All Templed Out

I’m quite behind in my blogging, so I thought I’d use a moment of down time to fill you in!  Nick and I are adjusting nicely to Balinese life.  We are enjoying our private water bungalow and plunge pool the most.  It’s the perfect place to lounge the day away.  In contrast to Cambodia, I’ll sadly have very few photos to show you of Bali.

There are two factors preventing me from getting lots of shots.  The first is lack of motivation.  It’s so glorious just laying around here that we rarely leave our little paradise.  The second is that my wretched cough is back, so anytime I exert myself, I am rewarded with a cough attack.  Hence, we are staying put.  Maybe it’s God’s way of forcing me to sit still and enjoy Bali the way it’s meant to be enjoyed.  And it also means that we’ll have to come back… all the Cambodia shots are now up on SMUGMUG.  Do check them out!

So, rewinding about 8 days…we arrived around midnight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Our flight wasn’t until 7 the next morning and the prospect of spending the night in the airport seemed like a horrible way to start the trip.  Happily, the Tune Hotel solved our dilemma.  Just a 10 minute walk from the low-cost terminal in Kuala Lumpur, the Tune Hotel is a pay-by-the-hour kind of place.  They price it in 12 and 24 hour increments and towels and AC are add-ons.  It’s obviously geared at the short-term guest or backpacker, as the rooms are only about 1 foot larger than bed (see above picture).  It’s dirt cheap though and met our needs quite nicely!  A very cool concept.

The Tara Angkor Hotel was our place of residence in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  This place was around $90 a night and incredibly classy.  Although it’s located a bit outside of town, the beauty of the facilities really makes up for that.  And with Tuk Tuk rides costing between $1-2, it doesn’t set you back much.  We would definitely recommend this place, but with one caveat.  While it seems like a steal of a deal, there were times when we were reminded that you get what you pay for, particularly when it came to guest service.  One night they wanted to charge us a $7 hotel fee for the $7 pizza we ordered in.  Also, our meals ordered at the hotel restaurant often came at different times, so one of us would be done eating by the time the other received their food.  That said, Cambodia is a new tourist destination and it was obvious that they are still growing into it.  Hopefully all the wrinkles will be worked out in a few years…

We hired a private driver and guide for 3 days to show us around the temples.  It was roughly $100 a day, which seemed well worth it to us.  We started the trip out with a bang by getting up at 5 AM to take in sunrise at Angkor Wat.  We arrived in the pitch black night – not an overhead light for miles.  Despite the early hour, I was quite   comfortable in a light sweater.  The stars were out in full as Mr. Son guided us into the temple with his flashlight.  It was a magical feeling, walking into such an ancient religious space (it was both a hindu and budhist temple).  As the first rays of light crested the temple, I took in a breath of fresh air and soaked it all in.  YES, we were a long way from Manila!  It was quite the memorable experience.  Once the sun came up, we spent the next 3 hours touring the temple.  The day was far from over though…

Next up was the temple complex of Angkor Tom.  There were several temples in this complex, with the most famous being Bayon (pictured above).  This was the place where we rode elephants (see previous post).  It was incredibly well preserved and took us about 2 hours to get through.  There were 2 more lesser-known temples after that.  The guide would have kept going, but we called it a day at 3 PM (hello, we’d been going since 5 AM – what kind of vacation is that?)  Day 1 was a success.

The next morning we started before 8 AM at Ta Prohm, also in the Angkor Tom complex.  This temple was unique in that trees and temples had fused together over hundreds of years.  This made for some of the most incredible sights yet.  The shot above is a great example of how the tree has overtaken the temple.  This was also the location where parts of Tomb Raider was filmed!  We managed to beat the crowds and pretty much had the place to ourselves.  This easily rose to the top as our favorite temple.  Day 2 ended with 2 more small temples and some shopping at the town market.

