Is Singapore in China???

Deja Vu dudes. Minus the lady and the tramp. I'm off to Singapore today, and it's coming up on hour 24 that I've been awake. By this time Cheriyan and Justin would be walking us to the cab.

Weird.

Good thing I have my pal Frommers.

china keeps it in the family

yo peeps. On the 2 month anniversary of me returning to america, i give a moment of silence to China.

*moment

that being said, my OTHER cousin, as inspired by VACHINA, has found her way to China as well..by herself. What a badass (it must run in the YIN family).

You can check out her blog here.

Teaching English in Asia

Hey there. Don't know if anyone comes to this site anymore, but I am considering teaching English in China. Anyone have any advice or referrals for schools / programs? Some people have warned me against it...now that I think about it, I haven't talked to anyone who has said it was amazing... That does not bode well...


Thanks!!

it's complete

Well...I'm back, and yes, the triumvirate is complete. It's also probably true that the only people who read this blog now are me, woody, and cynthia...reliving what was once our wildest adventures.

I spent the last month learning how to read and write Chinese. I met a lot of cool people. You'd be AMAZED at how many people, that aren't Chinese, were there learning the language. I met people from Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, UK, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Holland, Thailand, the States, you name it. Crazy. Just more proof that the CHINESE will one day take over the world, SON!
Pictured here are our friends from school. In front, it's me and Ben
In the rear, from left to right is Ray, Joe, Jennifer, Andrew, Jay, Jen, and Tiffany

It feels good to be back. Walking the streets of the Upper West Side today, I felt like I was home, although I was looking out for spitting, cursing, and prostitutes (which i found none).

First meal back in America, I wanted something American and spectacular!

I also got the bill which was American and spectacular, as well.
No more are the days of having breakfast for a mere $0.26, that's for sure.

The best part of China were the lifelong friends that I've made and the experiences that I've had.

This picture was taken in HANZHOU, China. Pictured here are my sister-in-law Jen, my brother Ben, Ray and Joyce (who we met in Shanghai)

Shout out to Ray and Joyce. They are good people. If there was a battle between Ray and Joyce and my brother and his wife, I am not sure which couple would win the "best suited for one another" contest. Anyway, if you ever need a management consultant or if you are looking for work in Shanghai, these are the folks to talk to!

Also, my favorite guy I met in the street is this dude:

Tell me that's not Doc Brown from Back to the Future!

At the beginning of this blog, I was scared out my mind. Now that I can finally look back at these 2 months, I realize that it was ok to be scared, but there was nothing really to be afraid of. And for me, I think that was the life lesson. Yes, it's normal and ok to be scared like a little girl. But go ahead and do what you want to do, and in the end, you'll be glad you did it.

Now you know...and knowing is half the battle.

On a side note, TRANSFORMERS rocked my world.

I look forward to seeing all my friends again, and also all of you commenters that I have yet to meet.

Extras

Whilst traveling for 30 hours back from Thailand to NY (I had 2 layovers), I lost my book and worked on a montage of extra video footage that never made it on the blog. Targeted for those who replay movies with audio commentary, watch bloopers and deleted scenes etc...

it's so hard to say goodbye

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and then there was one

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. All I know is that I want to be the catcher in the rye. My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns, hun. All famous and popular quotes, and all have nothing to do with vachina (I did however re-read Catcher in the Rye... it sucked in high school and it still sucks now.) Anyway, this is all a futile attempt for me to deny that Team Vachina is breaking up. It was such a quick romance…one that I thought would last forever, but now, alas, it has broken my heart. Sigh. Cry. Vomit. Dizziness.

I've learned so much since Day 1. Here is an updated retrospective.

WOODY


Strengths: Goes with the flow. Amazing with keyboard shortcuts. Looks good in American Apparel undies.

Weaknesses: Needs to stop every 10 minutes for water. Is more "surprisingly conservative" than I would have EVER imagined, especially in China. Picks gay clubs for us to go to (oh, he didn’t tell you THAT did he?) Thinks he’s a supermodel now and acts like it.



CTOWN


Strengths: Is a girl, so gives Woods and I instant street cred with the chicks. Guilin girls thought she was a super model. Wakes us up in the morning (then falls back asleep). Started the whole music video trend.

Weaknesses: Likes to lose important things like her ATM card, wallet, and her innocence. Still likes to swallow cantaloupes, but now has added mangoes, as well.




SIMON

Strengths: His ability to convince Team Vachina that PIBE is a good thing, even though we really had no idea what the heck we were doing.

Weaknesses: going to miss the hell out of VACHINA.BLOGSPOT.COM




Favorite moments: creating a “BUG” for all our videos, CTOWN acting drunk without sipping a single sip of alcohol at 3:30AM EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Roller skating and bowling. Fantasy, Paradise, Damn, Girl. Teaching our moms how to use youtube. Laughing out loud uncontrollably at really stupid stuff. Oh yeah, and being in China for a month.

By the time you read this, Woody will be in the process of starting to get really yucky teeth and CTOWN will be somewhere over the ocean on the way home.

Woods, thanks for teaching me humility
Cynthia, thanks for teaching me honor
Vachina, thanks for teaching me how to love

One. One moment in time. Pepsi One. One flew over the Cuckoo's nest. One Love. One. It really is the loneliest number.