diary of hendrik groen (2014)

uproarious frank documentation of rib-jabbingly sharp observations of the elderly occupants of a dutch care home who are mostly semi-independent lower middle-class whites with rather breathtaking xenophobia and other prejudices that ring awfully true. also includes not-unexpected developments that nevertheless manage to blind-side you as you read. 

jolly good fun and poignant at the same time.

this book totally deserves to be read.

back to basics

back to E and regular stuff and tropical mugginess and my old breakfast.

coffee with milk - plain yogurt with almond flakes and choc chips - toast with butter and peanut butter

it doesn't get better. i've missed you!

design thinking

there is the good.

and cute.

and there is the impractical.

like trying too hard.

just try drinking hot coffee from this.

that's it!

end of our extended jaunt for now as we head home to real life. thermal shock E other familial commitments economic responsibility and a leaking sink await. i am grateful for this mid-year interlude. although as HOM says it's been quarter-year interludes to date this year.

room switch

we shiver in the stubbornly cold hotel room despite acrobatic adjustments to the a/c controls. the man comes and agrees with us that our condition is really quite arctic and kindly arranges a new room to which we bring lock and barrel.

the air is warmer here. also, the hot water works! much relief ensues.

in additional reporting i meet another guest in the elevator headed to the same floor as i. she is wearing a winter jacket.

yucksss

possibly the most undrinkable cup of hyper-burnt scalding joe one has had the misfortune to need to purchase at the airport whilst awaiting the hotel shuttle because the driver is on his mornin' break. and my standard is not high, mind you. my cuppa joy is the nespresso coffee, preferably the purple capsule, that's all.

of parks and gardens

queen elizabeth

capilano

stanley

tangled paths and flowery meadows

giant firs and soldierly cedars

luscious roses dainty stars and wild blooms

with the sunlight dappling thru the leaves

be good for the soul

vancouver interlude 2

i meet the whimsical and charming quasi-european version of the city. surprisingly the french accent abounds and we see nary a drug user today. if not for yesterday's sights i would say this is a well-preserved cosmopolitan lady approaching middle age with aplomb.

vancouver interlude

much anticipated visit but a little bit bemusing:

• the chinese food is great
• it's very asian / cosmopolitan
• hardly any cigarette smoke (that's a key city metric!)
• but they vape
• and do drugs in broad daylight 
• and drive fairly assertively for canadians
• on the right side of the road too!

den of thieves - james b. stewart (1992)

smashing good read about bad guys doing bad things and how they get caught, with just sufficient schadenfreude for a fist pump but not so much that it becomes unreal.

the premise is compelling (extreme greed and how it gets tripped up) and reading about it four decades later is still jolly rollicking fun and most enlightening about a time almost half a century ago.

the work done to pull all the multiple threads together is clearly gargantuan. and for an additional bonus, somehow it comes across as better written than many more recent books that trade on speed-to-publication. 

prayers

for J2 and Ji and A, i pray that you may be a team. may one be strong and one be gentle! may one provide and one also provide! may you build a home on the foundation of our most high Lord and may A grow up in love and in faith, in confidence and in health! may your home be a place of peace and welcome and joy and glad surprises! thank you for the past month; we are much privileged and blessed!

for J1 and Y, i pray you may continue more and more to build each other's strengths and cover each other's lack! my heart is gladdened by the core of steadiness that steadies me too. i am encouraged by your kindness consideration and your great generosity. may God grant you to establish a home in which gladness and love always dwell!

for little J, i pray your next endeavor be cheerful and rich indeed! may your next year be a time of discovery and fortification and good excitement and glad surprises! 

for Q and X, i thank God each time i think of you: for your friendship and fellowship and for your daughter who has become our daughter too! 

may God keep us until we meet again.

cruisin' alaska

coming to the end and here are random thoughts:

• spectacular views doesn't begin to describe them (neither do the photos capture them)
• den of thieves was a good read for this trip. that rascal michael milken!!
• the (preponderant) absence of cigarette smoke combined with fresh wind is a wonderful thing

• one could so easily get used to the room-food-gym triangle

• the ship crew are admirably trained; most impressed by their ability to cross-cover
• free-flow of food in a vast variety only goes so long before i hanker for nespresso and toast

• for the record, the uniqlo puffy coat with the marmot raincoat serve well in early May
• most grateful for the extended time with the families. and the weather. and the limited choppiness

communicating with A 2

A is happily in her mother's arms.

