Friday, September 30, 2011

Typhoons and madness!

Sorry it has been a while.  Why am I still surprised when things are busy?  A summary of the last few days?  Ok here you go:

I had the past three days off which was nice/hard at the same time.  I found out a buddy of mine had to leave the country so I had planned to go see him before he took off but things got a little crazier than I originially anticipated! 

Our house turned into a proper share house for the week which has been weird.  We have had someone's girlfriend because her roomates parents are in town, we have also had a tattoo artist staying at our place and working out of R's room!  He starts so early too!!!  So at 9:30 am you wake up to the droning buzz of that ruckus.  And then on Tuesday, I got word that a friend of a friend was stuck in macau without a place to go so we took her in as well!  It's been crazy.

Anyway, I went over to HK on Weds to see my very stressed friend.  Loads of immigration problems but it was nice to hang out before he got the boot!  But then on Thursday there was a T8 which means a bigish typhoon!  That means no ferrys back to Mahcow!  Oh no!  So I ended up spending another night and feeling a it guilty about it but it's all good.  Luckily he got his shit sorted out in the end and I was able to come back on Friday morning.

And now... I have today off because it's a public holiday.  So I am packing packing packing and starting to deal with my own immigration problems!  Yuck!  More to come soon including probably something ranty soon about how much I hate immigration but for now, that is it.  Back soon!!

xoxo

K

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Weekend update!

What a nice week!  Super crazy per usual but also super productive!  We booked all the flights to Cambodia and back after a bit of a nightmare but in the end it was done.  We will be in around and near Phnom Penh for three days or so and I am expecting that to be heavy... From what I have heard and read it is intense, because as a tourist you are obviously reminded of the 70s and the Khmer Rouge etc.  When I was in Hiroshima last spring the thing that caught me so off guard was contextualizing all of the information and trying to relate it to modern day timings I think?  If that makes sense at all?  The perspective of how close to NOW all of that happened and obviously THAT was 1945. 

I'm not saying that there is a relation between the two other than fact that hundreds of thousands of people were killed in each (or more obviously).  Anyway.... I think it's important to see those things and try to understand what happened.  I also think it's important to feel uncomfortable in those situations, it would be wholy unnatural to NOT feel uncomfortable.

Then we will be taking a boat ride North or at least that is the plan... either via boat or bus (both roughly 6 hours) to Siem Reap to see temples for a few days and perhaps rent some motor bikes and take a little side trip to one of the fishing villages.

Sooo that is good!  We leave on Oct 6.  My last day of work here is Oct 2 and I get my work visa taken away on Oct 3.  Then I must be out of Macau for GOOD by Oct 13.  How scary is that?  It's a little scary because my flight for San Fran doesn't leave until the 16th so I need to head to HK and hang out for a few days but seriously there are worse places to be for sure!

What else is going on?  I just had a good but again, busy (always with the busy!) day off.  Good food, good fun, and got some work done.  And now... a four day work week followed by three days off and then a final four days at work!  Oh my goodness!!!

In other news:  I ditched the goldielocks and went back to brown.  And I cut it short again.  Best and easiest decision I have made in a while! 

More soon.

xoxo

K

Thursday, September 15, 2011

2011-12 Travel Dates and Plans

So I can catch up with all you amazing people on the West Coast of America and Europe.

  • Oct18-Dec20 San Francisco
    • This is also include a trip to LA and possibly Portland - Dates TBC 
  • Dec20-26 Tallahassee FL
    •  Home to visit the family for a few days and my first x-mas at home in a long time
  • Dec26-Jan03 Ecuador
    •  Kayaking with some of my most favorite people EVER!
  • Jan04-06  Paris
    •   I can't fly to London direct but I can make it to Paris.  Stop and visit a few people for a few days and freeze my butt off!
  • Jan06-Feb15 London

Then: San Jose, Atlanta, Washington DC, Boston, and ending 2012 in NYC.  And then?  We will see if I make it that long on tour.

Can't wait to catch up with everyone!!

xoxo
K

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Spinng spinning spinning...

... out of control!  Seriously started packing today.  Instead of making me feel more settled and better about everything.  It made me feel worse!

I know this is the right move for me but then why am I so sad to leave?

This is yet to be determined...

In other news:  Had a fantastic day off in Hong Kong today which was both productive AND enjoyable.  That doesn't happen often enough in my book!

  • Electronic shopping - check
  • camera bag update - check
  • outdoor store errands - check
  • fancy pants dinner with Macau homies - check
  • fancy pants drinks - check
  • laughing til we cried in the middle of an outdoor shop - check
  • crying til I laugh whenever I think about leaving these guys - CHECK

Pictures and posts to follow tomorrow.  Right now it's bedtime and an attempt to process some recent developments.

xoxo
K

PS I miss you too!!!
PPS I realize that all of my recent posts are about how crazy everything is.... and are a bit lacking in substance.  I'm working on it.  Suffice to say it has been a big week!
PPPS  I think this is fucking beautiful.  The music, the video, the ambient noise in the background. everything.  This is 7 years in the making.  Listen underneath, to all of the things that help support the vocals.  Stunning in my opinion.

