海伦, une aventure

July 7, 2006

Shanghai上海

Shanghai is always a romantic city in my mind, always related to “Petit Bourgeois”.

However I’ve never really stayed in shanghai, always got a glance then left as if it was always a transition never a destination. For me, Shanghai is a name, a face, a piece of cloud floating in my sky, a vague dream in some half-awake nights……and this time, after 6 years, Shanghai all of sudden, became concrete, clear and real.

Shanghai was a wonderful place for shopping. After my best friend and I arrived, within an hour, I already left 4 pair of sandals at the front desk of the hotel. So in the evening when the guy who came over to fix the TV saw my shoe boxes, “ Ah, you are the lady who has bought a lot of shoes today!” Oooops, I became famous! In the rest of the days in China, I refrained myself from looking at any shoes, it was such a torture!

The fragment of the moments composed a peaceful serene music in my brief stay in Shanghai…the non-gossip chat of three women in the café; the sunny journey to a beautiful small town Wuzhen; the lovely dinner at He Ping Hotel; the Jazz, Michael Learns to Rock, Norah Jones’ New York City, Xiangyang road, those laughter and those laughter with tears…

Shanghai, oddly, after so many years, touched me in a way it never has.

So long Shanghai. I will come again.

Posted by pengbo at 1:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2006

Lijiang丽江

Someone once told me that if there was one place in China that he could just go for escape, that would be Lijiang. I came all the way from the other side of the earth to escape, with my parents though. So it should not be called "escape" because one can never escape from her/his parents.

I did not understand the magic of this little old town but I have wanted to come for many years. Three years ago when I came back to China it was part of the plan to come here with my two best friends. We did not make it unfortunately so I was late, for three years. As a person who believed that everything happened for a reason, I was sure on this one again.

Some people said that Lijiang has become too commercial, it was true; Some people said that Lijiang was just a place for a temporary stay, it was true too. I would not see myself live there for the rest of my life even though I was being told that many people have done so. In spite of all these, Lijiang still amazed me and won my heart in many ways.

I have been to many places and some of them are very beautiful, however I don’t feel that they are MY cities. The chemistry is just not here. Yet Lijiang made me feel very close and intimate the first time I set my foot on this little old town. It was raining and full of tourists. However my eyes saw through the rain and the people, dropping on the old stone roads, the narrow alleys, the people who were so skillful and diligent working on the crafts, the small bridges over the small stream of the water, the girls dressing in the traditional costume trying to get the attention of the tourists…the striking colors, the fresh smell and even the near or far noise opened up all my sensations.

I felt alive. I fell in love.

I loved walking in those narrow alleys restlessly. Each time my camera would find something different. I loved watching my mom bargain with those local people to get all kinds of colourful stuff, feeling content. I loved sitting in a bar drinking all those foreign stuff like baileys, café au lait in this small little town watching people in different restaurant compete with each other with those endless silly songs. I loved that one particular afternoon, when my parents were taking a nap, I sneaked out to a book bar, sitting alone reading a book, with some traditional Chinese music coming along with the wind; I loved all the memories that a single smile has brought me, full of surprises and harmony; I loved having Lijiang at my foot, being drown in the tenderness and the caress of the night...

The dream did have smell.

Posted by pengbo at 3:19 AM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2006

Kunming 昆明

Kumning was supposed to be " the City of Spring", however when we arrived, it turned out to be " the City of Spring Rain". And I could not say that I was being thorough and objective since I only stayed for 2 days. However nothing was really objective as a traveller. You only saw what you saw.

Therefore Kunming to me, was not very attractive. It seemed that it was stuck in the middle. It was not as grand and modern like Beijing or Shanghai but it was not as cozy and unique like Lijiang. It would be like many other cities, made a dot on my travelling map, but never left a print in my heart...

Posted by pengbo at 7:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 6, 2006

Fragment of thoughts

My feet were on the land of Montreal while my heart still seemed to fly in the air. In the past 2 weeks, I have been shifted from one airport to the other, from one airplane to the next. My life was hanging in those endless take-offs and landings.

It was a lonely journey, regardless of having friends around or not. I wandered around different cities in different countries to find myself. Fragmented thoughts surfaced during the journey so I just picked a few:

**Before I left I just had my route in mind: Montreal-Toronto-Tokyo-Singapore-Melbourne but I never calculated the total time until I arrived Melbourne, I realized that I spent 28 hours in the air, not including all the time waiting and transferring. If I had known that before, that would have probably scared hell out of me. So sometimes we don’t need to think about all the concerns, all the difficulties and all the challenges, which very often hold us back from what we want to do. We just tackle them one by one when they actually come. Life will be much easier that way.