Day 3 was also quite unique.  We took a boat out to see the floating forest and a water village.  It was here that we got an up-close look at the rural lifestyle and had the opportunity to see what daily life looks like for a typical Cambodian.  There was a sharp contrast between our people interactions here versus in Manila.    The Cambodians were far more serious and shy, preferring to keep to themselves much of the time.  In fairness, the Cambodians are coming out of 30 years of civil war that saw 2 million of their people killed by a murderous regime under Pol Pot.

There is also the lingering fear of land mines, with an estimated 3 millionstill covering the country.  It’s hard to imagine not being able to go into your backyard for fear of losing a leg to a landmine.  Yet that has been the reality for many Cambodians.  Death is something that they are intimately familiar with.  With the memories still fresh, you can still sense the fear in the air.  Makes me thankful that I’ve never had to live through anything like that…

Our Next Family Addition – An elephant??

Greetings blog readers- Sarah here.  Remember me??  Sorry for the gap in posts!  I’ve really missed blogging these last few days, but the time and/or internet connection just wasn’t accessible.  Right now I’m currently in between flights, hanging out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The first leg of our journey was absolutely spectacular!  Cambodia was worlds different than anything Nick and I have ever experienced.  I’m a bit too jet-lagged to go into a heavy recount of our adventures there, so I’ll save that for the next few days once we get settled in Bali (where we hope internet will be more readily available and I can blog on a consistent basis).  We are almost halfway into our trip, having spent 5 days/4 nights in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Hard to believe…

Today I’ll just share one of our favorite moments of the trip, which comes complete with photo documentation.  Being from MN, the only place I’ve ever seen an elephant is behind the bars at the zoo.  Let me tell you, being up close and personal was an entirely different story.  At Bayon Temple in Ankgor Tom we had the opportunity to ride an elephant around the perimeter of the temple.  What a trip it was being up that high and slowly feeling the animal’s weight shift from side to side as it stepped.  I was really struck with not only how majestic the elephant was up close, but also how gentle.  We were so taken with the animal that we joked about getting one as our first family pet.  Maybe if we ever live in Africa…. ha!

Here are a few of our favorite shots from the elephant ride (and for those of you who remember the great lengths I took to select the perfect hat, please note that it finally got some good use):

After we finished our temple lap, we were offered the chance to feed our elephant some bananas.  That part was actually cooler than riding the elephant because we got to be so close to the animal and play with him as we fed him banana after banana.  We were both shocked by how course his skin was and how much sucking power the trunk has.  What a multi-purpose tool it is.  Truly an incredible animal!  Here are some shots from the feeding:

Photographer’s Note: I took close to 500 photos in Cambodia.  I have edited them all, but the uploading is going quite slow… I do have the first 135 available for you to look at and will continue to upload once I have a strong internet connection.  All of the elephant shots are available right now at SMUGMUG.

Our Long-Awaited Honeymoon!

As many of you know, our honeymoon had to be indefinitely postponed after our May 2nd wedding due to our transfer to Manila.  We received incredibly generous wedding gifts to fund this trip and put it in a “honeymoon fund” until Nick had enough leave time accrued for us to go.  And so it is with great anticipation that we begin our 10 day excursion to Bali, Indonesia and Angkor Wat, Cambodia.  Both places have long been on our “Must See” list and will be ideal to check off before we have kids (whenever that may be – don’t read anything into that). Cambodia will be full of temple tours, while our time in Bali will be the exact opposite – lounging by our villa’s plunge pool.

Thanks to everyone that made this trip possible!  I’ll do my best to capture some gorgeous shots….and I’m sure we’ll have a story or two to share as well!  We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving!  Please gorge yourself on turkey for us…pretty sure we won’t be able to find that.  We are THANKFUL for all the wonderful friends and family who continue to play such an active role in our life no matter how far away we are!  It has made our adjustment that much easier, and for that we are grateful.  Safe travels and happy eating!

Nick Goes Night Golfing

Nick took up golfing in Manila recently and even joined the Embassy Golf Club!  Last night he played his first round of night golf at one of the few public courses in the heart of Manila.  The fascinating thing about this course is that the 18 holes are built around the remnants of the old Spanish Fort called Intramuros.  This picture highlights it nicely!

