African Themed Dinner Party

We were going to have friends over for the first time since we were back from South Africa to share some of the pictures and stories of the trip.  So I thought to cook some African dishes.  The gathering coincided with A's 6th birthday so we made it a celebratory African themed dinner party: I put the African table runner I had bought from a lady in the market in Cape Town and the matching napkins on the dinner table; Changed the covers of the pillows on the sofa to the covers I had bought from another lady in Cape Town; used my African teapot cover in making the tea; and served the nachos in the ebony bowl I had bought from a local lady at The Cape of Penguins.  It was fun!

It felt very exiting looking for different African recipes to make; there were ingredients I didn't have like Madras Curry Paste and there were some I didn't even know what they were like Cloves. From a week before I selected a few dishes; then a day prior spent four hours shopping for my parties (A had another birthday party on Sunday geared toward the kids) including from International Food Bazaar for the different ingredients needed.

On Saturday, the day of the party, I started working on my dishes. It was indeed fun to make all the dishes for the first time. All the new smells in the house and the new textures in my pots.  I thought to continue trying new themes for future gatherings too. Thankfully, based on the feedbacks all, the dishes turned out deliciously.

Below are the African Recipes I tried:
Avocado Peach Salad
http://www.the-foodist.com/recipes/african-avocado-peach-salad-recipe/

Jollof
http://chefinyou.com/2009/10/african-jollof-rice-recipe/

Bobotie SA traditional dish
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5109/bobotie

African Chicken
http://www.chickenrecipes.com.ar/

African Desert
http://ww-recipes.net/2008/06/weight-watchers-african-dessert-recipe-4-points/

Simply Significant

It was at the end of a long long day.  The day had started as early as 6:50 AM with work meetings starting at 7AM. Then meetings with unclear messaging, meetings with argumentative colleagues, meetings with inefficient managements, meetings with disturbing side discussions, delayed meetings, long distance conference calls with unclear voice qualities, promised phone meetings that never happened, and yet another meeting rehashing already decided upon subjects.  I felt exhausted at past 4:40PM; yet I knew that the actual works for the day was just going to begin, to execute my deliverables and respond to compiled emails and manage my work.
I started walking toward the farther break room to grab some water when a colleague raised his head from his work station and asked how my day was going. I just sighed with a tired smile.  He asked "busy?". "Busy cannot describe it!" I replied. He said "there is lots going on young lady! (what he always calls me, young lady) I know what's going on.". Still tiredly I said "yeah, I know, there is really a lot going on!".  At which point he said "and all good stuff, thanks to you, young lady!" and clapped his hands quietly a couple times.
It was a trigger for a big smile: yeah, you are right I said. "All good stuff! That's exactly what I needed to hear at this moment! Thank you!". He nodded with a smile and turned to work. I turned away toward water fountain, feeling appreciated. As simple as that!

The Snail Story

At the last retreat, Cemalnur Sargut told us the story of Moses when he invited God to his place and God agreed.  He cleaned the house and prepared meals and waited but all that showed up at his door was nothing but only a dog.  At night he complained to God why he didn't show up.  God said He did, and asked if Moses met the dog!
So, after that, I tried to pay attention to what showed up at my door.  It was April time and the raining season.  So our front yard and the walk way leading to our door was filled with snails.  They usually left a mark of their path while crawling on the ground, so you could trace their path back.  I usually didn't like seeing them on the path, I wanted them in the yard and not on the path.   After this story I tried to like the snails even on the path.  Every morning I opened the door and there were at least a couple snails at the door.  I would say "hello snails" and smile and walk carefully around them.
One morning, after it had rained, I opened the door and voila, there was a snail at the door.  But this was no ordinary incident.  This time, he had traced an almost complete heart for me!  I smiled cheerfully and said "I love you too Snail! :)" and walked around him.
I wish I had a photo of the snail and his mark to share with you!
I met with D.D. today very briefly and our conversations reminded me of that day.
My exercise: to see God in people too.  I know it is a difficult practice.  But I like challenges!
Yaa Hu

Secretly Happy

If feeling secretly happy is an accomplishment, I feel a great deal of accomplishment today.

