tingyan.: August 2016

"i'm going up to joseph's."

"sign that for me before you head up"

"okay"

i wait patiently as the lift goes up, 7... 19.. 25...33. a sense of excitement surges through my veins. i knock on the door. it is unlocked. i push it open, and see jun smiling at me. jo is by the sink. i collapse on the floor in sheer relief and exhaustion. i was finally in chicago. within the past 30 hours, i had been in singapore, then hong kong, missed my flight to chicago due to a delay, they flew me to LA, got tuck in immigration at LA and missed the flight to chicago again, after standing in line for at least 20 minutes because of horribly inefficient processes, i got a ticket to chicago. carl asked if i wanted to standby for free, i said no please let me just pay and get a confirmed seat im not waiting around any longer. waiting at the gate in LA, the flight was supposed to be at 2.20pm. there was no indication of any sign of boarding until 2.30pm, when they said there is a fault in the engine and invited us to sit around for longer. i laughed. i wasnt surprised anymore. i was surprisingly calm however, and thankful i guess, to just be safe, and to reach the comfort of generous friends who would put me up at their place any time.

it felt as though summer was just a dream, every time i move between countries, it's as though the past three months never happened, or perhaps i had just woken up. this summer was beautiful though. i am incredibly thankful for opportunities, and people who have come by my way. i try to write a summary of events, just so i can look back and read about them later on. it's just photos from here on just a warning, it's a lot of scrolling haha. thank you friends and family for loving me and making summer such a wonderfully refreshing one:

- road trip around the west coast: we flew to vegas, drove to zion national park, then to antelope canyon, grand canyon, LA, yosemite, San Fran, lake tahoe