042

Bye-bye 2010 and hello 2011!

Guess who spent their new years at the happiest place on earth? That's right, I did. The last time I went to Disneyland was my senior year in high school and I thought that after that, I was too old to enjoy the magic of Disney. I was so terribly wrong. The feelings of adventure and excitement were the same as when I was thirteen as I drove through the Temple of Doom with Indiana Jones. Giddy-ness and laughter radiated from my face as I went to meet Flynn Rider aka Eugene Fitzherbert from Tangled. My chest puffed in victory as I beat my cousin in midway games. Tears filled my eyes as I basked in the wonderful glow of the World of Color water show. Disney, you never cease to amaze me.

I can't believe that I had lost faith in Disney when I just had lost faith in my imagination.

I am going to quote my cousin right now because his words are my thoughts exactly:

Disney embraces all the values that should be promoted in life. Disney pushes us to follow our hearts and always try to achieve our dreams. For those who hate on Disney, you must lead a sad life indeed because there never has been more of a happy place than Disneyland. - Steven

What a great way to greet the new year.

040

Just came back from China, where there is a 14 hour time difference and I am jet-lagged like woah.

Have you ever experienced two extremes? In Egypt, I faced over 100 degree weather everyday and probably sweat buckets by the end of the day. In Beijing, it was well below zero degrees (-15 C) at the Great Wall. Ice crystals would form on my peer's eyelashes because it was so cold.

To appreciate one thing, like heat, you need to experience cold, or the absence of heat. To experience true joy, you need to know what true sorrow is. Even a little bit of each is good. Like the saying goes, "what goes up must come down" and vice versa. I believe in constant growth. I see these hills, valleys, and plateaus and I want to overcome them.

That's me on the Great Wall of China in below zero weather, feeling quite joyful.

019

See you later summer, we'll meet again in three years. Time to leave the little girl behind and step into my big girl shoes.

NAAAAAAAAW lol FOREVER YOOOUNG!

004 These Hands

If someone were to ask me what my favorite body part is, I would say these hands of mine. While on vacation in Oahu with my family, we had the wonderful opportunity to witness several hula kahiko dances. Even though it was my 4th stay on the island, the dancing never gets old. A big part of the dance is that it tells a story through the subtle movements of the hands. The hands tell the story (not the hips! haha).

I'm looking at my hands right now. My fingers are rather long and knobby looking. Knuckles protrude a little too much and my palms have a tendency to get a little swampy. They're not perfect and I am proud of the things they have done and at the same time, wish they were capable of undoing some of the not-so-proud things I've done.

What story would my hands tell me?

When hands were fashioned, I think they were meant to do things like tickling, holding each other's hands, helping a brother up on his feet, etc. Isn't also interesting how much destruction these hands are capable of too? Like stealing, killing, abusing, etc. There's so much these hands can do! Grinding drugs with a mortar and pestle, drilling teeth, playing the guitar, doing "air quotes", picking our noses, and among other things.

I like these hands of mine.