View from apartment

For those of you who've noticed, I hadn't blogged until just recently. November last year I made the trip back from China to the States where I stayed for 4 months. As I posted a few days ago, I made the hike back to Yangshuo to resume... doing... uh, whatever it is I'm really doing here from day-to-day.

Here's a little look outside my apartment window just to give you an idea of what my part of town looks like. Well, no. Not really... actually. This is what it looks like in my "apartment complex" if you can really call it that.



I took this picture at about 6:40 am. ONLY because Jet lag has me getting up that early.

cue sound effects -

*BARK! BARK!*
*drip*
*Chirp, chiiiirp, Chirp*
*drip*
*BARK! RAR, RAR, RAR, BARK!*

Getting Back to China - Part 2: "Shoot Me In The Face"

Naive. The only word to describe my previous post.

I would have rather shared my palette with this guy than suffered through the last 2/3's of my journey. Shortly after boarding my second (and longest mind you) flight, I abruptly came down with a face cold. Like the snorking uncontrollably, wiping your nose every 10 seconds kind. Like where you run out of tissues so fast you say "screw it" and use the back of your hand in front of everybody kind. For 11 UNBELIEVABLE HOURS.

Ever had your nasal passages sandblasted? With angry scarab beetles? That's how I felt after about 20 minutes.

Scarab Beetle (for reference)


So to make a long story short, it was horrible. Couldn't sleep, wasn't hungry, had a headache... ugh. I made it to Hong Kong and was temporarily relieved by a Starbucks in the airport. I hopped my final flight into China and then made the 3 hour bus ride to Yangshuo, flopping onto my sofa and promptly falling asleep. All's well that ends well they say.

Another Scarab Beetle (for stupidity's sake)

Getting Back to China - Part 1: The Easy Part

From the initial leg of my trip back to China:

All's well that starts well they say. The first leg of my trip from BWI to Heathrow was possibly the best flight I've ever had. Yeah, that good. I found myself fairly far forward in the plane sitting in an isle seat in the middle row. With 2 empty seats beside me. I enjoyed a nice Saviogn Blanc and then a steak dinner, and then stretched out across all three seats and read a book until I fell asleep. Like being at home, plus alcohol :)

Arrived at Heathrow at 5:00 AM EST and napped around a little, and now I'm in a small restaurant drinking a Corona and having a hot panini. Which just arrived this very moment.

Wednesday's Pic