A spies the french fries on HOM's plate. 

A reaches out to HOM, like so, \o/

much flattered, HOM takes her over.

A points at the french fries and launches herself at them.

there is clear evidence of logical problem solving here, if you ask me.

cruisin' alaska

spectacular and gorgeous and all manner of superlatives, is wot i say. very glad to be on board just wondering about the day's weather and my next meal.

goodbye, things - fumio sasaki (2015)

materially esthetically and spiritually ascetic if a little verbose towards the end. he is mostly quirky laconic sharp and just a little bit acerbic.

most enjoyable but admittedly an ironic experience to read it in the heart of american suburbia. 

i am much inspired to declutter aggressively.

communicating with A

aaah, aaah means she is hungry. painstakingly learnt after multiple aaahs on repeat.

doh (with a knowing fully expectant look) means i want. 

unh (with an imperious wave of her hand) means i want <what she is waving at> specifically.

noh! appears to mean "no".

\o/ is the universal request to be carried of course.

a tuneless wail means she is unhappy or engrossed or about to put herself to sleep. check context.

uh-oh, as observed, is an expression of glee. the little minx.

as you see, no mama or papa or anything pedestrian like that.

butterfish poke

this gets most beloved f&b outlet award for this trip. kelp noodles salmon avocado sprouts and wakame with spicy mayo topped with crunchy garlic. cover and give a good shake to mix. enjoy!

random thoughts about the US of A

more specifically perhaps, about the west coast.

their houses are enormous and the space is full of stuff. perhaps over time one tends to a more minimalist wabi-sabi esthetic and finds the easy abundance a little overwhelming. 

the vehicles are huge and high although to be fair J2 drives an (extremely dirty) antique compact stick-shift that is just my size.

costco portions are gargantuan the options are delightful the samples are exciting and i love our grocery runs. not to mention the chocolate almonds at trader joe's.

f&b options of the convenient accessible affordable variety are non-existent once you factor in taxes and tips. except for in-n-out burger which is one's absolute favorite burger joint in california. yes, sirree. gimme a double-double protein style!

public transport of the convenient accessible affordable variety is non-existent. 

all transactions take longer because they like to talk here.

sudden light

here two weeks now and it is quite clear that A's first recognizable word, at 13 months, is uh-oh.

uttered when she accidentally drops stuff when we accidentally drop stuff and also when she intentionally flings stuff just before she breaks out into that impish grin.

excursion

we bring A for a grocery run. it is an endurance sport. we need quick reflexes strong core muscles competent upper limbs and resourceful lower limbs.

i finally know the meaning of as happy as a kid in a candy store, HOM murmurs.

le mug

J2 and i go pottery painting and ta-dah! 

you have a nice watercolor effect on your mug! J2 says. that would be because i didn't wait for the coat to dry to apply the second and third coats, but hey if it looks like watercolor who am i to complain?

my facebook feed is now full of pottery decoration videos, wouldn't you know.

in other news, i am zoster-pain-free. even if i am nursing a sore throat and a chest cough.

palaver

possibly emblematic of much that is not right.

glib garish consumerism dressed up in redundancy ostentation and plastic.

yeonnam-dong's smiley laundromat - kim jiyun (2024)

cheery heart-warming and inspiring series of interconnected stories in the tradition of modern jap / korean literature tied together by a jolly mystery successfully solved. very pleasant reading that lingers on after you finish.

the convenience store by the sea - sonoko machida (2024)

continuing the tradition of the gentle undemanding but nevertheless emotionally captivating genre of modern east asian literature for e.g. morisaki and kamigawa and also the korean hyunam-dong books.

in addition to cozy encounters this book has the additional magic of making me want to go buy snacks from the konbini. 

the only drawback is mr. shiba, who i cannot quite get my head around so he remains not-quite-real to me.

the lost and found bookshop - susan wiggs (2020)

much anticipated because the cover announces that it is a new york times bestseller.

the plot is interesting but a bit convoluted the diversity and inclusivity factor is high the writing is pedestrian and at least a couple characters make me wonder why they exist (dorothy and trevor).

much disappointed. although the epilogue is nice.

shingles 4

the zoster pain is now a dull background ache that is just a tad above absent. i almost forget about it sometimes.

to my great relief thankfulness and with much hope-filled anticipation of a pain-free eventuality. 

start of an era

we babysit A for an evening, HOM and i. 

our first time.

thank God it ends with her falling asleep.

'nuff said.

end of an era

this has been there on level 2 of the mall for as long as i have been visiting the mall which is to say pretty much since the '80s. i will miss the comfortable solidness of seeing the long-time anchor business, over-priced kitsch notwithstanding. the other dearly-missed beloved being evergreen bookshop with their used books also on level 2.

the little book of hygge - meik wiking (2016)

1. this book is a little dose of paper hyyge in itself: gently cheery fundamentally decent and altogether cozy.

2. i finally learn the correct way to pronounce the word.

3. i tell HOM we will (ok, partially) decorate the home for christmas this year. perhaps with an advent candle set-up.

4. nevertheless i confess i skip multiply over sections of the book. in particular i skip over the entire outdoors-in-summer chapter.

moving on to fiction next for a bit.

shingles 3: progress report

vesicles are dry. scabs are off. scar is absent. yesssss.

in other news, today i awaken with the same pervasive right-sided body pain but i fancy it is a tad less intense. i stand taller with less effort! i walk with rhythm and bounce! i forget what it is to be pain free but i imagine i am a step closer!

i gingerly step into the day!

interregnum

we fly to visit J2 Ji and A in two days. i run my last clinic three days ago attend the final work meeting the following day send in all my deliverables and show up for the webinar yesterday. HOM bakes the promised cake for his friends attends his piano class and spends the day running errands for his mom. 

now we are in this limbo between frenetic activity and vacation mindlessness and it is a time of delightful languor indeed. it beats rushing to the airport right from the clinic with the wind whipping my sails and checking in by the skin of my teeth, optimization be damned.

throwback toy

my attempt to be thoughtful and circumspect and to STOP TOASTING THAT SLICE OF BREAD IN THE OVEN THAT FITS A WHOLE TURKEY. barring that little detour during quarantine this is our first oven toaster in thirty-five years of consumption. back in the day, i tell HOM, an oven toaster was the height of luxury for us impecunious students in kevii hall. full circle and vive la carousell.

the happiness project - gretchen rubin (2009)

rather me-centric and almost discarded very early on, except she has a disarmingly frank chattiness and lots of ideas about things to do that is rather infectious. in the end i make it to the penultimate month of the year of the project, barring the skip lesions.

the key takeaway is her analysis of unhappiness. ...people cultivate unhappiness as a way to control others. they cling to unhappiness because without it they'd forgo the special consideration that unhappiness secures... unhappiness is selfless and happiness is selfish...

bingo! i think. this describes some people one has encountered to a t.

nomination day

that's today. launching the roughly once-every-five-years two-week circus of grandstanding pipe-dreams flaming arrows repartees and ripostes. my wishes for this time, built upon previous (often unrealized) hopes:

• be gentlemen, gentlemen
• debate the ideas like adults
• and no ad hominem behavior
• so above all, be gracious!

pipe dreams

HOM and i are developing a cozy bosom relationship with the plumber. HOM has him on speed dial. we text him on sundays. we talk to him at 10 at night. we await his visits with great excitement and hope. the kitchen and the loo thank him and his expensive toys.

chinese parents like to say, you must become a doctor when you grow up! or a lawyer! i tell HOM it is a far better strategy to become a plumber. the work is varied challenging whole-heartedly appreciated and the compensation is excellent. plus you don't pay crippling malpractice insurance fees.

spotted in the wild

matching the cake to the garb.

easter sunday

random thoughts:

• strange how tears well whenever we sing certain songs, like and because he lives. it's not even a song one can sing with full conviction, if only because one needs to be so presumptuously confident in one's strength for tomorrow regardless of what happens. my only response is i believe. help my unbelief!
• eating places for families really should have a little corner for people who wish to dine without the need to endure other people's children's screams, not to mention maintain some vigilance so as to avoid incidental pieces of projectile food. lovely lunch that HOM and i have, except we are a little terrorized by Junior of the next cubicle
• thundery showers with flashes of lightning does not begin to do justice to the electrical storm currently holding E the dog in jittery unease and me in thrall and wonder. this is the white-out shower to end previous showers this year-to-date, if i may say so
• how glad i am for easter. how gratefully and with what relief i receive the grace that i do not deserve! you can have your grand experiences and life-changing conversions. i am simply thankful that i do not need to fear the demons at the door because my LORD has fought them for me

surprise six

there is the surprise me dress from zuri and now there is the surprise set of mystery bottles that HOM gets. we appear to be indulging our inner dopamine kid. that, or we are suckers for sales.

good friday

gorgeous sunset after the showers. fitting end to the day we call good.

with a little confession that i find today's worship painfully me-centered. who am i to sing thank you for the cross my friend* to the God of all the worlds? if ever there was a good time to bang our collective heads against the wall this must be it.

*once again (thank you for the cross) - matt redman

calvary

1. sullied stained deformed and fractured 
2. purchased redeemed cleansed and now whole
3. 
   
4. so easy to receive for myself
5. so difficult to extend to another!

palm sunday

1. spirit of God, descend upon my heart. wean it from earth; through all its pulses move. stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art! and make me love thee as i ought to love.
2. 
   
3. i ask no dream: no prophet ecstasies, no sudden rending of the veil of clay, no angel visitant, no opening skies. but take the dimness of my soul away. 

the swedish art of aging exuberantly - margareta magnusson (2022)

this is mostly a collection of essays on life from the perspective of great age written with disarming superficial simplicity so that it reads lighter than oliver sacks' gratitude but is as bijou a book as the other.

not as good as her first book perhaps but still the same spell-binding chattiness.

she shares two pearls i relate fully to: take care of what hair you have (left), and eat chocolate.

good things

not being a rabid nature-lover, here are things that delight even a philistine:

• the smell of outdoors when the rain first starts
• also when snowflakes just begin falling
• being snugged up indoors with hot soup while it storms outside
• and being snugged up indoors with the snow falling outside
• being outside before the rain with ominous skies and the winds in your face
• being outside with that lovely nip in the autumn air
• and nothing beats the joyous riot of a field of wildflowers in spring

there is a pattern here. i don't seem to like summer except indoors with air conditioning.

spring cleaning

on account of being confined because of zoster and of being home alone and of suddenly experiencing an unseasonal attack of energy, i:

• clear out the junk cupboard and put up years of unsolicited samples / souvenirs / empty boxes for onward donation 
• clear out the bookcases and discard several years' worth of antediluvian insurance tax and travel documents 
• clear out the stationery baskets and discover many more unsolicited goodwill products, similarly directed for onward donation

at the end of which the junk cupboard the bookcases and the stationery baskets look as solidly immutable as ever and i retire to bed for a much deserved nap. so much for döstädning.

shingles 2

it occurs to me the time-honored classical description of zoster pain as being dermatomal may have been authored by someone not actually experiencing zoster in the first-hand up-close-and-personal sense.

a personal encounter with zoster will tell you that the pain involves that whole half of the body containing the offending dermatome and is not in any way as civilized and contained as being confined to the dermatome alone. or even the next dermatome. no siree. the pain sadly engulfs the entire half body, freely co-opting neck and limb and other uninvolved anatomical parts. it would cross the midline if it could, i tell you.

in other news, this is day 2-and-a-half of acyclovir and the damn vesicles are still going strong.

my visit to the coffee-shop

what i notice from random furtive glances at various passers-by's cellphone screens is that the top 3 preoccupations of middle-aged-looking people in public when they are scrolling their phone are:

• the stock market
• flight schedules
• text messages (in giant font)

84, charing cross road - helene hanff (1970)

witty self-deprecating charm bundled with all-round goodwill generosity and welcome served on a series of epistles and garnished with the passage of time and history.

luvverly re-visit.

helene hanff is really a refreshingly agreeable writer.

shingles

not the one over the door.

the one that is a dainty cluster of vesicles on a discreet part of the body from which emanates waves of gut-wrenching pain, is wot. owwwwwhhhhhh.

in other news, thank God it's now and not earlier (traveling) or later (traveling). although HOM has to go and ask, why didn't you get the vaccine? fear of needles, that's why.

little idiot (note to self)

having just irretrievably dispatched down the rubbish chute the activation QR code of the new continuous glucose monitoring kit that i buy at a huge discount i am now bereft of the toy i planned to test and am newly committed to a second kit at a smaller discount and thereby negating any discount to begin with. the new technology had better be worth it. 

< cue ominous murmurings much head banging and dark looks at self >

taking stock

xiamen jb (and jb and jb and jb) kyushu xiamen (again) earthquakes fires and storms and monsoon surges illness and infirmity (stalwart companions) politickings and chicanery (robust perennials, these two) meetings and farewells and most lately the bloodbath in the wall street 'hood.  periodically featuring people, some uninvited.

it's enough to put a girl off the rest of the year.

or make her ask bemusedly, where did the first quarter go?

time off

solo ideas for april, the little poster says, and suggests a visit to my favorite coffee shop (great thought!) a trip to the museum (yes! been some time) a walk in the park (that too) or a meal al fresco (until reality sinks in certainly).

here is lunch al fresco (as close as it can comfortably get without breaking into sweat) pour un.

requiem 2

the obituary* comes out. it makes it real now.

i am still too shocked to weep. 

*CPY, who in so many ways was larger than life and showed me what collegiality collaboration camaraderie and friendship can be between otherwise unconnected professionals.

tunch

otherwise tea-lunch.

nice surrounds* decent jazz disappointing grub.

*commune on zhongshan road

bullet train

very smooth ride 3:20-hour-ride from tai ning to xiamen punctuated for 3 hours by the enthusiastic snores of a fellow traveller. shades of sleep apnea, i tell you.

the duchess of bloomsbury street - helene hanff (1973)

sequel-commentary-new book to 84, charing cross street which i must now go read again. written in diary form and in a chatty tone with punches of guileless wit. charming feel-good good-read book much like a slice of almond butter cake with café au lait for tea break, which is to say it is gently heartily satisfying and i must be missing my cakes after three weeks of japanese and chinese fare.

requiem

shocking news as we travel.

sudden departure on vacation. my teacher and my friend. 

too soon. we meant to catch up soon.

giving up the ghost

the quickest way to frighten off a group of middle-aged tourists is to give them their money's worth of outdoor tour attractions on a rainy day at 8 degrees celsius after which there is every chance they will decide to cancel the next day's attractions and hare it out of the county on an earlier train.*

this brings to mind c. northcote parkinson's suggestion of an overdose of exhausting air travel as a strategy to persuade the senior civil servant voluntarily retire.

