I 'heart' Taiwan

When I was in Taiwan, I had a nice, simple lifestyle where I was free to go wherever I wanted and to do whatever I wanted. Now that I'm back in the states, I'm confined to Federal Way (high gas prices/sharing the car with my sister) and I get calls from my parents non stop and its driving me nuts.

OMG, I wanna go back to my scooter, to 通化夜市, to 大安路, to my mah jong nites...

I guess this shows that I'm not adapting well. lol...

Dawson's Creek

What can I say about one of my favorite past times? My life back in high school was nothing compared to those that lived on the creek. I rooted for Pacey and Joey from the beginning and the show did me proud by having them end up together.

Ahh, television destiny.

Its been years after the series finale and I still get choked up everytime I catch it on tv. This post is actually dedicated to Josh cuz everytime the series finale is on (5th time now), I rave to him on how great the show was.

Lets keep the tradition going!

"IRASSHAIMASE!"

I was always a bit hesitant to visit major cities, which is why I've opted for SE Asian countries/islands. But the trip to Japan was a nice welcome into urban travelling.

Day 1.

I arrived in Japan around 8PM -- took Iris's advice about taking the JR into Osaka (never again without doing my own research!) I guess there are different trains with various speeds/stops and apparently I hopped onto one that took the longest. I didn't get to the hotel till 10PM. Felt kinda bad cuz I had asked Queenie and Emile to wait for me in the lobby around 8:30-9. Haha, oops.

When I got in, NO ONE was in their rooms! I kinda sorta started freakin out until I called Mandy's room (the person I had least expected to be in her room)-- she was in! I hung out with her and her sister for 5 mins before Queenie and Emile came back (turns out they were in Yafe's room...)

The rooms were hella small. Japanese people sure like compacted things. Two twin sized beds in each room with barely enough room for walking. Aiya! I was a bit disappointed cuz I saw rooms with sofa's on the hotel website and I didn't see no sofa's... This only meant I had to rough it out with one of the girls for the trip. I knew Queenie snores (haha, hope she doesn't kill me for writing this) so when Jean asked if I wanted to crash with her and Ginny, I said koo.

*funny moment of the nite*

Jean had apparently forgotten to bring shorts to wear to sleep, which wasn't out of the norm to me. I was kinda hot when we were about to sleep, so I didn't use the blanket-- Jean looked over at me and casual goes "Nancy, just take off your pants..." Ginny and I cracked up laughing. Jean was just lookin out for me but the way it came out was 100% pick up line. Before we passed out, I made it clear on the twin sized bed where the border line was between us. Haha...

Day 2.

Shinkansen to Kyoto! Why did we spend 3x times the amount to ride the bullet train to Kyoto was beyond me. But hey, at least I get to say "I rode the Shinkansen!" First stop in Kyoto was 清水詩. Place was goregous! The temple was perched on top of a hill and the view was amazing. We took tons and tons and tons of fobby pics -- which kinda delayed our schedule.

*Randome moment of the day*

Queenie and I walked ahead of the group, so as we were waiting on a bench, we started singing random Chinese songs to fit the moment. Needless to say, she was very into it. The looks from passerby's can attest to this.

After 清水詩, we split into 2 smaller groups. I wanted to eat lunch at this place called Asuka and visit one of the castles. Took us about 20 mins to find Asuka and it was a cute little restaurant ran by grannies. Claire wanted to see 金格詩 so we decided to head there first and then stop by the castle. 金格詩 was another amazing temple. Needless to say, we took X number of pics there.

We were suppose to rendevous with Yafe and her BF at 6pm -- but it took us longer than expected to return to our meeting point. Sorry! We walked around Kyoto for a bit, had some really salty but good ramen and retired early back to Shin Osaka.

Day 3.

Osaka + Kobe!

大阪成 was once an Emperor's palace back in the day and now its converted into a park/museum/major tourist spot. Queenie and I got hit on by a bunch of Korean tourists and another group of Korean boys asked if they could take a group pic with us. Felt nice to be wanted. Hehe, just kidding.