**I have met many people in the airplane, on the street, in a café. We carried a conversation then we said good-bye. We did not even know each other’s names and we did not leave any further contact information. Maybe we just exist in each other’s life for that specific moment. Further pushing it may cause the moment to lose its glamour. So we should just smile and vanish, like the ghost before the sunrise.

**I was sitting by the beach, drinking my favourite cafe latté and watching people. There were many couples cuddling in the water, kissing and exchanging the flame of love. I wondered, are they going to be like this next year or 5 years, 10 years from now? Maybe love, like many things in life, does have its expire date. A friend once said that he spent a couple of years with his ex-girlfriend. The first year was ok and the rest of the years were painful. Then I ask why you stayed that long if it was so painful then he told me because he spent the rest of the years hoping he could get the OK life back! Sometimes we live in illusions, illusions of love that we used to have. We fall in love with the memories and with the hope to extend the beauty of the memories forever.

** On my way back, my flight was delayed in Bangkok for an hour. When we landed at Tokyo, I had to run after an agent all the way from one terminal building to the other to catch my connecting flight from Tokyo to Toronto. As I sat on my seat, all I thought was how to kill the 12 hours ahead. A young girl was sitting besides me. When the plane took off, she was so excited and told me:” Look look, this is my favourite part!” Looking at her something in my heart was awakened. Sometimes we are so used to having something, so we take it for granted and tend to ignore the beauty of it. Yes isn’t the take-off amazing to take you from one side of the globe to the other? I smiled at her.

…..

We are changing, constantly, each and every day. Every big or small event, a vacation, a conversation, a greeting from a friend, a single word from a book or a movie, a smile from a stranger…..is shaping us to who we are. We just need to be aware of that and accept it.

I am kind of glad, to be back, in one piece.

Posted by pengbo at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2005

I am leaving, Quebec

It is my last day in Québec City.

7 weeks. Yes already 7 weeks.

The last glimps of Château Frontenac, the last walk on St-Jean, the last bus ride of 800...I don't like " last" or anything related to "farewell", but as every story in life has to have an ending, happy or sad, I need to draw a period somewhere for my Quebec summer journey.

A small summary? Maybe like an interview question: Ms. Helen, what did you get from this experience here in Quebec? That is the question I ask myself prior to my departure, ok here they are:

* A new family that will always welcome their " petite chinoise adoptée".
* Many new friends from all over the world: Switzland, Columbia, England, United States, other places in Canada......
*7 5@7, an occasion to get half drunk then speak French more fluently.
* A few movies in French: C.R.A.Z.Y, Nez Rouge, Maman Last call, Ma vie en Rose, L'auberge Espagnol, Comme Une Image, Horloge Biologique, Les Chorists and Le Prix du Desire.
* Some books on my " Read" list and many new ones on my to-read-list.
* Several phone numbers from the frendly Quebecois that I never called.
* A car with a brand new clutch.
* A passion of learning more French.
* Last but not least, a fond memory of a wonderful summer with wonderful views.

Posted by pengbo at 2:03 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2005

Une mésaventure, in hell

I guessed we have laughed too much last night in the tipis, I felt that my abdomen hurt a bit this morning. Hearing all kinds of noises in the tipi, I did not sleep much. We planned to kayak today however it would start only at noon and finish at 5pm. I would have to drive another 4 hours, besides I had a lot of homework for Monday, my first class in the group `avancé`, so I decided to pass. So I left earlier with the other two students.

Here started my bad luck.

My car played strike on me on the highway in the middle of nowhere. I did not know where we were and there was no any sign. I called CAA and right after I left my cell phone number to them to communicate with me when they are nearby, the battery died. We could only wish CAA would be smart enough to find us. After a good 40 minutes, someone was smiling at us and told me that I had to pay $200 to have my car towed to Quebec city. Seemed I had no other choice---it was Sunday and all garages were closed. Then he said, with a smile again, that he could only take two people in his truck because if the police saw him with 3 people he would be fined $1000. Finally he agreed that one person could lie on my backseat while it was towed. The poor Mexican girl ended up starting her unique bumpy journey on my backseat.

