Free ride

I was lookin for a parking spot earlier today and thought this lady was leaving... but as it turned out, she just parked and was taking her sweet time, grabbing her belongings and whatnots.

Well, dumbass lady left her keys in the compartment lock. I was gonna tell her, but found myself laughing instead. And in the spirit of things, took a pic to show all y'all.

I see this all the time here.



Seriously!? Is it that hard to remember your keys? Seriously....

Pulau Rawa

The time has come (yippeee!) to travel once again!

This is why I absolutely LOVE, LOVE Asia. My next destination is Pulau Rawa – an island off the coast of Mersing, Malaysia. Out of all the SE Asian countries/islands, Malaysia is my fav. I passed by the island last year enroute to Pulau Tioman and was absolutely mesmorized. If you close your eyes and picture a secluded island [key word being secluded] with white sandy beaches and clear water as far the eye can see, then you, my friend, are picturing Pulau Rawa.

I’m debating if it’ll be a solo trip or a groupie thang. Most likely, my route will be similar to Tioman’s. I’ll fly into Singapore, take a bus to the Malaysian border, switch to a taxi to get to Mersing and finally a speedboat to a lil piece of heaven. Seems like a lot work, but its really not. It’s just how you roll backpacker style in SE Asia.

I can’t wait!!!

Interesting

My building doesn't have a 4th or 13th floor button in the elevators. I wonder if that's to accommodate both Eastern and Western superstition....?

Hmmm....

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On a different note, now that I'm working and can once again afford food, I've been excerising my right to yummy goodies of all forms and been feeling 'extra healthy' lately (code for fat). Last nite, I decided to walk my ass to the video store instead of scootering. I purposely didn't bring my wallet cuz there's just TOO MANY food stands enroute. But I had NT$50 on me ($1.50).... just in case~

Well, I was REALLY good on my way there, but succumbed to all the bright neon lights and totally caved. A bottle of green tea, a bag of sweet pototoes and a bowl of red bean soup later, I was finally home.

Where's my self control? Aiya....

Please come again

No fancy soiree or dropping it like its hot. Just plain ol American black coffee with cream and sugar on the side at a nice lil cafe with Gangsta and Power Puff. That's just how we roll.

Good luck in the land of opportunities Jeff! I'm sure you'll be back soon. Your many wives, concubines, mistresses, lovers, girlfriends and random Japanese tourists will miss you dearly.






PS. Not too soon, cuz I gained like 10 pounds from all the food we ate. =P

Asia Rocks!

My bud, Jeff, is in town. He and I have this incredible passion for Asia. He's more eloquete with words, so check out his blog as well. [insert jeffrey link] With him in town, Asia rocks even more!

1. It was my friend's farewell party couple nites ago and I'm proud to say that it was made possible in hdtv by Tequila. We had around 20 folks, but only a handful drank (what's up with that?). Needless to say, Jeff and I (the only ABC's there), got drunk off our asses. Tequila is like a wonderous drink. Goes down like water and BAM~ hits ya when you least expect it. I don't remember being buzzed -- I think I skipped that step. I know I made a fool out of myself many a times throughout the nite, but I don't care cuz we totally rocked taht party. I 'heart' Tequila!

2. 'Gu Zen'. That was the phrase of the nite yesterday. Jeff and I decide to check out Mao Kong via mrt/gondola. We met 2 japanese tourist at the top and ended up at this hole in the moutain tea shop. Even though it was cold, windy, wet and the view was so-so, the conversation was kick ass and I couldn't have asked for better company. 2 ABC's and 2 Japanese chicks conversing in English, Chinese and Japanese! How freakin awesome is that?

Gu zen is Japanese that roughly means fate, destiny, chance and serendipity all rolled into a nice lil package. In Chinese, we say 緣分 [yuan fen]． Meeting those girls last nite was 緣分． Meeting Jeff a year ago in Taiwan and again now is also 緣分．緣分is an awesome thing.

