Comforts

It's been a bit of an emotional roller coaster these past few weeks. A mix of excitement, disappointment, sadness, happiness, loneliness and joy. Sometimes all in the same day. Sometimes I find myself scared because I don't have a plan. Other times I find myself excited.

Excited about possibility while scared of the unknown --> It's no wonder I'm tired!

Twas a fun weekend. Friday I met up with Mike to hear about his recent Asia travels, catch-up and as usual, eat some tasty food. Got some pad thai in "Thai Town" and then because he didn't want to walk the extra few mins to get green tea tiramisu, tried a Taiwanese herbal jelly dessert, that I actually really liked. Yum!

Saturday was Salsa Palladium 2013, so my friend Julia and I headed to an industrial-ish suburb, where we danced for hours with people from our class and some other random people as well, getting caught in the odd bachata that you don't receive any real warning for as the tune suddenly morphs into the four-step bachata count, a dance that neither of us prefers, but oh well! I did have a couple of good dances though, including one good bachata actually, so I had a good time. A good lead, combined with my new dancing shoes, make a huge difference :)

 

Before the party, I got ready at Julia's and then stayed there too, since she drives. It was really nice too, because not only did she lend me a fun dress and some glittery make-up, but her parents made us some delicious homemade Shanghainese food for dinner before the party (wonton soup, curry-style potatoes and peas) and lunch the next day as well (duck, savoury eggplant, greens, bean curd rolls with Chinese mushrooms, roasted peanuts, a sweet soup and rice, served with a fine Jacobs Creek cabernet sauvignon). It was nice to eat together and chat too. Although I didn't eat meals everyday with my family at home, I suppose that I did visit every few weeks and it's been a while now since I've had a "real sit-down family meal", so I really enjoyed those.

On my way home I went a bit out of my way to get to a Starbucks, as the fun of the weekend reminded me how nice it is to have the comforts of home are like. Although I like the coffee here from the multitude of independent cafes here better, I wanted a Starbucks today simply because that is what I used to have at home.

Comfort beverage: Peppermint mocha

So yeah, it's been fun here but I still miss the comforts of home :/ Not only the food and the family and the friends, but also the sense of stability for making plans and moving forward, even if nothing is guaranteed to be permanent. But I know that's just a consequence of living even just a outside of my comfort zone. And then the cool thing is, there's all sorts of exciting things that can happen outside of a comfort zone since you've put yourself out there. And then scary things as well, since you're vulnerable. Yes I've had some bad times here during which I was scared to the bone but it's totally cool to look at the new friends I've made, the generosity I've received and the things I've learned about myself.

Tomorrow is another Monday and a fresh beginning of a new week. *deep breathe*.