It's the ticking of the clock on the wall that makes the flashback complete when I close my eyes.

The familiar sound of the second hand moving takes me back to my old living room in Flushing. It was the heartbeat to my family's old house, always in the background on those late nights sneaking to the kitchen or countless hours in front of the tv. And now as I crash in the living room of my parents' place in New Jersey, the same wall clock hovers somewhere above my head. The comforting sound of life ticking forward comes with big aspirations once more. It's like I'm home in high school again, and everything about the future feels so promising.

It's been a night filled with moments that were years in the making. Being under the same roof with some family after what feels like a lifetime ago, it provides a feeling of being whole again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am about to head to Port Authority to take the bus to my relative's place in New Jersey.

I hope everyone has a great holiday with cherished loved ones and lots of great food.

The past few months or so.

It's been a few days since I finished dog/house-sitting for friends in Brooklyn. I'm back in the city now, but will be heading out to New Jersey after work tomorrow to stay for the rest of the week. My sister and brother-in-law are currently on a business trip overseas, and I'm going to be helping them out with some stuff in their office while they're gone. Besides that, I don't really feel like I have much going on with me right now. I haven't been updating this much lately. Sometimes the topics I want to write about seem to be about things that I've already mentioned, which isn't a big deal. But I'd like to think that I'm constantly growing, learning, and evolving---so bringing up thoughts and emotions I've already said would seem like I'm taking a step backwards. I've also recently come to think about what exactly I should and shouldn't be writing about here. While I don't really have my name written much on this blog, and keep it as unsearchable as possible on Google, I have to accept that people might stumble onto it somehow. And what makes me reflect on that is I don't want to wait tables for the rest of my life, and therefore don't want any future employers at big companies not hiring me because of anything that I've written about here. I mean I guess it might be a bit too late for that, because I know I already do have some colorful entries written here, so why stop with all of it now? I would say the fact that I'm currently 31 is a reason, and that perhaps I've moved on from a lot of the bullshit in my life that used to consume me. I recently told all of this to one of my best friends, and she disagreed. She said that I was creative by nature, and that it's not only good for me to continue writing here, but that I should continue to do it as honestly and openly as possible. That really made sense to me... so I here I am sitting alone in the dark after 3am at night---it doesn't get any more honest than this. Monday morning is literally hours away, and yet I just can't seem to fall asleep. I guess some of the old bullshit in my life just isn't ready to leave me yet.

The past few weeks or so.

Every night I try to fall asleep by a decent hour, but things just don't ever seem to work out that way.

I'm currently house-sitting/cat-sitting for a friend in Jersey City right now. I've only been here a few days, and have just been commuting back-and-forth to work from here. It's been an enjoyable couple of days to just break out of my usual routine and try something new, and I'm a little bummed that I'll be leaving here tomorrow morning for good. Even riding the Path Train here to Jersey City seemed like a nice change, which I think is a good indicator showing that I'm in desperate need to get away from NYC for a little. I can't really afford to travel anywhere right now, so I think even a day trip on a weekend would be extremely helpful to keep me going.

It's been a bit too cold out the past few days to explore much, but from what I've seen, Jersey City is pretty nice. There's seems to be a diverse range of people who live here, and there's tons of bars and restaurants near my friend's place as well. My friend Dessie lives off the Grove Street stop, so getting to the World Trade Center and walking to work is literally two stops away. It's great that the Path Train isn't too crazy packed during rush hour either, which has been a pleasant surprise.

But for everyone who's recently endured way too many snow days and cold nights---can we talk about this crazy ass winter? I know that Spring is only a few months away, but I'm just not sure how much more snow and freezing temperatures I can take. The inability to walk anywhere (because it's just too damn cold out!) is what's really driving me nuts the most, and I long for warmer weather where I can pop in my headphones and stroll in whatever hell direction I please.

It's during times like these where I miss Bangkok and Thailand the most. I especially miss sitting on the balcony of my old studio apartment, just listening to the constant traffic on Petchaburi Road and staring at the beautiful view (pictured below) with a joint in my hand. Man, that sure is nice to reminisce about right about now.

Until next time, I wish you warm and sunny dreams. Good night.

I really am so happy to be home in NY.

While taking the subway alone back to my friend Judy's place just before, everything in life just seemed to make sense. I had had a few drinks, but was completely fine and just observed everyone else on the subway-cart throughout the ride home. I loved it so much because life was happening all around me, and it felt awesome to be surrounded by it again.

Being able to spend the past month-and-a-half in NY for the summer has been great, and while I'm sad to see it go, I'm always ready to move on.

Have a really enjoyable Labor Day!

And here are some pictures I recently just took while walking around. The last one is my favorite, because I'll miss you, coconut icies.

나 몰아 ㅎㅎㅎ.

My sister and brother-in-law have returned from their business trip, so I'm finally back in the city for good.

It was another great weekend here, and spending the entire day of Sunday with a picnic at Prospect Park again was such a nice way to end it. 

I just can't live anywhere where there's no energy in the streets.

This is Juby, my sister and brother-in-law's dog.

They're currently in China for a business trip for a few weeks, so I'm watching their office and also house/dog-sitting for them here in New Jersey. It's been nice because my sister got Juby while I was living in Thailand, so this is the first time I've been alone with her for a large chunk of time. 

As a professional couch surfer, it's been nice to hang out with so many dogs along the way.