Random thoughts on a 14 hours flight

I have always liked turbulence on planes (writing this on the flight to SF may be jinxing it since the entire plane is shaking even harder now). It’s like you always get it when you fly over Japan. It has just the right dose of danger within comfortable range that in those few seconds, you suddenly realize that your life is only hanging by a thread. There is no guarantee that you’ll live through the next millisecond.

Despite knowing all the statistics about how unlikely the odds are, there is still that tiny sense of uncertainty, a hint of doubt no matter how many times I fly. Just WHAT IF my plane is the one that crashes? (at least I’d have higher chances of surviving since I’m poor I get to “avoid” the most dangerous front rows of the plane) What if this is the plane where co-pilots have high power distance? (No worries, even Korean Air has fixed this for a while now, I took it just 6 months ago) What if this is the unfortunate flight where someone absentmindedly brought along a Samsung Note 7? Or the one where mechanical teams made just a bit too many little mistakes that adds up fatal? If you are reading this now, by all means, I survived J and it wouldn’t even be surprising because you know and expect flights to land safely. Yes, we all take that for granted. A gigantic machine with WINGS that carry hundreds of people, fly over tens of thousands of kilometers over the ocean, the snowy mountains and the continental plates at 40 thousands feet altitude somehow made it to the destination! HELLO? How amazingly wonderful is that? Instead of complaining about the cold bread, the lack of wifi or bad taste in flight entertainment; shall we just be grateful that we reached our destination SAFELY? This not so simple act is almost a miracle in itself! And just because something incredible happens often doesn’t make it any less magical. Don’t wait until your plane flips over and land on the Hudson River to realize that.

So perhaps just this thought of how fragile life is, just how easy we could vanish from this world, makes me treasure every single touch down and appreciates my presence in the world (however light weighted) to a greater extent. As I picture my not so perfectly shaped heart pumping just the right amount of blood that circulates my entire body with every pulse; I feel that much more alive.

Written on the 5^th flight in 2017.

Spread the love and fortune!

As I finished writing (actual words), I dropped my pen but my heart couldn’t drop the subject. Who knew this would turn out to be such a thought provoking experience?

tl;dr (FYI, this stands for “too long; didn’t read” for adults) – You can be part of the change of someone’s life. Someone whose life depends on it. With a bit of money, and also with the power of knowledge and empathy shared amongst human beings.

3 months ago, a series of incidents led me to an epiphany – knowledge IS power. It is the most effective way to improve your life. This sudden and striking realization kept me pondering. My ridiculous brain came to the decision that the tiniest, most effortless thing to do is to sponsor a child! That way I will even receive handwritten letters on top of my monthly horror of credit card bills! Also, I get to use my beautiful letter papers. I must say what began with a really selfish motivation somehow turn into something rather meaningful.

Shortly after I filled in everything online, I received a call from World Vision volunteer who told me I should receive a package of the details of my sponsored child. I forgot about it as I travelled on business. When I got back, I received a letter from my sponsored child, written by her mom!

She’s 5, from a warm and faraway country called Ecuador. Her favorite color is red.

I still haven’t gotten the package so I planned to call World Vision again but kept forgetting as I travel abroad. A while later, the responsible volunteer called me up again to check and made sure one week after I will receive it!

Then here I was, excited over a letter that is not urging me to pay up or borrow money. This packet told me my sponsored child has 2 sisters, her family works in agriculture and the exact city she’s in is Tixan. Wikipedia says that’s where one finds copper and gold.

So I put on Ecuador Top 100 from spotify and began filling in the questions in the default greeting letter. While latino music echoes in my room, I found it to be a rather daunting task to write this letter to my sponsor child.

“Her favorite food is rice.” – her mom wrote, as she is too young to write. Rice…plain, bland staple food.

I thought about my favorite food: sushi, uni, oysters, cakes, chocolates, ice cream… all these are beyond luxurious to her and many other underprivileged kids. It’s not until I spent several tough minutes going further down my mental list that I put down tomatos.

