I can feel it.

I can smell it coming.

I can see it as the clouds roll in gently over the sky.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Fabulous Fall season is here.

Last year's Fall Garden display at the Bellagio

Sigh. It’s almost bittersweet. I love love love, when almost a year ago, I stepped into this unknown city of zero humidity and experienced a nice extended wave of the lovely Fall weather. Just after a few weeks of slight discomfort, I adjusted to the dry-ness with a healthier daily dosage of water. You can basically wear anything you want (oh well, almost~), sleep without the heater or air-conditioning, feel amazingly perfect in just bare skin and air.

But with the arrival of Fall, it almost means that Winter is creeping up slowly and undetected. And just one fine day I woke up and headed out — Bam! The chill hit and tingled down the spine. There was no turning back to a long dark and miserable Winter in the desert.

So now, I suddenly, like everything precious, realize I took Summer for granted. I bitched and whined about the boiling temperature, especially how the scorching sun shine glaringly into my eyes as I drive almost blinded. I hate to worry about finding a shaded spot to park for long hours at work. I get pissed when I see increment in my electric bills for the air-conditioning. However, I know I am a tropical girl by blood. I need the heat and most importantly, I need to get a tan before it’s too late.

I am going to change the topic now.

A few work-laden days ago, it marked my survival of the 7th anniversary in this country.

7 years ago, 2 weeks after my arrival was also 9/11, the beginning of some dark years to follow. It was pretty inauspicious and I wondered if I’ve made a very bad decision. The US dollar raised, international travel became the biggest pain in my traveling ass and the worst was the fear. I remember my mom telling me not to go near or cross the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge or the Financial District because they’re important structures in the city and always experience bomb threats.

This fear instilled in the nation just caused more and more inconvenience, even until this day, 7 years later.

Well. Back to the survival part.
I can’t believe that I was here that long. It, I don’t really know now, if it’s too much or too little. Because whenever I visit home, I feel like it’s all a dream. That I had never left, except a strange indescribable feeling, like I just woke up from a dream that I am trying so hard to remember but I can’t.

I’m not making sense, am I?

So I jolly well come back to my supposed “dream”, only to continue slaving over a computer and some software that helps make the Internet pretty and move things so that you will be entertained.

Things I do for the greater good.

And can I share a secret?

Whenever I cook pasta at home, well, not every time but, sometimes, when I cook pasta at home……..

I eat it with chopsticks.

I think it sums up how I have internally combined both my Eastern and Western virtues.

Or values.

Or it just shows how messed up I am.

blaaaaaaaaah