Day 4

Lunch was kushikatsu, and it was more delicious than it looks. The sauce on the right is communal so no double dipping. 

Had puffer fish sashimi and ovaries followed by ramen for dinner. The puffer fish was very good but also expensive.

I like living dangerously.

Day 3

Haven't been able to travel far for lunch and it's slim pickings around the conference area, so I ate a simple lunch of grilled mackerel that tasted home made.

Dinner was at a famous place for kitsune udon,  Usami-tei Matsubaya. 

Day 2

Taiko drum performance by a local high school troupe at the conference. Who says Asians are effete? Those kids have serious muscles.

Diner style curry pork cutlet for lunch.

Visit to the Osaka Peace Center for me and the castle for my mom.

Then off to Umeda and a random dinner under the tracks. It turns out we ordered beef stomach and vegetables. Pretty good, actually.

Super tired. Glad we're staying at a hotel with hot springs baths. Cheap but serviceable.

Day 1

Breakfast at kuromon market.

That white baloon like stuff is very creamy fish roe.

Cheap lunch at tenjinbashi shopping street.

Followed by a beer dinner at matsusaka-project.

Japan

Managed to pack only one carry on bag for a week of travel. Trying not to wonder if I forgot anything important. Still don't love the start of a trip. Too anxious, but can't wait to eat yummy Japanese food!

Home group social

Working outside

Trying to read and think outside my office. It's finally warm enough!

But it's never quiet enough in HK. Listening to Tartini's Devil's Trill sonata on my smartphone. (Disclaimer: hate the theology, love the music. )

aha

Lesson learned: people are often inspired to share their stories as a response to vulnerability.

Spring fever

And, I am sick again. Can barely speak after a week of not feeling sick and not feeling healthy. The worst of both worlds? Hope I am healthy during my trip to Japan.

thankful for friends

Last week did not start off well--writer's block--but it picked up toward the end after good conversations with friends, and playing baddy with the boys who are light years better.

Fingers crossed for a better writing week.

How to say goodbye

USA: Bai!

Malaysia: Bai-bai, or baaai!

Hong Kong: Buh-bai, buh-bai! 

CIA

This morning, I am very thankful for my home group. They have been so gentle and vulnerable, and I need to learn be that.

is this normal?

I realized yesterday that I'm tired EVERY SINGLE DAY. How is this possible?? Maybe I really need to give up badminton. But if I give up badminton and I turn fat and still feel tired all the time, then I would've lost valuable playing time. I'd have to start working on my fitness and touch all over again too. That's quite a bit of risk to take especially when my playing days are numbered. How much longer can I do this anyway??

I could barely drag myself out of bed to go to Sunday school yesterday. Of course, I ended up having a lot of fun with the kids. Erin who's usually very quiet chatted with me for a little while and I fixed her glasses for her. Then, even her painfully shy cousin, Cristabel, whispered "Thank you, Teacher Z," and laughed when I wrestled with Curran and Talon. I didn't even know Cristabel knew my name! Her mom made the effort to learn it and must have taught Cristabel. I guess children start to remember more by age four. (And maybe I shouldn't have wrestled with the boys. That was extremely undignified.)

Only four more Sundays of helping out with those kids between now and June, and I'll miss them but I'll be glad for the break too. 

Faculty retreat 3

Tired and not happy that I had to walk up to campus on a Saturday morning but I am already enjoying the first session! I really enjoy the sessions taught by OT scholars. Maybe it's because I barely understand the OT when I read it myself. 

weekends

Two dinners, one lunch, and watching the boys' team match over the weekend means I'm all out of buzz on Monday morning. I feel like I really need one full day at home on the couch for me to feel ready to go again the next week.

Lightweight, I know.

Finally, a bible in my own language!!

The WHOLE Bible translated into this language?? Totally, totally awesome.

dork

Do we all look goofy when we laugh? I think I do. I noticed yesterday that my doctor looks very goofy when he laughs. He looks so strict and serious when we discuss medication options even when it was only a choice between antihistamines and sudafed for my congestion. (He gave me one that includes both, and it is fairly effective. I'm sure you really needed to know that.) But he looks goofy too. And my friends looked goofy when we cracked dumb jokes over lunch this Sunday.

Well, you know, as long as I'm not the only one who looks goofy, I'm all good. But did God make us look goofy when we laugh?

