so, after all the trials and tribulations that included, but were not limited to, dealing with american airlines to reroute my flight from singapore to home through china, and the process of both saying "the Consulate of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China" five times fast as well as applying for/picking up my Chinese visa, i've made it. i'm in china, and its nothing short of unbelievable to have made it here. me and my family had entertained the idea before we had bought my ticket four months ago, but we decided it would be too much trouble so we didnt do it. then, some 4 weeks ago, since my aunt moved to her new job/house in the Shanghai city area, mom said that it would be "appropriate" for me to come here for a week on my way home, so we put the wheels in motion for getting me here. and now i'm here!
theres quite a bit for me to be happy about being here. first of all, i'm in china! i really didnt think that i'd end up coming here for at least another five years or so, after medical school perhaps on a short vacation or something, so thats nice. secondly, i'm with my family which i havent seen in some years now, almost 6, so thats always nice. they're amazing people, and i certainly do miss seeing them quite a bit, esp when we talk on the phone every once in a while. and the two kids, now 14 and 8, i hadnt seen in 6 years, and as you can imagine, they've grown up quite a bit since we last met. it was a pleasant surprise to see them both, and we're having a great time here together. last but not least, the weather is a HUGE break from the stupid humid hot singapore weather. for the first time since i left, i felt cold while standing outside in jeans and a tshirt, and it was an incredible feeling. also, for the first time in 4 months, i've had to use lotion to keep my hands from drying up since the atmosphere didnt keep my skin moisturized simply by being outside. i'd say of all these, the weather is a close second to being with the family, its that amazing. its the spring weather that i know that i've been looking forward to for SO long. thank god i'm here :D
its not really all that different from any other big city in the world that i've been too, in asia or otherwise..it is the financial center of the entire country, so its a pretty important city in the grand scheme of things, but no bigger or more crowded than new york city at the worst. except that everything looks like chinese to me, but im sure you can understand how that situation might arise. been here for about two days now, since friday afternoon, it being sunday afternoon now, and i tell you, i've had a wonderful time. i'm here with my mom's sister and the fam, so i've got excellent accomodations and plenty of love from the family to come along with it; they're taking good care of me. have had a couple wonderful days and nights so far. friday, we went out for dinner at an AMAZING middle eastern restaurant with some of the best kebabs that i've ever had, as well as a few belly dancers that werent *too bad* either :) after dinner, me and my uncle, since we were in the nightlife district for dinner anyway, decided to do a little club hopping for a few hours, which turned out to me majorr fun, despite the fact i was with my uncle. he's so chill, we just had a few drinks here and there, he met some his work buddies and i met a couple girls from the US and britain, had a good time for the night, which was helped by some good music at one of the joints we spent a large part of the night at. got home around 330AM and slept like a baby in the nice cool, dry house, cuddled up in my blanket for the first time in mooonths.
the next day, saturday, left the house around noon and roamed around the city and the surrounding cities getting some errands done then heading towards their old hometown for some dinner, drinks, and evening entertainment, which included an absolutely fantabulous light and sound fountain show, accompanied by some surprise fireworks as part of the finale. today has basically just begun..we'll be going out to do a little shopping and taking a little look around the city, and then letting the rest of the evening play out as it may. definitely looking forward to spending the rest of the week here with these guys, they're tons of fun and its just awesome to be with family that i havent seen in so long....my sister is soooo jealous haha :) will be writing soon!
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