Night is definitely the time to play, as it is hot, hot, hot during the day (as you can imagine).  And no powered carts here, although you will get a caddy to carry your clubs and an umbrella girl to block the sun while you’re making your shots… fascinating, huh?

And don’t expect to see any frogs or birds…Nick came across a crab last night!  So bizarre….

The Great Christmas Tree Expedition!

We had set the intention to put up the Christmas decorations this past weekend.  Like most things in Manila, it didn’t end up going at all according to plan.  The first problem we had was that none of Nick’s Xmas decor made it here and one of my boxes was missing (although I still had 6 more full of goodies, so I managed).  I started to get really frustrated though when we pulled out the tree and one of the legs to the tree stand was missing.  Nick could tell I was close to having a break-down (Xmas Decorating Day is one of my favorite of the entire year) and suggested that we buy a new tree together to commemorate our first Christmas.

I loved that idea, so off we went to go find our tree.  I was quite optimistic and thought that Landmark would have the best selection (even though I HATE shopping there).  And lo and behold, we found what we deemed to be the perfect tree.  Imagine my disappointment when the stock boy returns to utter my least favorite words: “Out of Stock, mum”.  Upon inquiring if there’d be more coming in, I got my second most dreaded phrase, “Maybe soon”.  Translation: Maybe NEVER.  More sadness for Sarah.

Then we went to store 2, which only had white or yellow or blue trees.  Apparently no one had told them that GREEN is the “in” color for trees.  That’s what I get for trying to find one in the tropics!  Store 3 was a bust too and now I really was close to tears.  Nick suggested we end for the day and try again tomorrow.

Day 2 yielded more disappointment at stores 4 and 5.  A $200 ugly tree was not on my wishlist.  In the end, we came full circle and returned to Landmark where we compromised and picked an acceptable tree.  Nick saved the day though by suggesting we jazz it up with lots of sparkly tree add-ons.  All of a sudden, my energy was back.  We had a blast picking out the stuff together and decorating the tree.  It didn’t even bother me that it took an hour for 4 people to hand-write out the SKU names of all 50 tree decorations we had purchased so they could reconcile their inventory and complete our purchase!

Here’s what we ended up with:

We donated our old tree to Norma and she happily accepted her very first Christmas Tree EVER (missing leg and all).  I couldn’t believe that she’d never had a tree!  That is so wrong… She was nearly in tears, she was so excited.  Well, who knew that my 10-year-old tree could bring that much joy?  So then I went digging for more holiday stuff to give her.  I found extra berries and ribbons and beads to adorn her tree.  She insisted that she’d never be able to create a tree like mine, so we did a demo and helped her practice.  Good heart-warming Christmas moment, if I do say so myself!

Nick’s creative brain was definitely on, as he came up with the brilliant idea of creating a MN-esque Christmas Tree topper.  We happened to find these fabulous sparkly Christmas maple tree leaves and created a one-of-kind topper.  I must say, I was so proud of my husband’s decorating skills – he did the entire top himself!  He made a very fine replacement for my mom, who’s been my decorating partner for the last 10 years.

Well, I think that’s enough about the Christmas decorations.  There are an ABSURD number of shots of the tree at SMUGMUG if you’re craving more.  Check them out!  Maybe, just maybe, Christmas in Manila is going to turn out okay after all…

Nick Gets Up Close and Personal with Hillary

BIG WEEK for Embassy Manila last week due to an impromptu visit from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  It was a whirlwind day and a half visit for her while on a tour of Southeast Asia.  Secretary of State visits require lots of orchestration, so each officer had a specific role during her visit.  Nick was part of a team that orchestrated a Meet and Greet for 1000+ mission staff.  He was fortunate enough to get a picture with her afterwars.  Pretty cool experience my hubby is getting!

Ode to a Neti Pot

There once was a house that fell ill

And racked up an emergency room bill.

They hacked all day and night

With no end in sight,

Thank God the Neti Pot works better than a pill.

