London and Cambridge

It was a Friday night and I was so tired. The conference just ended the day before and I did a final tour of Paris, visiting the Louvre, the George Pompidou centre and the Arc de Triomphe for the last time. I was about to keel over after braving the rush hour subway traffic to get to the Paris Charles de Gaule Airport with all my luggages, through 3 security checkpoints, at 9 pm, when Luftansa announced that my flight to London was delayed by an hour. Since my brain was on multi-tasker mode the whole week, it immediately made a flashing to-do list ranked by priority: 1. Get another espresso. 2-10 revolved around accomplishing # 1.

The mess in Paris was a glimpse of how my London stay would be. I arrived at London Gatwick by midnight and my poor host, Junjun, hadn't eaten dinner yet so we went out to eat first before going home. I had barely closed my eyes at 3am when I opened them again at 8 to catch the London duck tour. What, that was 5 hours already?

Junjun and I got to London in time for the last duck tour. Our tour guide was an extremely talented comedian, and he managed to wake me up. He squeezed in information about the Buckingham palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and other monuments in between his jokes. After the land tour, the mobile cruised along the River and we all got a glimpse of London from the water. The water was dirty.

After the duck tour, Jun and I walked over to the London Eye, this gigantic ferris wheel that took 30 minutes to go around 360 degrees. After that, we whisked off to catch the 2pm showing of Les Miserables. It just so happened to be its 20th year anniversary that day so the cast was phenomenal. By the end, even I was mesmerized and emotionally involved. I will always remember distinctly hearing sniffling and sobbing in between the arias.

Jun and I then entered a pub to watch the football game between England and (?), and England won. We had a beer or two, then we went back to Jun's apartment to get ready to go clubbing but we were so tired that we just decided to stay at home.

We slept for 6 hours before waking up to drive up to Cambridge to visit Nette. I hadn't seen her in 6 years, and it was my first time seeing her again with her husband, JP. All four of us went punting and it wasn't easy. You had to balance yourself standing up at the back of the boat while trying to push forward by using a massive and heavy stick. It was already difficult pushing the boat, let alone navigating it in the right direction. We apologized for the many foreseen collisions that we didn't know how to avoid. We certainly deserved the Sunday lamb roast for a reward. Over tender lamb and caramel cakes we swapped stories and caught up with our lives.

Nette, Jun and I proceeded to King's chapel to listen to the world-famous King's choir. The first two minutes, I was transported to music heaven, but for those that followed, I was taken to sleep heaven. What can I do if I didn't understand a word they were singing? My brain prioritzed sleep over music and it was so.

Jun and I then took Nette to her church where she sang. At the end of the service, I knew that the day was over and I may not see Nette for a very long time again. Jun and I drove back to London to have dinner with his family before calling it a weekend.

I left London at 6am on Monday to catch my flight to Rome. Indeed, my London trip way so hectic, I didn't even have time to pen a single word in my journal about it. But just as you remember pleasant memories for a long time, many details of the trip remain fresh as if I just left.

The year that was.

I will be a month early in writing my end of the year update. I think the past 11 months had enough happenings already that could justify such a post. There are those I longed for and others I denied.

This year rounded up my first year at work. I love the perks, the responsibilities, my team and my products. I know I have idealism on my side and maybe I will eventually get pessimistic, but for now I accept everything as a gift. One of my biggest joys was writing a paper and presenting it at a conference in Paris. It was my first time in Europe and I thoroughly enjoyed it. For 2006, I’m set up for more travel opportunities- I’m grateful.

This year, I achieved several goals I set for 2005, the biggest of which was weight loss. I lost 40 lbs. I wanted to look younger because everyone kept on thinking I was 6-8 years older. I also wanted to feel more energetic. I haven’t arrived at my end goal, but I learned that discipline is always good, and a healthy lifestyle is worth sweating for.

I faced many demons this year too, those from my past, my psyche, my family and my friends. I lost ground on many of them, and as a result my life will never be the same. But what I will take out is a deeper understanding of grace. Grace that is free, unearned and resurrects the dead. I died a hundred deaths this year yet I’m still alive.

And lastly, there is romance. All my life I’ve been very cautious to the point of inaction, but now I know that it is a man’s role to pursue. I think it’s about time that my knowledge develop into action.

As good as 2005 was, I leave it behind in anticipation for 2006.