Coming home by the numbers

19.9 kilos in checked-in baggage (up from 16 kilos at start of trip)

13.1 kilos in hand-carried baggage (from 0 kilos at start of trip)

2 checked-in suitcases (up from 1 at start of trip)

16 hours of flying

1 movie

4 hours' layover in Hong Kong

1 cup of coffee

1 chocolate toffee cookie

1 day lost

9 degrees warmer

1 love-starved cat

3 consecutive liters of water

1 12-pound Le Creuset enameled cast-iron Dutch oven
1 art print
2 funky lunchboxes from the MoMA store
2 new notebooks
2 Alcatraz tin cups

2 new pairs of Nine West sandals

2 vintage maxi dresses

3 pairs of leather boots (1 unused Calvin Klein in pristine condition)

3 bottles of wine (1 red, 1 white, 1 dessert)
1 wedge of Mediterranean-flavored jack cheese

6 small bags of Ghirardelli chocolate, as pasalubong

1 new Kenneth Cole bag

1 kilo of clean laundry (thanks JD!)

1 slightly squashed lemon layer cake, packed in a Tupperware (thanks Chris!)

1 extra-large found acorn

1 three-dimensional letter "D" (do not ask)

12 new books (includes used books from second-hand bookstores)

2,408 digital photos

8 o'clock bedtime

2 Bay Area-lovesick travelers

unmentionable amount of pounds around the middle

Dear Bay Area

You know, you remind me a lot of someone I know: Europe. But with outlets.

And sinful diner food like cinnamon rolls dipped into egg batter, fried up as French toast and served with icing sugar, whipped butter and maple syrup, a breakfast that is so ridiculously decadent it could only be an American invention.

But it's French toast anyway so that's Continental too right? Yes, I thought you would agree. Then there's the wine and the cheese and the artisanal chocolate and the weather...

Can the husband and I live here? Please? Our friends would absolutely love it. I'm asking for them too, you know. So you know I'm not being selfish.

Just let me know. Kthxbye.

Love,
Currystrumpet

And she's off...

Today's post is brought to you by Blogger's Remorse!

It's been crazy in the Paul-Plazo household these last two weeks.

After scrambling to get my Dependent Pass (which I now have! I am no longer a tourist in Singapore! Long story...) Marlon and I flew off to Beijing for an exhausting but definitely... interesting five days. I would describe most of it as fun although there were more than a few lost-in-translation moments, the occasional bouts of frustration and fatigue, and even an open-air lovers' quarrel for all to see. What the holiday pictures don't show, eh? 

marlon and i in beijing: having fun but a little overwhelmed, tired but still going

At the same time I was being yanked onboard a three-month freelance contract that I haven't officially signed yet because I don't have the right work papers sorted out (again, long story...). 

I rushed back from Beijing to a pile of work from said freelancing gig. I am working from home these days and am so surprised at how much I am working for a job that I am not even officially yet on (again, long story). I really get how everyone I'm working with needs me to come on board because they are all so damned busy! I've been doing as much as I can, but it's been a struggle to work with just a few days sandwiched in between trips -- plus the other, odder factor of me not being officially onboard and asked to work from home till the contract is signed. Long story... 

Long story seems to be the story of my life these days!

It seems like I was just struggling to onboard myself a few days ago, and suddenly I have to quickly and thoroughly turn over what little work I've done (which seems like a lot to me already!) before I disappear to San Francisco for the next two weeks. 

Still, the job was a huge and unexpected blessing so I'm doing my best to shut the complaints and to do right by it and The One who gave it to me. And there's no way I'm complaining about this trip because the tantalizing tandem of discovering new places and seeing old friends simply fills me with such anticipation. 

So I'm off again, and looking forward to a trip that will be every bit as exciting (and hopefully, a wee bit slower) than life on the ground, here at home, has been the past two weeks.