Déjà vu

For about the first week back in Hong Kong, we had a lot of flash backs and did a lot of reminiscing of when we lived here before. We are staying in the exact same hotel we were in two years ago in Hong Kong [left: hotel front; below: hotel lobby]. Not the same room, but it may as well be as it looks exactly the same. Being in the same situation, just two years later, has brought a lot of weird--and some unexpected--emotions. Even Cody thinks we are homesick for Taiwan! He asked me why I kept taking pictures of such random things. To me they are not without purpose; each item, street, or building brings back a flood of memories and emotion.



Last time we were living here, Jade was 10 weeks to 5 months old. It is a little different having a walking, energetic 2 1/2 year old in this tiny apartment and crowded city. I think I'd like to strap her to my front like I did before; make things a bit easier, not to mention safer. Too bad my back is not that strong.

Last time I was also postpartum, jet lagged, culture shocked, and homesick all at once. Cody kept asking me: "don't you remember this? don't you remember that?" There are a lot of things I remember and apparently a lot that I don't. I blame it on my frame of mind at the time. After two years in Taiwan, I'd say my perspective has changed A LOT. Some of the streets and markets I thought were dingy don't seem so anymore. Some of the shops I thought were too far to walk to seem a lot closer now. Food isn't as scary. The Chinese man at the market who laughs as he dangles a pig head in front of my daughter still grosses me out--but doesn't mortify me--and now it makes me laugh a little too. I think the crowded-ness, cramped-ness, and expensive-ness is still getting to me though.

[waiting to cross the street from our hotel to Wellcome]

[looking from the MTR entrance down the street to the hotel]Let's hope this time it's an easier adjustment and that we re-fall in love just as fast.