We headed to Kobe to for the latter part of the day and it was not what I had expect at all! I had forgotten that Kobe and Seattle were sister cities! Haha, no wonder I felt oddly at home there. We took more fobby pics, rode the ferris wheel, ate not-so-salty ramen and shopped around.

*moment of the nite*

We were walking around the pier, sorta like Seattle's waterfront (they even had an Old Spagetti's Factory!!) since we were all pooped from walking all day, I suggested that we lay on our backs and prop our legs on the railing to relieve pressure. To my amazement, everyone agreeed! I bet the locals that walked by thought we were crazy. Will post pics up soon!

Day 4.

Nara!

Attack of the hungry bambi's! Nara is a town east of Osaka that's known for a national park filled with wandering deers. I mean, they were everywhere and not leashed nor caged. Felt like I was back in Alaska -- roughing it in the wilderness with mother nature. There were vendor's that sold deer biscuits and being the tourists that we were, we all bought some and once you pop one into a deers mouth, they all come running to ya. And they were aggressive too! Queenie and I both got bit on the ass by a herd of bambi's. Queenie's ass being bitten and bumped was caught on video... We're wondering if we should send it into some sort of "funniest home video's" or something.

On our last stretch at Nara, we wanted to visit this one temple --- took us 30 mins to find. Turns out, it was tucked away in a residential area and was a bitch to find/leave. We asked a group of jr. high girls how to reach the JR station and to me, it's funny how everytime we asked something in English, they would reply in Japanese. Haha... But they pointed us in the direction we needed and we took a bus back to the station.

Queenie and Emile wanted to buy bags they saw in Kobe the day before, so we rushed back. We had made plans with Claire and Yafe to meet back at the hotel at 11pm so we could drink at one of the 居酒屋's to make our trip to Japan complete.

Mandy and her sis joined us and it was actually pretty fun to eat/drink/chat. Perfect way to end the trip for me. I had to fly out earlier than the rest -- which was totally bummer cuz I wanted to see more spots, but I guess I'll have to wait till next time.

2 thumbs up!

QK の下午...

[side note: took 10 mins to find'の']

For the first time in a long time, I'm relaxing on a Sunday afternoon at an internet cafe in 永康街. Even though I'm 'relaxing' I still have work to do. Estee Lauder is having their year end blow out sale and the promotions are just massive and non stop. It's also one of my last projects for JWT before I say "peace out".

I have an upcoming trip to Japan and it is well deserved. I'm going with the LB crew for 5 days and I'm imagining Osaka to be beautiful this time of the year. My friend is even bringing a mini mah jong set so we can play in the hotel! How awesome is that?!

Amanda went back to the states for good last Thursday. Seems like everyone's leaving -- Lan, Jenn, Chuni, Josh... The funny thing is, everyone that's leaving lives in the Bay area! I'm even thinking about moving there, just cause there are more ad agencies there than Seattle. Who know's where I'll end up.

Random thought... thinkin about switchin blogger to msn space. More changes! AHHH!

Anyway, I need to get started on the Sogo promotions and then plan the Osaka trip. Will post pics up when I get back.

YAY!

YAY!!! Diva's back!!!

Sliding Doors

I used to wonder what my life would be like if I stayed in Seattle or settled for the job offer I got in LA. Now that I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing, it's hard to imagine being anywhere but here. It's a scary thought to think that I will be here for at least another year.

I've come to be known as a [nomad] to my past collegues. I guess its the constant job changes or the fact that I can't seem to stay in one for very long. Sounds about right to those that know me. Even with the new job, I'm already thinkin about my next step.

Speaking about my new job, things have been improving ever so slightly. It's hard not to goof at work and the people there are still clique-ish. In a way, it feels like I just transfered to a new high school and I'm the odd one out. [haha, I bet you guys are telling me to "oh, cry me a river..."]