Yesterday, while waiting for my flight in the San Jose airport, I bought the SUCCESS (June 2012) magazine for the first time.  Motivation why?  It had a picture of Scarlett Johansson on it.

I remember when I watched Lost in Translation (2003) back in the time I thought if I were an actress I wantedto be like her.  My impressions of her: she is the most confident and content young lady I have seen on TV and on the red carpet.  She doesn’t have this perfect cliché body or even face but she has this utmost sensual air about her; it seems as if she feels calm and sexy.  That is what I admire about her.

Now, her interview with SUCCESS magazine just validated my impression of her.  Her words resonated with me when she said “Doing something that feels impossible makes me feel incredibly happy.” I know what she means!  “I’ve never done a project where I wasn’t sure it would make me secretly happy.” Hah!  Love it.

I really enjoyed my spent on the magazine in the end.  Reading through different articles I kept highlighting here and there and scribbling my thoughts on the side of the pages.

It is amazing how when you really seek something, it seems as if the universe just unveils the means you need to achieve it in front of your eyes.

I feel determined to execute a successful tasks in the near future.  It will be my first project of the kind, but I know I want it to be successful. It is already “emotionally draining”, “exhausting” at times.  Because  it seems impossible.  But achieving it, when the time comes and God willing, is going to make me feel secretly but incredibly happy. Exactly how Scarlett worded it.

Today I had a field ride with our territory manager, M.K. in Peoria, IL.  He picked me up this morning seeming to know exactly what he wanted to accomplish with my presence.  And what was amazing about it, was that he seemed to be certain that I could carry on to his goal.  I felt confident in me too.

We ended up having a couple good meetings and I was very pleased with the feedback I received.  M.K. seemed to be pleased too.  I felt once again how much I liked what I was doing, how secretly scared I was in my first field rides and how confident I felt today. How impossible such day seemed once and how secretly happy I felt today.

And things got even more fascinating; we had a three hour ride to St Louis, MO. We chat, the whole ride.  And granted that is nothing unique because if I find ears who are interested to listen, talking is no trouble.  But this was not me talking the whole ride, this was a reciprocating conversation.  A real nice conversation and above that, fascinating.  We chat about business a ton but we also chat about movies, and books, and religion, and people, and thoughts, and achievements, and striving in being a better person, and meditation, and spirituality.  It was so refreshing and nice being in the field and have the opportunity to carry real conversations.

M.K. has been a former Marine, and he seems proud of it.  It was very easy to talk to him about it.  I had met former marines before but never talked to them about it.  I revealed my take from it, which has been mainly through books and movies and NPR programs.  He was open to listen and to discuss it.  I was impressed by his openness about it.

Today was one of those projects that made me feel accomplished, connected with the universe, grateful, and secretly happy.

PS: Today was my 2nd anniversary in Marketing!  I survived! ;)

I Love My Mom Because

A's school had a celebratory program for mom's yesterday.  All 25 kids and all 25 moms attended the one hour program.  The kids sang to us and performed for us and sang some more. Then, the kids one by one, showed us a drawing they had made of their mothers, and read a sentence: "I love my mom because ..." and the endings of the sentences were mostly in the line of "she takes me to places", "she watches TV with me", "she plays with me", ... all endearing and pure from their little hearts.  I found these all a reciprocating love: I love "her", because she "does" something specific "for me".
A was one of the last ones to read his sentence: "I love my mom because she is very cute". Ah!  All the moms aah-ed and ooh-ed and turned toward me.  I felt sheepish and yet my eyes welled with tears.
I realized later that there were three kids who loved their moms because of who they "were": "funny", "generous", "very cute".
This was the best mother's day present ever!  I really am thankful to Ms P, A's teacher, for all the work she had put in it.
I love my mom because she is very wise!  And, she is very cute too! ;)
Happy Mother's Day!