I checked out her horoscope and imagined her personality as a Pisces. As she grow up, she’d be “known for her passionate and experimental nature.” It is as if I have travelled into the future and imagined her to be my age. Would she already had all the education she needed to pursue her dream? Would she even be given equal opportunities to fight for what she want in life? For some reason, I already felt so attached to her. I want to learn more about her country. Does she get to study if she already has 2 sisters? Is Ecuador a gender equal society? Does she have pets with so many mouths to feed in her family?

There is so much that I felt obliged to tell her: the beautiful vibrant city I live in that is slowly deterioating; my challenging and exciting job with so much possibility; the world that is full of promises and hope despite a weird 2016…but what will she understand as a 5 year old? So I wrote about my favorite color, my obsession towards giraffes and the origin of Snowy’s (my pet bunny) name instead.

In the end I just google translated my message into Spanish, in case the volunteers didn’t want to translate for me anymore as I wrote so much. Hopefully it made sense; in Google we trust. I carefully sealed it with my photo and snowy’s handsome baby portrait. Along with all my best wishes and goodwill, I mailed the letter to Ecuador, hoping she will soon be able to read the words herself.

In contrast to the humble and basic life she leads, I am splurging excessively like Marie Antoinette while taking everything for granted. The difference between us also lies in that she doesn’t have a choice, but I do. And so do you.

With Valentine’s day coming up, it is the ideal time to make someone’s life significantly better instead of getting your special someone things (s)he already had or don’t actually need. For the indifferent ones with commitment issues, you can simply get them a gift that just might spare them from a life or death situation. Spread the love!

https://www.worldvision.org/sponsor-a-child

http://donate.worldvision.org/ways-to-give/gift-catalog

I’m obsessed with La La Land not only because I’m a musical lover, but…

As if the movie itself isn’t great enough, the apt timing it premiered makes me anticipate my soon to come LA trip even more! I’m already itching to trace the footsteps of Mia and Sebastian.
The last time I felt compelled to write down my thoughts post movie was Begin Again, and that was probably 2-3 years ago. La La land was so delightful that I watched it twice in the theatre (still planning to go again if I have the time) and looped its OST hundreds of times and counting. The first time I watched it, the movie struck me by the glamour of its tap dances and songs (I mean who doesn’t love a cheerful musical?), the costumes and the wonderfully crafted ending (some hated the ending I know, but for me, it is precisely the ending that furthered my obsession of the movie even more). The second time, I’m less distracted by the joyful songs and dances; I could finally notice the subtle details in the way the lead characters interact (I totally get why they won best actor/actress) and the beautiful cinematography left me in awe again. The scene in the Planetarium is just breathtakingly absurd yet hopelessly romantic at the same time. Those dancing silhouettes are so beautiful it gave me goosebumps. The blend of mellow colors, sparkling lights and the splash of sharp vibrant colors contrasted so well it’s just pure pleasure to the eyes.

“I don’t know what your name is but I like it”

One of my favorite song is “Another Day of Sun”. The melody simply gets you grooving in your seat! The opening scene demonstrated the essence of American culture, colorful people (both in their costumes and skin color) jamming in all sorts of dances: Hispanic in flamenco, Africans joining in hip hop and break dance, Asians in acrobatics; even the slow motion scene of “Someone in the crowd” paired up cross-racial actors deliberately. The brilliant thing is despite these differences in exterior, they are very likely all Americans. This vibrant clash of cultures is exactly what made America such a unique place; it’s full of conflicts and compromises.. just like Jazz! To me, this is the most brutal irony under the current situation in the US. Anyways that’s too depressing to get into so let’s move on to the characters.

“Here’s to the ones who dreamed, foolish as they may seem”

It is such a cliché that those who chase after their dreams always face numerous failures, countless hurdles and huge buckets of freezing cold water pouring down their heads. Let’s not forget that every single chorus actor in the movie is yet another Mia praying for their own “audition” for Paris.