WE LOVE YOU NETI!  Thanks for clearing up our sinuses.  You’re so much more reliable than Western Medicine!

Here’s a little educational video on how to use one:

For those who haven’t tried this before, no judging until you give it a shot.  Yeah, it feels super strange – but it works like a charm on sinus problems and allergies!   Neti pots are becoming so mainstream that you can even get one at Target!  Here’s the brand that we picked up before leaving, which includes 50 packets of the salt rinse you need to mix with the lukewarm water.  1/2 pot per nostril is our rule.  Experience the magic for yourself!

The Ralph Lauren of Pearls

After purchasing 5 sets of pearls for friends and family, I just couldn’t resist anymore.  The pearls were calling to me.  But not just ANY pearls, the Ralph Lauren set of Pearls… And by Ralph Lauren I’m not referring to cost (they were actually quite reasonable around $40), I’m referring to VERSATILITY.  Like any good set of pearls, you can showcase these pearls with the perfect suit or evening gown.  But the unique thing about the “Ralph Lauren” style is that they can be dressed down and look just as good with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt!  The perfect pearls, in my mind!

What makes them so versatile is that they can pick up any color in an outfit.  They are essentially an irridescent black with hints of purple, blue, green and pink.  Even in the two photographs I shot, they appear to be completely different colors.  That’s what makes them so fun!  I think I had known for awhile that this would be my first set ever since I laid eyes on them back in August.  It was just a matter of time…

The other part that makes me feel good is that I purchased them from Dam Good Stuff, a livelihood project that provides for families who were displaced from there homes when a dam was installed in the Pangasinan area 200 km north of Metro Manila.  Seems like a win-win situation to me!

Baby on the Way!

On Sunday we attended a baby shower for our good friends Andrea and Brian.  Nick and Andrea trained together in Washington, D.C. and have been inseparable ever since.  Andrea and Brian are also immensely likable because they are fellow Minnesotans, having lived in St. Paul before joining the foreign service!

I had assembled a Baby Care Package for the family that included a MN Monthly Magazine, An Alvin and the Chipmunk’s CD (the singular most played record of my youth) and various baby clothes.  Norma took over the assembly of the care package and when I tried to step in to help she told me that I was doing it wrong and would prefer to just finish it herself so it all looked the same.  It swear that I used to be able to wrap gifts on my own before I had a Norma…. Perhaps I’m regressing?

Suffice to say, the party was a heck of a lot of fun.  Made me want a baby – ALMOST.  Maybe we’ll just borrow theirs for a few nights and test the waters.  :)  All the pics are on SMUGMUG.  Otherwise, here are a few of my faves:

Our Perfectly Packaged Gift courtesy of Norma

Another Emergency Room Visit and Healing Massages: Our Weekend in Review

Yes, it is true.  We are still sick.  New symptoms seem to be showing up each day.  I haven’t kicked my cough yet despite all the various remedies I’ve tried.  And then Nick woke up on Saturday morning and told me he had an ear infection and needed it looked at immediately.  So off we went to the Emergency Room for the second time this week!  I’m starting to become a regular there – it’s really quite sad.  He was diagnosed with Swimmer’s Ear, which is essentially an infection of the ear canal.  Quite painful!  With drops and pain meds in hand, we settled in for another rest-filled weekend.

I’ve written several times about how I frequent The Spa, which is in Greenbelt.  While I still love my “home” spa, I felt like a change-up was in order because I was so used to the routine of the various massages that I’d know which direction I needed to turn or bend my leg before they had even prompted me.  The buzz in the Embassy community has been around Neo Spa, located in Fort Bonafacio.  I decided to test it out with a friend on Friday and see how it compared.

Since I’ve been sick for almost 3 weeks now, I opted for a unique massage geared toward helping your immune system.  It’s called a Lymphatic Drainage Massage and although the name isn’t very sexy, it ended up being in my top 3 massages of all time.  This style of massage boosts the flow of lymph around your body, refreshing your immune system and flushing out toxins.  For those of you that aren’t into biology: Lymph is a clear, yellow fluid that flows around your body, bringing white blood cells and antibodies to your tissues and organs.  These are vital to your immune system and help fight infections.

