Hawaii: Oregon Trail 2012

You're probably wondering what the heck is up with this post title. My recent flights to/from Hawaii were probably as harrowing as the Oregon Trail, the only difference is that I miraculously didn't come down with some horrible illness like dysentery or have to shoot squirrels for dinner.

Last week I traveled to Honolulu to celebrate Lulu and David's wedding -- it was an EPIC holiday where our closest group of college friends, many (such as myself) who are scattered all over the world, were able to spend a solid 4-5 days together. It was such an amazing trip, one that I will never forget. However, I also spent many an hour stranded at Shanghai's Pudong Airport and Tokyo's Narita Airport before and after Hawaii. There's no point in hashing out the details since United/Continental's shitty service is now legendary, but to sum up my "Oregon Trail" included:

- total of 9 hours being stranded at Pudong and Narita, luckily both airports have free wi-fi
- 2 missed connections at Narita (once due to delay, the other because they sold my seat even though I had received a boarding pass already)
- 1 broken luggage handle
- 1 missing luggage wheel
- 0 attempts of compensation
- 1 really annoyed/pissed off/resigned customer

Wah, why are you leaving without me? :(

During my internment at Narita Airport, I found that there was lots of duty free shopping, nice lounges, and plenty of curiosities to keep me occupied... for the first 3 hours. :p Unfortunately Japanese Yen is currently completely pwning the US Dollar right now, essentially wiping out any duty-free benefits. The exchange rate is ~80Y = $1 USD, which is totally nuts since it is normally anywhere between 110-100Y/$1. All I ended up buying was a wedding card, haha. :)

The public waiting areas at Narita are nicer than your average First Class lounges, right?

I also stumbled upon the Origami Museum, which kept me entertained for about an hour. It was very interesting since their displays went way beyond your usual crane and boat figures -- can you imagine the amount of time it took to make these dioramas?

Everyone loves fairy tales!

Cinderella looks like she's about to eat dirt. The Prince looks a bit tipsy, or perhaps he's trying to look up Cinderella's skirt. O_O

This peep-hole was my favorite because it was a bit of an optical illusion, using layers with different depths that added up into a complete scene.

My next several posts will be all about Hawaii, but right now I'm still recovering from all the travel I did over the last week (Seoul, Hawaii) and am quite sleepy. I can feel my brain clunking along.... it's time for bed. Aloha....

Loot: Simply Swatch

This model is called "Once Again" (aka GB743), circa 1999

Gender neutral and utilitarian. LOVE. :)

I've wanted to own a Swatch again for a very long time, probably since the very first gift I've ever cherished was a martime-themed Swatch from my parents for my 8th Birthday. Swatch has a very special place in my heart. :) Generally speaking, however, I've only been able to admire their designs from afar. Their designs are so wonderfully unique and funky, but I prescribe to a more everyday functional and simple style. 

I thought about getting a Michael Kors watch like a lot of people, but found them to be bulky, heavy, and not really me. Plus, I was worried that metal bands would cause an allergic reaction, especially under sweaty Asian summer conditions. I had pretty much given up the thought of wearing a wristwatch again until I saw this simple gentleman sitting at the duty free shop in Pudong Airport today. Welps, snatching this watch up was the only good thing that came out of my flight being postponed today.... Hawaii (again) tomorrow! Fingers crossed.

This is a really cool website that shows you all the different styles Swatch has come out with over the last 3 decades. And I just found my original watch!!!!!! Memories... :)

Circle Circle Dot Dot

10 Corso Como AvenueL Opening Party // Seoul, Korea

Some Korean boy band personally entertaining our group at the afterparty, whee! So many famous Korean celebrities that I didn't know, hahahaha. SO MUCH EYECANDY. 

Everyone had a tremendous amount of fun, definitely a night to remember.

New friends.

New opportunities.

New beginnings!

Loot: Mother of Pearl iPhone Case

OMG. Escher at my fingertips!!!! 

I saw this and fell in love. You're mine.

If there's one overused tool in this modern age then I vote for the iPhone -- I spend so (too?) much time on it emailing, Whats Apping, Draw Something'ing, Tiny Towering, Google Mapping, and yes, calling. Once in awhile. ;)

Because of its constant presence, the iPhone has become a little part of ourselves, and perhaps another expression of our identity. There are a lot of interesting iPhone cases out there, and I daresay you can probably deduce what kind of person someone is by this alone. There are sleek and simple cases, functional cases, hipster cases, cases that only your middle-aged parent would use, blingbling jeweled cases, cartoon animal cases, no cases... 

As for me, I guess I would say that I like patterns, handicrafts, natural materials, all bundled by a sedated portion of glamour. 300RMB on Taobao for a cellphone case is quite expensive, but I need a little everyday fancy, and having this piece of art in my hands is worth the price. :)

Spring in Your Step

Beautiful osmanthus flowers blooming under the auspice of a Shanghai spring.

One day, I will have a backyard full of these trees...

Pleasant weather does wonders for your soul. Shanghai has been blessed by a chain of beautiful CLEAR days where the temperature hovers around 50-60 degrees. I have rarely seen blue skies in China. We've had nearly three in a row this week. It makes me want to skip around throwing confetti into the air. :)

A few days ago while I was brushing my teeth getting ready for work, I discovered a daddy-long-legs crouched on my bathroom ceiling totally spying on me. Pervert! There aren't many animals that I am truly disgusted by... I can handle snakes, lizards, amphibians, worms, rodents... you know, most things that get counted as pestilence. But I CANNOT handle arachnids or insects. I HATE SPIDERS AND BUGS SOOOOO MUCH, they creep the living shit out of me. At the same time, I have an equal (if not greater) repulsion against killing. I really don't like you being in my apartment, Mr. Legs, and you are so gross and disgusting and disproportional, but I cannot squash you. So I took a big Tupperware box and coaxed him into it (oh it was such a precarious process!), and then released him in my apartment's garden on the way out that morning. It's not Mr. Legs' fault that I find him so creepy crawly, so now he can be all creepy crawly amongst the grass and trees and eat bugs all day. Yay!

It started pouring that afternoon, and by the time I got back home the garden was practically flooded. Suddenly I felt really terrible -- had I accidentally sentenced Mr. Legs to waterboarding? Did my good intentions go awry? Was Mr. Legs dead when all I wanted to do was save him? Sure my apartment was warm and cozy, but there's no way that Mr. Legs could feed himself in my (generally?) bug-free environment. But at least he wouldn't be sopping wet. 

I thought about how it must have felt for Mr. Legs to be chilling upside down, probably spacing out or something, and then get suddenly encased by plastic from all sides. And then after a few harrowing minutes of getting bounced around, get unceremoniously shaken out and dumped on some greens. Were you city-folk, Mr. Legs? By no means did Mr. Legs have any control over his fate -- but should I have been less empathetic, he could have easily become Spider Pancake. Spider Pancake <<< Wet Spider, right?

How many times in our lives have we encountered earth-shattering developments that are totally beyond our control?

It rained all night, but the weather has been beautiful since. :)

Now when I come home my eyes will always wander to the spot where I last left Mr. Legs. I like coming home everyday thinking that I have a friend hidden in that garden. As truly grotesque as he is.

Step One

Create a platform for yourself.

And put a brave face forward.

... and get a manicure while you're at it. :p

ARGGGGGHHH!!!!

Hell hath no fury like a cranky pirate captain down with a nasty cold. >:O