“Even when the answer’s no and when my money’s running low”

But if you think about it, even if you’re just living your day-to-day modest and boring life, struggling to make ends meet; it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re free from rejections and self-doubts. And if that is so, we might as well spend our time on things that actually matter instead of churning money for big corporations right?

“Somewhere there’s a place where I find who I’m gonna be, a somewhere that’s just waiting to be found”

To me the difficult part is finding a passion to truly seek after; that’s why dreamers and believers are always my favorite people. It breaks my heart to see them fail, again and again, yet it still inspires me every time they dust themselves off and get at it again. But just like the way Mia and Sebastian helped each other through their toughest time, this whole process is rarely done alone. Without her, he wouldn’t have put down his artist pride and stubbornness to eventually gain the capital and reputation to open his own Jazz bar; without him, well obviously she wouldn’t even make it to the audition that eventually made her famous. Neither of them could have done it alone.

“A voice that says, I’ll be here, and you’ll be alright”

Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you, to look you in the eye, and convince you that you are good enough, you can do it. So you can zip up those muffin tops, take a deep breath, flex your muscle and take a leap of faith. There is never guarantee to success, but the magic and purpose must be in the attempt. That’s why I loved the ending. Everyone enters your life for a reason, and for those who exit, they must have left for a better one. What more can you ask for when you’ve already had the best ride together growing alongside each other? To me, Mia and Sebastian has completed their roles in each other’s life and when that’s done, it’s only inevitable that they must go on with their own lives, following their separate dreams and eventually fade out from each other.

Thanks Damien, for this romantic movie just cured my heart. I think this will continue to be my favorite movie for a while.

“Is this the start of something wonderful and new? Or one more dream that I cannot make true?”

p.s. I’ve read an opinion somewhere that coined Mia as the typical selfish girlfriend who jumped from men to men…well I viewed it differently. The way Sebastian assumed Mia would follow him on his tour while her performance is 2 weeks away is downright selfish. The way he missed her play is yet another proof. The way she got pushed away by the crowd during his first gig is a metaphor on how he is becoming someone she no longer understands. The final straw is when he thought she wasn’t genuinely happy for his success… what kind of self absorbed lunatic would think their loved one could be jealous of themselves? I’m not saying Mia isn’t selfish because the absolute truth is that human beings are all selfish; I think love is just a by-product when that selfishness somehow happens to benefit someone else too. (Since this thought seems a bit dark I’ll just keep it at the very end :P)

Hola Barcelona Part 2 – Catalonia Culture

Please excuse the title which lacks in creativity but honestly, who wants to spend hours dwelling on the perfect title? Let’s just get rolling 🙂 Barcelona is such a colorful city bursting with beautiful cultures and stories, desperate to be unfolded.

Festival

Let’s begin with my favorite story which is about love 🙂 Instead of Feb 14th, Catalans, like the Chinese, celebrates a different Valentine’s day which is Apr 23rd, St George’s day. A day where men give women roses, pretty standard procedures, and women has to return the men with a book. Yep, not a typo.

Once upon a time, there was a handsome young man on a white horse (duh, his name is George) who rescued a beautiful damsel in distress (argh, woman who always get themselves into trouble) by slaying a dragon on this day. So there you have it, Prince + Princess – Dragon = cliche, but no, the story doesn’t end here. As the dragon’s first drop of blood oozed out and fell to the ground, the vicious droplet transcended into a blood-red rose. George picked it and gave it to the princess and they lived happily ever after. So there we have the rose. But why a book? I don’t really think it make sense but our tour guide said it’s because Shakespeare was born and died on this very same day…erm either way, I’d love to receive a book as present in any day 😉

Religion

Christianity has always been a fundamental part of European cultures . You may notice that ancient Catalan chapels around here look quite different from how you picture a church traditionally. It is much more modest and squared; rather wide than it is tall. This is because 1) they were poorer at that time, and 2) they believed these structures symbolize that God’s power is pressing down from above whilst more modern interpretation is that the taller a church rise and stretch towards the heaven, the closer we are to god. That’s the beauty of religion; everyone can interpret it differently yet getting the same kind console from it nonetheless.

