Third Culture Chick

On the flight from Singapore to Istanbul, I prayed to God not to let me be seated next to chatty men or women, and of course, that is exactly what I got. Apparently, the lord loves to test my patience, 'cause two Turkish men were seated next to me, and one of them kept chatting with me the whole entire 14-hour flight. It's nice to make friends, but it's not so cool when I don't have a choice.

Finally arrived in Istanbul around 10am, and I fought my way to the car through the massive crowd that just returned from the Haj pilgrimage. Funny, I learned from my Turkish friends (not the men on the plane) that the Haj holiday is actually more celebrated there and in most Arab countries than Eid Fitr. It's the opposite in Indonesia where Eid Fitr is a huge deal.

After checking in at the hotel, my dad and I went to Topkapi Palace. What a fascinating place filled with remnants of old Ottoman glory. I was happy to explore, but sad that I had to finish so fast. My dad's shoe soles started deteriorating because of the cold weather, and we had to go to the hotel so that he could get a new pair. How annoying. If I had another chance to go to Istanbul, I'd definitely visit Topkapi again.

The Gate of Salutation @ Topkapi Palace

Stray cat on the courtyard

The urge is too strong and I am once more visiting Bali for a few days. The only catch: Have to attend a seminar on world trade. Sooooo not interesting, but at least I'll be close to the ocean again.

And of course, I'll have to be my father's personal assistant. Carry his bags, run around to get things he forgot in the room, edit his documents, etc. I do it all for Bali.

Just returned from the vet. Benny has a tumor growing on top of his right ear, and I was getting worried cause it looks kinda red and I can see that there are veins underneath the skin. Though I wish it could be removed, the doctor advised me not to put Benny through surgery as he is eleven years old and will probably not handle the anesthesia very well.

She says that as long as it doesn't grow any further and is not itchy for him in any way, it should be okay. I hope so. I'm worried about my little companion.

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Now playing: Joe Hisaishi - One Summer's Day
via FoxyTunes

At the temple of the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand, there was this long row of urns where monks usually drop one coin into each urn. Well, tourists can do that too now with a donation of 20 baht to the temple, and so my friend flirty and I did. Apparently, this is supposed to bring good luck, and fortunately the gods were with us the rest of the trip, blessing us with a wonderful time 'cause we were safe and given sunshine and no rain in Phuket =).

Thanks!

Why does my body feel like it's burning? AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH, too much sun can hurt!

I did have an awesome time in Thailand and I wish I could describe everything in one post, but I can't, so I won't, 'cause I'm too lazy anyway. All you need to know is that Thailand is an amazing place and I'm glad I've been there though it was only for five days. And to those who've been to Thailand, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.

I will always feel like a fake until I realize my dreams.

So this year will be the first step to achieving them. I don't know how, but I will.

That is a sad idea indeed. What have I accomplished in the 29 years that I've been alive on this earth?

1. I adopted a dog.. I guess that's an accomplishment.
2. I graduated college twice. That's gotta count for something.
3. I'm studying Japanese. That'll come in handy when I go shopping in Japan.

I believe that's about all the significant accomplishments I've attained so far. Kind of sad, huh?

Pictures from Narita, Japan:

The heat in Jakarta is unbearable lately. I wish a huge rainstorm will come and sweep all this hot air away, 'cause I can't stand it anymore. I'm thinking of doing some reconstructive surgery for my blogspot, but I haven't thought about what kind of format I'd like to use. Lately, I've featured more photographs than writing there, so I wanted to do a one-post-per-page type of layout, but I still have to think it, 'cause I'm THAT indecisive.

Oh well....

Here are some photos from Tikal, Peten, Guatemala that I took from a trip in 2004.

I'm posting on VOX again at the request of my friends. Just don't know what to put here.

Well, here's what's been going on in my life lately. Recently returned from Bali and had a great time there. I was my father's assistant for 2 days while he was busy saving the world with foreign policy (goooooo foreign policy!) at a meeting for global health. I edited his opening speech, 'cause people in my country's foreign ministry can't write in English very well. Very bad grammar, let me tell you. Much worse than my English grammar, so you know it's  bad.

Didn't do much there besides swimming and exploring the beautiful beaches of Nusa Dua.

I've already sworn that my next Indonesian travel destination will have to be the Tengger Massif in East Java, because it would be a completely different experience than pearly white sandy beaches and sunny skies. The Tengger Massif is a series of volcanic mountains, so the environment there would probably be hazy and cold. I hear that at night, the temperature reaches as low as 20 degrees F. I still refuse to use Celsius... I'm just so darn American, huh?

If you want to find out more about Tengger and Bromo, then click here. Pretty photo of Mt. Bromo on wiki travel.

Anyhoo, here are two pictures I took from Bali last weekend:

Sorry about the lack of updates on VOX. I just can't keep up with all the other sites I manage. I've got blogspot, plurk, myspace, friendster, multiply, facebook. I'm an internet freak, but I think this time my enthusiasm in joining every site in the world has finally overwhelmed me.

Me so tired.