getting ready

almost..for my trip. the only part of the word"ready" i am ready for are my travel docs..need to get my camera batteries, test my tamron 28-75 mm more and what else? oh..I forgot..I need to buy wedding clothes..Damn..At least I have the shoes???

I'm making a care package for my sister in law. I have no clue what to give to her and I'm too broke to buy anything expensive like jewellery. I'm putting together some body lotion, body wash, scented candles, face masks, lip gloss and will add a body mist and some candies with a note that these are goodies to take care of herself until we meet in Canada. Then when she comes here I'll most probably take her shopping.

I got most of my items from Bath and Body works. I don't think they carry it in Beijing. Although I'm not a bath and body works consumer except for their Slatkin & Co candles, I think they have such a variety that anyone will find something to their liking. Unlike the body shop and fruit and passion, their scents are yummier. We will see as I know some people love their products-pretty affordable. I also discovered their arometherapy line and the next item on my list is their Lavender-Vanilla bed mist.

My sister in law Z is the "pink cutesy hello kitty" style..like most asian girls from china-japan so I think these products will suit her. I'm trying to make it pink and maybe add a cute plush-key ring. Hmm I know might as well add some Canadian items to give her a foretaste of canada :P This will be when I get my next paycheck..sadly..

I'm exhausted lately and need to recharge myself. Today I had a customer who used the fword during the whole call and I should have asked her to stop but I did not want to bother. My brain was brain dead (imagine the horizontal line on the wave screen) and her words slid on me like water. Just managed to get all her info to get her claim package sent out. Seriously why bother..The week-end was hell due to the weather: Irene oh Irene :/

oh what a day is today

unfortunately I cannot sing like Ingrid Michealson. I got hit by a man in a motorized wheelchair yelling at me if I am fucking deaf o.O; For my own defence, I had my earphones on with Linkin Park playing. I did hear honking but the LAST thing I would have expected is someone BEHIND me honking. Actually I hit him when I was turning back to see who was honking in the street. Jeezus. I hope this closes the day because if there's more to come, let me know so that I can go to bed.

Many things happened since yesterday with my brother's visa, cranky uncle and of course cranky customers that is making me hate who I am. Like Shakespeare said so well: When sorrows come they come not in single spies but in battlions. *puh confidence..confidence..act and stop reacting to external stimuli!!

I need a good book to escape into and a good night sleep. The rest of the world can screw itself.

bilberry longchamps

I was able to snatch one off ebay for $115. i have to admit i did not bid smartly since it was at $86 and I bid too early: 2 mins before ending time. Could have gotten it for < $100. Still it's not a bad deal for a L bilberry bag considering they are $200 tax incl in Canada-the price of my last L size graphite long champs pliage bag. In US, they are $145. With the high CND $, $115 is still ok.

Now I need to get my hands on an orange and taupe one. Call me crazy, these bags are addictive and so versatile.

Shanghai here I come

Itinerary changed from Chengdhu to Shanghai and you bet it breaks my heart. I wanted to see the leshan buddha so bad and the jigaizuh park (sorry about the bad spelling). So we won't see 2 unesco sites and go to Shanghai instead *shrug* because of the floods, whatever happening in Chengdhu sh*t

The good side? The tour is costing less. I'm trying to focus on the positive side. My initial plan was to return earlier to Canada and go to Montreal, but then decided to stick to the tour instead of being bitter about the change in plan. I see Shanghai as another Toronto but filled with Chinese. Who knows I might be surprised?

I finally purchased the tamron 28-75 mm lens. As per the reviews, it's a good macro and zoom lens. I hope to have time to play with it before leaving as it has been purchased from a Canadian ebay seller and lens are so freaking expensive.

I've also been walking with a colleague almost every afternoon-good to get some exercise- and I learned some surprising things about some people...office gossips :P but then who am I to judge these people anyway. Still I was like "what???? are you KIDDING me??" What I heard does not match the face at all :-0

I'm so tired (I wonder if there is a time where I am NOT tired?) and have a long champs pliage bag obsessions despite owning 4 of them ><;

incense

picture source

Today I woke up (late) with the thought that it has been a long while since I smelled incense. The smell of burning incense-sandalwood is something that has pervaded my childhood. When I lived with my grand mother as a kid, my sleep would be half broken as she got out of bed at 5 am, followed by my grand father who went out to buy bread. Soon the house was filled with the smell of incense as she did her morning prayer. I still remember her infront of Tin Ti Koung, her mala beads in hand as she recited her daily prayer. It was a peaceful day: grand mother kneeling and praying- the morning sun filtering through the window, the slow rise of the incense smoke, her voice and the noise of boiling water followed by the yummy smell of vanilla-bois cherie tea.

At home, my dad would wake up at 5 am and do his round of prayers: 3 incense sticks infront of Tin Ti Koung, 3 infront of Pao Koung and 3 next to Kwung Yin, Ti Koun and Fut Chu. They always go by set of 3 or odd numbers as my mother would say. 2 hours later, it would be my mother's turn to light up the incense.

Each first Sunday of the month would be the routine tour to all pagodas in Port Louis: La Rue Magon-Ah Fi Si, Les Salines for Tin Ti Koung and next to Champs de Mars-Amin Koo.

My dad would always use the big incenses and my mom the skinny ones. I recalled how each time I struggled to remember the number of incense sticks you had to light at each pagoda (1 or 3 for each god depending on his importance) and after a while I wanted to use the bigger incense sticks like dad because they were cooler, which I did... and ended going back to the skinny ones because it was too much of a hassle to carry 20 big sticks in your hand.

Countless number of times, I burned myself from the falling incense cinders. I would finish my Sunday trip at the pagodas with both hands stained yellow from sandalwood powder or fuchsia from the incense sticks and smoky clothes. Then off to dim sum or buy bread for lunch. These days looked like they would last forever. Every Sunday Afternoon dad would play mah jong with my cousins and a friend.

Why am I having these memories now?? Scenes from the past flashing in my mind, leaving a longing to go back home to the days where you thought the sun would always shine over the rainbow. (It still does but time is making me more cynical). Why do I remember some things and not others? What trigger these memories? Why does a part of us always long for a past long gone. Is it because what we knew is more comforting than what we don't know or have yet to know? Why do we bother with memories from 9 years ago or things said and done in the past? When do we forgive ourselves and move on. How do we choose what to remember and what to forget?

Some days I want to lie down and immerse myself in my memories like a child cuddling next to her favorite "doudou" plush toy: the familiarity,security and comfort of known things..long gone..

I ended paying $25 for the taxi which sums my taxi expenses to $ 125 this month because I had early or late work hours with no bus hours. Such a waste of money. My shift was at 7 am but in my head, I had to wake up at 6 am to take the bus when it should have been 5:30 am. Drat, deal with it now. It was a slow but busy day although a part of me was not there..

**partly inspired by "what is it" by Lynda Barry. GET IT people!