Going along with religion, let’s talk about death. The tower here is where the executioners lived in the old days and there is an interesting tale behind it. They have to live away from communities as his job is highly sensitive. He does his job while covering his face so no one actually knew who the executioner was. The bonus point about this job is: you get to keep the dead body you killed! YAY. Why? Because dead bodies are priceless back in the days. Especially the feet…creepy, but it’s because of a tradition where people keep dead people’s feet next to their door so bad spirits will walk away from their house. Hope that gave you a good visual 😉 Human bones, eyeballs and all sorts of weird parts were made for other useful charms too, well I mean back then it’s not like people can donate and transplant organs yet, so might as well put them into good use I guess?

Rituals

An interesting catalan tradition is the human tower. And it literally means, people stepping on each other’s shoulder to form a tower up to 8 storeys high! How tall is that you may ask, well check out the sculpture below.

This practice is usually done next to the City hall or other government buildings as this signifies that when the working class unite, they can rise up as high as the Government/ upper class. This is serious business as people have died from it. Note that the person at the very top is always a young child, 7-8 years old who will climb through the adults without any safety equipment but a helmet. To me it sort of symbolizes that the kids, our future generation, has the ability to human race’s advancement and evolution. Not through pressurized, elite education system but their immense imagination and hopes that children are naturally gifted. (Yes, my dear twin bros, your sissy have high hopes for you dummies.)

Food

I’m only good at eating, but not describing flavors, so just take a min and imagine the divinely salivating dishes by starring at below photos. Of course, there were much more but I was probably too hungry and forgot to take a photo

One last fun fact to end the post, did you know the Eiffel Tower was meant for Barcelona originally? The Government at that time thought it too ugly and out of place so they told the designer to bring it elsewhere. Well, now Paris has the Eiffel Tower forever 😉 Also goes to show persistent is the right attitude, if Mr. he-who-built-Eiffel-Tower gave up when he was rejected, the world wouldn’t have this iconic landmark today! Note to self: it’s always too early to quit what’s worth doing.

Hola Barcelona Part 1 – IESE MBA Summer School

(yes, the title rhymes on purpose :P)

Introduction

After a rather dreadful long haul flight (which I normally enjoy; the undisturbed self selected movies watching and books reading, but Air China didn’t have that luxury and I forgot to bring a book -_-), I landed into Barcelona again after 3.5 years under the blazing Catalunya heat! I promised to be back but indeed it has been too long… I barely remember the places I have been to but Barcelona’s food and culture has yet again imprinted a flavorful and charming impression in my heart. It was and still is one of my favorite Europe cities 🙂

Thieves, thieves everywhere

Nonetheless, a city with thieves…sometimes I just ponder, what life scenario must they go through, to convince and justify themselves to cheat and steal? Lucky enough, we only ALMOST got picked pocket. It wasn’t a pleasant experience of course, considering we were at that time walking in a rather wide street with passerbys at merely 10pm or so. However, I think it is worth recalling the details to learn their stealing patterns to be more alert next time round.

First he asked if we have fire for his cigarettes, then he quickly came close and asked if we’re Koreans. We tried to ignore him and walk quicker but he just leaned in and started doing random soccer kicks…and there it was, the moment of truth.

I saw the guy’s hand was on the wallet already! Then I shouted and he just laughed and said he was joking…at the moment it was hard to react because we were both shocked. Anyways, note to self: STAY ALERT when in Europe! Or basically just anywhere you go unless it’s Taiwan 😛

IESE MBA Summer School

More updates are coming up now that I have completed the primary reason on why I am in Spain: IESE MBA summer school! Sadly, the 5 days course flew by quickly, but the great thing is I have met new people, made new bonds and germinated new thoughts 🙂

It was also a long 2 years since I was in a classroom again so I really treasure the time I had in class: learning new thoughts from Professor (like the implications of Brexit from Econ and ethical motivation from management prof etc.); spending hours and hours on discussions that are otherwise meaningless if not for the case presentation (but I really enjoyed the collision of ideas with my team from different backgrounds). All these are luxuries that I simply do not have anymore now that I started working. So this week-long experience together with the career advisor of IESE go me thinking about “career”. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but aside from that, there isn’t really anything else going on in my life.