Sometimes I wonder "what would've happened if I had returned to Batey and stuck it through to the one year mark?" or "what if I stayed at Leo Burnett despite having a shitty boss?". I think I would pick the latter than the former. I'm constantly surprised in Taiwan -- the LB crew surprised me the most by being down-to-earth and brutally honest. At my new job, whenever I mention my short stint at LB, I smile and laugh naturally and no one believes that LB is really that great. [its only cuz XXX sucks!] *the 'xxx'is to protect myself just in case people at 'xxx' read this blog =P

[to be continued...]

Waiting...

I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. Let it be something amazing or shitty, some good will come of it. That's some optimistic words for someone that's in deep shit right now. [chuckle chuckle]

I made a leap into unfamiliar territory and so far, it's kicking my ass. I often feel lost and alone -- something that I haven't felt for a very long time. Sure, it's only been 2 weeks... 2 of the most stressful and frustrating weeks of my professional career. I now have chronic headaches, bad posture and zero appetite. I admit, I've thought about leaving and being 'happy' again. [Happy] -- at this moment, I've forgotten what it feels like.

Sure, I might sound overly dramatic, but if you were in my shoes right now, you would feel guilt, stress, frustration, even powerless. There's only one person that has confidence in me. She sees the potential that I don't think exists. She believes that I can overcome my insecurities and grow. That person is my new boss.

I've had numerous chats with her already about not adapting well into the new environment and the long road ahead. "It takes time. I know you're frustrated. You're giving yourself too much pressure. Remember, you're still new..." were her responses.

I'm not sure how long I can last [especially after today's screw up]. I do want to stay and fight the good fight [office politics], but I don't know how much longer my mind and body can take it.

[I want to believe... ]

Janet recommended a 'counselor' to go and talk to about my conflicts. I think it's a great idea. I'm going to try to book a session this weekend... [Waiting for that something good to happen....]

Match maker

Once upon time in a land far away, I was an aspiring match maker... Remember the old saying "those who can't, teach"? Well, that's exactly me. I wanna say I have a knack for finding the common demoninator that'll bring 2 people oh-so-close. I do not have any success stories to share -- although 1 attempt did come close but the other attempt just bombed....

It's a learning process. I'm mean, Rome wasn't built in a day. They must've snowballed somewhere in the middle. But anyway, the whole point of this entry --- hmm, there is no point. Oh right, here it is: new company, fresh meat. all new guinea pigs. [insert evil laugh]

B.E.P Concert!

Okay, so we didn't really take pics of the B.E.P peeps.... I think we were too busy gettin retarded, wondering where is the love, trying to shut up and keepin the locals from grabbing my humps.... But regardless, it was a fun concert!

Things you didn't know about women

Esquire Magazine had some women celebrities write down "things you didn't know about women." Halirious!

1. Superskinny women really irritate us. We hate when they say, "Sometimes I just forget to eat." Now, I've forgotten my anniversary and where I parked my car. But I've never forgotten to eat. -- Sela Ward

2. Women like porn, too. We just hate it when you hide the porn. -- Alyssa Milano

3. Women remember everything . Don't believe me? Ask your girlfriend where you met. She won't tell you it was at a party. She'll say it was a Thursday, she had just come from dinner, where she ate a veggie burger, and she was wearing her friend Cathy's pink top, which was big on her because Cathy is a big girl. You were wearing a blue button-down, drinking a Jack and Coke with two straws, and talking to Bill, that mutual friend. She waved and you gave her the "what's up" nod. This still infuriates her. ("How could you give me the nod?") -- Alyssa Milano

4. We think it's weird when you watch sports and concentrate to help your team. -- Alyssa Milano

5. No matter how much your woman loves you, there are going to be three to seven days each month when she wants you dead. (She may even quietly fantasize about turning her eyelash curler against you.) You have two options: Tie yourself to a tree and wait out the storm, or stock up at Tiffany's, toss a blue box or two into the wind, and hope for the best. We recommend the latter. (The key chain doesn't count.) -- Alyssa Milano

