RIP KAT

I'm not sure if I process the concept of death in a healthy way. 

I'm in a state of shock. Selfishly, this is my own fault, or she didn't want people to know the severity of it. I can sympathise with the decision to withhold information and not draw attention to her malady, attention that would be been heavy sympathy and grief during her last living moments. I regret not reaching out to her, I was provided second hand information of her condition in April. By all accounts the cancer had returned and she was restarting chemo, I was under the assumption that she was on the mend.  She was scheduled to return to Sydney and be supported by family and friends whilst treatment continued. In hindsight this may have been a case of her wanting to spend her remaining time with family. It is a classic case of shock where the magnitude being the difference between expectation and reality. The greater the difference, the greater the shock.

I look back at our chats in March. At the time she had been cleared of the cancer after multiple chemotherapy sessions. She was in an isolation ward 100 metres from my apartment in Hong Kong. We spoke about her last 12 months. We touched on what she was looking forward to: getting vaccinated, being able to travel, more specifically to see her brothers in Singapore, to spend time with family and friends in Sydney. She talked about a shift in motivations, potentially leaving Hong Kong, wanting to find a simpler way of life. She felt tied to work, but felt indebted to her co-founders. 

We talked about NFTs, the War in Ukraine. Finding purpose, motivation and passion in life. "What are you passionate about?" she asked. We explored the idea of her being a dance teacher, she tells me she lacks the patience for teaching. We planned a hot pot for when I return to Hong Kong in May. RIP Kat.

Vivid Festival Weekend

Friday, caught train to work with mom, she's off doing some volunteer work. Japanese for dinner, followed by Vivid festival. Langham + Pho.

NYC

The world's longest commercial passenger flight (for now), 19 hours; that wasn't so bad. It also helps that the airline is setup to be mostly Business Class, although I was back in Premium. I often wonder how people travel before entertainment units. I have also started the Harry Potter series, I know right. Quite excited to be back in New York City. It's been a while, it's also been a while since I've been here for a reason other than work.

Reached out to an old friend who know lives over at Murray Hill. It really has been an amazing trip. The city is growing on me, if only it weren't so far from Australia. Thoroughly enjoyed the time exploring the city, caught up with most friends, spent a little time in the office and came to support a friend - which ended fairly positively. Good trip, summertime in the big apple with some good conversations, a bit of soul searching, good food, and a bit of tourist stuff.

Was supposed to fly back on the Saturday evening, but after a nightmare experience with United. Read, original flight to SFO was canceled, changed to later flight, that flight was also canceled. Moved flight to Sunday evening via LAX. My pestering won me an upgrade, but still. Looking forward to getting back to Sydney to see everybody.

 

SG

Nice relaxing trip in Ho Chi Minh, returning to Singapore to see colleagues, and friends I missed on the first weekend. Thankfully I have taken more photos, but this doesn't necessarily mean less of a whirlwind.

Stand up comedy, looking at trees, virtual RATs, the kiss, sobriety, evening karaoke.

HCMC

Have been looking forward to this destination for some time. Bit of solo travel to clear the mind. Taking advantage of the remote working policy. One hour time zone difference means I'm up a little earlier, have breakfast, work throughout the day and sign off early to explore Ho Chi Minh. The city itself has changed so much, but there's still a rawness and the old time favourites still hit the spot.

Really enjoyed this trip, amazing food, the excitement of traveling in a country with minimal communication, great food, the heat, access to a gym. All great for the soul.

Singapore visit

I can't describe how nice it is to travel again, not so much the process of traveling but the ability to travel. I'm sure I speak for many when I say it's been a while since we traveled anywhere to celebrate anything. After a fairly relaxing trip in Phuket it was off to Singapore to celebrate Jaydon's birthday. The old Hacienda grove, home base for many a Singaporean travels. Arrived at 5 pm and after the the catch ups and well wishes ended up at Public House for some beverages. Caught up with Kev, Will, Albs and Serena. Great energy.

Bit of a whirlwind weekend, arrived on Friday. Dog point on Saturday morning, into hawker food, haircut into day BBQ. Sunday fly out.