Feliz 2007

It's the last day of 2007, and worthy of a blog post, methinks. I'm back home in Singapore now. Was in Shanghai for 4 days for a very eye-opening and interesting adventure with part of my crazy family.

To be honest, Shanghai is just another big metro city with lots of tall skyscrapers, good dining, and amazing shopping. A caveat to the shopping bit though - the local fashion stores that I saw along Huai Hai Lu looked nice... but very cheena. So there was always just something slightly off about it that made it less trendy. Y'know, like a hue too green, or an inch too high on the neckline. They have all the foreign brands you can think of though. So as I said, typical big city. I got a good vibe about it though - definitely a place that I'd consider working in.

For a non-shopper, I did the most shopping while I was there. Fake Paul Frank hoodie, fake Tiffany's jewellery, fake movies - all very good quality by any standard, minus the fact that they are fake. Also had some tailoring done for fun. Made two "modern" cheongsam tops and a winter skirt. Never knew that so much went into making clothes. It's just stuff I never thought about. What cut, what materials (will it hug the body or will it drape nicely), what neckline, what hemline, whether to include an inner lining, the kind of stitching, blah blah blah. Quite stressful at first trying to figure out what I wanted, but I realized that if I ever have a design in mind, going to the tailor would be a whole lot more fun. Anyway, round #1 of tailoring turned out quite... cheena. We'll see how round #2 turns out when they finish up the tailoring and sminty brings it back to Singapore for me.

Went to the Shanghai bo wu yuan (museum), and was still enamored by the same things that fascinated me years ago. I love looking at old currency, and got a kick from looking at the old yuan, the coins with the holes in the middle, the first paper currencies. Also spent some time admiring the seals - the kind that they use to stamp their name or family symbol. Some were really tiny and cute, with little animal carvings on top. Others were a lot grander - larger than the palm of your hand. There were beautiful landscapes carved into some of these bigger seals.

Made a day trip up to Suzhou to see the usual suspects - shi zi lin and a temple whose name escapes me right now. It was really in Suzhou that I felt I was on vacation. You know, learning something about Chinese history, indulging in the atmosphere, getting hustled by the souvenir store keepers.

And of course, how cool is my family. One night, we went to karaoke and really tore up the place with our renditions of Teresa Teng songs, Emil Chou, Bee Gees, Abba,... Tambourines and dancing were in order as well, y'know, to make it that much more festive. My younger brother was a little embarrassed and too shy to sing. I think more embarrassed than anything else. Another night, we went to a nice "western" dinner at M on the Bund, followed by drinks at Jade on 36 at Shangri-La. Quote of the trip followed a conversation where my sister and I forcefully told my brother that he had no choice but to come to Jade with us because our driver wouldn't take him back (Reason: he hadn't changed his shirt in 4 days and smelled kinda funny). My brother's retort: "Xiao Zhang is not that kinda guy." Maybe you had to be there. :)

So that was my first real China experience in a nutshell. Thankfully, I didn't have to deal with too many dirty bathrooms or the nutty public transport. Oh, but women in Shanghai, they tend not to wrap up after themselves in public toilets when it's that time of the month. The initial discovery was definitely a low point for me.

What else? 2007 has been another crazy tumultuous year, as is every other year. The work life has been kinda nuts, trying to build a social life and soak in all of NY has been tiring and inspiring, the travel has been off the charts... And now, the biggest decision I'm making in 2007 is to move back to Singapore in 2008. I've been putting it off for years, because frankly, I'm scared of moving home. It's been almost 8 years since I first went to Michigan, and that's 8 long years of growing up in a foreign country. I'm afraid of trying to assimilate back into Singapore, the claustrophobia, trying to rebuild a life here... I think work-wise, opportunities are really great in Asia, but I'm afraid that I'll lose my independence because I'll have to live at home again. As of right now, my plan is to give myself one year in Singapore. Try it on for fit again. If I really don't like it, I can still pick up and move back to NY (ah, the joys of being a US citizen). So that just means I'll probably stay with my firm for the next few years, just so I'm more mobile when I want to move around. Well, hopefully anyway. And my first steps in 2008 are to figure out how to get me back in Singapore through my company.

But anyway, apart from the dread of making those first moves, I'm really excited about 2008. I love fresh starts, even though I've really given up making resolutions because I never really follow them anyway. I just do things as and where the wind blows me to, as long as it's within my plan anyway. :P My first major plans of 2008 are to attend a Spice Girls concert in February, and possibly Amsterdam or some city in Greece some time in March.

I hope everyone has a wonderful end to the year, and looks forward to the new beginnings.