Monday, September 12, 2011

CAKES FROM THE MOON?!?

The mid autumn lantern festival takes place every year and it's a pretty big deal, second only to Chinese New Year really in Macau.  Lotus lanterns are flown everywhere:
It's a lunar harvest festival that is about 3000 years old!  Mooncakes (not my favorite thing ever!  More to come on that later) are eaten, lanterns are flown, and matchmaking is made.

There are lots of stories and legends surrounding this festival about Houyi and Chang'e who is the Moon Goddess.  She lives on the moon but isn't actually the moon...   The one I heard yesterday:

Houyi was the hero and Chang'e was his wife.

ONCE UPON A TIME, the world had 10 Suns in the Sky. It was too hot. But a wonderful Archer (Houyi) came one day and shot the extra Suns from the sky. Then there was only the 1 Sun, and it wasn't too hot anymore. As a reward, he was given a magical potion from the Rabbit that lives in the Moon. (In case you don't know, the rabbit in the moon is awesome at making medicine and other potions. True fact.)

OH, NO! BAD GUYS HEAR ABOUT THE MAGICAL POTION!

One day, when the Archer was out hunting, the Bad Guys come to his house to steal the magical potion. Only his wife (Chang'e) was home. What to do? She can't fight the Bad Guys! She knew that the Bad Guys couldn't steal the potion under any circumstances, so she drank it!

And it made her start to float. (And immortal, btw.) All the way up to the Moon. So, that's where she lives now. With the Rabbit. And she gets to be called The Princess in the Moon.
But, she's sad because she can't come back to Earth. (Although Rabbit is totally working on it.)

BUT ON ONE DAY HER MAN CAN COME TO HER! (As it should be.)

When the moon is close. And that's why it's all full and beautiful. The lovers reunite. But, then, he's gotta find his way back to Earth - so we all light lanterns so that the Archer doesn't get lost. Awwww sweet no?



Now... back to the mooncakes.  They are these little round pastry things.  They look pretty.  And I think they are yuck!  When you cut them open they have a lotus seed paste or a white bean paste surrounding a duck egg yolk or egg yolk so that when you cut it in 1/2 it looks like a moon.  There are also contemporary ones that have basically anything that you can turn into a paste, yucca, yam, pineapple.  But I think they are all gross.  But during this festival it's customary to give them and have them be given to you.  So if course its impolite not to eat them.  Bleh!  One more thing I can't say that I will miss.  MOONCAKES!   

Saturday, September 10, 2011

And the heros are...

Cambodia and Laos...   Here we come...

Let me introduce you to the travelers:
Name: Richard Craig Booth aka Mr Humphrey aka 'Humph'
Occupation: Travels with the circus as a vet.  Almost completed vet school however dropped out at the last minute due to unknown circumstances.
Weapon: Matchsticks
Special Ability: Sound effects, he can reproduce any sound known to mankind and confuse his enemy... kind of...


Name: Emily Rose aka Jezebel aka Jez, not Jess
Occupation: Circus freak, carny, fire eater, fire twirler, pyromaniac
Weapon: Flaming Lamborghinis
Special Ability: Reading minds and speaking the truth


Name: Keiko Fox LeMon aka Tallulah aka Lu
Occupation: Stripper, Fire Dancer, fire breather, hula hooper
Weapon: Laser beam eyes
Special Ability: The ability to call you out on your bullshit from a mile away


Watch out... the trip is being planned.... only trouble will follow.  Stay tuned.  Humph, Jez, and Lu will be traveling in early October to Cambodia and Laos for a final hurrah before Lu forever leaves for the traveling circus.  Should be good. 

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Oh my goodness! I'm a hugeballofstressandworries!!!!!

IMG_0517

I am worried and stressed.  Actually, no that's a lie, I am on the verge of being super stressed and worried about everything.  Can't you tell?  Look at the worry eyes, I can't hide them!!  Will I ever get to a point where I stop worrying about what is to come and just let things be?  (On a side note, will I ever NOT wear whatever I am thinking on my face?)

I know I said I wasn't going to start worrying or stressing until Friday but going back to work today was kind of crazy.  Nothing went wrong, the show was fine, but even though I know my department will be ok when I leave and they will make it work until they find a replacement... I hate the fact that my leaving makes things harder for people!  I don't want my going to mean that people can't go on holidays back home, or that they can't have as much time off as they would like, or that their days will get considerably more monotonous.  Yuck!!

But that is the reality.  At the moment we have three tracks to our show in my department, and at th moment we have 4 people who can run those three tracks.  It's a big math game, but the basic idea is that at the moment we can swing around and do different things during the day because there is more than one person who knows how to do all of the jobs required.  When I leave that changes...  so you will be stuck doing the same job every day until someone new learns the job. 

Anyway, there was some general chatter of 'soon things are going to be hard' and there is nothing I can do about it.  That sucks!  I don't like hurting people or making things hard for people and I genuinely try to make the best out of most situiations and be an optimistic person.  So while I know my coworkers are happy for me, they will be worse off for me having left... and having that in the back of my head makes me feel a bit sad.