I always knew that your 13730655_10155030589992785_1428188748_o life only really begin after you go through the set path of academics: Kindergarten to Primary School, to Secondary School and higher education. Because once you really graduated from your basic “teachings” and enter the real world, you are solely responsible for yourself. You are basically free to choose from anything and there is no one for you to follow behind anymore. I used to think that the hardest part is getting a job, then I know the toughest thing is finding a job you love. But now I realized, THE million dollar question is: what else are you gonna do for THE REST of your life? Because a job is only a part of it. I am thankful for this week of learning because now, I am beginning to have some idea and will continue to work towards it.

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The Prologue (or wechat pay “THE GREAT” customer journey)

Let the writing spree begin again! First of all, let me provide some context to this travel. I am going to be a student again although for just a week. IESE is a top business school that currently provides a summer week of MBA experience in BARCELONA (wooooo!) for young graduates around the world. With a kind scholarship in conjunction with my university, I am heading off to a week of 8am – 4pm cases discussion. Oh, how I’ve missed school 🙂 can’t wait to feel like a sponge bob again.

So thanks to my understanding boss and a luxury of paid dayoffs, I get to do some travelling as well after Barcelona in Sevilla and London, two brand new cities I have never been to!

So now is a good time to write a little prologue as I have already experienced so much before even stepping foot in foreign land!

Right now is 10pm and I am waiting to board my first Air China flight from Shenzhen airport. Shenzhen airport is way better than I expected. It is like the HKIA T2, both in size and traffic. Except police here are on Segway!

Did you know there are shuttle bus that brings you directly from Times Square to Shenzhen Airport? Actually there isn’t. You have to get off at Shenzhen bay anyways, get through immigration and take a bus to airport again. Luckily, I have buffered plenty of time and got to airport 3 hours ahead. This gave me the luxury to have a good leisure dinner.

Then I remembered, I didn’t bring any renminbi… but well we live in a digital era so I will just use a credit car…but oh wait, I saw a little sign saying they support wechatpay and other electronic payments hmmm interesting. Given that I have collected so many red packets through wechat, I have a good 200 something renminbi in my account but never knew how to use it; this seemed like the perfect time to try it out! I quickly entered my credit card details, and went to order food with an experimental mindset. I ordered my food and asked can I pay with this? (gesturing my iphone

Then the cashier lady looked at me like I’m from the stoned age and just scanned right away with her barcode scanner. Voila! And it’s done! I was still in shock when my food came. I mean…this is not the China I know…since when do they have more advance technology than Hong Kong? I’m sure this isn’t rocket science, but such adoption is still relatively low in Hong Kong. Imagine Chuiwah or Taihing supporting wechat pay 😉 I am still glad to feel like I have not paid a penny for this $41 RMB meal which tasted better than it looks! It was also such a seamless payment experience, without having to even reach for your wallet, let alone touch those disgustingly dirty full of germs and god-knows-what coins and notes.

Dinner at this Chinese fast food chain “Real Kungfu” (which I highly doubt they own the IP to use Bruce Lee’s image but we are in China after all, so what’s an IP anyway :P)

Boarding soon and hopefully both the inflight meals and entertainment is good! (updated: meals were okay but entertainment system was shit…same as the ones I had when I was 8, fixed low res programs that kept looping -_-)

P.S. ANOTHER equally if not even more mindblown moment: Wechat pay works on vending machines too! But instead of letting a barcode scanner read my wechat code, I use my wechat QR code reader to scan the vending machine screen. THEN magically, I got a bottle of water…what is this, a wechat marketing campaign to capture authentic customer satisfying journey in airport hahaha?