It’s hard to describe what the massage felt like.  At times, I felt like she was kneading my muscles, pushing her hands together from both ends.  She also used a unique S stroke that I’ve never experienced before.  Everything was long and flowing, but there was an intensity about it as well that felt different than Swedish.  She started at my toes and worked up to the top of the body, seemingly squeezing all of the toxins out through my head.  Simply amazing!  For those of you who like massage, add this style to your repertoire!

You can just about guess how excited I was about this new spa I had found!  So what did I do but book another appointment on the spot for Nick and I for the following day. I got him the Lymphatic Massage that I’d just received and decided that I’d sample a new massage called Tui Na, which is a form of Chinese Manipulative Therapy often used in combination with acupuncture.  I was struggling to explain the basics of Tui Na, so I pulled a short excerpt from Wikipedia to share with you:

The words Tui Na translate into “push-grasp” or “poke-pinch” in Chinese. Physically, it is a series of pressing, tapping, and kneading with palms, fingertips, knuckles or implements that help the body to remove blockages along the meridians of the body and stimulates the flow of qi and blood to promote healing, similar to principles of acupuncture, moxibustion, and acupressure.  Tui na is a hands-on body treatment that uses Chinese taoist and martial art principles to bring the body to balance. The principles being balanced are the eight principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The practitioner may brush, knead, roll/press and rub the areas between each of the joints (known as the eight gates) to open the body’s defensive chi and get the energy moving in both the meridians and the muscles.

I had no idea all that was happening but I can say that it felt sensational.  The most unique aspect of the style was that it was done almost exclusively with the two thumbs.  I can’t imagine what kind of hand strength that must take!  And the great thing about this new spa is that they have 4 or 5 other unique massage styles that I’ve never had before including: A bamboo massage, a Seashell Massage and a Lomi Lomi Massage.  I can guarantee that I’ll be sampling every style at least once!

 

 

These Guys Sure Take Their Cake Seriously!

Last night was a big one for the Novak family – our first ever Marine Ball!  Just to give you a little history, the Marine Corps Ball is an annual event that is celebrated each year on the Marine Corp’s Birthday.  This year happened to mark its 240th birthday and celebrations will be going on at each post around the world within a week’s time span.  The reason that this event is so closely linked to the Embassy community is that, quite simply, the Marines are the ultimate protector of the Embassies worldwide.  This celebration is a chance to honor them for the commitment they make to keeping our Embassy community safe!

In the Embassy world, this is the biggest day of the year to get dolled up.  Women start early – getting hair, make-up, and nails done throughout the day.  Over half of my friends were also having their dresses made.  They started back in August and worked with a local designer to come up with their creation.  As some of you know, I really wanted to get one made but Nick forced me to choose between getting the Chaise Lounge or the new dress.  We all know which won out.  I still think I made the right choice… So when the afternoon rolled around, I confidently slipped up my 11 year old Senior Prom Gown to storm the ball!  Added in an heirloom from the wedding (my flower) and I was all set to go…

Thankfully, I have the most skilled helper EVER and in a previous life she trained to be a nail technician.  This is a shot of her doing my manicure, after finishing my pedi earlier in the day.  Note the awesome beach chair, which has never actually seen a day at the beach yet, but works amazingly well for nails!  :)  Norma is also getting lots of photography lessons from me so that she can feel comfortable shooting pictures of us with the SLR camera.  She’s making great progress!

I’ve gotten many requests for a picture of Rudy – so here it is!  Rudy, is our dashing chauffeur.  He fills in as an excellent grandfather-like figure as well, passing me a hard candy every time I get in the car.  We feel so lucky to have him!

Here’s a shot of Nick and I before we left for the ball.  There was a 6 PM reception, a 7 PM program, 8 PM dinner and then dancing until 1 AM.  We were a bit  pathetic and bowed out around 10 PM due to flu recovery but we still feel like we got the essence of the evening.  And it doesn’t feel quite so critical to stay when you factor in that we’ll be going to this event for the next 20 years!

