I was trying to figure out what I could do with the empty seat next to me when I observed, sitting in front of me, were a mother with her grown-up son, probably aged 50 and 25, respectively. Out of nowhere, a guy plops down on the seat next to me; the mother and son in front of me turn around and start talking to what turned out to be the father.

That's when I got a little upset. "Excuse me, I was saving that seat for my girlfriend." The guy got all snotty on me and replied, "I don't see her here. Besides, she's too late. Can't you see I'm sitting with my family?" I shrugged an okay-have-it-your-way, and motioned for the attendant; I pointed at what was supposed to be my girlfriend's seat and simply nodded. The attendant immediately said, "Sir, you can't sit here, that seat's for somebody else. Mr. Cheung, I'll get your girlfriend immediately. I apologize about that."

And that's when I saw her...

...and that's when I woke up.

Interesting dream.

[sotm] Ben Jelen's Stay, from his album Give It All Away.

For one, I'm actually excited about not only school, but my lectures. There's only one class that I'm not jumping up and down about; the others are purely by choice (either from a list of requisites I have to take, or as an elective). I love my classes. I even gave up my Monday day off (I used to have Mondays and Fridays off) just to get into this one class. It's gonna be a fun year!

I really think this summer changed my life.

And yes, I'll admit I cheated with this month's posts by backdating everything. I've been completely swamped. I still am. At least I managed to sneak in a brand-spanking new commenting capsule - I've finally ditched BackBlog in favor of the Haloscan system. However, that also means that all past comments are now gone. Sorry. But sometimes progress takes sacrifice, even while it's still working for you. It's a basic Shumpeterian value. I learned it in Oxford.

[sotm] The Calling's Things Will Go My Way, from their new album Two.

[sotm] Ben Jelen's Falling Down.

It still hasn't quite hit me yet that Jo's married and gone to Atlanta.

It's also my first wedding among my closest friends. Which only means one thing: the dominos are about to fall, and soon everyone around me will be drowning in wedded bliss. Yikes.

[sotm] Jim Brickman & Michael W. Smith's Love of My Life, the newlyweds' first dance song.

• Los Angeles, USA (by Air Canada)
• Irvine, USA
• Hong Kong, SAR (via Tokyo by United Air)
• Guangzhou, China (by chartered bus)
• Zhuhai, China (by Hydrofoil)
• Zhongshan, China
• Shenzhen, China (by chartered bus)
• Tokyo, Japan (by United Air)
• Boston, USA (via Toronto by Air Canada Jazz)
• Munich, Germany (by SAS)
• Copenhagen, Denmark (by Lufthansa, to start the Princess Baltic Cruise)
• Stockholm, Sweden
• Tallinn, Estonia
• St. Petersburg, Russia
• Helsinki, Finland
• Gdansk, Poland
• Gdynia, Poland
• Warnemunde, Germany
• Berlin, Germany (by chartered train)
• Helsingor, Denmark
• London, England (by Varig Brazil)
• Oxford, England (by Oxford Express bus)
• Paris, France (by British Airways staying at the Champs-Élyseés!)
• Dublin, Ireland (by RyanAir)
• Brussels, Belgium (via English Chunnel by Eurostar)
• Toronto, Canada (by Air Canada...finally, home sweet home)

Phew.

I was *this* close to going to Zurich as a last stop while I was still in Europe, but as soon as I got to Heathrow Airport in London, and I saw the departures board with the big words "TORONTO - AC857, 1:05PM, ON TIME", I was almost overcome with emotion to know that my summer's officially over and I was going home. I was exhausted, the product of living 4 straight months out of a suitcase, with the world literally blowing by my eyes like a whirlwind. I wanted to go home.

As soon as I touched down, I went straight home and proceeded to sleep 30 hours straight. My parents thought I was dead. =)

It hasn't quite hit me that I'm back yet, and I don't think it will for a little while. Something's different. I feel like I'm home, but yet I don't feel like I'm here to stay - that this is just another stop before I'm off to somewhere else. Maybe Aruba. Maybe Monaco. Just somewhere.

Someday, I'll get around to fully recapping my trip. Until then, this will have to make do to appease my blog fans...all 2 of you. There are a gadzillion things for me to do now, including preparing for the upcoming marriage of one of my best friends.

[sotm] Grand Avenue's This is Not An End - their way cool music video can be found at www.jafilm.dk.