to heed a warning heard from a sermon at church this sunday, prosperity knits a man to the world, cf. c.s. lewis in screwtape letters. should i take comfort in the fact that i am not comfortable where i am in life? so far, i've settled into a routine only because that's the only way i can cope. working 9 hours a day isn't fun, but it's also better than not working. waking up at 6:30 in the morning puts be to bed before 10, nearly every night. but thankfully, i wake up rather rested. showing up to work 30 minutes (at 7:45 instead of 8:15) early eases my huge administrative (paperwork) workload, so i suppose i am thankful for that too. getting to bolt out of work at 5 is probably also a blessing as i miss most of the rush hour crowds.

those are mundane details indeed. i should be thankful for all i have, especially the following:
(1) next thursday is thanksgiving, which means next saturday is our thanksgiving gathering. g and i have gathered some close (and not so close) friends who want to celebrate this grand american tradition with us. i have lots to be thankful for, and lots to reminisce about.
(2) there are less than 5 weeks til christmas break. granted, i have to work THREE saturdays between today and dec. 20th, but that's alright. the bright light at the end of the tunnel reveals a 6 day trip to okinawa to visit old friends and explore new places :)
(3) i am reading a very educational book that i accidentally stumbled upon (AKA "borrowed" a book that g left on the kitchen table): real food by nina planck. it's great!
(4) friends are going to be visiting HK soon, but not soon enough. i will be spending christmas and subsequent days by myself, but come new years, at least 3 friends will be dropping by at the end of december/beginning januarary ... and perhaps some more in the first few months of 2010.

so that's it. my silly update. i havent had much time to read HK news as i have no TV and no access to HK english newspapers, but i have been keeping tabs on obama's visit to china. nytimes and google reader are my best friends cuz they kinda connect me to the outside world. otherwise, i would be stuck in my routinized bubble of work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, etc.

i am currently reading melissa bank's The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. "enjoying" (??) my saturday night at home. today i woke up, had breakfast, surfed the net. made lunch (grilled cheese and scrambled egg on "milk" bread), surfed the net some more, took a shower. went off to kowloon tong's pacific coffee company to tutor a lady. shopped at taste (bought dinner, pesto chicken salad), went grocery shopping at park 'n shop. had dinner, prepared all the veggies bought for the week, and put on some as tall as lions (via youtube). i found this quote, proximity without intimacy as i sat down to read this book. the end.

rent, electricity, gas, water, credit card, student loan bills will all be due towards the end of the month, but before my second paycheck. that worries me, but it's really not worth delving into for this blog.

today, i woke up at 7:30, then again at 8:30 (as per my usual sunday routine). after a quick mini "grilled" cheese sammie and shower, the roomie and i headed to wanchai to get a cuppa joe at a friend's coffee shop. it was a good cup of coffee indeed, and i also got myself a salmon & cream cheese bagel! delish. afterwards, i head off to the vine for their 11:30 service. it's always very refreshing to go and praise the lord and listen to his word on sunday. after church, i headed to hong kong central library (in causeway bay). i spent two hours there and was overwhelmed by the shear numbers of people there. the trek home was a trek indeed. i walked approximately 10+ minutes down causeway bay road, toward yee wo street (which turns into hennessey rd). along the way, i must've passed 1000s of indonesian maids sitting and sleeping on the street. afterall, this is their one day off. thankfully, i made it to the MTR and came back to diamond hill for an early dinner of pasta. the end.