Unreachable Memories

After dinner I suggested us to step into the backyard. The weather was pleasantly warm. The sprinklers were on which added a clean fresh moist to the early evening cool breeze.
Three hummingbirds dived toward the spraying water and two flew away at once. But one of them, which seemed both thirsty and brave, hung around flapping his wings. He just moved briskly between the drops of the water spray, bathing under the fading sun.
A was standing on the other side of the lawn. Staring at the water sprays, he suddenly darted into the lawn, laughing innocently at his getting wet, running his way across the lawn, making it to the other side soaked.
I told M how this very scene was the reason I wanted a backyard. For A to recall, one day, the adventures of  his warm weather nights...  Like many childhood memories of my summer nights growing up, the smell of the wet lawn, the fresh umbrellas of the trimmed black berries bushes, the cool breeze of the night. My parents and siblings and once in a while a visiting guest, a dish full of summer fruits, the very ripe nectarines, apricots, cherries; the offerings of the night on the high deck after dinner; Everything that was so ordinary at the time... Unreachable memories of the grown years.

Chocolate Memory

Like a delicious after taste. You already had the smooth creamy velvety chocolate. It's gone.  Now licking your lips may bring back some faint memories; but the memory never equates the reality of what it was.
So is some of the experiences in life. At the time they were sweet, desired, happy, wanted. But the experience was time-bound despite your ignorance.
Now, all remained from it is the memories. Some make you smile. Some make you sigh. Some make you shiver.
There is no such thing as everlasting chocolate.

Returning Contemplations

Driving to work this morning, I realized how real this return is.  I am back.  And the whole week last week feels surreal already.

Both M and I really enjoyed our time, both at Cape Town and in Sabi Sabi.  Terrific trip!

I wish I could have granted myself an hour with the nature while in Safari. I suppose I could've taken advantage of the terrace at our lodge.  It was just difficult to go there, sit down and relax with all the possibilities of lizards and hyenas and all.  Otherwise, sitting at my desk at work, I miss the sound of the wild.  It was as if the noises were coming from different depth of the nature, very many different varieties almost all new to my ears.

I miss breathing the cleanest most perfectly moist air I had ever breathe.

I was also thinking how proud of A I was.  He managed this whole experience of time away from both of his parents so graciously.  We talked to him briefly just before his bedtime during our lay over at Frankfurt. He was in our bed, apparently he had done the same last night too.  M hypothesized that this was his way to quench his feeling of missing us, I totally agree with him.  He knows how to sooth himself and he has been real good with all his care givers.  I am proud of him.

In the airport while waiting for our flight and a 50 minute delay gave me an amazing opportunity to have a lengthy chat with M.P., our president, and his wife, who were sharing this leg of the flight with us.  We started with talking about the first leg of our flights, and then recapping the trip and the experience, and then immediate work on Monday, and continued with many inspirational directives and advice he had to share; I was thrilled with the opportunity and the good words he had to say about me.  He gave me hints about many different ways of learning, and the many different ways to achieve a career goal, and not to achieve high ranks too quickly which may lead to lack of respect.  I thought it was also very wise when he said that sometimes there was a lag between people's growth and vision and the corporation growth and vision, so one must be patient until the corporation caught up.  I am looking forward to a lengthy chat with my direct manager about it all.

In the airplane to San Francisco I read a few pages of the Times magazine about the 100 most influential people in the world.  There was a column on Jeremy Lin, the Knicks player, by Arne Duncan.  In the article, Duncan praises Lin for his determination in success, and how he is both a successful athlete and a great student. "He worked hard and stayed humble. He lives the right way; he plays the right way." Neat!

Then I watched a couple movies.  The Iron Lady and The Artist.  Both OK. I just wanted to have watched them and now I have.

