November 2019

Eleven more days till we enter decade #3 of the 21st century – or enter the final year of decade #2? Not sure how you count anymore…but wow. Life continues to be hectic but as always there is beauty to be found and enjoyed everywhere. Let’s dive into November 2019.

A variety of plants on a shelf by the entrance of my office. The small lemon plant on the far right belongs to me. It was a company birthday gift that I never brought home because it would only die without sunlight in my small studio…so I left it in the office. We have a small balcony where I bring it out to breath occasionally so maybe…it would have a chance to survive.

There was a free open day at the Wuhan Botanic Gardens for a science festival, and I secured two tickets and went with Jian. It was a rare day of relaxed roaming in a natural setting – though with a lot of other people! November wasn’t a great time for plant-viewing, but there were some beautiful water lilies in a pond that caught my attention. These were small and delicate, different than the large ones that bloom during the summer. In Chinese they’re called “sleeping lily”, almost like sleeping beauty!

Some final rays of sunlight before winter finally set in. November was unusually warm this year, with temperatures up to 20 degrees Celsius even during the last week of November and first week of December. Sunshine was so abundant that I took the opportunity to go out for lunchtime walks around my workplace. Ah, warmth, do I miss you now!

An area around my workplace that looked like an undisturbed oasis in the midst of a concrete jungle. Not a bad place to take a slow stroll before a busy afternoon…

Dramatic cloud formations like these tend to make my day, especially when I see them early in the morning on the way to work. They remind me of the greatness of God and his creations and make me calm just to think that nothing is ever so big that we have to worry and fear. On with the day!

More clouds encountered during the final cycling trip of the year. Jian was out of town that weekend and I suspected that it would be the final weekend with weather suitable for going out, so I went on a solo cycling trip around the East Lake area. Peaceful and serene, so rare in a big city like Wuhan but thanks to the East Lake it’s not that hard to escape from the urban chaos into a piece of heaven 😉

For Thanksgiving, Jian and I attended a dinner gathering of our church small group. As it was a weeknight, only approximately half of the group members were able to attend, but it was a cozy night with lots of laughter and fun conversations. Oh, great home-made food, of course! In a more or less secular society, it really is necessary to bond with people of the same faith, even though we may only have limited time and energy. Christmas dinner soon (tomorrow, in fact!)

Subway selfie! My colleague remarks that I am always right in front of the camera in selfie shots but hey, it only makes sense because I’m the one taking the photo 😛 A lot of Chinese ladies don’t like being in the front as apparently it makes their face appear round and bloated. Meh, I don’t care, I think it’s cute, don’t you? Someone’s gotta take the selfie, after all 😛

Of course we were taking the subway to Hubei Theatre, where we saw the Mandarin theatrical play for “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom. TWM was the first book that I read by Mitch, who ended up becoming my favourite author. I had already seen the Cantonese version of the play years ago in Toronto, and with the Mandarin version coming to Wuhan, there was no reason to miss it. Morrie was played by a famous actor in Taiwan and Mitch was played by a Taiwanese comedian/singer whom I watched on TV when I was a child. The long-awaited play certainly did not disappoint – well, at least it didn’t disappoint me. Somehow TWM always manages to make me teary-eyed, maybe because it was a true story and the characters are REAL. Don’t know what Jian thought as he hadn’t read the book. He said he liked it though he did fall asleep in the middle for 10 minutes so…

The past week has had its ups and downs but I’m still keeping my cool and optimism. Early mornings and crowded buses may still be my least favourite things but there I continue to find things that light me up with hope and joy. See you soon, 2020!

April 2019

It’s almost the end of May and I am only getting to the April 2019 post…very late, I know. During the past weeks I’ve been contemplating ending the blog for a variety of reasons, but perhaps not just yet. I might write a post about it – I say that about a lot of topics and never got to them, which is one of the reasons why I want to stop blogging altogether – but before that, let’s recap the month of April, the final reasonably comfortable month in Wuhan in terms of weather…

During the Qingming holiday (early April), J and I went back to his hometown in the countryside and enjoyed breathing fresh air away from the big city. We encountered a cat who seemed to be contemplating its own existence and pondering the meaning of life at a neighbour’s house…or maybe it was just in a daze and waiting for food.

One of the items on my bucket list was to fly a kite and it was achieved during this trip! Well, I’ve flown a kite before this, but not successfully. I was really young and only remember that the kite somehow didn’t work properly – in hindsight we probably just didn’t know how to handle it. This time, I was super ready! J and I reached an open area and the early April weather was just perfect, breezy but not cold! See that kite fly! Higher up, up, and up!

It’s nice to get away from the city once in a while, especially one with so much distraction like Wuhan. Going back to the countryside allowed us to spend some peaceful time where the only thing we heard was the wind in the air and carefree birds chirping.

But of course we had to come back to the city. April was getting warm but not so hot that it was unbearable to go for a walk outside after lunch. The area around my workplace offered some beautiful nature, though the types of flowers weren’t as diverse as those that I saw in March.

Oh hey, almost didn’t see you there, little thing.

This was taken near the station where I usually take the subway to go home after work, capturing the final moments of daylight emitting from the golden globe.

During a random walk on the HUST campus, J and I encountered an event held by a department celebrating their 20th (I think) year of establishment. Naval engineering, I think? There were performances and a small party in the pavilion in the middle of the small lake. I remember very clearly that I got angry at J that evening, though I can’t for the life of me remember why O_O

On the last day of April, I arrived in Nanjing before the entire nation went traveling for the Labour Day mini-holiday. It was definitely a good call because most people didn’t begin their travels until May 1, and so the crowds in the tourist areas of Nanjing were quite bearable. I especially enjoyed hanging around the Qinhuai River, which has quite a lovely atmosphere when it wasn’t smothered by people!

And in Nanjing, of course I didn’t hesitate going to the Fuzi Temple tourist area for the famous street food! Wow there were so many goodies that I couldn’t resist even though I was suffering from a bad cold. I realize that a lot of these typically tourist areas were remodeled to resemble an old town and are heavily commercialized, but even knowing that, I rather enjoyed Nanjing. Then again, that might be because I would rather be anywhere else than Wuhan…

It seems like I can’t write a post without dissing Wuhan or expressing my strong dislike for it, and I don’t think my feelings toward this city will change any time soon. May is also the month that marks the one-year anniversary of my arrival in Wuhan so hey, at least it hasn’t defeated me yet – or has it already defeated me by changing me into someone that even I dislike?

Powered by nature

I fell in love with Secret Garden’s song Powered by Nature as soon as I heard it (lyrics here). It makes me remember the times nature has touched my heart and once again reminded me of the greatness of God’s creations. “I’m powered by mountains, they make me feel so small, so I can seize the wonder and the greatness of it all…I know I’m a part of God’s great universe!” Often throughout my travels, I like to pause and just let the serenity of nature surround me. Then I am thankful that God granted me this big big world to explore, to experience, to enjoy.

No lavenders in Provence nor tulips in Keukenhof this year, but what a blessing it was to see the sunflower fields last week, row on row, stretching without end towards the blue sky, beyond the vast horizon. To be in touch with nature in its purest form, to listen to the voice of the truest beauty speaking through the wind – such marvel and awe. This was in the midst of a trip to the Royan zoo, two hours away from Bordeaux. If anything was worth the trouble of going all the way, this was it. (By the way, I almost fainted from this indescribable beauty…it was way beyond anything words can hope to convey.)

Bois de Lauzelle, love at first hike

Last year I discovered the beauty of autumn in Louvain-la-Neuve, and I am glad to have spent most of October here this year as well, to see the beginning of the end of fall. What a mesmerizing season filled with grace, vibrance, and dynamics.

There is a forest nearby my campus called “Bois de Lauzelle”, a great place for a nice afternoon hike. From the centre of Louvain-la-Neuve, it’s about a 15-minute walk. Not too far, huh. One would think I would have gone there already during my previous stays in Louvain-la-Neuve. Nope. Due to my laziness, I’ve never visited the woods, even though I knew of its existence since the beginning of the year. It’s like Antwerp and Maastricht. I didn’t make the effort to visit until this time around, when my departure from Belgium at the end of the month may be for a good 6 months.

So, on a cloudy Sunday morning after a rainy day (the day I went to Antwerp), I ventured into the woods for my first autumn hike. Laziness had to be conquered, yes, but I was not going to let this opportunity escape me again. After Tobermory and Kawartha Lakes, I was determined to discover Bois de Lauzelle, on my own.

As I started my hike from the centre of Louvain-la-Neuve to the outer parts of the city, I passed by the Parc de la Source where this gorgeous bird was chilling among the branches. I think it was a swallow…I could never be sure of bird names. The leaves were still very much green, but traces of yellow and orange have begun to appear everywhere.

Black, yellow, and red – Happy birthday Belgium!

July 21st was the Belgian National Day – happy birthday, dear host country #2! I didn’t even say happy birthday to France, who celebrated a week before Belgium.

I did some very brief research on the history of the independence of Belgium. The day was July 21st, 1831, when Belgium declared independence from the Netherlands. That makes this year the 181st birthday of this small yet diverse country that may even be considered a little bizarre. Almost two years in Europe and I’ve spent close to half of my time here – wow.

(Completely unrelated side note: It seems like most of the countries that have held some significance to me at some point in my life has their nation days in July. Canada, July 1st. The USA, July 4th. France, July 14th. Belgium, July 21st. Coincidence?)

There were some events in Brussels for national day, and I decided that instead of staying in Louvain-la-Neuve, I’d head to the capital and spend some time around the city with two friends I met at the church in Brussels. We walked around a bit before deciding that there were way too many people and that we’d never squeeze through the crowd – the police wouldn’t even let us try. Since none of us are actually from Brussels and knew the city well, we wandered away from the parades and shows and crowds to do some exploring of our own.

Most of the events took place around Parc de Bruxelles, where the royal palace was situated. Here is one of the entrances, greeting us with two of the foody symbols of Belgium, beer and “French” fries. Yes, the Belgians invented the fries, not the French. There were other delicious goodness scattered throughout the park, including of course chocolate, mussels, and Brussels sprouts. I was surprised that I couldn’t find a waffle though 😦 For more pictures, click here to see them on Facebook.