P.P.S I couldn’t upload this in Shenzhen airport as I don’t have a China mobile no. to verify for wifi nor would it recognize my boarding pass…huge minus point for this shitty airport. LUCKILY I have wechat on my iphone, so I could verify via the mighty mighty wechat. At least got wifi on my phone.

Has anyone tried electronic payments method and how did you feel about it? 🙂

written in Shenzhen airport, updated in Frankfurt airport.

My one and only full mark essay (on banks…)

Right, this may be a bit of a cheat…but since we’re doing a throwback on my previous poem 😛 why not let my essay join in the party!

So there is also a little story behind this. Throughout my freshman year, I probably got the lowest GPA amongst my comrades. Not only was Accounting and Finance my worst enemies; fellow classmates who had previously learnt these subjects only brought up the scoring curve even higher (or may be I’m just dumb, but let’s assume I’m not for the time being 😉 …just when I think my academic is going South by the end of Year 1, things start looking up in Year 2. And that’s when I start to do well in classes and received my dean’s list awards. So I guess the story here is very cliche but true. You don’t judge a fish by how well it rides a bike. Because fishes excel in swimming and forgetting things. That’s what a fish does best.

And here below, is the full mark essay that landed me my first A+ 🙂 I must say I did get a little help on understanding the whole banking system. However, the idea is indeed entirely original. That bank where my grandparents still keep those precious “heirlooms” (sort of), is where I roll down the stairs when I was 3. So here you go:

When I was a kid, a “bank” to me is a financial institution and intermediary that provides time deposit, saving and lending services. I would think of the bank branches around the corner where my dad cash a cheque or withdraw money from ATMs; my grandparents also keep their wedding dowry in one of those banks’ vault. As I grew up, however, I start to realize a “bank” is just a general term and there are in fact many types and sizes of distinctly different banks. The type of banking services I had in mind is retail banking, provided by commercial banks.

Commercial banks profit from the difference in interest rates paid for deposits, and charged for loans. Deposits can be of foreign currencies and different time frame, loans can be in the form of mortgage or overdraft etc. To facilitate this mechanism, the bank needs to abide by a reserve requirement to ensure liquidity; hence prevent bank runs from happening. Apart from retail banking, business and private banking services are also offered. Business banking include assisting companies to fund their projects, collecting money from customers and paying suppliers and employees etc. Private banking is a more customized banking service catered for high net worth individuals including a dedicated banking manager, more favorable interest rates for mortgage, time deposit, and fee waiver for certain services.

As I entered university, my classmates start talking about their aspiration to work in a “bank”. What they often mean is an investment bank. Investment banks’ services are more geared towards the financial market such as the forex and bond market. On an individual level, investment bankers act as agents to trade on behalf of their clients. They trade stocks, commodities and other derivatives to make a gain in a certain time frame. Quite different from commercial banks, investment bankers mainly profit from commission. On a business level, investment banks assist companies’ IPO, raise capital by underwriting or issuing bonds and shares etc. They also assist in mergers and acquisitions. Therefore, another source of income for investment banks are the fees charged for these professional services.

In essence, all banks are built upon trust. We trust commercial banks to safeguard our money by lending to credible people; we trust investment bankers to act as responsible agents and trade in our best interests. Unfortunately, this is not always the case; moral hazards arise from irresponsible lending and trading that aim to maximize banks’ or bankers’ profit. In today’s financial world, most of the largest banks such as BNP Paribas, function both as a commercial and investment bank. These universal banks operate globally and are responsible for billions of assets. They are simply too big to fail. Due to the convoluted counterparty system, the mismanagement of risks in one division can impose threats to the global financial system. Thus, it is ever important that banks worldwide are well regulated. That way, my grandparents’ dowry will remain safe in the vault until I get married one day. (Hopefully.)

References:

Commercial Bank Definition & Example | InvestingAnswers. (n.d.). Investment Strategies, Education & News | InvestingAnswers. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/debt-bankruptcy/commercial-bank-2364

Investment Bank Definition & Example | InvestingAnswers. (n.d.). Investment Strategies, Education & News | InvestingAnswers. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.investinganswers.com/financial-dictionary/investing/investment-bank-598

Universal bank – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_bank

My one and only published poem.

