the.blog @scwleung

ru-in-a-tion [roo-uh-ney-shuh n]

1. the act or state of ruining or the state of being ruined. [Dictionary.com]
2. the final product of someone has ruin your shit. A utter defeat or total destruction on a massive scale. [UrbanDictionary.com]
3. the brief and fleeting sensation upon realizing that your Northern Chinese hosts drink much more heavily than you expected; that their toasts actively involve emptying any glass of alcoholic drink currently in front of them; and that your traveling companion will take on all challenges, regardless of its level of stupidity and damage to the liver. [Sam Leung, 2009]

I believe that effectively sums up my two day stay in beautiful Daqing City. No, that’s not true. Congratulations to Yancey and Jocelyn on a lovely wedding. You two are great together and I hope you’ll share even more years of happiness. We had a truly wonderful time in Daqing City. Your gracious generosity and hospitality will always be cherished and remembered, and I will never be sure if I will ever be able to thank you and your families properly.

Flying back to Beijing this morning, and returning to Toronto by Saturday evening. Take care to you all till then!

At the airport, leeching free wifi. Going to board my flight shortly – will be behind the Great Firewall in a few hours. Let’s hope I’ll survive the trip.

When’s a good time for writing a blog post? Well, when you’re waiting for the sleeping pills to kick in, naturally. [They work like a charm, I don't know how I ever did intercontinental without them for so long.]

Today was a long one – woke up before 6 [that sounds familiar] and went out for breakfast dim sum with my grandfather and parents. Good start to the day, overall. I had about 4 hours to kill afterwards [before my next bout with dim sum], so I decided to grab my camera and go out for a leisurely stroll around the city. I wound up catching some interesting sights and shots [to be uploaded when I have time to touch them up], and even managed to get up to “The Peak” district [guess...it's one of the tallest points in Hong Kong - total tourist trap.] Doing that in 4 hours is no easy feat, especially when the only forms of transportation were a boat [ferry, to be precise] and a tram that goes up at something like a 50 degree angle. The photos didn’t turn out as well as hoped – the smog today was pretty dense. I can barely get anything past the barrier. I’ll see if Lightroom can help with that, but I think this is something with which not even the Almighty can help.

I went for lunch dim sum with my other grandfather back in the city. Nothing more needs to be said about that.

Wandered the city a bit more, tried to get some souvenirs [might have to make a trip in Beijing instead...not much here anymore], and finally got home to rest for an hour or so before being called for dinner. And that brings me to now. Feet sore, sleeping pills kicking in like no tomorrow. Think it’s time to wrap this one up.

Morning in Hong Kong, followed by airport lounging, with the day topped with meeting Jenn and Steve in Beijing.

Good times, no?

I’m safe and sound in Hong Kong – at my parent’s place. It’s definitely been a hell of a day.

The flight across the Pacific was done in one of those fancy new Boeing 777s, where there is noticeably more legroom and personal space as compared to my previous intercontinental flights. This was a huge plus. On the down side, it seems like the extra space came at the cost of precious inches in the aisle. For my 15 hour flight, I must have had everything but bodily fluids spilled on to me. That was mildly unpleasant. Hopefully, the red wine stain will come out of my trousers and the instant noodle soup smell will come out of my shirt. Otherwise, the flight itself was quite dull. I met a couple whose kids went to Waterloo for Engineering [they complimented on my spoken Cantonese, which was different], and they had Easy as Pie on one of the ‘Canadian’ movie channels.

My stay in Hong Kong has been anything but dull. My parents immediately dragged me to the funeral halls to pay my respects to the faimly….lineage. That was kind of nice. It turns out I’ve become quite incompetent with the whole fire concept since my last trip back; I had trouble lighting incenses, making candles stay upright, and if it weren’t for the fact that I didn’t burn myself, I would’ve labeled myself as a fire hazard. I am, however, more than happy to report that I am simply incompetent with this ‘fire’ concept. Thank goodness I was never back in the stone ages; I would certainly have pushed back the development of the homo sapiens species for quite a few centuries.

I had hot pot tonight with most of my extended family. It was nice – and I even tried to speak more Cantonese than I’m used to. I may eventually get a hang of speaking this language again. But then again, maybe I may just be deluding myself. I’m certainly at the age where my mind has become a frozen tundra that is impervious to anything new.

Not many plans tomorrow just yet. If I wake up early enough, I may go for dim sum with my grandfather [dad's side]. I’ve got lunch dim sum with my grandfather [mom's side]. Hopefully, I’ll have some time to go around the city and take some quick photos if the weather cooperates. A part of me suspects that it may have other plans for me instead.

Needless to say, I’m exhausted. I’ve barely slept on the plane, and I was up Saturday morning before 5:30 to get to the airport. Hopefully these sleeping aids will work as advertised, otherwise, I’m going to be in for a rough ride come morning.

Take care y’all. Be home in 6 days or so.

It’s been a while, and I wish I had more to say. But I don’t, so let’s leave it at that.

I’ll be travelling quite extensively next week [YYZ-->HKG-->PEK-->HRB-->PEK-->YYZ, for those who understand airport codes]. I’ll definitely be taking tons of photos, and I’ll try to upload those on the road if I get net access.

It’ll be a rough trip, but I hope it’ll be a good one.

Take care, y’all. See you guys on the flip side!

Sam