*3 national parks and a cruise then another national park and a museum, in addition to 2 full meals, all in 1 day.

muwei hotel, tai ning

owing to sudden drop in temperature to freezing and our unfamiliarity with the air-conditioner/heater set-up the warmest thing in the hotel room now is the heated toilet seat and it is looking very compelling as a place of repose.

work in progress

my (cautiously vouchsafed) (politically incorrect) grouses about the (ethnic) motherland in this age of inclusivity and mutual encouragement:

• idiot smokers who can read (because a nation of super sharp streetwise folk backed up by thousands of years of culture clearly can read 🚭) but cannot make the cognitive jump to understand that IT APPLIES TO THEM and therefore destroy the peace the view the atmosphere their natural parks never mind their lungs with the pervasive clouds of tobacco, and
• the toilet situation (although this is improving in the big cities and i am grateful and certainly paper is more often provided than in some other countries) mostly because the public loos are usually wet and so strongly scented with ammonia that you are grateful the lighting isn't any better at the most pungent of them 

those are the main gripes. perhaps augmented by the fact that we fly in from fukuoka.

• a (minor because this is subjective and obviously an entire nation cannot be too wrong, right) gripe about the default decibel of conversational voice which is maximum and the default tone of conversation which is combative so that venturing into public is like going to war

laundry room*

fortunately i aim my google lens on this helpful sign just before i attempt to start my laundry. the translation is i am a dryer! except WHO stacks all the washers on one wall of the laundry room and all the dryers on the far opposite wall and not provide baskets for transportation? clearly someone who does not usually do their own laundry, is who.

*moonyo hotel, wuyishan

moonyo hotel, wuyishan

lovely architecture and interior design, just lacking in the final mile: 

tobacco smoke in-your-face-n-your-nose indoors outdoors and lingering on the non-smoking floor and in the non-smoking room - the washers all stacked on a wall way opposite the dryers all stacked on the other wall (you will understand this gripe only if you do laundry yourself) - no hooks or racks for towels in the rooms - quite clearly uncleaned bits of room, like oil marks on the table - charging port heats up so much you can cook an egg on it - minimal signages to gym laundromat and deck. 

that the artwork is askew appears to be emblematic.

reverse neologisms

time was when chinese transliterated their company names from others, like this.

but these days they start in chinese and transliterate to english. the times they are a-changin'.

a place like home - rosamunde pilcher (2021)

anodyne with no adverse effects beyond a mild irritation, i suppose. 

certainly not what i expect from the effusive reviews although i am not entirely certain what exactly i expect. perhaps a little less placid predictability. also, i find the extreme youthfulness of the female protagonists to be borderline disturbing, although i acknowledge this is par for the course for those days of tall dark masterful males and sweetly attractive females before even mills & boons became harlequin.

i shall shelve pilcher with debbie macomber. good for when one is jaded tired and just needs some undemanding diversion for the eyes.

qulistar hotel, zhongshan lu

• strange quasi-western name, until i realize the quli is hanyu pinyin
• nice new rooms with mod cons
• with very able front desk and assorted staff
• and the mod cons are not too shabby either (meaning to say, better than disposable)
• although the bathroom sink is located in the bedroom itself (creative workaround the space constraint, if you ask me, but i believe purists shudder)
• most unfortunately, clouds of tobacco smoke fill the air indoors outdoors and in between
• and the dryers in the self-laundry are the energy saving good-for-the-environment sump type which results in me bonding much with the laundry set this morning and writing multiple blog posts
• also, the lady in charge of breakfast is a most fiercely strident brigadier who strikes fear into the hearts of staff and diners alike although i am sure she has a humanly beating heart just like us
• but it's the tobacco smoke that kills the stay

skin-of-our-teeth experience

we almost (almost) miss the flight, owing to several facts:

• HOM reads the departure time of 18:15 as 8:15 
• i trust HOM to have read the correct time and do not myself read it
• we plan to take the train at 5 P.M. for the airport
• but we finish tea a tad early and catch the 4:30 train instead
• then the airport shuttle happens to be just about to leave so we hop on it
• and arrive at the airport early (we thunk)
• where they report times in A.M. and P.M. instead of 24-hours
• and it says 6:15 (at which point a slowly growing horror sets in)

on the bright side, we compete with no other passengers because they all presumably read time in 24 hours and 12 hours. 

