Monday, August 5, 2013

Jet Lagged

There's no place like your own bed
after 2+ weeks away from home!
We're home from our awesome Asia vacation safe and sound and trying to recover from jet lag. I hope it doesn't take too long to adjust .. I was in a fog all day today between about six loads of laundry and I never made it to the grocery store. Our fridge is SO empty! I thought I'd go to sleep early tonight in hopes of waking up cured in the morning but now I'm wide awake and it's already almost 11:30 pm!

Thank you to those of you who followed my trip on instagram. It was a lot of fun sharing photos and having a little interaction with all of you while I was away even though I couldn't always get back online to reply to your comments. I'm going to work on getting some photos and interesting tidbits about our trip up this week, but in the meantime,
What's going on with you? 
Any news to share? 
What have you been reading?

I planned to do a lot of reading on the 19+ hour flight(s) to the Philippines and the 12 hours back to New York, but I barely read at all on this trip! I didn't feel so great on the flight out, so I watched movies and tried to sleep instead.

BOOKS I READ ON VACATION:
While on land, however, I finished my re-read of Demon Angel by Meljean Brook as part of my Guardians series re-read - series catch up I plan to do this summer in preparation for the final book, Guardian Demon which releases TOMORROW! (August 6, 2013) This was actually my 3rd or 4th time I've read Demon Angel and it gets better and better every time I read it. It's five star keeper book for me, no doubt about it. Of course, as soon as I finished it, I regretted not packing the sequel Demon Moon for my trip!

I also read Kitchen by Japanese author Banana Yoshimoto, which I enjoyed very much even though it made me cry on the flight between Hong Kong and Japan. Kind of embarrassing, but oh well. I think I cried pretty discreetly even if I went through several tissues. ;)

On the trip home from Japan I started reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and I'm really enjoying it so far. I didn't realize it was written from a child's point of view. Anyway, I'm looking forward to finishing it this week. I also started reading Demon Moon last night after we got home from the airport. I just couldn't help it! Of course I'm loving it.. Colin and Savi are two of my favorite characters in this series. This story is so unique, dramatic with an incredible amount of character depth, not to mention impeccable world building and series arc development going on in this one. Actually the same goes for Demon Angel but for some reason I'm really drawn to Savi's character.

MOVIES I WATCHED ON VACATION:
I watched an interesting mix of movies on the two flights from and back to the US and we even went to the movies one night in Tokyo! The other flights between cities and countries were too short to show films. (We had a total of six flights on this trip. Oh Lord, was it nerve-wracking!) :/

1. Jack the Giant Slayer. A twist on Jack and the Beanstalk, a predictable fairy tale.

2. Safe Haven. Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. I've never read his books, but I enjoyed the movie even if I found it predictable and not as fully developed as I think it could have been.

3. Monsters University. We saw this in a movie theater in Tokyo. The movie was in English with Japanese subtitles. Hee hee.

4. Beautiful Creatures. Based on the YA novel of same name that I read a few years ago. Well done, pretty true to the book with a suitable, non-perfect ending. I liked it.

5. Katy Perry: Part of Me. My daughters and I watched this simultaneously. We were cute and we bonded over this documentary even though we had headphones on. Of course we all like Katy Perry a little more now that we watched this. ;)

6. Painted Skin: Resurrection. A Chinese fantasy action film that I just now discovered is the 2011 sequel to the 2008 film Painted Skin. I guess it can be watched as a stand alone because I didn't feel like I was missing anything. If you like Chinese fantasy action films, give this one a go. Just the right combination of fantasy, action, romance and tragedy to suit me.

Have you seen any of these movies?

Hope to catch up with you this week! :)

16 comments:

  1. Oh, I don't have an Instagram account! Now I feel I am missing out! It is nice to home, as you said, cause there isn't anything like your own bed.

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  2. Welcome back home. I missed your photos too.

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  3. I so enjoyed your photos on Instagram ~ hope you get back on a schedule soon!!

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  4. Tina & Dru Ann Thanks for the welcome home wishes. Don't worry, I'll be posting pictures from our trip. Likely most of the photos I put up on instagram, plus a few others.

    Catherine I'm glad you enjoyed my travel photos on IG! I got very little sleep last night but am going to take a nap during the day and hopefully be on track soon!

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  5. Welcome home, Christine!!

