Wishing I were 21 all over again, sitting on a wooden bench in a side street of Chinatown, and watching a kao ka that will go on and on and on through the night. The make-up, costumes, music, and singing were always terrifying to me, but at the same time fascinating.

Angelique and Jazz came down to a late lunch in the dining room; Aubrey still asleep from her night shift.

Photo from the Internet.

These are the things I always enjoyed, never tikoy and dragon dances: the Chinese opera in side streets, food I hadn't tried ever, wandering through old hotel lobbies and watching the aged, visiting curio shops, stopping by temples. I couldn't speak a word of Mandarin or Hokkien but always managed to get by. It was great feeling like a foreigner in my own country!