BACK TO EARTH AGAIN

Just got back home last night from a 6 – day vacation to first Shanghai then Beijing. Left the country last Thursday, April 13. Anyway, this is the first day in my “post – vacation” life and already I’m getting a “post – vacation” syndrome i.e., getting nostalgic, reminiscing, having a strange “difficulty” in “adjusting” back to “normalcy”, etc. It is not only psychological or emotional but also physical or physiological. Take this for instance, I normally have a light breakfast routine but during the tour, I got accustomed to having a heavy stuffed buffet style breakfast courtesy of the hotels that I was staying. And today, I started out with the normal light breakfast that I used to have but somewhere during the mid morning, I felt a hunger pang. I was so tempted to eat but I had to watch my weight since I probably gained a few pounds during the last few days. Another example, I got really uncomfortable with the summer heat today even though I sorely “missed” it. Back in Shanghai, the temperature was around 7oC on our first night and around 8oC the following day. I said to myself then that I was actually looking forward for a vacation to “cool down” but not to “chill out”. Luckily, I prepared some thick clothing for the trip. Nevertheless, I can’t help but wished that I have stayed home and “sun burn” to death rather than freeze to death in a distant place. Anyway, things got a little better during my stay in Beijing, the weather is a little warmer, like somewhere in the mid teens. It was cool but not cold except when the wind blew and in the words of Megan, it is just like you’re in an air – conditioned room except that you’re not inside a room but outdoors. I kind like got use to the weather in Beijing actually and I find myself swearing profusely about the temperature I’m in right now. I also sorely “missed” the daily “adventures” that I had the last few days. Those trips down the ultra – modern street of Shanghai or those walks in the labyrinth of the Imperial palace in Old Beijing or that “historic” climb to the Great Wall. Now, I’m back to the old routine that is both familiar and boring but somehow strangely new to me. And I surely missed that hot bubble bath that I’m having every night before I went to bed. It is my way of “defrosting” from the cold. Oh, I missed that relaxing and warm quarter to half an hour soak in the bathtub. Too bad, I don’t have a bath tub here and besides I don’t luxury of time for a relaxing soak. I also missed the hotel room that I’m staying. I traveled alone and got a room for myself only without any company. I got a bed good for two people (which Megan said to be a honeymoon bed), a sofa for relaxing and watching TV, and a bathroom. Well, actually, I have my own room here complete with a sofa, a king sized bed, and a nice bathroom plus my library. The difference between the two is that my room is a mess and looks like it’s been hit by hurricane Katrina (what do you expect of a guy’s bedroom looks like anyway?) and I had to clean it myself whereas my hotel room is clean and if I messed up, somebody cleaned it for me plus I got a good view of the city. Lastly, I missed the people that I’m been with the past week. Funny, how human beings develop relationships in so short a time. We were complete strangers at the beginning of the tour and along the way we somehow developed a bond and by the time we are parting ways, I actually felt sad and couldn’t really said goodbye but just “see ya” (which makes parting easier, I guess). How could I forget the good doctor, Sandra. She’s always cheerful, very friendly, and nice as in not bitchy. She has a very lovely smile. Or her father, Alejandro, who always manage to attract a flock of waitresses around him studying intently as he magically transform the table napkins into a white rose and he gave them to just one of them. I had to admit that I’m envious of Alex, I mean I can’t attract women like the way he did and women actually felt “happy” receiving the rose and for those who didn’t, envious. Wow! You know for 5 lunches and 5 dinners, I sat there watching him intently, studying his craft hoping to learn from the master the art of making paper roses but I still don’t get it. He once told me that if you give a real rose to a woman, she would probably dismiss you as a cliché but if you gave a rose made out of a napkin, well, you could swept her off her feet that very minute. Come to think of it, he got a point and I find it quite funny how women actually like fakes: fake roses, fake Loius Vitton handbags, and fake luxury branded stuffs. Then there is also, the mother, Solana, who is also very friendly and nice but she is the classic compulsive shopper like most women I knew (Dang, I hate shopping!). How could I forget Jennifer Tan, the microbiologist turned geneticist. She’s an American citizen but a Filipino – Chinese. She is the 5th person I knew to carry the name, Jennifer Tan. Is there something about the name as to make it so popular among Filipino Chinese? She was on vacation and is with her parents, Louie and Mildred. At 77 years old, Louie is the groups’ resident senior citizen and he is still going strong though able to climb and walk unassisted. I would surely miss those chats we have over breakfast. Then there is also Joseph, the group’s unofficial leader and his wife, Betty and their best buddy, Man. The trio could be best described as the bargain hunters par excellence. Dang, these people do know how to bargain and they do drive a hard bargain! Then there is Lily, the 50 - 60 something grandmother who always carries that infectious optimism and enthusiasm about life in general that I felt that I view things way too seriously. Finally, there is little Megan, the youngest member of the tour at 10 years old and Lily’s granddaughter. She is my “adopted” daughter because her father was my age and we really gotten so close and for most of the tour, I was her “guardian” when her grandma isn’t around to accompany her like during the climbing of the Great Wall. She calls me uncle, which makes me I feel "old" (my cousin who is somewhere near her age called me Big Brother) but it’s ok because I think it’s apt. We took pictures together, climb the Great Wall together, and played charades together although I suck big time at charades. Cute, pretty little girl, bright, and very sharp too. It would be a waste if she becomes a model just as everybodywas suggesting (she appeared in commercials by the way). I think she should be a scientist or a doctor or a lawyer someday. We had a ice cream party at my hotel room the night before we left and awhile ago, I was thinking of getting an ice cream to “cool down” and I remembered her. She is somewhere in Xian, China continuing her tour while I’m here blogging………

POSTCRIPT:
I know some of my friends would probably tell me to get married and settled down but you see I haven’t learn how to make a paper rose yet. “ )