6. It's the circumference, stupid! The numerical measurement of the bra has nothing to do with the size of our boobs. -- Jennifer Coolidge

7. You say: "I'm intense." We hear: "I'm a psycho." -- Jennifer Coolidge

8. The fact that you hesitate before using our razor because it's pink and that might make you seem gay is equal parts cute and pathetic. -- Jennifer Coolidge

9. When the car won't start and you do nothing but open the hood, there's a 40 percent chance it will start on the second try. Men will always act like they fixed it. We know and accept this. -- Jennifer Coolidge

10. Never take credit for something we actually did. Unless that something is farting. We'll never raise our hands there. -- Jennifer Coolidge

11. Shaving down there doesn't make your equipment look any bigger. It does make it more manageable, however, which improves the chances of us admiring your manscaping. -- Jennifer Coolidge

12. When you say, "All I did was kiss her":
a) You are already in trouble.
b) We know it isn't true. -- Paget Brewster

13. Women over the age of twenty-two almost never get pregnant by surprise. If she wants to keep the baby and marry you immediately, you are, in fact, being trapped. -- Paget Brewster

14. We can pee standing up, but it's not pretty. -- Felicity Huffman

15. If you would just listen to us, we'd shut up. -- Felicity Huffman

16. Want sex? Fix something. -- Felicity Huffman

17. You would be crazy, too, if your insides fell out every twenty-eight days. -- Felicity Huffman

LB

Thank you for 3 months of laughter.
12 weeks filled with one too many overtime days.
90 days with meals consisting of meat, meat and more meat.
2160+ hours of me making an ass outta myself.
129600 minutes bitchin about work but lovin it at the same time.
7776000 seconds of being a part of something great.

Thank you.

Red Alert

I have a huge pimple on my nose. =(

I think its from blowing my nose x number of times last week. I hate Taiwan in the Summer. Why? B/c its freakin hot outside and air con cold inside. It's inevitable not to get sick. Blah~

Couple nite ago, I had a dream taht I was back on Tioman Island. It was as if I had never left. Needless to say, I was super bummed when I woke up. Things have been hectic at work and the thought of taking a month off crossed my mind many a times. Since it was payday last Friday, I calculated how many days I could afford to be on that beach again -- lets just say I could park my ass there till I become a local.

I have 3 more weeks till I pass the inital 3 month employee mark. After taht, I will be an official employee and my salary will increase ever so slightly, but yet make my life so much easier.

school girl crush

I'm a 15 year old girl again...

I have a crush on Channing Tatum!



If they only had guys like him in Taiwan...

may day....

It's almost JUNE!!! How the hell did I miss Jan-May? Oh shit -- nevermind, I spent those months workin like dogg (ha ha). An update on the past month. For those that didn't know, I switched jobs again. This is my 3rd job in 10 months. I'm hoping it's the last one too. (knock on wooooood)

The Leo Burnett job came through so I'm back in advertising baby! The office is pretty sweet -- well, the lobby is. The people are super duper awesome ( they know my blog =P) and overall, it's a great place to be. And being the hot, single chica that I am, I already hunted down 3 office lahhvers. Of course, 1 is already married, 1 has a girlfriend and the last one is just goofy. ^__^ Not to fret, there will be more later on [wink, wink].

Other than work, work and more work, I'm going to start apt hunting soon. I guess I don't have to cuz living at grandma-ma's ain't too bad. I just need to get internet and I'll be good. I guess I should cuz I could use the money for my next trip. Interesting. Anyway, it's late and my eyes are starting to become one.

I 'heart' Tioman

Picture a secluded island off the eastern coast of Malaysia. The soft touch of the sand beneath your feet, the clear blue water as far as the eye can see and reef sharks to scare the shit outta ya when you're snorkelling in the South China Sea.

Are you picturing something like this?



To get there (from Singapore), you take a bus to cross the Singapore/Malaysian border, a 2 hour taxi ride to Mersing (pier) and finally a 2 hour boat ride to the island of Tioman. Sounds like a bitch to get huh? But let me tell you--once you get off the boat and your feet touches the sand, it is pure bliss. It's a shame I didn't go with boyfriend, b/c that place is perfect for vacation sex.


