7.2-7.6.2008

7.3.08

Well, I am a tourist in my hometown. Everything has changed. My parents have aged a lot. Both lost a lot of weight. Dad is sick. He has lost mobility in his left leg and arm. Mom has been the caretaker for him.. I feel like crying every time I look at them. It has been a tough 9 years.

My mother and I went to the temple next to my parents’ apartment today. My mother told me the Gods and Goddesses in those temples has granted her wishes and we need to go back to the temples to thank the Gods and Goddesses. We bought incants, fruits, and yellow silk covers for the temple. We prayed, thanked, and kneeled in front of the Gods. Everything was so peaceful. The statues in the temples were beautiful. Some made of solid gold. All of them were beautiful and every one of them not only is for spiritual purposes but also forms of art. There was one particular statue was unique. It was made completely out of white jade. It is a 20 feet statue. When I visited her, there were a group of monks chiming and praying for her.

One of my best childhood memories was listening to the monks sing in my parents’ apartment. I could hear them from far away. I never understood what they were singing, but always enjoyed the rhythm and admired the lead singing monk. He sometimes would have a solo and his voice was always so pure and high.

I am still in shock of all the change has happened. There are much to think about and much to see and I shall keep all of you posted.

7.4.08

There are the people EVERYWHERE. It starts making me wonder where do all the people go at night because it sure doesn’t seem like Beijing wouldn’t fit all those people in despite of its size. Went to a super market with at least 20 check out counters and there were still long lines.

When I first got to Beijing, I was amazed by the fashionable ladies. Everyone wears Channel. Then I discovered “the markets”. There are buildings and buildings of either knocked off brand named products and replicas. It is heaven! Dolce, Prada, BCBG, shoes, clothes, bags…. you name it, they have it. You never know it’s real or fake. Usually the real ones do not have logos on them or have logos cut off. There are outfits I saw in the states and sold for half of the price or cheaper in those buildings.

7.5.08

I think my parents want to fatten me up. Lol. I constantly have to fight food off, and at least 5 times a day. They don’t understand my eating habits and quite frankly not whole a lot of my friends understand them either. My dad considers my morning salads inefficient and keep telling me to eat all the fatty and salty things he likes to eat. Mom always looks at me puzzled whenever I eat breakfasts and lunches. (mom fixes dinners and I’ve pigged out couple times already). I really can get used to mother’s cooking. It is just soo damn good. And it’s nice to have dinner with my parents rather than by myself.

It’s been so humid in Beijing, even more so than in Houston. I think the heat beats Houston too. But today and thank God for this. Beijingers can actually see the blue sky!! And yes, the rumors are true, the sky here in Beijing is gray and we don’t usually see the blue sky very often. I can’t really feel the pollution. I still run the same distance almost everyday and I don’t have problem breathing. On a side note, people look at me really weird when I’m out there running. And since I’m living on a military base, all the little soldiers always laugh at me whenever I pass them by. Hopefully nobody will file any complaints.

I haven’t had any chance to tour around. Will keep all your guys posted when I go out!!