Aside from blogging about my traveling or particular interests, a proportion of my writing time is actually dedicated to poems. Unlike articles, it takes much more time to distill and settle. Poems are also much more personal as its flavor is entirely based on the level of emotions poured into it. Anyways, I feel like may be it is an apt timing to share this little poem of mine written 3 years back in New Jersey.

There is a lovely story behind it. During my exchange, I submitted this poem to Rutgers student literary magazine “imaginate zine” and was luckily chosen to be published in volume 2, issue 3! (unfortunately I left U.S already and did not get a copy for myself :/)

But how did I know it was published when I have already left? I actually received a random Facebook message from a caucasian girl:

“Hi this might be really creepy but if you’re the Rachel Cheung who goes to Rutgers and has submitted to this imaginate literary magazine, I just wanted to say that i love your poem “Always here” and it reminds me of my mom who passed away this past halloween. I’m really glad I came across it and I wanted you to know how much I enjoyed it. Hopefully this is the right Rachel lol. Sorry ignore this if it isn’t !”

Every time I read this or merely recall the incident, I get goosebumps. Not because I’m so vain into thinking that someone liked my poem, but I am completely swept away by how words connect people and allow readers to project their own experiences into it. There are infinite possibilities with words and for this sole reason, I come to it whenever I feel that empty hollow feeling in my stomach (no it is not the feeling of being hungry). Be it a brief expression of an instant emotion or well thought out articles; an exciting easy read like The Hunger Games or thought provoking Le Petit Prince, the process just makes me feel alive again.

Always Here

If ever you miss me

Just remember

I am still here

Around you like air

I am like air

Can’t touch me

or see me

But please absorb me

Sense me and feel me –

I refresh your mind –

intrigue your brain –

excite your bod’

And calm –

your

heart

No less than before

Because I am air,

Your kind of air.

Even apart,

I am still around

Closer to you

Than anyone else

For I exist wherever

you’re at

So breathe me in

Like you would air

As I’ve never left

And am always here

Random thoughts on in flight meals

During one of my 10 flights in the first quarter of 2016 (3 times to Taiwan, round trip to Moscow, and to and from Berlin & Munich), the idea of writing about how I cope with meals on plane sparked. So here it is, Tips for getting through that dreading in-flight meal experience. (Obviously this excludes that juicy steak they serve on china and metal cutlery on business/first class)

(^ China Airlines upgrade business class meals with local taiwan XinYe欣葉 restaurant menu)

First tip may not be applicable to everyone but try to order tomato juice instead of soda or other beverages. Downing that thick salty sour liquid before eating opens up your stomach and stimulates your tongue to better prepare you for the undesirable in-flight meal ahead. I also always ask for extra water because you have NO idea how dehydrating the atmosphere is 40 thousand miles above ground.

（^super tiny Aeroflot in-flight meal)

Next common observation: their portions are always extremely small even for a petite girl like me (though arguably, I have a big appetite). So how to make your meal last when you are only given 2 meals in a 16 hours flight? I always eat SLOW. Drink plenty of water throughout; I cannot stress the importance of keeping yourself hydrated enough. Ration your food like mixing the sauces well with your rice and save up the best parts for last like the seared chicken pieces. For the little snack they place along the tray as dessert (mars bar, crackers…) I usually save it for an hour later to deceive your brain and prolong the feeling of a full stomach.

Third, in long haul flights, you often get a bread roll + butter. You notice since the bread is rock hard, the ice cold butter is barely spreadable. Since it’s not possible to toast your bread; warm the butter. What I always do is let it sit on top of my hot meal for a minute. Then when you open it, you can see that the yellow cube has transformed into this beautifully viscous, golden liquid, which you can then easily apply to your bread. I always eat up the butter even if my bread’s finished because nobody likes to waste food, especially not something as yummy as butter.

(^ Breakfast meal from BKK to HKG in CX. Notice it’s tomato juice again!)

Next, notice how they always give you pepper and/ or salt. Use it. Your taste buds are 30% less sensitive up in the air as they would on the ground. These black and white pixie dusts are guaranteed to make your meal more tasteful (not more delicious, but at least it no longer tastes like tissue paper. Well, it’s a taste you can imagine though I am not to say I haven’t tried it as a kid 😉

Last tip, savor the one thing that still taste as good as it would anywhere else you consume it: HOT COFFEE. It helps you feel reenergized through not only its caffeine in your blood stream and hot liquid down your throat, but also the unmistakable aroma that you can inhale like some kind of drug. Flights tire people anyways so it’s always good to get some energy boost.

How do you feel towards in-flight meals? Any personal tips you got? To conclude, picking out a good film (if you are lucky enough to have entertainment in flight) always distract you from the horrid food 😛 My all time favorite is Gone with the Wind which occupies a solid 4 hours and lately the Martian and Ex-Machina is pretty intriguing too.

Until next time,
Rach

written on Mar 27th.

to date travel:

7 times round trip Taiwan (I know… tiring)
Open Jaw HK to Berlin and Munich (stopping in Moscow, it was snowing and I had to walk from the plane to terminal so yes I have stepped foot in Russia 😉
Round trip Bangkok (yay relaxing for once)
Okinawa (again, but was so fun nonetheless!)
second half of the year will get more exciting I promise 😉

To my beloved mother, even though we are 505 miles apart, you are always in my heart.

There is this old Chinese saying “每逢佳節倍思親” (Festivals double your longing for family) and on Mother’s Day upon seeing all the Facebook posts celebrating today, there is no one I want to be with more than my own mother (whom I have to share with my younger twin brothers unfortunately…).

My first memory of her was her voice. From telling One Thousand and One Nights bedtime stories (which gave me the excuse to sleep with her so one eyed monster won’t come to me at night), to her pathetically weak scolding voice when I failed 4 subjects in 4^th grade, she has undoubtedly the most comforting and pleasant voice in the whole wide world.

She also has the most elegant penmanship in the world; those secret notes in my school bag reminding me to be attentive in school (though I rarely do as I was an annoying kid).

I was overjoyed during the few months she went jobless. (I know I am so selfish) We have had the best time playing made believe librarian and schoolteacher; fine dining restaurants with Ribena and play dough sushi. The only boundary in our world was our imagination.

Even though I have always envied my classmates’ mothers who are housewives; mommy made it up to me by surprising me from time to time. I still remember the birthday pancakes she prepared for my breakfast before school with Winnie the pooh and m n ms decorations; that time she surprised me to Sanrio workshop making Melody key chains… all these tiny bits became my most precious childhood memories.

Then puberty hits and I’m supposed to become the stereotypical teenage pain in the ass; but I didn’t. I could not bare being grumpy or rude to her because that’s just never part of our relationship. She knows just what I love from the card of ancient keys to my 21st birthday trip with GIRAFFES!!!!!! (OMGGGGG) There is no one in this world who knows me better. May be that’s because she always listens; during bedtime, in our afternoon and dinner dates and just whenever I need her. She is always interested in what I have to say from the bitch in high school to my puppy love crushes. Her words work like a charm and have never failed to solve my problems.

In the end I just want to end on a bible class memory I had in my early childhood. My bible teacher lectured us that we as Catholics are supposed to love God more than we love our moms. That’s the precise moment I realized that it is impossible for me to be a qualified Catholic because I could not love anyone more than I love my mom. (I love you too dad, but let’s save that for father’s day 😉

On Mother’s Day, I want to thank you for being such a kind and loving mother, helping me along my life into becoming who I am today. I also want to thank you for giving me big eyes and a tall nose ❤ I know I am too blessed to be your one and only daughter.

p.s. Yes yes you win, you were prettier than me when you were my age 😛

Miss Tofu

My journey in life