In my life when the bad luck comes, it is never alone.

So the events afterwards were not surprising:

* I finally arrived home only to find that my room was locked by accident.
* I tried to cook something to eat, the lid of the sugar dropped and I had a super sweet meal.
* I called my family in China, I was told that I had 3 hours but after 30 minutes, it was finished.
* My mom was sick and my dad was away, attending the competition of ping pong in another city. She was upset and crying over the phone. I cried too.
* I had to pay $700 to repair my car.

……

It was an incredible day, a day in hell.

Posted by pengbo at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2005

Une aventure, in paradise

I was convinced to go camping with the family and the other two students. One girl from U.S thought that camping was romantic. For me, nah, camping and romantic never belonged to the same category. Anyway, I said yes.

The last minute before leaving, le monsieur told me that there was not enough space in the car and asked me if I could take my car as well. I said no problem. I guess if I had known that it was going to be around 4 hours drive, I probably would have said: “ Maybe I could stay” because I was not crazing about driving, especially long distance.

It was the most difficult mountain road I have ever driven; pretty much reflected our life path though: a lot of up and downs and you don’t know where you will return next.

Finally 7 of us, 6 women and 1 man, arrived at a place called Paradise Marin. We would spend our night in a tipis, a big tent for all. Maybe you want to say, ah someone is lucky! Maybe, or maybe not. :P

I lay on the rock by the river for the whole afternoon. I could hear nothing but the music that the water plays on the rock. It was the tranquillest moment in the past few months. Just the sunshine, just the water, just the blue and just me.

The evening was crazy. After a fondu chiniois. (Very close to our hotpot, but more delicate and less efficient I would say.) We sat around the fire. The beers and wines apparently contributed a lot to our crazy singing. French songs, Mexican songs, Russian songs and of course Chinese songs…along with the laughter echoed for a long time in the darkness. Looking up to the sky, I saw numerous eyes shining and smiling at me. I really didn’t remember how long I haven’t looked at the stars like this. Just one second, I felt that some hot liquid would want to rush out of my eyes, did not know why. I held it back. I made a wish though.

It was a perfect evening, an evening in paradise.

Posted by pengbo at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2005

The rain at Charlevoix

I never really liked the rain, especially drizzles, until today.

I was on my way to Charlevoix, a fairytale place near Quebec City. Almost everyone I know recommended that place to me. So when a friend from Montreal visited me in Quebec, I proposed Charlevoix as our destination.

It was a lovely auberge with a lovely sign: “Thé”. Sitting in the terrace surrounded by the beautiful flowers, facing the river far away, drinking my favourite green tea, I felt that I was in another country and another world at one moment.

It started to rain. The rain gently caressed the petals of the flowers, the raindrops rolled in the flower bed slowly as if they had a wonderful dream. An old lady with beautiful smile was picking up the fresh flowers in spite of the rain. I stole one petal and put it in my tea. With my eyes closed, I smelled the tea, smelled the rain. The light fragrance awakened all my sensations. Seems all the senses of my body opened up to embrace the mixed scent. I could just melt in the tea, in the rain.

We are always running on the road, we are always driven by the trivialities in life; we are always busy with work, school, house or family. How many times we think of stopping for a moment to indulge ourselves just to smell, to see, or to feel the little detailed beauty in life? How many times we could leave everything behind and just be with ourselves to enjoy the serenity in our heart for a moment?

I started to like the rain, including the drizzles.

I would say that Charlevoix deserved every single compliment. We drove along Saint-Laurence River and I was drunk in the blue. Sometimes it was hard to tell which blue was the sky and which blue was the river. As we were enjoying the mountain, the river and the different layers of the clouds, all of sudden, without any warning, it poured. It poured like hell. We could not see anything. The rain was fierce even a bit violent as if it was taking a revenge. It swept the windows, it roared, it whipped. We had to stop at the road to wait. My friend asked me: “What is the best thing to do in such weather?” I was thinking: “Making love.” But he was not the type of friends to whom I was supposed to say so, I answered: “Sleeping” instead. I did fall in asleep for a while until my friend woke me up, “Look! Look!” I jumped out of the car with my camera. It was a beautiful rainbow, oh no in fact two. It was just stunning...

At that moment, I smiled: It was worth to go through the rain if we can see the rainbows…

Posted by pengbo at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 9, 2005

A perfect afternoon

The raindrops were knocking at the windows.