This was the formal ceremony part.  The color guard marched in and honored Ambassador Kristie Kenney, the honorary guest of the evening.  Then there were speeches, movies and the pinacle of the event – THE CAKE CUTTING!  I have never seen anything like this cake cutting before.  It started when they pushed in the largest cake I’ve ever seen in my life.  The thing is, it reminded me of a casket procession – they were completely stoic as they guided the wheeled cart in and flanked each side.  I couldn’t stop giggling (very undiplomatic of me).  The strange ritual continued as a Marine pulled out his sword and began to slice the cake.  I think my mouth dropped open here.  The Ambassador got her piece of cake first.  No sooner had she taken one bit than a Marine whisked it away from her.  The next part of the ritual was where the oldest Marine in attendance took a bite and then the youngest Marine took a bite.  (BTW, the youngest marine in attendance was born in 1988 – WHOA)  What floored me was that the whole thing was done with sharp turns and salutes and crisp arm movements.  It was hard to fathom that we were watching them eat a Birthday Cake!  (Sadly, more giggling on my end).  At the end we all shouted HURRAH! and then there was more marching to finish our celebration.  Definitely an experience to remember!  Here’s a picture of the wheeled cake being cut with the sword:

Finally, here’s a shot of my hubby looking just as good as the day we got married!  :)  I sure love seeing him in a tux!

Didn’t think I looked to bad myself.  The slit was a bit higher than I remembered and required some strategic napkin placement during dinner.  But other than that, I felt like I rocked the 1998 Prom gown!  Uh huh- I am 29 and feelin’ fine!  As always, LOADS more photos on SMUGMUG!

Christmas Shopping, Manila-style!

Manila is big on bazaars.  There is always one a month for the American Women’s Club of the Philippines.  The US Embassy Club does 2 annually as well.  And then there’s the myriad of church and local bazaars that spring up in other locales… point being that bazaar shopping is plentiful and the way to go.  It’s less expensive than mall shopping and more convenient for most.  I’ve learned that it’s best to attack the bazaar with a fierce, warrior-like mentality and a thorough, detailed list.  I’m getting so intense that I won’t even stop to chat – I’m on a mission…

As the holidays get closer, the bazaars get bigger.  The one that I went to this week was the biggest yet, filling the entire Philippines World Trade Center.  Despite still being on the mend after being sick, I was determined to get my Xmas shopping done (update: about 70% there).  Here’s a sampling of the beautiful wares that showed up this month at the bazaar.

A wider selection of photos can be see at SMUGMUG!

A Curse Upon Our House!

Friends, it’s been a long few weeks.  I swear, our house is plagued by disease and injury.  As you know, I picked up the nasty whooping cough in Hong Kong two weeks ago.  It’s finally working it’s way out of my system (100 cough drops and 3 bottles of cough syrup later).

Then Norma got a flu bug last week and we sent her home for two days.  Just when I thought we were rounding the corner on health, Nick comes down with the chills last night.  It was way freaky – I’ve never seen anyone shaking that bad.  So he’s piling on sweatshirts and blankets and telling me that’s something’s wrong.  So now he’s home with a 101 degree temp.  Please note: He has none of the same symptoms that I did, so I’m not taking responsibility for infecting him!

Oh, but wait!  The fun’s not over yet.  This morning, as Norma reaches up into a high cupboard in the back room to get Nick a can of chicken noodle soup, a precarious stack of heavy luggage falls from above and hits her in the head.  I feel like I should be in contention for the Worst Employer Ever Award – I’m sure we got her sick last week and then she gets a concussion trying to take care of Nick!

After seeing the massive read bump on her forehead and inquiring about her condition (she felt very dizzy), we decided to make an impromptu trip to the hospital.  Since Nick was sick, I had the honors.  And what an experience it was!  Rudy drives us there and pulls up to the Emergency Room entrance.  We go into a bizarre 6 foot by 6 foot room with a sign identifying it as the triage room.  Mind you, there were about 8 patients and 2 nurses stuffed into this little bitty space and they were scrambling around taking temps and blood pressures.  Once you got “triaged” you were sent to another area to wait.

