Heading Home

I've been up since 4AM thanks to jetlag so I will update.

I'm back in California after having spent the past two weeks in Hong Kong and Beijing!

Hong Kong is such an amazing place. I remember when I first visited my cousins there; amidst the hustle bustle of street vendors selling shoes and egg balls, financial types shuffling to and from work, the winding roads wafting with the essence of traditional China, oldtown Great Britain and the one-of-a kind Hong Kong, I was set on making the city my permanent home. No matter what I did for a living, I wanted to be able to do it in the place where I can hop on the mini-bus and ride to Causeway Bay to do some shopping, or mingle with Stephen Chow in Volar, or drink high tea at 4 in the afternoon.

This time, the visit felt a lot different. Having graduated college for half a year now and getting a slower start on my career and life than I had anticipated (no full-time job, no marriage proposals, no investments in a home), I wasn't able to enjoy Hong Kong as just a vacation anymore. It was more of a wake up call, like, "hey, if you want to make it here, get your ass up and take action!"

The city is constantly moving and the people are constantly talking-about you. You're lucky if they're talking about you. Everyone wants to stand out, make something, make money. Money was never my first ambition but maybe it should be. I want to be able to support and give back to my family as soon as I can. I also want to do what I'm passionate about. I hope I can find a balance with the two wants.

My greatest fear is to have unfulfilled potential. I am dedicating this year to making sure that never happens.

Dear Helen

Helen and I were meant to be friends. Everyone who knows the two of us knows and says so. From our outlandish laughs to our love of all things colorful, musical and quaint, our two quirky souls were meant to align.

She's also a passionate traveler, so it was inevitable that we would embark on a journey together.

Before we traveled, Helen did the MOST AMAZING thing. She itinerar-ized our entire trip and made us handy dandy schedules containing all the useful information that one might need while traveling. I still have that guide and friends are still calling me asking to borrow it to use as a model for when they're planning their trips.

Oh and what a journey we had! Read on for deets (and pretty pictures!)

Fate

It's funny how things work out sometime. 

With only one and a half months left in Hong Kong, I had been planning a last AWESOME trip to Korea to end my half year of travels.  This was going to be the creme de la crop.  All my closest friends know I have not-so-secret ambitions of becoming a korean pop-star and this trip was going to help me make it. (Or at least give me some eye candy for a couple of days).

But then Thailand happened. I became wary of traveling and I was/am really disappointed in myself for being so naive and gullible.  I became scared of parting with hard-earned dollars.  I became guilty for playing so much and not being productive enough.

So though my friends tried their darned hardest to convince me to go, using lines like, "we'll never hang out like this back in LA" and "money you can always earn back but memories are priceless" (and it worked, I swear I was swayed for a good long time!), in the end, I decided not to purchase my plane ticket.

I was still debating over this up until about an hour ago when I received a phone call from my mama.  She sounded tired.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries and then she casually dropped in the fact that she was going to have surgery a couple of weeks from now.  

Um..say what?

Ok, so the surgery is not that serious but surgery is surgery. (unless if it is, say, bunion surgery or eyelid surgery then maybe it's not that serious but even then, you'd have my utmost support.) So when I heard that she'll have to stick around Shanghai for at least another couple of weeks, I immediately told her I can fly to Shanghai and visit her for a couple of days.  Normally, my mom would decline saying she'll see me in just a month but this time, she immediately said yes.  So it is definitely the right thing to do.  AND I GET TO SEE MY MOMMY BEFORE JANUARY!

The irony in all this is definitely not lost on me.  For the Korea trip, even though my friends were using all these convincing and appealing points to tell me why I should go and even though I really really do want to go, something in my gut held me back.  I know everything happens for a reason and now, I think I see what that reason was for.  

Oh God, you are so wise.  I thank you for your endless guidance and aide in times of hardship and unhappiness.  You have only shown me once again that everything has a purpose and only time will reveal what that purpose is.  I know I am impatient in so many ways but once again,  you have taught me that immediate gratification will never fill the longing in my soul. I need so much more.  I need You.

So I was browsing through my old roommate Dorothy (a.k.a. Dessertobsessed)'s old blog entries and I realized that I had totally been tagged to play this game but forgot about it.  Since reading week has put time on my side, I decided to dig into my soul a little bit and pull out some random facts about myself.  I'm the type of person who hates saying things like "I'm the type of person who hates saying things like..." (He he... my last sentence is so ironic and totally intentional) so this game was a bit hard for me.  

A lot of thought went into deciding which of the many facets of Janice Jann would make it into the six bullets so take your time reading and getting to know me a little better! (Unless, of course, if you already knew all these facts about me in which case, good for you!)

Here are the rules for the game:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random Things about Meee:

1).  My best friend is my superstar little sister, Jessica.

2).  I'm always a little too smart for my own good.  Like, I'd freak out about losing something only to find it safely stored somewhere because earlier on, I knew I needed to store it away so that I wouldn't lose it.  Like what just happened with my watch. I stored it in my backpack, knowing I'd forget it if I left it in the hotel room only to forget and then think that I had left it in the hotel room. I called the hotel room 5 minutes ago, they said it wasn't there, I shed a few tears then started cleaning out my backpack and found my watch safely tucked away in a pocket.  Oops.

3).  I ain't sayin' I'm a gold-digger.  But any guy I'm serious about can't be a total loser.

4).  I like to run. A lot.

5).  Libraries make me drool.

6).  I have this annoying habit of always wanting everyone to like everything I like. People have different tastes! I need to learn and accept this.

*note: Oh gosh, I can't follow rules. You're supposed to tag people! hahaha...Ok...I'll be tagging!