it's gotta be the age. sometimes i wake up really really early (4am) and there's just no going back to sleep no matter how much i try. yesterday i tried something new. instead of trying to sleep i got up and went to bowen road for a run. i just walked from my apartment (about half an hour), about an hour's worth of jogging and walking (about 8km total, return), then another half an hour's walk back to my place.
photo above is sunrise in wan chai as seen from numerous lookouts along bowen road.
i was apologetic for having fallen asleep because well, in fact it wasn't my bed. it wasn't even my house. why are all these people here discussing business ideas while i was sleeping? i got out as soon as i could, put my outdoor clothes on, and started running. only my spirit was running faster than my body so i decided to walk instead. after walking for some time i came into, with college students behind me (they don't look american, i must be in europe), an open but empty chapel, sun setting on the opposite direction of where i came from stuffing every corner of the wooden structure with golden light. someone behind me said that the rhythm of the interior is like that of a carpark, with communal tables instead of pews. any other day i would've reached for my camera and start clicking away. but not today. i climbed on top of a table and jumped from one to another. a band started playing a song that could've been a keane song. we all sat down to listen. at the end of the song the lead said it was entitled "cathartic", and i smiled because i knew the song. then he did the tongue thing that the band "kiss" does. as an encore, he lifted his t-shirt and showed the very big tongue on his belly button do the same. he then went around with a very small pouch, collecting donations. he said they're trying to save up for a trip to new york. i gave him all the coins i could fish from my pockets, some of which fell on the ground (the pouch got smaller) and i had to help him pick them up. the student next to me didn't have any coins, when the singer stood in front of him with his money pouch open, the student lifted his hand and used his pointer finger to pet the singer's chin, just below his right jaw. i was thinking - i am so banking this in my little pockets of happiness.
***
this is what i get from taking cough medicine before going to bed. even in my dreams the medicine-induced euphoria is pretty tame (and lame).
photo above is of kleber from a shoot in beijing late last year
my tear ducts got leak! at first i thought it was just what i was watching. but then who cries watching "doctor who", right? (i was watching the last christmas special. why does it take so long for the next season???). i mean it's great and all and i enjoyed it, but something to make me cry? i don't think so. a little experiment then. i played several other shows and movies and found out that even the silliest comedies made me cry too. my eyes never had a good cleaning as yesterday and today.
how do i get all these time to waste on a silly experiment? i had to call in sick yesterday. cold and flu symptoms. head, nose, throat, joints - name it, it hurts. am still not feeling well so i'm staying in today as well. all i want to do is stay in bed under the blankets. i won't be surprised if it's also the cause of the easily-induced saline water inundation of my usually very dry eyes. i sure do hope so.
more photo of Joel. i didn't really have anything in mind for the kind of photos to take of him, but he seemed determined to do a shoot, his drive kinda infectious. besides it's not like i'm busy doing much else.
yesterday i finally got enough of the same drive to travel all the way across the street to the doctor's office. mati's been constantly reminding me that i have to go get some vaccinations, can't remember what kind, it's all written in the yellow card that all germans keep with them, and i've since been issued one from autumn last year when i got myself a flu vaccination. anyway, doctor said i don't need anything right now, and to come back after september, when it's time to get another flu shot. not to waste the energy i spent getting out of the apartment, crossing the street, and going up the elevator to his clinic, i asked him if i could use his office as a photoshoot background, to which he said he doesn't mind, but not now. come back after september. what is it with this doctor and after september? downstairs from the doctor's clinic is a drugstore. well i was already there so i thought i might as well ask them about using their place of business as a photoshoot set, too. the owner was reluctant (she seemed shy, if anything) so i left her my card and asked that she think about it.
Busy busy. Went to Frankenlabor to pick up test strips and bring color films for processing. Went to dentist for "professional" teeth cleaning. Then back home. Uploaded some photos including one, above. Frankenlabor again to pick up the films and to bring disc for printing. Marktplatz to buy some herbs. Asian grocery to buy some vegies. Upload some more.
My Itay's birthday today. He's in California presently. I phoned to wish him a happy birthday, and to inquire again as to how my Inay's doing. They're both doing well, and my mom has a few more test results pending, but she seems to have recovered. I guess that's really all one can wish for.
The photo above was taken in California, the year that two of my brothers (middle and right in the above photo) moved there. The one who's just thrown a snowball to whomever was taking the picture, that's my dad.
Ah. The excitement of being in love. His update is that things are still going good with him and the long-distance-for-now girl in the Philippines. He's rather excited about it, more so, I think, than about the condo unit that he purchased recently. He phoned today to inquire about my mom, and mentioned that he himself has been feeling a bit under the weather the past few days.
I phoned California today to inquire as to the result of my Mom's hospital visit. It seems like it wasn't her old ailment that's bothering her presently, so she'll back for more tests on Monday.
Norie phoned today to relay the news that my mom's ill. She'll have to fly back to California on Monday to go to the hospital, so her usual doctor can attend to her.
I so want to go there to be with her... we'll see.
Whoever said that there is something that connects people subconsciously together via dreams and thoughts must be on to something. Last night I dreamt of Noel, one of my brothers who live in the Yay! area in California, and this morning the first thing that I see upon turning on the computer was an email from him. And no, we don't regularly email each other nor do I constantly dream of him, or anyone and anything for that matter. I know. Coincidence. Anyway, his email was an inquiry as to what happened to the tapes from when I recorded his kids on video, while performing for the christmas party in the Philippines. Guess I'm gonna have to go through the tapes soon. After the London trip.
I also went to the doctor today, finally, after deciding that ice cream and aspirins aren't getting rid of my mandeln fast enough. It's almost gone, but it's still slightly uncomfortable when I swallow. He prescribed some antibiotics, and said that the mandeln thing is going around in Erlangen, and that he's examined a few too many other patients suffering from the same condition. He also said if it happens too often, like 3 times a year, then I should consult a heart doctor because those might very well be connected to each other.
I went to the dentist this morning to have my teeth cleaned... I like this one because everybody here's friendly, it's a 10-minute walk from the apartment, and everybody here speaks English... only drawback is that my dentist reeks of cigarette smoke... not the smell of smoke on someone who enjoys lighting up occasionally, but more like someone who has to smoke every half an hour at least...
Picture on the left belongs to the "Everywhere Objects" series. These weeds are literally everywhere, and they're all wilted now, but in spring they're really pretty.