Happily, since we had a head injury on our hands, we got bumped ahead of the less urgent issues.  Off we go to another absurdly crowded space.  There are some beds around the edges, chairs in the middle of the room and people standing everywhere.  The patients would just stay in their “waiting room” chair and a nurse would come to them and draw blood or take a blood pressure right in the middle of this chaos.  It was like nothing I’ve ever seen…

That being said, the quality of the care was exceptional, equal or better than the best care I’ve ever had in the States (if you can get over the lack of privacy).  We were taken in right away and Norma went through exams, bloodwork and xrays for the next hour and a half.  In the States, I imagine the typical process would have been to shine the light in the eyes and do a quick exam – done in 10-15 minutes.  Not in Manila!  She had a 30 minute exam by a nurse, a 10 minute exam by a doctor, she got an IV put in and was given fluids and then we ended with a head xray.  Very thorough if I do say so myself.

And the grand total (with no insurance)…. $60!  For those of you who are curious, the biggest expenses were:

Doctor’s fee: $8
Emergency room fee: $12
Xray: $20

Wild, huh?  Seriously, this is the place to get sick.  Filipinos are born nurturers and pretty much every other College student is in school to be a Nurse or Doctor.  Honestly, it quelled a lot of my fears around getting injured because I saw first-hand how exceptional the care was.

So back to Norma.  She was a trooper.  Second time EVER at the doctor/hospital!  She was given an all clear – no skull fractures.  We got her some pain pills and had Rudy driver her home.  So there you have it, my first hospital visit.  This girl is EXHAUSTED from all the care-taking that went on today.  Please pray that everyone starts healing ASAP!

 

 

MJ Goes Out on Top!

All I can say is WOW.  I am still reeling 5 days after seeing Michael Jackson’s This Is It.  I can’t seem to get it out of my head… I struggle to even write a review of it, as the experience was more visceral than anything for me, making it incredibly hard to put into words.

I’ll begin by placing myself on the continuum of Michael’s fans.  I’m not an MJ obsesser, nor am I a MJ hater.  I like to think of myself as an MJ Appreciator.  Thanks for letting me get that out of the way up front.

I realized after his death that the mere mention of Michael Jackson made me quite uncomfortable.  Opinions were so disparate and I felt like I had to make a case as to whether the value of the contributions of his music outweighed the negative impact of his misunderstood behavior.  To like him was to defend that he was sane.  To not like him was to deny the quality and impact of his work.

For me, the movie provided the resolution I needed to this internal conflict.  It was a stunning compilation of his final project, portrayed in a very raw, intimate way.  It was impossible to deny his innate talent when watching the film – even at age 50, his gift as a musician shone just as brightly as the video footage of when he was 20.  Even the dancers were struggling to keep pace!

When you stripped away the hype of his personal life and just focused on his ability to make music, it was impossible not to be moved.  He knew his songs backwards and forwards and was a step ahead of all the other supporting performers.  Other than the emaciated look of his body (which was hard to ignore), nothing else suggested that he was incapable of executing this tour.  And so it was with immense joy that I just sat in my seat and let his music wash over me.  I lingered over memories that his music brought up and found myself clapping in between songs along with the rest of the theater.  It was incredibly therapeutic to embrace him for all that he was (good and bad) and mourn that I wouldn’t get to enjoy any more of his music.

I had always secretly hoped that Michael would go out on top.  I wanted him to be remembered for his contribution to music, not the tabloids.  And as I walked out of the theater with a wide smile on my face, I was relieved to realize that somehow this movie made it all right.  In the space of that 2 hours, all was right with the world.  So go to the movie, all you lovers and haters, and make your peace with MJ.  It’s time to put this debate to rest.

In closing, I leave you with one of my favorite MJ medleys by Sam Tsui: