Alone again unnaturally

The cat was visibly unsettled by the packing preparations on Friday afternoon 

I share one thing in common with both cats (Timi, our Siamese, included) and libertarians. That is, I like to imagine I'm a rugged individualist who is content with just his own company. The reality, however, is that even though I'm very much an introvert (and you know that because I'm not constantly reminding the online world of how introverted I am), I still need others around me. And the most important of those others is family, except that as of yesterday I've reverted to a solitary bachelor existence, for the next couple of weeks at least.

Okay, so a fortnight isn't that long, and I've been separated from Amber and/or Shu-E for much lengthier periods of time. What makes this different, however, is that for our daughter her departure is for all intents and purposes a (semi)permanent one. The main reason for traveling to the U.S. with her mother is to prepare for the next stage in her life, matriculation. And while I'll be joining the girls in the States soon, and my wife and I will return to our home in Beijing 北京, Amber will be staying behind, to begin living the life of a freshman. It's the realization that the house is going to be a lot emptier and quieter after the two us get back that has given this temporary solitary existence a touch of melancholy. 

But I'm admittedly getting a bit ahead of myself. We'll be reunited as a trio relatively soon, and the upcoming time spent in the Pacific northwest will be an exciting one as our daughter makes her first tentative steps outside the nest. So in the meantime I'll focus on work and being a companion to our resident feline, who himself will soon be dealing with some serious separation anxiety. As long as his food bowl gets filled by the automatic dispenser, he should fine:

The most recent blog entry prior to this concerned a weekend getaway to Chengde 承德. What follows on this post is a roundup of photos taken over the course of the last month or so, beginning with whatever the hell this thing is standing guard outside the SOLANA shopping center. Shu-E claimed it was a dragon, but I struggled to see the resemblance:

Hamasushi is a Japanese conveyor belt sushi 回転寿司 chain with an outlet in SOLANA. The twist here is that rather than picking up sushi plates from the rotating conveyor belt, dishes are ordered via a tablet and then conveyed directly to your table. Naturally I neglected to record a transaction, so you'll just have to take my word for it:

Shu-E purchased a new iPhone 15 for me from one of the duty free shops at the airport in Taoyuan 桃園, to replace my faithful but aging iPhone 8. These are some test shots of the Liangma River 亮马河 I took one evening shortly after taking ownership of the phone:

Another family meal in SOLANA, this time at a Vietnamese restaurant. If it isn't obvious by now, we live within walking distance of the shopping mall: 

This is Tom, who lives across the street from us. His face makes him look like an old man, but he's actually still young, and very curious (he's already been inside our house a couple of times, though he didn't stay very long). His hind legs are almost completely white in color, giving him the appearance of wearing gogo boots. Tom and Timi are still working out their relationship:

I've been wanting to take a ride on one of the boats that plies the Liangma during the warmer times of the year, but the wife thinks it's a waste of money and that there's nothing to see. She's right, of course, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to recruit Amber to the cause ("Tell Mom it's a dream of yours to do this before we leave China next year"):

"A drink to make Hiroshima fresh up". I recently picked up a bottle of Hiroshima Cola 広島コーラー at a supermarket in (surprise) SOLANA. Not much on the soda could be found on the Internet other than this page:

"Hiroshima Cola is a Japanese cola produced in Hiroshima Prefecture. Contains the juice of Hassaku ハッサク oranges grown in the same prefecture."

Even the Saitō Inryō 斎藤飲料株式会社 company website isn't very helpful. It tasted fine and I would buy it again: 

Beijing on a late summer afternoon (taken by Shu-E):

A gecko on our porch trying (but largely failing) to keep us safe from mosquitoes:

An evening refreshment courtesy of Germany Kaisha Brewing, which despite its name is actually a Hong Kong company (德國凱撒啤酒集團有限公司):

August 1 was the occasion of Timi's third "birthday" (we don't know the exact date he was born, but the vet estimated his age at the time we adopted him, and selected the first of August as a DOB for paperwork purposes). To celebrate the occasion the cat was given a birthday "cake", a pet treat made of unspecified meats:

Beijing is very rainy at this time of year, with frequent heavy downpours to break the monotony of the otherwise hot and humid conditions. So when it looks like the skies will stay clear for a few hours, the time is ripe to get on the bicycle and go for a ride. Which is how one Sunday afternoon I found myself at one of Beijing's many nondescript but nonetheless pleasant urban parks - Honglingjin Park 红领巾公园:

Though the distance was only around 7 kilometers/4.3 miles from our residence (according to Google Maps), I was knackered by the time I got there, thanks to a devasting combination of old age, a lack of daily or regular exercise, and an afternoon temperature of 32°C/91°F:

Earlier I described the park as being "nondescript", but that isn't quite accurate. Adorning the walking path around the park's lake were star-shaped propaganda signs describing events from the Long March 长征:

I seemed to be the only one paying any attention to them, however. Other people had more important tasks at hand:

Is there a central warehouse somewhere in Beijing that supplies the art sculptures to all the city's public parks?:

What Timi does to occupy his time for most of the day. Of all the cats I've ever shared a residence with, he is by the far the longest (in body length):

My daughter shared this photo she took on one of our after dinner strolls:

With the exception of our aforementioned two-night excursion to Chengde, the majority of my non work-related outings has involved going out to eat, such as to a Xinjiang restaurant for lunch one afternoon with colleagues from the office:

A weekend lunch with friends at Gung Ho! Pizza 叫板比萨 where the six of us shared lamb and margherita pizzas. A group selfie turned out too blurry to share; fortunately the shot of my Tuhao Pilsner came out better. Tǔháo 土豪, meaning "nouveau riche", was a buzzword around ten years ago: 

Our most recent family get-together over dinner took place at a Japanese restaurant, the name of which I've already forgotten:

I do clearly recall the Wagyū 和牛 beef burgers I had, though:

The girls at Beijing Capital International Airport 北京首都国际机场 early yesterday morning, getting ready to go through security after checking in:

This is the sight that welcomed me after I returned home:

It'll be my turn soon to take the same Beijing-Incheon-Seatac route the girls took on Saturday. Until then, my life will be occupied with work and household chores, all while being judged by the resident Siamese (when he isn't napping):

Until next time, your humble correspondent, signing out in Beijing.

I guess it was a long flight: