pocket

london / paris

well this isn't really pocket nyanseong if i'm writing all this after the fact but whatever deal with it. i didn't really have the headspace during the trip to think and process and write, so i'm trying to revisit the joy of that now.

i took some sick pics but still going through them, coming soon

well now that i picked out all my favorite photos i'm having trouble writing about them and my trip without bitterly recalling how miserable i was much of the time... inevitably all my memories even the good ones will be colored with that. still saw some beautiful views though

the way a place feels spatially is always so memorable to me. even when i don't remember what happens in my dreams i remember the setting and the way it feels. it's hard to capture a 3d feeling in a photo but i really liked the way the streets felt, especially paris. i think it's the the history and the walkability (less cars)

my first time in europe so of course we had to pay all the big monuments a visit but i still especially treasure the little moments and vistas that i stumbled across

the louvre was pretty cool though. or actually it's cooler in photos and in concept than in person because the amount of people was just so overwhelming. though you could say that is part of the experience and an extension of the art in itself

i really like these night views i managed to capture but honestly we didn't actually get that much night time because i would be so drained and/or unwell that i spent most nights in the hotel room eating convenience store food and texting my girlfriend on the other side of the world wishing i was there instead.. but since the glass is half full i guess that just made the reunion all the sweeter. also it was so nice to share the sights and little stories with someone

i was frothing and foaming at all the architecture. it hits so different to have the time and history for these to be the real thing, rather than fascimiles that are references of references and so far removed from its own influences. seeing and walking the barbican with my own eyes and feet was selfishly my personal highlight, and i felt too guilty to explore more. i'd like to go back and take the free tour and maybe see a movie there

hong kong

11/25/2024

hello from the hell-device that is my phone! i'm about to board my plane soon and i thought this trip might be the perfect time to experiment with this idea i have - i still need to think it through but tldr one day i'll be truly free from social media, maybe if this can satisfy my urge to tweet every vaguely-funny thought that passes through my squirrel brain. travel and stuff always stresses me out a little, so many moving parts to get right but i made it to the gate incredibly smoothly. latte and scone at 8pm kinda hits

kinda surreal how the majority of passengers speak my mother tongue. it's almost like i'm going to the motherland or something! my eye keeps twitching (metaphorical) whenever someone speaks lol

seated behind twin toddlers with a shared hyperfixation on the animated 3d earth model that they must announce to their mom every 2 seconds while she ignores them. i'm counting on my noise cancelling headphones

11/26/2024 (?)

i spoke too soon… my headphones kept glitching out and the kids kept screaming and my aging body couldnt handle the sleeping in awkward positions as well as i used to… the older i get the more i understand the appeal to go business class

11/27/2024

in the last few years i think i realized that some portion of my anxiety is actually probably just a residual generational kneejerk city survival 101 because whenever i'm back here i naturally walk 10x faster and i get really good at deciphering subway station maps to find the optimal exit.

i landed at the buttcrack of dawn, jetlagged and dehydrated and no available rooms until the afternoon, so i go ahead and knock off so many things from my bucketlist in the first 5 hours that the average nonchalant anxiety-free tourist couldn't even dream to accomplish. i told myself to take it easy and try not to get exhausted or sick but i just walk too fast for my own good.

11/28/2024

11/29/2024

when porter said look at the sky... damn he was right i'm still here!

sorry i know i like to bully ravers but i really do get it... with my cancer stellium i don't need the drugs i can get emotional on command. or by looking at the sky. (after the show i looked it up and of course porter is a cancer! i get him i really do)

because when i looked at the sky i saw the stage and the balloons and the night skyline stretching all the way to my peripherals and i couldn't believe i could be back here like this and so carefree and happy. beautiful

11/30/2024

when i got back a friend jokingly/lovingly called me a 港女 which is comical because i don't look or act the part at all, but maybe there's some essence of truth in there... explains why it is such a joy of life to wander in a mall for hours and then getting mall coffee and mall dinner. born to be a metropolitan barbie girlboss, forced by the hand of fate to be a fucking hipster lol

12/2/2024

i girlbossed too hard to the sun and it finally hit me and i felt nauseous and had to cancel plans and sleep in the hotel. got in some more in-bed tv time though, maybe one of my favorite simple travel luxuries

12/4/2024

it was a movie type of flight. besides a brief nap around takeoff and landing time i stayed awake for ten hours and got my moneys worth on that in-flight entertainment!