Back in Starbucks. Wanted to make sure I uploaded some pictures to guard against my computer dying and losing all. Now, I just wait f0r the upload.

More food, more family. I swear his mother is making up for 20+ years’ of meals not cooked. And, the woman can cook.

The family is subsiding a bit, having to go back to work after the holidays. For me growing up, Chinese New Year was like a novelty holiday, a mere blip on the screen of “oh yeah, there are other people in the world who don’t groove to the Jesus/Christmas/Easter family calendar.” Here it is a bona fide shindig holiday. There’s even sales in the stores, like the day after Chrismas.

I may not have ever felt quite this white and Western.

The remaining family is still planning outings for the return of the native. The lavish attention is making me a bit jumpy, but I try to roll with the punches of offered kindnesses. I do feel completely unworthy of the mother’s gift and of Auntie Fay’s.

The only real difficulty at all here is natural — the actual residents of any area never know from the desires of tourists thrilling on the idea of the exoticness of their home town. If your biggest problem is not having anyone willing to show you the sights where you are most apt to get hosed by jacked prices and mediocre fare, I guess you maybe have hit a bit of Shangri-La.