3. I am now part of the elite mod squad. If you guys don't know what that means, please head to your local blockbuster and rent Thank You For Smoking. Yes, I will see most of y'all in hell.

4. Road rage is is a 6 letter word--sometimes 7. Or I can be fancy, like today when a Mercedes cut me off and I gladly belted out 'cock sucker!' But most of the time, I just stick to my 6, sometimes 7 letter word, 'fucker[s]'.

5. I hate scootering in the rain.

6. Perry and his friend came to visit a week and a half ago. I'm glad they came. I like it when people visit. Next on the list is Heather, then Jenn for the rest of November.

7. Apt hunting is a beeeeyotch.

8. Looking forward to pay day.

I 'heart' blogs

Every Saturday or Sunday, I mosey into a Starbucks and blog. It’s like a habit now, which I absolutely love. Besides writing tidbits of my everyday life, I look forward to what others have written about theirs.

Astri’s road trip entries should be published in a Lonely Planet book. Debby’s clips (Otters holding hands) and articles (1 laptop per child) are heartwarming and intriguing. And whenever I read Jenn’s blog, it totally brightens up my day.

What’s funny is that both Jenn and Debby posted an article about a woman on craigslist looking for guy. The article is hilarious, but that’s not the funny part. I received an email from a friend with the same article, but translated in Chinese! That woman has been translated in to Chinese. She’s famous now. A billion people in China – I’m sure some Chinese guy would want to bone her.

Anyway, the point of this entry is to thank you all for blogging. Being away from home, it’s nice to read what’s going on in your lives through your own words.

@_@

I have the attention span of a fruitcake.....

Nancy's Law #2: Here's looking at you kid

When you are on the MRT, you will have the uneasy feeling of being watched. You quickly scan the car and with your CSI skills, conclude that the creepy little man standing across from you is literally using his faux xray vision powers and harassing you with his creepy, vomit in your mouth, burning a hole in your head... you get the pic.

What to do?

Option 1: Staring contest! Bring it on creepy little man~
Option 2: Bitch him out... but since you are a lady, you won't make a scene.
Option 3: Turn around, but that gives him booty access -- even creepier.
Option 4: Walk over and with your best Joey impersonation ask him "How you doing?"
Option 5: Zone him out cuz if you switch cars, another creepy little man will stare at you.

Nancy's Law #1: Space invaders

On a bus/mrt/whatever, people will be up in yO space even though there is room if they moved their asses 2 steps over yonder.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's law states that: "Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way."



No shit~

Muffin Top

In a city that doesn't sleep, I've been sleeping a lot in the past couple days and it feels so damn good! I think it has to do with the weather. The changing season bringing a dramatic drop in the temperature... If only the leaves were to change colors -- now that would be perfection.

Little Haley Joel Osment once said he saw "dead people". Me? I see skinny people. Not the kind of skinny where you hate yourself for having that extra scoop of ice cream or you look at yourself in the mirror and can't help but think "muffin top". But the kind of skinny where you just want to whisk that person to the nearest buffet and set up camp -- for a month.

Crocs R not US

One of the great things about living in a cramped city is people watching. At any given place, any given moment, there's always something that'll make your jaw drop or (like me) you find yourself staring/smiling into space while the people in front and around you think you're staring/smiling at them, who in return, think you are completely nutso for staring/smiling. It's my thing, leave me be.

Note to all the fashion fanatics out there, stripes are definitely IN this season. But you don't have to take my word for it.

Oh, and another thing that is totally IN right now that is just utterly disgraceful -- CROCS! WTF fo'reals?! I hope I don't offend anyone, but come on now! Crocs! Seriously folks!? I see the young, the old and everyone in between wearing those damn plastic rejects. I see people wearing them with skirts, slacks, socks(!) and it makes me wanna vomit a little in my mouth.

But being the optimistic person that I am (yes, the glass is always half full -- well, most of the time anyway), I know that this trend will pass.