I could't wait to see A and hug him and kiss him and hear him talk at length possibly about the funny scenes in the Disney DVDs he had to watch and count down the nights away from us.  He received us happily and came back several times to give us a hug or a kiss here and there.  He was thrilled about the stuffed Elephant we got him from the Johannesburg airport.  He named him Eli right away.

Now, back to the corporate life with all the new plans, visions, and motivations going forward.

Thank God for everything!

Sixth Night - In the Air

Awesome. Amazing. Relaxing. Adventurous. Foreign. Metropolitan. Wild. Luxurious. All at the same time, this trip of a life time. The day began with our last game ride. It was hard to believe the last ride had already approached us.  M.O., M, Mike our ranger, and Patrick our tracker, and I headed out toward the sunrise.  It was magnificent, the pinkish orange sun rising over the safari trees and bushed. We saw a few more animals in the wild including another family of elephants and buffalos.  Buffalo- Check. Done with the big five.   Back to the  lodge, goodbyes to the rangers and lodge manager, and then ride to the airport. M.P. , S.P.'s wife, was sitting by me again and we chat a lot recapping the amazing past two days.  I miss her actually! We flew from Kruger National Park to Johannesburg, said goodbyes to most all of our group.  Like always everything was arranged in the most gracious way, from pick up at the gate, to leading us to our stored bags, to check in counters.  Johannesburg airport had a good collection of African goods and the price was not inflated, we got to shop for A. We explored if we could claim the tax of the goods we had bought in Cape Town but they needed to see the goods in addition to the receipts while the goods were already in the checked in languages. We should have showed them before security and got the Copts stamped. This was a lesson learned; reminds me of Sa'di's poem every time I learn a new thing while traveling.  I did not want to leave this morning. But now that we are in our way back I wish to get home sooner. And actually look forward to work on Monday. There is a lot I need to do.  I wish to win the trip again, yet I wish this trip for all of my colleagues. Either way it will be a win.

Fifth Night - Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge

Elephant - check Leopard - check Lion - check Rhino - chec... (just it's back) Remains the African buffalo that I do not have much desire for, I rather see giraffe and zebra at this point. It is amazing here is Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. The brush, the tree, the weather, the smells, the sounds.  It is indeed a very close experience of the wild. We arrived at Nuespirit airport yesterday and took a two-hour shuttle ride to the gate of the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve. From there we got into 10-passenger jeeps and got transferred to the lodge itself.  The entrance to the lodge is through a channel going down to the ground that leads to the main gates.  Then as you pass the entrance Gates the field opens up in front of you with a pond with rocks and waterfalls which is the lobby.   There are dining rooms and tea rooms and bar at the left and right sides.  To get to your lodge you need to go past the main lobby and gathering areas. Then the buildings end and you need to walk a while to get to the first lodge.  The lodges are detached.  From outside they look like a dome.  The you step in and submerge into an all natural habitant for human.  The walls are made of clay, the chandeliers made of branches, many of the decorations are made of wood or weeds.  There is a small pool in front of the lodge with chairs that resembles the silhouette of an animal.  There is a sketch pad and a set of pastels and coloring oil in one of the drawers.  It feels very serene.  Albeit there is the concern of all the spiders and scorpions and insects all the time.  You have to inspect every corner it feels and check the bed before claiming under the blankets. We had a game ride this morning after a 5:30AM wake up call.  It was really neat watching an elephant turning over trees to feed from the roots; I wished for a lion and we got to see a coalition of two males and a probe of six cubs.  We saw kudus, dwarf mongoose, hammerhead bird, thermite net, and many different kinds of birds and butterflies.  We returned after three hours and after breakfast took a game walk around the lodge. I was most concerned with the tics. We walked by a pond very close to the lodge that houses a crocodile and a hippo; we examined different plants and watched butterflies and got lectures on feces. It was a very unique hike of a life time. I skipped lunch since I couldn't sleep much at all last night and chose to take a nap instead.  So far in every ride I made a wish and it got granted: last night I wished to see a leopard, we saw one with a kill, this morning i wished for a lion, we saw two with a pride, this afternoon I wished for a giraffe, and boom, the first animal we spotted was a beautiful male giraffe posing for us while munching on trees.  Oh and we saw a dozen rhinos, at one spot there were two rhinos and an elephant came to toy with them, fanning his ears at them to show his majesty. Rhino - CHECK At night we had a tour of the stars, the sky of the nights is magnificent.  Dinner venues was very cool too with African music and a dance performance by an all male team, may be a hunting story. M described it accurately: overwhelming! This whole trip seems surreal, so amazing, unique, and luxurious.  I am grateful.

