and the sky was falling

so hot in the studio today. i had this drill sargeant of a yogi who had the biggest j-lo ass i've ever seen on an east asian girl. i could've served drinks on that thing. she was mean, but for some reason took a liking to me and so focused her rather questionable attentions on me during the entire duration of the class. this entailed rapping me on the quadriceps and yelling at me to lock my knee, telling me to take off my shirt because i had my beater tucked up in my sports bra (it was hot like you would not believe), pushing me over in standing boat-pulling pose, threatening to take away my towel if i didn't stop fanning myself, and lecturing me about my water consumption. my mom is kinda like that so i don't take it personally. after class she gave me another earful about bothering to wear a shirt to class (don't) and then i saw her again later and she told me that i needed to drink a lot of water. was that commentary on my profuse sweating during the class?

after hot went down to fuxing lu to meet up with steph and albert. they'd been drinking since brunch and were well into their seventh or so round when i got there. whilst perusing the menu, the sky suddenly (and literally) opened up and a huge rainstorm came crashing down. it's still storming and thundering nearly 12 hours later. albert had designs on tapas, but after raindrops the size of quarters came barreling down, we overruled him and decided to just stay and order pub food. people kept staggering into the pub completely saturated and streaming water, and that was enough. sherry joined a bit later fresh from a nap, and joined in the gluttony.

halfway through our meal, a small blonde toddler came over to me, put her hand in mine, and then proceeded to cuddle. it was the oddest thing. her dad came running over apologetically and explained that i was wearing similar clothes to her mom (i wasn't). plus the baby looked right into my face before she walked over. that, of course, spawned multiple cracks about daddy's other 'mommy' that he brings home when real mommy isn't home, and then ayi jokes.

seeing a small blonde head on my lap - so jolting. obviously my kids will never be similarly pigmented, but to have a child sort of fearlessly and familiarly clamber onto me was really a strange feeling, once i got past the surprise. can't explain because i don't want to explore it right now, and probably won't figure anything out if i do anyway.

we eventually made our way to constellation on xinle lu. such a cool place. i'd heard about it a few times and it really is a cool, relaxing spot. at one point i was uncouth enough to just lay out on one of the sofas - poor albert came back from the bathroom and had to pull up a chair from the bar. i can see my mom shuddering at the fact that i was all cleopatra in a bar, but i guess she should know me well enough by now. all of the bartenders are japanese and the drinks are properly done and not expensive. i'm very pro-japan right now. good ventilation, very chill vibe, clean bathroom. check, check, check.

not much going on tomorrow. enjoying my last days of freedom. there are brunch plans and dim sum plans, but i'm not committing to anything. i like my days to be flexible.