Insomia

The thing about getting old is that you learn something new all the time. One moment everything is business as usual. The next, things aren't operating in exactly the same way. It's a constant audit. What's changed? What's no longer working?

My new thing is, that I've noticed my circadian rhythm has become extremely sensitive to any perturbations. I don't know if it's because over the last few years my schedule is pretty robust. Go to bed somewhere between 22:00-23:00, wake up somewhere between 05:30-7:00. Any shift to this schedule and my body clock goes haywire. I've had it a few times, where either I've stayed up too late. I.e. gone to bed at 3 am or 4 am and despite being extremely tired, what results is a handful of days of insomnia where I just can't get to sleep. Or more commonly, moving across timezones due to travel resulting in jet lag.

The return flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong, we woke up at 3:30 am, in Cape Town, caught the 6:00 am flight to Johannesburg. Slept most of that two hour flight, woke up in OR Tambo International airport at 8:00, collected luggage and sat at gate waiting for 11:00 am flight back to Hong Kong, only to barely sleep on the flight and arrive in Hong Kong at 6:00, the following day. My body was confused, minimal sleep over the last 24 hours, and I had arrived back the following day. What ensued was 3 days of jet lag and insomnia. 

The insomnia was compounded by a few things, including a newly discovered tooth problem. Another tooth problem, you say? Well yes, this time, it wasn't the same tooth, but the molar directly opposite the tooth I had just had Root Canal Treatment (RCT) on. 

Mortality strikes you in many ways, this time in the form of a second RCT in the space of a month. I don't know if it's the cost, or the knowing that your teeth have failed which bothers me more. For future reference, the cost of a root canal is approximately 8,000 HKD, or 1K USD. The silver lining is, I now spend more time on dental hygiene and teeth that I had previously.

It's a bag!

There may be a point in time when people look back at the "blind box" culture and try to pin point its origin story. I'm not somebody unfamiliar with this concept, having been deep in collectibles. Basketball cards, football cards, Magic cards. However as of writing, the blind box has become ever-present in society. 

Up until opening this tin, the information was asymmetric. Now it's not. It's a blue!

Johannesburg

MBL, mandatory block leave! Not too many things that are as exciting in the corporate world. Perhaps starting a new job, a promotion, an acknowledgement, or resignation from a job, but somewhere in between sits the MBL. 2 weeks away from the office where you are not allowed to do any work (theoretically). So handover has been complete, out of office notification has been set, and now we forget about work for 2 weeks, well maybe less, I have a feeling that 12 days in I'll start thinking about what awaits me. Until then though, we're off to South Africa!

Arrived in Johannesburg after a 12 hour flight. Body clock is a little out of what, departed Hong Kong just after midnight on Sunday (Saturday night), and arrived in South Africa at 6 am, on Sunday. From all accounts, nobody really has much good to say about Johannesburg. "It's dangerous", "there's nothing to do there", "don't leave the hotel" are the common tropes about the capital. Arriving in South Africa on the Sunday we had two days of acclimatisation before the main event started. We had originally looked at potentially tacking on a side trip ahead of Safari, but decided to spend time in Johannesburg. Day one, we did not leave the hotel. How about those Woolworth's dried royal apricots?

Day two, decided to lace up the shoes and go for a run around Zoo Lake and the Zoo. The sun rises early here, around 5 am. Initial thoughts of this area, everybody is so friendly. Lots of hellos and waves on my morning run. Ended up linking up with a Johannesburg run club and trailed them for 2 kms before finishing up a nice 9 km run. The afternoon was spent with Tumi our tour guide as he gave us a tour around Johannesburg and a history lesson of South Africa. Visited the poorest areas, as well as the richest areas and visited Soweto and Mandela's house. Also know as the most famous street in the world, Vilakazi Street is the only street in the world to have house two Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Nandos for dinner. 

Nice little introductory to South Africa.