First night on the beach... we were starving like a mutha!



That's me on the beach. I went 3 other girls and for some odd reason, there isn't 1 decent picture of me, but a freakin stack of photos of the 3 other girls (they must've thought they were swimsuit models or something..hehe)



In most of the "posing" pictures, I'm in the background lounging on the hammock. Who could blame me? Wouldn't you want to be relaxing on the beach instead of taking pictures like these:


*warning: be ready to be fobbified*


Now with props!!! (notice me in background sleeping on the hammock?)

In a nutshell, Tioman was one of the best islands I ever been to in SE Asia (believe me, I've done my fair share of island hopping). Malaysians are so laid back and chill. The best thing about the beach -- besides the clear water, NO HAGGLERS! It was pretty much just us for 3 days 2 nights.


You must be wondering who took this friggin awesome picture-- ya, that would be ME! ^_^


Like my karate pose? (I'm on the right)


Our cozy, simple and hella cheap chalets. (alice said it looked like a bathroom shed)


While we were waiting for our food, we played some darts. As you can see, I kinda sorta missed.


When I'm included in the group pics vs...


Just part of the background....





Would I go back to this hidden oasis? HELL YAH!

Wisdomless

On a whim, I decided to get my upper wisdom teeth pulled couple days ago. Cost of the pulls: NT 100, which is about US$3.00!

The pain killers were free as well! Taiwan health insurance rocks! So now I am completely wisdomless. ^__^

Mmmm... Philip Morris

I had the most spontaneous day with Amanda yesterday. We had sushi (twice), went to RT Mart (twice), cruised Prada and Gucci to observe the snooty salespeople, got my ears pierced, bought a pair of sneakers, sang an hour of KTV, went to a friends bday party and assembled a steel organizer half drunk. What a day~

Anyway, I've been enjoying my time off for the past 2 weeks and it's been great. It's exactly what I had needed and I'm confident to say that I want to start working again---and soon.

I got a job offer at *drum roll please* Leo Burnett! But I'm still waiting for the freakin offer letter. Kinda worried. Although HR and the AD have both welcomed me on board, nothing is legit until I sign that paper! AHHHHH!

TBC..

Say wha?

I was helping a coworker plan an event today and I was thinkin about games we used to play as kids. Pin the tail on the donkey and pinatas came to mind. So I did me some research. Guess what? Pinatas originated from the Chinese! Ain't that the biggest crock you ever heard? But I shit you not.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

The piñata is a bright candy-and-toy-filled container (generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling) that is used during celebrations. A succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children try to break the piñata in order to collect the candy inside of it. It has been used for hundreds of years to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and Christmas.

Spanish colonists are thought to have started the piñata tradition in Mexico; then the tradition went on to the Italians. However, Gavin Menzies argues that the piñata was brought to Mexico by Chinese sailors about 1421. According to legend, Marco Polo introduced the piñata to the Italians after discovering it in the Orient.

How's that for trivia, Mr. Joshua Chi-Sing Chan~ ^_^

Break

Its the 2nd week of my new job and I'm just tired. Haha. There could be numerous reasons for my lack of enthusasim. And for the sake of fun, I shall list em.

1. I need a break/vacation. Even tho I was at Batey for 7 months, if you include all the weekday OT and weekend hours, I'm well over a year....

2. The new office is a bit gruddy. Is that even a word? Well, it means exactly how it sounds--gruddy.

3. Dorothy, Lucy and Vanessa* bought me 3 fishes as a going away/cubicle warming present. It was really sweet of them and being the lazy arse's taht they are, they fedex'd them to me! Didn't know you could fedex live fish huh?

4. One of the fishes died.... Bad feng shui if you ask me. The remaining two need to step it up if they wanna survive!

5. Still adapting to the new work environment/people. If I recall correctly, it took about 2 months to be comfortable with the Batey gang.

6. Like I said before, I need a break. There's a big event in April and a smaller one in June... I'm debating if that'll be enough for me so that I can take a nice break before starting up again. 3 months and counting....

I met up with Kristi for a mere 3-4 hours last Tuesday on her last stretch of her biz trip. Like I told her, I took her out on one helluva HOT DATE! hahaha. We met up at Taipei 101 (world's tallest building) and I took her to the observatory floor(89th). We weren't the only one's there--Grace, my coworkers and Kristi's goo-goo
were there as well. Anyway, after the nice night scenery, we headed to the 4th floor pavallion and had tea/dessert. Afterwards, I took her on a 'romantic' ride around the city on my scooter and dropped her off at her hotel. But all jokes aside, it was really nice to see her and to catch up on all the juicy gossip! hohoho! But alas, I'm kidding again, cuz there weren't any gossip! I was very disappointed.

So after going off tangent again, I'm back to my original topic---which is taking a break.

E21

About 2 months ago, a friend of a friend asked if I would be interested in an events related position. I said sure and passed my resume to him. A month later, nothing happened. I didn't think anything of it until our mutual friend called me and told me to call the company directly to see what was up. Fast foward (or rewind) 2 weeks later, they offered me a position and wanted me to start right away.

*I noticed Thursdays are lucky days for me. In the past, whenever I had an interview on a Thursday, I would get hired. Examples: Parker LePla, Batey|red cell, E21...

Anyway, my last working day was yesterday and it was sad to leave.

TBC

Bebot! Bebot!

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Who would've thunk work would be madd crazy? I sure didn't.

A recap of my trip the Philippines:

Day 1: arrived late afternoon and was screwed over by the cab driver (he over charged me). checked into my cozy hostel, nestled right next to a starbucks! Met a Japanese backpacker and we cruised a nearby mall. We were talking and she told me that she had gotten robbed earlier in the day by some locals and had to fly back to Japan the next morning b/c she didn't have any more money. Poor girl. our conversation were mostly fixated on traveling (she's been to cambodia and thailand) and all of a sudden, she tells me she has a MENTAL ILLNESS! [insert thunder and lightning] Freaked the shit outta me cuz I was sharing the dorm room with her--alone! I honestly could not sleep a wink that nite.

Day 2: Mental illness girl left the dorm around 4am. [sigh of relief] In the beginning, I wanted to go to Boracay, but it was friggin $$$$. I did not want to explore Manila all week, so I checked out neighboring islands. I decided on Puerto Galera and started my trek there. 2 1/2 hours by bus, 1 1/2 hours by boat. Emily text me when she arrived and when I told her about my new plans, she said she might meet me there. Very cool. Anyway, on my way to Sabang Beach, NOT A BEACH, I was majorly disappointed. I even trekked to neighboring 'beaches' and shook my head in disgrace. I finally hollered for a boat and asked the guy to take me to White Beach. White Beach was awesome and became my camping ground for the next 3 days.

Day 3-5: White Beach was heaven! First evening there I hung out with the locals and took in the stars at night. It was suprisingly cooler than I had expected (at night) and savored the moments. Emily joined me the next day and that's when all hell broke loose! Of course I'm exaggerating a tad bit. Here's the run down. I met on the beach and she wasn't alone. She had met a local guy named German and it turns out he's a champion wind sufer (who would've thunk). He invited us to a private resort that's more inland and offered us free lessons. I was hesitant at first cuz Cardinal Rule #1: Don't follow strangers to strange places. But being the dumbasses that we were, we said Sure!

So we're walking on a dirt path AWAY from the beach and I'm just thinkin to myself if we're going to live another day. We hitch a ride from a moped and the driver takes us further inland---dirt paths. 10 mins into the ride, I start to notice that we were literally in the middle of NO WHERE! So finally we come into a clearing and va va va voom, the private resort. [insert happy dance]

Now, this wasn't your normal private resort. It was housing to a language exchange program. I thought the idea was pretty cool. It was Flippino's teaching Korean's English (one on one) and it was a 5 1/2 weeks course. I started to observe the setting and all of a sudden, CLICK! It was a CULT! We were in the middle of a CULT!

But it wasn't a cult. It just seemed like one. Whew~

So German taught Emily how to wind surf while I kayaked around the bay and watched the sunset. [insert bliss]

Night time! Our trek back to the beach was an adventure in itself. PITCH BLACK. If y'all MSN me, the pic was taken on the dirt path, in the middle of no where, in PITCH BLACK. [insert 'blind leading the blind']

Anyhoo, the rest of the time on the beach was spent being sunburnt [i asked my roomies if it was 'sunburned' or 'sunburnt' and it spawned into a 5 min conversation]

Day 5-6: Did not want to leave White Beach AT ALL! Got seasick on the way back to Batangas and reaching Manila made me depressed. The dirtiness and the traffic was just blah~ I was speedy gonzalez and zipped through Rizal Park, Intramuros and Robinsons Place before retiring back to my $3.00 hostel room. And then BAM~ my period came. What a way to end my vacation.

Will post pics whenever I'm not in a lazy mood. But considering how it almost took me a month to log in this entry, it might take a while....

OH! Starting new job on Monday!

KeeLung Rd 90210

*Names have been changed to protect the individuals protrayed in the following blog-- namely to protect me!

It's been 4 months since the segregation begun. (is that even correct grammar?) Winston, unknowningly to himself, had gotten on everyone's hate list--even his own team wanted nothing to do of him.

No one can pinpoint when it first started, but Britany (wink wink) grew irritated of his antics from the start. She found his pride to bigger than elephant's shit and a major know-it-all, whom of course, knew nothing at all.

Timmy: all around cool guy(team a) ====> for a lack of creativity and better name
Lucy: all around cool gal(team a)
Winston: black sheep(team a)
Britany: cool chica from a foreign land(team b)
Dorothy: bad ass chica(team b)

To get the readers (you) up to speed, I'll do a very brief summary of the past 4 months.

*Britany finds Winston to be a major know-it-all
*Britany finds Winston to be full of shit
*Everyone thinks Britany is over reacting (we shall see about that)
*Timmy gets annoyed with Winstons constant questions about irrevelant subjects
*Lucy, being asked the same questions, also gets annoyed
*Dorothy gets frustrated at Winston for not producing effective materials
*Timmy gets more irritated at Winston's work attitude
*Lucy almost flips when Winston asks which printer to use for the umptenth time

*Britany, Timmy, Lucy and Dorothy hold a meeting to discuss the situation
*Timmy and Lucy both conclude that Winston is dragging them down
*Timmy and Lucy want Winston out

The list of things goes on, but I'm sure you get the jist of things. The group will try to include Winston on outings, but sometimes, its just not worth it. Today was a prime example:

*Britany and Lucy go out to lunch
*Lucy asks Winston if he wants to join--he declines, noting that he's not hungry
*Dorothy joins Britany and Lucy for lunch and they go out about their business
*After lunch, Lucy hears from Person A that right after Britany and Lucy left, he asked her to eat lunch with him. Person A then questions him "didn't Lucy just ask you to lunch?" Winston replies that he wasn't hungry when she asked (which was like minutes earlier). Anyhoo, he also mentioned that maybe he was someone that was difficult to be around or some shit like that. In the end, he bought his lunch and ate it in the office (by himself).

*Person A told Lucy about Winston asking her out to lunch and Lucy thought it was weird
*Lucy then tells Britany
*Britany tells Dorothy
*Dorothy tells Person X

Moral of this story? Chinese people are bitches and gossip like crazy. OH, and that Winston needs to 1) lower his pride, 2) listen to people, 3) stop being a freakin tattle tale-- yes, he told on us... freakin prick, and 4) get his ass into gear at work.

Jan 24

Current mood: @#*&^@$^#&*

On the plus side, I wasn't late today. Baby steps...