Day Four - Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge

The most amazing experience I have ever had with nature. As soon as we got in the lodge we off loaded and headed for our first game ride. We got to see many animals but the most impressive one was a leopard that was eating a steenbuck prey on a branch and three hyenas were waiting down the tree for drops. It was unbelievable how close we were to the whole scene. It is magnificent, this nature of the God! The whole experience is amazing but the lack of social mingling for such a social person like me is getting into my nerves.  The group is really nice, but I wish my marketing colleagues were here too, we would have a blast. I am too tired to type tonight.  Slepts only two hours last night and have been on the road and in the air and on the road again and on a game ride from 8AM to 8PM almost.  Otherwise the lodge itself deserves a description; albeit the are vy unusual creatures around.  M claimed to leave the lights on and is now fast asleep himself. Good bright night from Sabi Sabi!

Third Night - Cape Town

It is midnight again in Cape Town.   My last midnight here, possibly in my life, who knows. We are packed and ready to depart to Kruger Park tomorrow.  I do not want to leave; I know what is ahead is fantastic but after that it is the turn around point. We had a fabulous day today.  First off, we well better rested, we got woke up with A's call like all the nights so far but still got to sleep some more and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Albeit not hearty in anticipation of the ride. I opt out of having anti nausea medication which was recommended for the helicopter ride. And I did not regret it. We got transferred to the chopper station ad after a brief safety talk we were airborne. There were three of us in each chopper and a pilot. The take off was fantastic; the view of the cape town, Table Mountain, the Twelve Apostles, the Atlantic Ocean, the beaches, and finally the South Point was amazing from 25,000 feet; and we had a rather smooth landing as well.  South Point is the most southern point in the continent, and it is rather a narrow land extended into the ocean; one could see the easter, wester, and southern boarders of the continent at the same time from up there.  M got a brief flying lesson sitting by the pilot. He was a great pilot since despite the wind on the ground he made it a great experience for us without any unexpected fall or turn. So I am sure M has learned a thing or two. We boarded on three shuttles and we had the privilege of company of our president M.P., his wife J.P., and our vice president of sales M.O.  We had a stop at Cape of Good Hope which was the most south western point in the continent.  We all climbed a rock to the top and got a different view of the Atlantic Ocean. The wind was so strong up there it would throw me off balance every time I lifted one foot to walk. The water was just beautiful from up there.  There was a ship sank close by in 1911, apparently there is a rock coming off the water very close to the beach, you could see the swirling waves around it but you couldn't see the rock itself. It called for a need for a good light house.  So there we went, to the light house vista point.  After that we got transferred to our lunch venue: a secluded beach, a tent, built for just us, and wonderful food.  We shared the table with M.O. And got to listen to his fabulous story.  It was indeed aspiring listening to his career adventured from Boston to France to Bay Area.  The lunch venue was so relaxing nobody seemed to care to leave.  We ventured beach combing for a short while and then head down to the Penguins Colony.  Indeed there are penguins in South Africa, which was unexpected for us.  They were small, cute, and wobbly of course. There were local people selling their handcrafted goods by the beach.  I got to by a Ebony Wood Bowl with carved animals around it for 200 Rands, I think it was a great bargain and more importantly, it is nice and resembles good quality. I am excited about it. We went through Simon Town and head back toward the cape town passing by the Hout Bay.  It was another great vista point of the ocean, the bay, and the mountains. The rides with our companions was very nice and we chat about many different things which made it a very good experience.  I really enjoy educated intellectual talks and conversations and this was indeed satisfactory. Back in the hotel we rested for a short while and then walked down to the Victoria Wharf; I got to pick and buy a few other souvenirs and I am again very excited about a hand painted table runner I bought with matching napkins. I am loving it all.  They also carve or paint ostrich eggs which I thought was a great gift as it is really unique and African we thought.  I am also excited about an African gemstone bracelet I bought.  And of corse a few things for my sunny son, including the ostrich egg; I hope it makes him excited. I really enjoyed every minute of the day and night; it was a great great day. I am really thankful for the experience and wouldn't have traded it for anything even the shark diving!

Second Night - Cape Town

It was a great day today! We had a very short sleep last night due to insomnia and jet lag. Got to have a quick breakfast and then a car ride to the Paarl wine land. There were two other couples joining us. We all got on horses and rode through the vineyards inStellenbosch. It was magnificent. My horse back riding experience was much better this time compared to my last more than a decade ago. We planned on a quick lunch but it lasted us 1.5 hours. It was hard to rush to eat where we were, in the middle of the vineyards surrounded by mountains and a cool breeze and a great food and nice company. The other couple stayed for wine tasting but we head back in the hope to go to Table Mountain. Alas it got shut down again. So we made a quick visit to the waterfront market, got A a post card for 5 Rands, found the post office, and mailed it. Rushed back to the hotel to change and down we got for a bus ride to the mdinner venue: the Gold of Africa Museum. We got greeted with drinks with floating gold flakes on the top. Then a drum call similar to what we had at Global Sale Meeting earlier this year and it was still lots of fun. A quick tour of the museum with many gold. And finally African dinner and dance and music by performers. Amazing culture!! A salt bath and sleeping time. It is right past midnight in cape town. Goeienag! (good night in Afrikaans)

First Night

I think I can sleep tonight. M and I both took a nap in the afternoon and when we got up I felt much much better, thank God. We just missed the whole afternoon while it was still light outside but I am grateful for the rest and hopeful all will be fine tomorrow. We had a reception with the whole president club winners and their spouses. It was a nice gathering and everyone was warm and friendly. Every body else, except the president, are from sales and some have been to trips and other year president club trips before; I am the only person from marketing; yet we had a rather good evening. The shark cage excursion has for sure canceled for tomorrow. We are exploring other options. We got to chat with A tonight thanks to the house alarm going off! He came home this afternoon after two night of sleep over and will be cared for by a stay at home nanny and a baby sitter. He was shaken and wanted to talk to daddy about the very loud alarm and the reason why it went off despite him pressing the right key. Then he walked away from the camera to watch a cartoon. He was fine though. Knowing him, he will be fine just to be at home where everything is under his control. All the rest of the group have also left kids behind. Most of them with their parents. Some have younger kids even; all are concerned but content. I think I am over analyzing stuff in my head any way. I pray for him to be safe and well. Thankfully our friends with whom he stayed had all good things to say about him. That is prideful and I thank God for that. Good night!

Arrived - Cape Town

I got to cross the equator for the first time and here we are, for the first time in the continent of Africa. The airport is on the east of the famous Table Mountain, a mountain with 3km of flat plateau on the top. We had a car service from the airport to the hotel where we shared the shuttle with our president of the company and his wife. They are both very warm and friendly and it was a pleasure to share the ride together. We arrived at Queen Victoria Hotel. The nice M.E., our event manager, was at the lobby to greet us. We got checked in and guided to our room. The staff are very polite and attending again. What has not become ordinary to my eyes is the patterns. The giraffe pattern of the carpet, the zigzag pattern on the chair. The big five on the currency notes which is really cute, like the lion on the 100 Rand. I could sleep in the plane for about 3 hours and got up stuffed and sneezing. And now I feel sick in my stomach. But hopefully it will go away soon. We were thinking to go for a tour of the Table Mountain, even got tickets, but then g to informed that because of the strong wind they had shut it down for the afternoon. It is likely that due to very high waves we won't be able to go to shark cage either. We shall wait and see. We got to talk to our friends whom A is staying with. Our friend E.S. had kindly sent us a couple pictures of A, all happy and content. It was a very thoughtful gesture and we really appreciated it. He is not talking on the phone though which is nothing new; he never was good with phone communications. He just talked very briefly yesterday when we called him from London. Yet it makes me feel insecure with his thoughts and feelings. I want to think that he will appreciate a conversation in a while.

