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Happy New Year Everyone. It seems like a long time since we spoke, 1999 began -- and continues to be -- a big apocalyptic bang. My cough -- remember that thing I complained about in October? -- is still prolonging... even after 3+months. Regardless, I got the most ghastly cold that put me fast asleep -- and away from work for three working days. Today is day three, and two bonus weekend days to make full recovery. This was my fifth doctor visit since arriving in Japan, I feel I am at half way point right now... Wacky eh? It gets better. My boss resigned, and his last day was today (Friday). The boss's boss is coming in from Hong Kong on Monday to oversee things for a short interim. I don't know about this... Well, that's news from the glorious IB industry for ya... With this background, I basically slept.... slept... and slept... and slept.... like I never did before. I dreamed of the isles of Greece and the Cambodian boardwalk. Swimming in the crystal clear ocean then walking on the serene French-style boardwalk without the glitz, the glamor, or the like. I'm getting the "itch" to hit the road. I love my scruffy 'stache' that I'm sporting right now... and I'd love to get away with it for a short while (I guess that means two consecutive weeks). I've been pondering destinations... and ever since "Big Blue," I'm only seeing Greece... (dakedo takai...) Basically, I've saturation point in terms of sleep. Having no TV (but I could listen to TV... as I occasionally do), and purchasing one is virtually pointless, as I will need a VCR to make full use of it... and there's no video store in Roppongi or Akasaka. All of my books are five-tablet Asprin-class books -- I've come to realize -- and I've read all of my economists -- which are probably more than five-tablets worth... and my regeneration rate would probably less than 50%, but I'll probably need 10 more aspirins in the end to make up for expended brain power. I'm probably exposing my brain to too much ray gun as I write this, but the actual total aspirin number is probably a lot more relative, and I can't promise ane figures, but I think over-dose of medicene can be poisonous. It just might be a good idea to refrain from playing with numbers. Anyhow, the weekend is hanging over me like a fresh roll of toilet paper... and I know where its going to end up. The sad fact is that I have to use this toliet paper up WISELY to make sure I'm squeaky clean on Monday. (I'm out of tissues BTW -- In the past three days, I've blown my nose to three plastic bag's worth of toilet/tissue paper, and I should be nearing 30 tangerines to catch up on vitamin C) Of course, all of this is not supposed to make any sense, or have any sense of real direction, but lacking the imaginative drive to paint up a story... I feel I am at a loss: My weekend is probably going to end up in two more plastic bags. I have a new addiction -- Halls -- cough drops. You got to love the Japanese labeling on them, "Hyper Mint". They actually feel as though they're "hyper-" something... and they conjure up images of Calvin from "calvin and hobbes" eating choclate covered sugar bombs. Of course, I've never been fortunate enough to gain that "high" of becoming "hyper-" anything, but these Halls drops have been a miracle worker for me. I buy a roll a day, and for the past few months -- as long as I can remember coughing -- I suck on these hyper mint-balls like candy to retain sanity. In a way, it's like lithium for active coughers. Kurt Cobain really went over the deep-end -- literally and figuratively (vocalist for Nirvana....Smells like teen spirit) -- and he needed lithium. (in fact, Nirvana's second album was "lithium"... or was it "in utero")? Anyhow, he needed this lovely drug... just as much I need to suck on this hyper-mint sucker ball. It's always very fun to be able to run a parallel with a rock'n'roll superstar -- I'm a hyper-mint-sucking-superstar. I think I'm delirious. -------- Back to more travelogue, I found a small paperback by Paul Thoreaux called, "Down the Yangtze" in one of my must read-boxes. I actually have a good number of these as I've mentioned, but I accidentally uncovered this 50 page short story, and it's basically a tale of river-rafting down the Yangtze with a good number of millionaires and various insights about the observations of the Yangte River (which is the Great Yellow River in China). I wouldn't say it's beautifully written, as it's -- afterall -- a travel book, and people note what they saw and observed in scrap format -- you don't edit these things to glorify (at least so I believe). And the travel books end up in two flavors: boring personal account recordbooks (which are only good for his/her own purposes) and/or narratives written to illustrate the "world" to the reader. I -- personally -- write in the former; On the contrary, this piece has been very refreshing. It's made mainland China vaguely alluring as a place to visit. THAT is a success on its own. Mainland China -- as I've heard -- is place where you've got to be a SERIOUS backpacker or rich dude or dudette to bring your amenitites from your mother country (ie jeep). Correct me if I'm wrong. China is calling me... but not yet. I'd love to see where my heros from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" fought and staged themselves. (I have a feeling I've lost a great majority of you here). But getting back to travel, the far western regio of China houses the most beautiful and naturally untouched preserve of serenity that's distinct and evanescent. It's a mountainous region where neither horse nor deer can pass, and during its heydays... there was only one path that led you into the third kingdom. Maybe one day, I'll have the strength to penetrate deep into the mainland for my own purposes. The people -- however -- are not worth the trip. Any disputes?
ta, |