back from the dead

it has been ages since i last wrote something here. as usual, i've been buried under an enormous shit heap of travail. god knows why i stick with this... wait, i do know but i'm just too mutton-headed to do anything about it. umm... apologies to the scores of cute lil sheep around the world.

anyhoo, just wanted to write for the sake of writing. i figured it's been ages since i've chronicled anything here, and i'm bound to forget the nice little sprinkles of fairy dust that decorated my otherwise drab existence of the past, what, 5 months?

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china has been wonderful. i've been trying to upload photos in my multiply. alas, work has been brutal enough to prevent me from doing so.

one of my favorites...

saw the pandas, ate peking duck and had a free foot massage in the new olympic village being created for 2008. all excellent experiences for sure. i find myself searching for that patent sense of homecoming i felt when i stepped out of that distant gare in angers, dusty, tired yet eager to start a new chapter of my life. vive la france!

going down from the great wall...

maybe it was because it was just a four-day trip. maybe it was because i was with my family. but when i stepped out of that not-too distant airport and into the bright beijing day, that feeling eluded me.

inside the bus with shobs...

going past the forbidden city, tiananmen square, the great wall of china, and the smaller nooks and crannies of this ancient city, i could see myself settling in with the locals though. beijing has that modern-slash-historic-city vibe going on, which i definitely dig. lots of places to discover and food to gorge on. and the fact that the olympics will be held there on 2008 definitely does not hurt.

group pic at the forbidden city

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club noah isabelle was wonderful as well! i repeat my sentiments after going to el nido last december- palawan trumps bora anyday.

snorkeling, sun bathing and fishing are the primary ingredients for a super vacation before your life takes a decisive turn up shit creek.

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completed the first 4 calls of my cruise project with much aplomb. very interesting project that allowed me to work with various people across the board. plus, it gave me the opportunity to practice my flailing francais. c'est super!

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my birthday was pretty underwhelming... as usual. no hot brazilian guys, no booze and no police hauling people off to jail.

thanks to all the peeps who remembered me on that day. i don't think i deserved it specially right after i forgot to greet 2 of my closest buds on their respective birthdays (the shame...).

the icing on the cake was enzo being suddenly assigned to fix some i.t. thingabob in our office. yay! lunch and merienda with one of the lostest nicest boys in the world. don't worry zo, you're not the only one suffering from memory loss.

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ok, back to being unproductive.