Finally I could sleep in after an intensive week. I seem to have been used to living alone so all of sudden having many people walking around in my routine life makes me feel a little bit…suffocating. I need some fresh air, I need some solitude.

In spite of the rain, I left for Old Quebec. There were a lot of small cafés, shops and churches on saint-Jean. Looking at the vivid color of the buildings in the rain, I felt free and light, like the wind. ;) I went in a very cozy café and sat in the terrace. I started to enjoy three things at the same time: drinking my favourite café au lait, reading and watching people. I closed my eyes at times, just breathing the cold fresh air with the mixed fragrance of my coffee-----life was beautiful.

I spent the whole afternoon there reading a book, yes of course in French. Thanks to Karl, I had the chance to read this beautiful little book written by a Chinese, in French. Even though there are some new words that I did not understand, I did not stop to refer to my little dictionary. Seemed if I did so, I would interrupt the characters in the book and I would destroy the whole atmosphere. Yet I understood the sentiments, the feelings and the mood.

It started to rain hard. I moved inside, continued being absorbed in my little book. After a while, the waiter came over:” Excuse me, the gentleman over there wants to order a drink for you…” I looked over and saw a young smiling face......

Posted by pengbo at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)

July 8, 2005

Rencontre

Karl says that "Il croit en la rencontre", now me too.

Tuesday morning, the first morning after I moved to the new family, I went to the “Brunet”, a store that was very close to where I lived to get the bus pass. There I met two girls who were also doing the French immersion program in Quebec. One was from Romania and the other from Vancouver. We talked a bit, of course in French ;) then I left.

Around noon, I finished my first class at school which was in Old Quebec, very far from where I lived. I went to a café that I often visited to take my lunch. I opened the door and I saw the two girls there! “Bonjour! Quelle surprise! ” We ended up having lunch together and managed to communicate well in our not-so-good French!  We exchanged the contact info and promised each other to keep in touch.

Today I finally finished my very last course for the whole week. I stepped out the gate of the school and I saw a familiar face: the girl from Romania who was just wandering around. We laughed hard and decided to spend the whole evening together. A simple but relaxing dinner in a terrace in a small restaurant, a lovely walk to see the show of the “Festival d’été”; some impulsive shopping that proved that we were the real women; a cappuccino and an espresso in a cozy café watching the pink sky after the sunset; some casual dancing along with the Spanish singer’s sexy voice from the festival and finally a bus trip together to go home….An unplanned evening with so many vivid and enjoyable memories!

That is what I love about life. The door is always open; you never know who will walk into your life and paint some colors...:)

Posted by pengbo at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

July 4, 2005

Back to school

Getting up at 6:30am is not normal for me. It may have to be my routine. However while showering in the sunshine on my way to school, I never enjoyed morning so much. It was quiet yet bright. People were enjoying their morning coffee in the café. They smiled at me and I smiled back. A guy was busy broadcasting when I passed by CBC. Cool morning.

Ten of us were waiting for the placement test to see which level we would be at. It was quiet at the very beginning, then I heard a few people start to speak Spanish, then some others German, two people from US had no choice but speak English…(someone told me a joke: if you speak two languages, it is called bilingual; if three, it is called trilingual; if only one, that is called American. :)) I smiled: Maybe I should start to speak Mandarin! It was amazing that we came from different world with different background but one common purpose: Learn French!

I moved, to a new family further away with 3 daughters including twin sisters, 1 son and 2 cats. At least they have internet!

In one day, I did unpacking, packing and unpacking again.

Posted by pengbo at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2005

Leaving for Quebec

It is the time to leave, Helen. (La chanson d’Hélène)

This is the road leading to my temporary new life, familiar and strange. I drove alone, with the thoughts flying everywhere and nowhere. I used to be sitting on the co-driver’s seat. The car fell off the highway and we survived. At that time I thought: we could survive the death, what else can’t we survive? Then I found that there were a lot that we could not, sadly.

After 3 hours, I was in Quebec City. The lady who welcomed me was very nice and the place was very close to Old Quebec. The only problem was: no internet access as promised. To me, not able to check e-mails, to update my blog, to flicker and IM for 2 months, this was unbearable. Anyway, I could not do anything tonight.