it is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

new milestone

full day of traveling yesterday and the ol' iphone battery went from 90% to 27% following a day of weather checks travel checks e-book consumption squaredle playing google translate google map and general google use resulting in several hours of nail-biting anxiety over the final few percentage points of the battery life before we finally hit the hotel in the wee hours of the morning. cue great relief and much maternal pride.

the old iphone would have given up the ghost at the dinner-time mark.

old friend

the ubiquitous welcoming face of modern china to shallow capitalist coffee-lover me.

from fukuoka to xiamen

bit o' shock to the system, to be honest. key points of interest, in no particular order:

• forget using the wifi, ye yokels of the westernized world
• there's aural olfactory and visual assault, after the polite restraint of the japanese
• the smokers! the smokers!
• and the toilet seats are stone stone cold, more's the pity
• it's all grimier and grittier than where we were just a day ago

BUT:

• the hotel room's much bigger
• and they provide free self-laundry (much ❤️)
• we have didi on tap
• and e-money works again (big whew)
• it may be grittier but the efficiency gives you a run for your money

best of all, we are back in the home time zone!

almost over

leaving tomorrow, and most grateful for this luvverly interlude, and particularly for (in random order):

onsen - heated toilet seats - extreme road courtesy - google translate - onsen eggs - meiji chocolates - instant hot water - hotel-supplied yukata - kaiseki meals - minimalist wood-predominant esthetics - (apparently) effortless wabi-sabi - anticipated needs

aya suspension bridge

awesome majestic magnificent

makes my legs watery and my bladder nervous.

not to mention the hike up the mountain slope at the other end

wickedly steep for dabblers like me:

i make it up to the shrine by dint of of HOM's nagging.

i make it down by mercy of HOM's hand-holding.

road trip* reminiscences

as we wrap up the trip it occurs to me:

• there are differing travel objectives: food sights experiences shoppin' chillin' FOMO
• and differing travel styles: minimizer maximizer borrower make-doer buyer
• also differing social preferences: grooooouuuuup activities vs please gimme some quiet
• and differing states of consciousness relating to travel objectives personal styles and enthusiasm 
• the ideal group size is probably two or four

*referring to the trip around kyushu island that started as for-two then for-four then ballooned to twelve.

we'll prescribe you a cat - syou ishida (translation, 2024)

charming and whimsical and light with pockets of profoundness packed into a string of interconnected short stories and a rather unexpected twist at the end. (well, it is unexpected to me because i am just flowing with the stories and wondering if we should get a cat too.)

i am now waiting eagerly for the sequel, expected in autumn.

the japanese washroom

everything i love about the washroom:

• it is spotless
• and usually white (or a nice neutral monochrome)
• there's that helpful ledge at the side for your incidentals
• the seat is heated (yassssss)
• with a nifty sinklet for after your ablutions

i could do without the masking sound effects that kick in when you sit down though. 

bonus!

sudden snowfall overnight makes it all a winter wonderland this morning. it brings back memories of clearing the car of its coat of icy ash back in virginia and it leads to some driving challenges and the detour we take BUT this is the surprise snow i thought i would not see this year, to us on a beautiful platter.

mt. aso

we drive up to mount aso but forget to check the logistic details beyond the driving directions. which is how we end up in -2 degrees C in our spring weather gear. 

spotted on the road . . .

... a moped i might ride. the poetic cousin to the smart fortwo, if you ask me.

new gaea, kumato, kumamoto

with every amenity but rather flimsily so. 

the room is modestly (if nicely) proportioned. you collect your toothbrush from a stand near the entrance door. the duvet cover feels like a disposable tablecloth. the pillow is an ultra-light piece of foam that nevertheless succeeds in giving a neck ache. the bedroom slippers are diaphanous pieces of tissue. 

BUT.

the en suite bathroom is a mini onsen-like set-up that makes up for everything above. 

that, and the stable broadband connection.