    Wow, it went by so, so fast!! I just went on Instagram to take a look at your pictures :) Sooooo pretty!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip though!! :) Seems like you did a lot :)

    And wow, you had time to read? :)

    Hope jet lag won't be too harsh on you. However, apparently, it's harder when you backtrack (the hours)...

    My life has been pretty much the same. Nothing as exciting as your trip :)

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  6. Welcome back. I can't wait to hear about your trip!

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  7. The Girl and I watched the Perry movie and it was pretty good actually. I didn't expect to like it so much.

    Welcome back!

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  8. I don't have an Instagram account, either. And I haven't seen any of those movies, because I haven't seen any movies recently. :) the only news here is that we found out why Mira is sick all the time. Glad y'all had a great time on your vacation! Hope you recover from your jet lag soon!

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  9. Welcome back! Awww, I missed the Instagram (um, cuz I don't have it).

    I'm glad you got in so many books and movies for the flight. Very sorry to hear you weren't feeling too well though.

    I'm a total fan of Painted Skin: Resurrection...well, all things Pu Songling (the original author). They even have a tv series for this now.

    Nothing much on my end. Cleaning, cooking...trying to find good books to read. Lol. Can't wait to read more about your trip!

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  10. nath thanks so much! We DID do a lot. My husband loves to pack in as much activity as possible.. he wears us girls down. By the midpoint of the trip we are begging him to let us nap or sleep in one day!

    I didn't do so well last night/this morning with the jet lag. I hope it doesn't take too long to get back on track.

    Linda Thanks! Just downloaded pics from my camera to my laptop.. so hopefully will start working on a post tomorrow.

    Ti We had the same reaction! She seems pretty genuine and the scene before she went on stage in Brazil broke my heart! I cried!!!!

    Brandy So glad you have a diagnosis for Mira.. I hope you can get her the care she needs soon. You have a heart of gold! xo And don't worry.. I'll post vacation pics here.

    little_alys How is the new bride?! ;) Don't worry about missing pics on instagram. I will likely post a lot of them in my travel post. If you can't wait until then, you can click the little camera icon in the top side bar of my blog and you'll be directed to my online gallery.

    Oh wow! So cool that you're familiar with Painted Skin! My husband watched the Chinese action film, The Four on the way out to the Philippines and liked it a lot. He wants me to watch it now. Have you seen it?

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  11. How depressing, I don't have an instagram account yet. The more people talk about it, the more I know I need to get one set-up ASAP! I'm getting a new phone through work TODAY, so I'll be signing up for that TODAY! LOL.

    I'm so glad that you enjoyed your trip and bonding with your girls over a Katy Perry documentary sounds like a blast! I'm sure you also bonded with them on the trip, but it's fun to hear things I get to look forward to as Jera grows up. :-D

    Apart from the new phone and Jera having another tooth finally break through her little gums, there hasn't been much else going on. I've been passing my time getting caught up with the Lords of the Underworld series as well as the Angels of the Dark spin-off series. :-) Almost caught up!

    I'm sorry you didn't get as much reading in on your flights as you were hoping, it's never good to feel sick in such a small space! The reading you did do was fantastic. I've seen so many people talking about the Meljean Brook's series, and I know I'm missing out! Especially since you've reread some of the books 4-5 times!!! Yep, this needs to go on my priority read list ASAP. :-) I LOVED To Kill A Mockingbird when I read it in HS and I still love it to this day. I'm so happy that you're enjoying it!

    The only movie that I've seen out of your list was Safe Haven, I also agree that it wasn't as developed as I'd hoped...I haven't read the book either so I at least didn't have comparing them to each other on my mind. The Chinese action film sounds like something Tony and I should check out.

    Hope you are able to get over your jet lag soon!

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  12. *sigh* even during vacation you're so productive!!!
    I've been dealing with finals week.... it has only been three days so far but it feels like three weeks... *Sigh*

    but it's all over on friday! So, yay!!

    I look forward to seeing your photos. Oh and you quilt is lovely.

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  14. Oh, TKAM is sublime :D One of the very best books ever written!

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  15. Welcome back! I know exactly what you mean about finally getting to sleep in your own bed though. I'm looking forward to reading all about your trip and seeing the photos - bet they will be amazing.

    Li

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  16. Great post! It was fun traveling with you via instagram (now you and I have been on both sides of this experience, traveling and sharing)... interesting how technology can enhance an experience!

    Welcome home :)

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