I took a long walk to check the site of the school in old Quebec. I fell in love with the city right away. The small cafés and restaurants with flowers smiling in front, the tranquil churches with secret gardens, the little bookshops and art galleries down the road, the people who crossed the path with me at this special moment…everything touched my heart so tenderly…

I am in love…though I know most of the time in life, only love is not enough…

Posted by pengbo at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

May 18, 2005

Welcome home Helen

Oh....after a looooooong day, I am back home at last. All I need is a hot bath, of course with candles and music... and some cuddles...:)

Posted by pengbo at 7:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

Trip to Regina---Day 3

From the window...

Day view of Regina

Night view of Regina

Posted by pengbo at 4:34 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2005

Trip to Regina---Day 2

I opened my eyes this morning and I saw some discreet sunshine attempt to invade my bed. I smiled.

Must be a beautiful day. At least I had sunshine. In fact the sunshine was with me all day long. People here were just incredibly nice. They said good morning to me in the elevator; they smiled at me on the street; A couple in the same training class took their car and drove me to the ONLY camera store in downtown to check my battery and the guy in the store offered to charge my battery for free...

The guy who helped me with my battery in the store...pretty cool hair style, uh? In fact that was the logo of the store...

I took a long walk in this sunny afternoon and started to take some shots. People were so interesting when they saw me carry a camera. They stopped and asked:" Why don't you take a picture of me?"

Twin towers in Regina

They even have Confucious in front of the city hall!

Then I start to feel: this is a beautiful city. Sometimes the beauty of a city lies in its culture, its history, its scenary, its architecture yet sometimes it purely lies in its people, like Regina.

Posted by pengbo at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2005

Trip to Regina---Day 1

6:30am seems rather early to get up on SUNDAY, especially for me, who is never a morning bird. Besides I only managed to crawl to bed at 2pm last night. But I have to. I have a flight ahead. I am flying to Regina, Saskatchwan. Far west.

I pick that place for a training. Sounds crazy, I know. The only reason I make that impulsive decision is that I have never been there and I know that probably will never have the chance to go there again.

I had a brief lunch at Calgary airport, looking at several airplanes take off and land, which I have done way too many times in my early (or earli..er) years of life. Then I boarded a super small jet, the smallest one I have ever taken. Yes, I am going to Regina, no big plane goes there.

Here I am. After 7 hours' trip, only to find that I am walking in the drizzles that I do not like, only to find that I was stupid enough to forget the charger of the battery of my new camera, only to find that the city was dead quiet and most of the restaurants are closed on sunday.....

A bit disappointed. And, I am allowed.

Posted by pengbo at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2005

My skiiiiiii day!

太阳这几天暖的让人莫名其妙地高兴，感觉春天就在不远处招手。。。突然间意识到滑雪的季节就要在春天的脚步里宣告结束。不行，收拾雪具，启程！

Ski Bromont1

Ski Bromont2

Sunset at Ski Bromont

Serenity

Pink snow

Posted by pengbo at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2005

Encounter with limo driver

I like talking with taxi drivers. The conversations usually make the trip seem shorter and less boring, especially when they are a good partners to talk with. Pretty often in Montreal I feel easy practicing my French with taxi drivers because they don't really care if I mess up with "le" and "la", which I do rather frequently, and they always encourage me by complimenting my accent.;-)

At 1:30pm I embarked at a limo and headed for the airport for my 3pm flight back to Montreal. The driver was 60ish and very eloquent. We started a conversation by asking each other where we were from and he started to tell me his life stories. He was Australian and managed hotel business and a travel agency when he was young...er. He met a girl from Europe and married her who turned out to be his ex after a few years. Then a cowgirl entered his life. After being with the girl for a while he was facing a situation: The hotel that sent him to Canada now wanted to send him to a small island in Africa. The cowgirl told him that he could either go to the small island or have free sex for life. And he made the right choice. We both laughed when he said so. Then we discussed a lot of things including mistakes we made in life. When he mentioned his first marriage, he said:" I don't consider it as a mistake. If you put your hand on a pan and you got burned, is is not a mistake because you just don't know, it is an experience; but you put your hand on the pan for the second time and you got burned again, then it is a mistake."

He told me that he had been married with the cowgirl for 24 years and he was still happy and in love with her. I asked about the secret, his answer really surprised me:" Forgive me if I am blunt, we have sort of managed an open relationship." It was very funny because weeks ago I was discussing the same topic with a friend who was in favor of this kind of human relationship now it came out of the mouth of a limo driver! " Of course you have to build a very solid foundation and reach a very good common understanding about open relationship and above all, you both have to be extremely honest to each other and have tremendous trust on each other...there are great risks as well but we are kind of lucky..."

