70th Day in a new place!

1998 New York

Trying hard to squeeze forward, we managed to see those 15-feet huge balloons, Mickey, Donald duck, Charlie brown…etc. I celebrated my first ever thanksgiving alongside with thousand others at the Macy Parade. Strolled along 48th Street and picked up a cold $10 thanksgiving lunch. I wondered why on earth people like to eat turkey, which I later knew and experienced a better taste one.

2000 Hong Kong

9pm, last day of the year of 1999: Back from a trip to Korea and craving for a deep soak in the tub, I found my own Y2K problem – the whole apartment was flooded with 1.5 inch of water. Long vacation means no one at work. I spent the next 5 hours draining water out and laying newspaper on the floor, with new year firework and car horns being the backdrop.


2001 Beijing

A typical Saturday started with an hour visit to the gym, followed by a dim sum lunch, which might have wiped out all the hard works. A random stroll in GuoMou (China Trade Shopping center) to check out the new arrival at H&M, stopped by Starbucks to pick up a cappuccino. Late for a facial appointment. Never mind. Timeliness is not that important in this city. Going back home with a $1.2 taxi reminded me even with all the luxurious indulgences, I was still in Beijing, a city where quality services are scare. “Sex and the city” was shown on HBO, my typical Saturday late night ritual. The next channel just announced China’s winning of Olympics 2008. I was proud, excited, and looked forward to the event. Only that who will know where I will be in 2008.

2006 Toronto

A glimpse through the window already gave me the hint that fall has silently arrived. Early morning joggers wrapped themselves in long-sleeve sweater while other passenger put on their new fall fashion – long wool jacket and leather boots. An afternoon walk was both refreshing and relaxing, with the caress of the breeze and the sound of leaves rustling. Bedford road was carpeted with a variety of fall leaves, pale yellow, orange brown and burgundy red. It reminded me a very famous restaurant in Beijing, "Green Tea House", which once collected and lay fall leaves on the floor to welcome the guests. It was also on the mid-autumn festival. Someone ever told me that the older you are, the larger the moon you would see. Tonight, I indeed saw a fuller and larger moon than all of those I had seen before. It could be my age, or, I prefer to think, I now know better to appreciate a moon