Oxymetazoline hydrochloride. How would I survive colds without oxymetazoline hydrochloride, I will never know. It's the only way I can breathe.

This winter needs to be over. Really.

Tiffin carrier

My aunt gave me a tiffin carrier for Chinese New Year. It should help reduce some of my waste when I get takeouts. However, I must remember to not get the "spicy shredded pork Peking style." I'm not sure it's Peking style at all and it's more sweet than spicy. Yuck.

Cny Afternoon Zzzzzz

There's no bed for all of us, so I sleep on the floor. This is what I see.

More home cooking

Mee suah

Lunar new year miracle

Left town early with mom and avoided holiday traffic!! Extremely thankful.

Cny

Yum yum.

dong dong dong dong dong

I hate the noise pollution coming from the construction site outside my office building. El Cheapo built a building that looks beautiful to people who don't use it but neglected to give us double glazing so that we can work in peace. I walk into my office only to want to walk out even with my new but practically useless noise-canceling headphones on. The headphones cancel out only steady sounds, not the incessant but unpredictable piling sounds. I used ear plugs all of last week but my ear canals became sensitive. The new subway station won't be finished for the next two or three years! What other surprises await us? Oh, the pain.....

By the by, I love finding new songs and artists through 8Tracks. Here's Tossing Copper with "Truth be Told":

spring season matches have commenced

This will be my second season of playing with the club, and so far, it is a lot less dramatic, and I hope it stays that way. I played with a couple of guys I didn't play with last year even though I know them of course, but playing with them in the same event (mixed doubles) showed me different sides of their personality. During practice, they're both really nice, soft spoken, and laid back. During a match, they are still really nice and soft spoken, but they are not in the least bit laid back! They want to win!!!!

If I had played with them last season, they would have made my match nerves worse, but now I know when to block them out--no, Aaron, "go go go" is the last thing I need to hear now--and when to listen to them--thank you for telling me that it's okay even if I hit shots into the net!--so I guess I've matured somewhat over the last year. I'm also learning different things when I play with different people, so that's pretty cool.

Life in 2014 is as busy as always. 

City Harmonic's "Holy"

first day back at work

I used the app, "Stress Check," while reading a grad student's draft, and the results came back "very high" at 74%. When my body is at rest, my stress levels are at 2%. As per my colleague's advice, I've encouraged this student to seek counseling, and there are so many more things I'd like to say to this student but cannot for professional reasons.

Hello, 2014! Goodbye, new year resolutions!

Newlife worship, "Strong God"

of ends and beginnings

A vision: me as a girl playing with sticks, stones, and mud. It's a picture of joy and delight, and I thank God for the reminder of how he has blessed my year. But what does this mean for 2014?

End of 2013

Someone, please peel me off the couch.

Looking Ahead

Over the last couple of days, I realized that I couldn't remember what 2013 was about. And as I looked through my blog posts, a lot of them have been about baddy! Of course, I don't always write about what matters to me, so this blog only records particular kinds of pictures. But it's still pretty telling. This year has been remarkable for what baddy has taught me, but it has also been remarkable for the spiritual lessons I've been learning through the Christian faculty seminars I've been to this year. They remind me to rest in God's vision for me as a human being, and that makes life a lot saner and happier.

Baddy and care group have taught me how little I know about relating to others--and yes, I will venture to say that HK culture is strange--and how I need to "rel-a-a-a-x-x-x....." (And why others won't learn to be more efficient and responsible, I'll never know!) Some of the girls in my care group have taken the time to explain why I need to relax. So, if an event is "social," i.e. not work-related, everyone's not going to be on top of things and may not schedule a date, time, location until the very last minute. Plus, they may not give you all the proper info such as the best way to get to the location, or how long the event will last because, well, it's for fun and everyone wants to just kick back and take it easy.

Sure, that works, except when you're someone like me who tries to pack too many things in her schedule and ends up inconveniencing other people I'm meeting after event X or Y because I got the wrong info, or because I have to miss events because I already agreed to something else for that evening. Or, more annoying, I have to reschedule with other parties so that I can do all I want to do. Plan, people, plan! Life is short!

Now, I'm learning to say to myself, it's okay to miss a few things or to be late to an appointment because I should "rel-a-a-a-x-x-x....." like almost everyone else.

Anyway, I'm learning. Slowly.

More on resolutions another time.