I always like to know different ideas, different perspectives or different cultures. When some concepts come up, which might be totally against my belief, my experience, my culture or my principles, as opposed to killing them immediately I'd like to ask why. What are the reasons behind that, why people think that way. If I think the reasons are justified, I would understand and accept, which does not necessarily mean I will do the same.

I really wanted to dig deep yet I have arrived at the airport. He kindly offered his personal card with the e-mail to me saying it was great talking to me and I could send him an e-mail if I want further discussions. And he added," By the way, there is an MBA on this card."

Posted by pengbo at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2005

Ski Trips to Le Massif- Day 3

Since I was handicapped, (I was not even qualified for a handicapped parking permit! Too 郁闷.) I stayed at Quebec City alone for the morning. And I had .....

A bigggggggg latte

A huggggggge breakfast

A wonderful time reading in a café

Posted by pengbo at 7:16 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2005

Ski Trips to Le Massif- Day 2

I am never a big fan of McDonald’s. It is once-a-year thing and I think I already used next year’s quota. However on our way to Le Massif, we decided to have M’s breakfast because there was nothing better than that along the road, for a quick bite I meant.

Rule 1 applied here: When you really want something, you can never find it; when you don’t, it is everywhere. So for quite a while we did not even see a trace of the big yellow M. We were more hungry but more persistent. It was like a mission and we had to make it possible. Rule 2 applied here: When you can’t get something, you want it more. Andy, who was driving, cautiously asked:” What if we see a Tim Horton?” I knew he was starving. Lu was a little reluctant to say:” Well, we can skip T.H once and if we STILL can’t find a M, we will stop at another T.H. “ I agreed. Soon we passed a T.H and Andy’s eyes stared at the big sign for more than 1 sec. “McDonald’s!!!!!” Lu and Andy suddenly heard a scream, that was from me who even sat at the back seat. “Where? Where? “Then they saw that 50 meters away, there was big M. Rule 3 applied here: When you really focus on something, you can see what others can’t. McDonald’s was never so good in my life.

I really had nothing to complain. Beautiful weather, fantastic views, great snow conditions and fun people….. Lu was funny. She skied down and said “this time I am going to fall first”. Before her voice dropped down the snow she performed a beautiful fall. I told Lu that I liked her very much because she delivered what she promised instantly. She hated me. ;-)

Since I found that I successfully turned my big toe into a beautiful grape, I stayed at the chalet for the last round. And I bought two beers:

Do you know which one is mine?

And found a dog was tired too…perhaps too much skiing….

At the end of the day, Quebec City welcomed me with the beautiful sunset...

Posted by pengbo at 2:57 AM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2005

Ski Trips to Le Massif--Day 1

A friend from IM asked me when I needed a vacation, I said when I wanted to escape. Yes, escape from routine life, from boredom, from the coldness or hotness, from struggles, from love/hurts……

So this time when I was invited to go for a 3-day ski trip to Le Massif, I was more than happy to accept because I wanted to escape from the idleness. After being sick for a while, I felt the fatigue, physically and mentally. I needed fresh air.

Mike was considered a "sadist" because he whipped his car mates to leave at 5:30am so that they would be able to start skiing at 10am after 4 and ½ hours' drive. That was absolutely a big “NO” for me. I did not want to exhaust myself even before I started. Besides, we would have 3 days, besides, it was my vacation. For me, the purpose of taking a vacation is to enjoy, not to fully make use of the resources. I often joke with friends saying that if I climb the mountain, I don’t necessarily need to get to the peak. If I find a big rock on my way and I feel extremely comfortable by lying on it feeling the sunshine, for me it is equally enjoyable.

So at 9am, after a sound sleep, after I made Lu and myself a cappuccino, after we enjoyed our lovely breakfast, we picked up Andy and headed our way to Le Massif. Everything was just wonderful. Wonderful weather, wonderful views on the way, wonderful companies. Mike might be laughing at us for having wasted half a day on sleep, but who cared. We were energetic and, happy.

Le Massif was really a beautiful mountain down by the sea. When we skied down, we were flying to the sea.

And I thought of that song:

I am like a bird,
I only fly away,
I don’t know where my soul is,
I don’t know where my home is….

The night is longggggggggg

Burning Sanbuka, burning dream

Posted by pengbo at 6:19 PM | Comments (0)