In June 2014, a few days after coming back from Russia and just a month before departing for Shanghai, I wrote a blog post about counting down the days in the last month, but I decided against publishing it. I’m not…
How I fell in love
I have never fallen for a place as rapidly or as irrevocably as I have fallen for Hong Kong. This past weekend was electrifying, rapid, exhilarating. And it terrifies me just how much I want to uproot the life I have created in China and move to…
The charm of Moscow in November
Uncoordinated. That’s the only way to describe my 10-hour flight from Shanghai to Moscow. Over the course of ten hours, I spilled water on myself (twice). Most of my (gluten-free) biscuit ended up on my blanket. My slippers (which Aeroflot gives…
Puking in Phuket and other nautical adventures through Thailand
48 hours. Just 48 hours was all it took to turn the tropical paradise that is the island of Phuket into a head-first vomit trip towards the toilet bowl, violently throwing up everything I had consumed since morning (yogurt with granola, one small…
Escape from Shanghai
I don’t often write impromptu entires like this one. I’ve had another entry in the making for the past week, one that I’ve been carefully crafting — about China’s conveniences, my wheat allergy, taking taxis, and living on my own — but…
My 24-hour United nightmare, or how I finally got to Shanghai
Things that went wrong with my flight to Shanghai Would it be unfair to say everything? I think there was something to my bad omens about Shanghai. Having a shouting match at 3am in Laguardia with the United check-in lady, who…
Trains, planes, and the M60
Things I learn at 3:30am: I am not invincible. Biking to the train station with my carry on is, as predicted, an insurmountable task. I call a taxi to my apartment. The operator tells me one will arrive momentarily. Ten…