So I woke up twice this morning, each time with more of the same dream – same, but different. Dream blogging seems to be quite a trend these days, and I do suppose if I write it down more often I begin to remember them better. I think the first half is sketchier than the second half, but maybe that’s just both halves melding together to be lesser than a whole.

So what happens is my family, Viv and I – we’re all in China for some reason. I think it’s a trip, since we’re not running around like it’s a race – yet. So we’re walking on the great wall, seeing the sights, and this time the great wall branches out into little streets where we can experience some Chinese culture. Viv is quite excited about finding this book with her favorite author. Jack, who is all about getting into the mood, is dressed up. So we walk around, taking in the sights, something gets tossed towards my feet (I remember this because of what happens later) and after while I muster up the courage to ask Jack why he’s dressed up as Li Bai.

“You trying to get into the mood?” I ask.

His reply? “Yeah, I’m looking for the Li Bai exhibit.”

I give a little chuckle, and just then I see a rather long iguana fall off a touch-screen interactive tourist TV onto Jack’s feet. Jack jumps, and in fear the iguana snaps off… half it’s body, and both parts try to crawl away. I remember thinking “hey, that’s cool, this one is more evolved, and we’ll get 2 iguanas soon!” But in the end Jack picks up the lower half, tail, and hind legs and all, and tosses it towards my feet.

I wake up thinking – people have to got to stop tossing things at my feet!

So, tiredness sets in and I fall back to sleep. I think this is when I dream about scaling a large flight of stairs, kind of like how you do it at Angkor Wat. Snippets of the whole situation remain, mostly involving the climb up the stairs, my Aunt climbing back up (or was it down?) real fast after getting her hair washed, and suddenly we’re off – the race is on. So Viv and I make our way down the stairs, pushing past some of the other people and contestants. Halfway through Viv starts to get demoralised and listless, but I keep getting her to push on because we’re actually in first place. We get stuck at some silly small point and finally reach the final challenge, where we’re supposed to find out which of the old ladies in a room answers to a codeword, which is linked to Viv’s favorite author, get a flower from her, and dash to the final checkpoint, which is a room right next to the room of old ladies. So I dash right in, and watch in horror as team after team all work together to get the flowers and go into the final room. I quickly ask some random person what the codeword was, spot an old lady carrying a bunch of purple roses (and not hiding them very well), deliver the codeword and get ready to dash to the finish line when… Vivien isn’t there.

I scream at the top of my lungs for her to appear, getting a little worried, and she waves from outside the window, and then slowly walks back in listlessly, holding her book. “Hey! We can find the codeword in this book!” I have to rush her to come with me into the room, and after a while her listlessness finally drops as she realises that I’ve actually completed the challenge. We dash right into the room, finishing 2nd last.

Thinking back, I’ve not had the chance to ever celebrate the beginning of a new year with Vivien ever since we got attached – have we? I can’t seem to recall. Maybe my memory begins to fail me, the days blurring together. Maybe for some reason she WILL fall sick on new year’s day. But the very technology constantly blamed for making us drift apart sometimes manages to serve its proper duty – the countdown digital, but the warmth is analog.

So hey – here’s to health, here’s to joy, here’s to friendship, to family, and here’s to love.

Have a beautiful new year to one and all, and to the love of my life.