Air - London to Cape Town

It is in the middle of the night. M is asleep, thanks to the sleeping pill. And our president and his wife who are sitting in the row in front of us seem also quite. I feel tired but can't sleep yet. The dinner in the plane was unexpectedly great! Granted I was hungry. Yet it was unmistakably good!! A tasty mushroom and apple soup artisticly seasoned and a very fresh salad. The flight attendant is really attending and polite. It seems like he doesn't feel that he is doing you a service, he seems to like to serve and satisfy. It is a refreshing experience actually, especially after flying United. I watched Carnage and The Descendent and The Muppets. Liked The Descendent very much. Made my eyes tearful at times. Thankfully we got to go to London for a couple hours and we had the honor of meeting my dear Sh.K. And her family, and particularly got acquainted with their lovely 1.5 year old son. It was too short but too sweet a visit.

On Board to London

It feels like I have left part of my heart behind. A is probably at the kids concert right now with our friends and their kids; yet I cannot stop but wonder: is he happy? What is he thinking about this trip of both of his parents with him left behind? I know it is strange, this feeling inside, as I have gone through this exact leg of trip to London in the past summer for a week of business travel. And I was fine. I did miss him but I was looking forward to the experience, even to being away for a few days. This is a proof to me of how much I am relying on M while I am gone. Now, because of all of his past support he gets to go to this trip of a life time with me and I am thrilled, yet I cannot ease my head about A. I shall let go and let God, as Wayne Dyer might say. I pray for his well being and his heart to have a great experience with himself... I am thinking about him none stop though. I know I will want to buy anything I see if I find it interesting to him. But I won't. M and I will meet my dear Sh.K. In London Ina few hours. And of course her husband and now 1.5 year old son. So looking forward to this visit.

On Way to "Trip of a Life Time"

Bitter ... Sweet ...
Bitter missing A.
Sweet being with M.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet experiencing a far far away land.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet submerging in a land of unknown with totally foreign languages.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet being in the south hemisphere for the first time.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet getting to see the sunrise in the safari.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet getting to see all these majestic animals up close.
Bitter missing A.
Sweet getting the time to contemplate on the beautiful land of God.

A Midnight Working Mom

A's backpack - check
A's carry-on - check
Mommy's backpack - check
Mommy's luggage - check
A's booster seat - check
A - check
Mommy - check

This is how I started and concluded my most recent business trip.

I had to go to San Diego to visit a customer.  The order had come from above from the Director of Sales.  Of course, I always jump at any excuse to go to where my dear R.N. is anyway; right now it happens to be San Diego.
The meeting was set for a Monday afternoon at the beginning of A's Spring Break.  Add to all these another fact: The Legoland is just north of San Diego and A and I had never been there.

So, a mommy and sunny son weekend getaway was engineered to be followed by a business meeting.

A and I left Bay Area in Saturday afternoon and headed straight to R.N.'s house in San Diego where I got greeted by a cup of artfully made chai, mmm mmm.  R.N. and one other friends of hers had crafted a surprise birthday party for yet another dear friend.  Soon after our arrival we started getting ready for this Hawaii themed surprise birthday party.  At one point me, R.N., and the birthday girl, who thought we were just heading out to dinner for her birthday, were standing in front of a mirror making the last alterations to our make ups and hair dues.  We make recommendations on colors and liners once in a while; we learned new tricks and tested new trends; we all looked sharp and nice; such fun time it is to be spent with all the girls!

The joyful Hawaiian-themed birthday party had Persian food, Indian music and dance, and all sorts of people from around the globe.  This is California!

The next day R.N. made me yet another cup of artfully made chai and A and I headed to the Legoland.  We got there just a few minutes past the opening time and spent more than 7 straight hours hopping from one ride to another.  A particularly enjoyed the Build and Test time where he made several different kinds of cars and raced them and won the race 90% of the time.  He learned the concept of symmetry and the magic it imposes in guiding the car to slide down straight rather than biased to one side or the other.  He got to ride a junior car all by himself which was such fun he rode it twice.  We rode the dinasour ride and the dragon ride and the free-fall ride.  I realized that I am not as fearless as a few years ago about the rides.  Yet, after overcoming my anxiety in the first ride, I like to have more and more adrenalin pumps.  Still, I doubt if I would appreciate many of the Six Flag rides in a few years when he prefers to go there. A played a game and won a stuffed animal, a green turtle.

The next day I worked for most of the day while A made himself busy with different activities and many episodes of Wallace and Gromit on Netflix.  We enjoyed an ocean view lunch in The Goldfish Point Cafe.  A got to see his favorite sea animal, the seals.  My business trip meeting got conducted successfully and finally R.N., A, and I had dinner in a local diner by the ocean.

Tuesday morning we headed back to the Bay Area.


A's backpack - check
A's carry-on - check
Mommy's backpack - check
Mommy's luggage - check
A's booster seat - check
A - check
Mommy - check
Turtle - check


I hope my A reads these one day; just to know how I marvel in being with him, and how I am filled with happiness when I see joy in his eyes.

The Hunger Games (2012)

Ingeniously guile; Vainly hopeful!

Oh the man's vanity; timeless! endless!

The Hunger Games depicts a future nation, where hovercrafts and hovering spaceships seem to be the main means of transportation, where people still seem to live in families with parents and children, where there is still a Mr President to choose the destiny of the people, where there is this antidote ointment that cures a third degree burn in the matter of hours.

Then in this world the eyelashes are "beautified" with make up to pink and purple and green and blue, and attached pair of crafted leaves, or tiny butterflies.

Well, eyelashes are supposed to be black I think.  They are more beautiful in my eyes when they are more black than not, and in the words of many poets that I know.

Unnatural Hair-dues and hair colors are already not too foreign even in our time; the unnatural hair colors are already natural.

That all makes me ponder on the sense of art and beauty.  Does it change as human evolves?

Then there seems to be backwardly kept places in this future time where people actually look like people but they are bred to play in an annual game for the amusement of the butterflied-eye-lash-ed people of the Capitol.  A game where the contestants get chosen to use their survival skills to win a life of hunger, with only one to win, with all the rest to die or to get killed.  Mr President and the director of the game choose how to manipulate the scenes, of course, how to create creatures with the tap of a finger, they choose to act like God.

I fear this future.  I get it.  IF.  If the world gets to this point.  If the life becomes a game (isn't it?) and then if that game becomes a matter of survival(wasn't it for ever?).  If the looks of the children of man become so unnatural.  If the colors get used so mixed up.
But why should one think like this; genius!  One should sit down and create such an ugly world and engineer such a cleverly cunning game. Then many read that created book and then many manufacture a movie based on it and then many want to pay to spend a few hours of their precious lives watching it.  That makes me wonder actually. "Hope is stronger than fear"!  Indeed.  Yet why should one breed anymore to have a blue-eye-lashed child or a child to battle a hunger game?

Indeed, this is nothing new.  Human being seems to always have felt some sort of satisfaction by observing distress of others; especially when they can choose, with the turn of a finger, the destiny of another man:
The combats of gladiators with another man or a beast;
fast forward to hockey where head and face injury is the norm in the life of the players and is marveled by the heart of many observers,
fast forward to future, where "The World is Watching" The Hunger Games.