Superbowl Sunday

Go Seahawks!!!!

Feng Shui

After 6 months at Batey, I finally decided to rearrange my cubicle for better feng shui. I took a panorama pic with my cell phone and will post it later tonite.

~_~

Current Mood: zzzZzzZzzz

12 days and counting...

I feel the need to revise my New Years Resolution list (again). I've been late to work every single day this month! Ridiculous...

Work has been lagging and I'm tempted to clear a space underneath my desk and make it into my resting area. I wonder if a bean bag will fit? Interesting... Hmm, I think I'll just bring a pillow to work.

One more week of work and it'll be Chinese New Year. Please don't be swayed from my lack of enthusiasm for the holidays. I really am looking forward to it. I have great plans, great plans. Sleeping, eating and sleeping rank top on my list. But of course you'll say "what's so special about that?" I'll tell you my friends, I'll be sleeping, eating and sleeping on the white sandy beaches on Boracay Island. Google it, I'm positive you'll be filled with envy. ^_^

Friday the 13th

Been feeling like a zombie lately. Work has lost its excitement, working out has become routine and life feels a bit empty~ I think this is a result of being burnt out from work. I have a trip later this month and I seriously cannot wait.

I saw a posting for an English reporter for a car magazine and applied for the heck of it. I got a call back within the hour and the lady was a slow ass mother fo'. She asked if I was currently working, where I was working, what my current position is, what department, how long, etc. and those freakin answers are all on my resume. I even flat out told her, "the questions that you're asking now are all on my resume..." and being the slow ass mother fo' that she is, kept on asking stupid questions, "did you just graduate college?" >_<" I do not want to work for stupid people and that lady was just plain stupid.

Ginger Bread Houses!!

ps: yes, I tend to wear the AE sweatshirt a lot-- it's useful!!

Revisions....

I think I need to revise my new year resolutions list. It's still the first week into the new year--don't we get like a 2 weeks grace period?

Anyhoo, here there are:

1. Try not to be LATE to work! (I've been late twice already)

2. Eat healthier. (I guess this means no more weekend pizzas)

3. Save some freakin money.

4. Do something that I ordinarily wouldn't do.

5. Run 4 km a day, 4 days a week (I'm in Taiwan, we don't do miles here)

6. Travel to Malaysia and Singapore. (I'm going to the Philippines end of the month!)

7. Be more giving, as in volunteering/doing charity work

8. Listen more. (I tend to space out when people talk)

9. Be more understanding of the Taiwanese culture. (This is my way of saying that I need to quit being a bitch to the locals)

10. Find fulfillment in work.

11. Have a lil fun. (think back to age 22)

Happy New Year!!!

Spending the holidays in Taiwan is very interesting. For new years eve dinner, a bunch of us went to Hooters for their spicy hot wings. I mean, who would've thunk? Hooters for new years eve dinner? But it was fun and the food was goooood. I have 2 freshly acquired pimples, compliments of the Hooters Tower and the hot wings.

I caught the Taipei 101 fireworks on the rooftop of my office building with fellow co-workers and Hooter-mates. It was pretty spectacular, but since the wind was blowing in our our direction, all we could see was smoke--eerie remininse of the 911 attacks. o_O (and the traffic afterwards lasted for the next couple of hours) I heard about 2 million people went to the Hsin Yi district to watch the fireworks?? Crazy ass number considering how small the area is. We packed it in Mexican style!

Anyhoo, here comes the New Year Resolutions list:

1. Cut back on coke and other forms of soda (so far, I haven't done a very good job)

2. Run 3 miles a day, 4 days a week.

3. Smile more

4. Dress more professionally at work

5. Carpe Diem!

6. Finish my SE Asia excursion

7. Learn to budget
- NT 1000 a week for lunch
- NT 3500 to be put away (savings)

8. Volunteer

9. Have more weekend getaways (getaways till this date: 0)

10. Travel to China

11. Try to be more giving and less vain

12. Stick to 4 of the listed things.

Happy New Year!