I know they will be ok... It just sucks to be the one who is about to make things harder.

Full full full 10+ hour day tomorrow.  Maybe the atmosphere will get a bit better!

xoxo


K

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

a day of random nothings.

Today I didn't think about anything.  I didn't worry about anything.  I didn't plan for anything.  I didn't do much of anything either.  

Today I : 
  • had a solid window of sunbathing (with sunscreen of course!  no sunburns here!)
  • changed my nail color
  • Finished one book and started another
  • had frozen yogurt 
No working out, no stressing about moving, none of that.  Tomorrow I do not start work until 5 and I plan to do ONE more day of nothing before I start to think about the task at hand.  I worry about things, I always have.  But not today... not tomorrow.  Friday.  Let the stress start on Friday. 

xoxo


K




What I am listening to right now:

I love them.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Long Sleeve Weather FantasySoonToBeReality


I woke up this morning with the realization that soon... my weather and seasons will be changing drastically. And I smiled.

I am soon to be headed for the cooler weather of San Francisco. And though I like bathing suits, the smell of suntan lotion, big sunglasses, painted toenails, and being basically naked most of the time. I love love love long sleeve weather. My favorite weather is in this moment: walking outside in the city, with a lightweight cardigan and scarf, in my riding boots or wedges (the red or yellow ones), with my favorite jeans.... the ones that make you both feel uber comfortable and look amazing as well and they somehow cross the threshold from afternoon to dressy without a problem. That outfit, and you are ever so slightly chilly and would like to be holding a hot drink because the ends of your fingers are ever so cold and you might need to shove them in your pockets. That moment.... that weather.... makes everything better! It makes me want to give people more hugs, both because you appreciate the warmth and it makes them feel better too!! Win win win!

In my current weather, I still hand out lots of hugs, but they are generally sweaty and not as awesome as cold weather hugs. I can not wait!!! Plus I think people just look nicer in colder weather clothes.

PS I am love with her boots. Now is not the time to buy shoes.... Buuutt... I am getting rid of all my sandals. Hmmmmmmm....

Monday, September 5, 2011

Future travels?




Well I have started making plans... I have to hold off for a minute on specifics regarding this next move but what I can say is that either way.... I handed in my resignation here yesterday which means that as of today I have 28 days of employment left in Macacu! So sad in some ways! I have learned a lot here both about myself and about work and about people. In some ways macau both broke me down and helped me stand at the same time.


It is a weird place and I am not sure that many people can understand it. It's a bizarre situiation to live on a 23 square mile island. Hong Kong is amazing and one of the places that I will miss the most from here. HK is awesome and I think that if our show was based there I could stay for a long time! But heading to HK once every one or two weeks just isn't enough to make up for the fact that I spend the majority of my time on an island where there just isn't enough going on!


I had some trepidation about leaving this job, mostly because I felt bad potentially hurting the people who I work with by leaving them short staffed. But I have to think of myself first* and I know that they will make it work. And at the end of the day I have spent over two years here and I don't owe them anything!** I will miss parts of it here and I sometimes do worry about my ability to integrate back into society. :) I've basically been living on a weird reality based TV show for a while now... Cirque survivor?


Anyway... after I leave here I will hopefully have about a week and a half to do what I please. I am thinking Cambodia, Vietnam and maybe Laos?? Three places that I would like to see before I head out. And I think that is do-able in that short time. If I had a bit more time before going I would really really love to go to Nepal. It's absolutely one place that I said I wanted to go and I haven't been. It just means that I will have to put it on the back burner for now but I will make it one day. It's too amazing not to go.

I ALSO wanted to make my exit here via the Trans Siberian Railway which I will also not do.*** Again, it's on the bucket list. One day... Some amazing photography to be had there I am sure and not hugely touristy which I like especially if you go from E-->W at least that is what I am told. Anyway, I am off for now, shows to run, plans to make!

xoxo

K.


* surprisingly this is something that I rarely do.

** This was a recent teaching- Thanks Dad.

*** Super sad face about this one. I had the trip all planned out and costed including what cities I would stop at and for how long etc.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

On the road again.

More to come... but here is a preview of the news. Documents were signed today!












Friday, September 2, 2011

recap and almost big news!!!




Big news in a few days! I should be able to say in about 24 hours? BUT this is interesting and big and fun and exciting. I hope my luck is turning around. This has been the longest 10 days of my life it seems...

BUT here are some fun pictures from the past few nights schnanigans.


We went to a party and I learned that Roger can control lasers!





And once the blacklight came on I realized that I still (despite days of scrubbing) still looked like one of the suspects on CSI!




Too much was imbibed.



It's weird that I have known this guy for so many years.



But it's nice to work with people you love so much!



At some point I got sleepy and demanded to go home



But not before Em made a friend and 'saved him' from his tortured mirror frame life that was...



We had a zombie....



And superhero..... Party.



I was one of the undead....




But found spiderman jumping on my bed!!!!



But not before the mass attack that killed or rekilled us all!




It was fun but I am so glad it is over. Watch this space. Big news tomorrow.... I promise!!!


xoxo
K.