Home, James, Home

It's hard to believe, but I've been back in the US for three weeks already. And I'm really enjoying myself so far. What's more, this might shape up to be a pretty long trip home. You see, my bosses decided that after three-and-a-half years in Asia, the time was ripe for an extended work experience out of our New York headquarters. About three months ago, Pieter, a colleague from our New York office, started work in the Singapore branch. The plan is for him to stay there until the end of the year, when he will return to the States. So while he's covering my accounts, I've switched places with him. Once he's back, I'll return to Singapore to continue my Asian adventure. But for now, I'm relishing every moment in the good old USA.

Instead of flying from Singapore, I opted to take my old favorite direct flight from Hong Kong to Newark. That meant I got to spend a memorable stretch of days in perhaps my favorite place on earth. My last day was one of the clearest I've ever experienced there, and so I just had to take advantage by doing two of my favorite "clear day" Hong Kong activities: riding the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbour and catching the Peak Tram up to Hong Kong Island's highest point to gaze out over the dazzling city below.

With the Rubber Duck on my last day in Hong Kong

Of course my last dinner was at Crystal Jade, complete with dan dan and xiao long bao. And my last hours were spent in LKF, soaking up the Friday night celebrations on Hong Kong's favorite party street. I'm not going to lie, it was far from the best plane ride ever the following morning, but seventeen hours later, I was in New Jersey with my family.

I was home for less than twenty-four hours when I was forced to get an obligatory welcome home hair cut. (Mom's orders.) And bright and early on Monday morning, I caught a New Jersey Transit train to work in the city. Although our New York headquarters is sometimes Dunder Mifflin-esque, it's filled with great people who I'm really enjoying spending time with. A lot of them I know from when I trained there back in 2009, but many others are new, and it's nice that I am now able to learn from them and get to know them.

Our office is just up the street from the New York Stock Exchange, and every morning I say, "Good morning, George," as I pass the statue of the Father of our Country while I walk by Federal Hall. It's one of my favorite parts of the city, and I'm glad to get to spend time there again. That first week, some of the guys from our London branch were in town, and on Wednesday night, a big chunk of the office participated in the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge, a run through Central Park.

In Central Park before the run

Of course, after almost four years of easy commuting to work in Hong Kong and Singapore, it's jarring to spend over an hour in transit each morning. In Asia, I generally woke up at 7am and could easily be in the office before 8am. Now I wake up at 5:40am, catch a 6:27 train to Newark Penn Station, switch to the PATH train to Lower Manhattan, and usually make it to my desk around 7:45. It's not so bad, but it's something I'm still getting used to.

It wasn't all perfect in the beginning. I was hit harder than ever before by jet lag, having let myself fall asleep too early that first night back. It lasted for well over a week. To boot, the commute was getting to me, and on top of that, the lack of a lunch break in our New York office made days seem super long. But things started to look up after I began meeting up with friends and revisiting old favorite spots.

My first full weekend back, I made a triumphant return to Monmouth Park Racetrack, the first of many summer days I hope to spend there while I'm home. And the next day was Father's Day, spent with my family in Brooklyn. Thanks to the different circumstances of this trip, it's nice to know that when I say goodbye to my aunts, uncles and cousins, it's only going to be for a few weeks instead of the usual year before the next time I get to see them.

I've also loved meeting up with friends for drinks and dinner after work. In the city or back in Jersey, I've just really enjoyed being home. One of my favorite things to do is simply drive around Monmouth County on a beautiful summer's night, windows down and classic rock blaring on Q104.3. It's one of those things that has absolutely no substitute in Asia, and you can bet I'm doing it as much as I can.

Last weekend was another good one, spent at Coney Island in Brooklyn. It was a peerless day, made even better by a combination of perfect weather, an all American lunch at Coney Island's original Nathan's, a ride on the iconic Cyclone and dinner at Gargiulo's, one of my favorite Italian restaurants in New York

This weekend I went to Philadelphia, and it was so nice to be back. A group of my friends get together the weekend before the Fourth of July each year to celebrate in one of the country's most historic cities, and I was thrilled to be able to join. Brunch near South Street was followed by beers brewed according to Washington's own recipe at City Tavern, an ice cream sundae at the Franklin Fountain, outdoor drinks at a beer garden under the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and a night out on the town. I always have and always will love Philadelphia; I think it's one of the East Coast's most charming and underrated cities, and I'm always itching to visit. And I find the city particularly special around this time of year, walking in the footsteps of America's founders as July Fourth approaches.

This week will be short work-wise, with an early close on Wednesday followed by Thursday's Independence Day holiday. And very early on Friday morning, my dad and I are driving to Chincoteague, Virginia, for a week's vacation. I know I've written about Chincoteague before, and I'm so looking forward to this trip. The last two times I've visited have been in the colder fall and winter months, but I first fell in love with the place in the summertime, so it will be great to go back and lie on the beach and feast on fresh seafood in the quaint fishing village.

Although I'm not sure exactly how long I'll be home, it's nice knowing there will be many more great occasions with family and friends over the next couple of months. Of course I miss Asia and all my pals there, however the East Coast is a great substitute, particularly at this time of the year. But I'm not sure I'll feel the same way when the mercury begins to drop and winter returns!