Hello internets! As I write this, I’m sitting in a cafe in Hong Kong. I flew back to Beijing a week and a half ago to settle some housing and school stuff, and then returned back to the 852 to shoot a few projects before my term begins. This summer has been one of my worst in terms of my carbon footprint. I traveled almost as much as when I was working as a consultant.

Quick update before I go into the forth-coming picture post. Malcolm has (rightly) accused me of hoarding all my pictures on my hard drive, and so I’m trying to do something about this. I still have Malaysia (all of Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi, and Melaka) and Singapore to cover. I have almost as many photos from Singapore as I do from Malaysia, despite my relatively short time there. That’s what happens when you travel with another photographer.

The past two weeks have been really insane (I know, I know, when is it not?) it seems like the only times I get a few spare moments to myself is when I’m locked in a tin can, being hurled through the air. But seriously, the three hour commute between Hong Kong and Beijing has come to be something I really look forward to. Peace and quiet. Provided there are no screaming babies on the flight of course

I’ll have another post to show you images of the move as well as some from the area around my new home. I’m staying in the same complex as last semester, but I’ve always wanted to shoot a few in the area. I live in what is essentially a hutong. Little alleyways between larger complexes that is absolutely packed with the hustle and bustle of a Beijing that is all too quickly giving way to high rises. The faces of the street vendors, old men playing chess, and the children with the potty-pants (heh. no, that was not a typo) have become familiar and friendly faces.

Last Thursday I turned a quarter of a century years old!!!! I know it’s not common among young women nowadays to reveal how old they are. But frankly, the number doesn’t matter to me so much as whether it’s twenty-five years that have been well lived. I had a lovely time with some friends at dinner and drinks. And I was amazed at the number of well-wishers who dropped a line on my birthday. Thanks guys! I felt really loved

But back to my point. Turning twenty-five was a much anticipated landmark. Looking back, I’m definitely not where I thought I’d be even just a few years ago. My life has always been full of detours, which is a euphemism for opportunity I think. A few years ago, I would have never thought I’d live in Europe, or pick up and move to China. China seemed like this huge daunting country and the tension between my personal cultural origin and it being totally foreign was palatable even as a child. I would never have dreamed I’d find a passion through photography, or graduate and join the consulting industry. Or find myself in the heart of Old Havana with Melissa, or living in a tree in Southern Laos, or smack in the middle of a Tibetan refugee camps in the middle of a riot. Life seems to go at such a breakneck speed that I can hardly imagine which continent let alone which country I’ll be in this time next year.

And in many respects, some things remain the same. The unquenchable desire to see the world and chase new horizons. My ever increasing curiosity for new cultures and languages (and as my friend Vince would say, death wish to get into conflict zones). The more I see, the more I desire. To understand, to share and dare I say, to love. Some of my most kindred friends are in the farthest corners of the world, but never far from my thoughts. I have been so immensely privileged to have met such incredible people these last few years. Mentors, friends, people who inspire me to leap far beyond my comfort zone. There are friends of mine who never seem to give things a shot or a chance.. they throw the entirety of themselves into whatever endeavor is at hand. The kind of person I aspire to become.

This quarter of a century that I have walked the earth has been nothing short of a wild ride. Some experiences that have just blown my imagination as a child. And maybe it is this very aspect that makes me so content to leave my childhood behind and eager to set forth into the future. For as cliche as the saying is, I really do believe that the best is yet to come.