Then and now

I have an old, old laptop just lying around. Outdated and well, pretty much useless. Its poor Windows 95 soul is just gathering dust in the corner and I can’t seem to find the strength to toss it or at least recycle it. Either it has sentimental value or I’m just a pack rat.

I had the sudden urge to sift through some of the files and came across some old tunes and pictures. Lots and lots of pictures from Taiwan, graduation, Alki beach, SE Asia -- pretty much the past 4 years of my life.

There was one picture in particular that stood out. I’d forgotten it was there or that I had a copy of it in my laptop. That’s the thing about keeping junk around. It’s either like finding a 5 dollar bill in a pair of jeans that you haven’t worn in a while (sweet!) or one of those instances where you take a step back, pause and grunt. For me, it was the latter.

No “coulda, woulda, shoulda’s” or “if only’s”… it was what it was.

Much to my astonishment, I transferred it to my current laptop. I don’t know when I’ll delete it. I mean, I should right now because keeping it seems like I’m holding onto the past and that just screams drama, drama, drama. I’m actually okay with it being there… at least for now.

Is there a doctor in the house?

One of the worst feelings in the world is knowing you're about to get sick. The aches and pain, headaches and sniffles are just the tip of the ice berg. Not even my trusty Tequila could disinfect the germs infesting my body. So what am I doing now? I'm loading up on vitamin C and Robitussin. Too little, too late is what I'm thinking. What I really need is Theraflu and/or Nyquil... maybe even some Actified. Yah, I think Actified is what I need. Damn you nasal +sinus congestion! I'm hoping Queenie can hook me up with some Panadol and Tylenol, but she hasn't replied to my urgent msn messages.

On a side note, after being at this tea shop for the past 2 hours or so is makin me smell like the daily special. Scent of a Chinese woman? Fo'heezy~

Art of squatting

Being back in the inferno has its perks. I can eat 24/7 and .... well, that's pretty much the main perk! Some of the things I can do without? Mosquitoes, cockroaches and people that don't wear deodorant. But hey, gotta learn to pick to your battles, so mother nature and stinky folks, you've won this time.

Now boarding flight 234...

OMG. Why did I have to sit next to the clichest (if that's even a word) Chinese family? Even thought I'm writing this entry on the plane, I am feeling a bit guilty, but whatever, they loud as hell! Not only are they loud as hell, one of the adults has been hoarding mini Ritz cracker packages from the nice stewardess. As I look over to my right, I can see a mountain of empty Ritz wrappers on the kids table. Even the black guy sitting next me had stiffled a laugh or two.

LOL~ the guy came back with more Ritz crackers! It's called "Costco".

--------- (2 hours later) ----------

Halfway through the flight, one of the younger kids started coughin like crazy. SARS, bird flu and quarantine were just some of the things that flashed through my head. I guess he eventually threw up not once, nor twice, but WAY too many times. The nice stewardess brought the kid club soda to help with the upset stomach, but one of the adults stood up and what came next was one of the funniest dialogs ever!

Chinese Guy: Give me hot water. He needs to drink hot water. (tone: impatient)
Stewardess: Hot water? Club soda will be better for his stomach.
Chinese Guy: NO! Hot water now! (tone: loud and rude)
Stewardess: Are you a doctor?
Chinese Guy: NO! But I am his father! (tone: like duh)

At this point, I just wanted to laugh my ass off (as did the black guy sitting next to me). I think this would've been avoided if (1) the kids behaved themselves rather than slapping each other silly during preflight and (2) not eat a bazillion and one ritz crackers just b/c they were free.

And of course to end this story, they cut in front of me as we were getting off the plane. I 'heart' Chinese families. They're the bestest!!

So we meet again...

I’m watching this older gentlemen sitting at the table next to me feeding crumbs to these mini birds that flew into the Starbucks. It’s quite cute, but HELLO~ bird flu! Well, that puny little bird seems harmless so I’ll let it slip for now.

Once again I’m at the ever metaphorical pre-fork in the road. I’m jumping the gun a couple days in advance and pondering my options – which I know is driving everyone crazy (myself included).

I have a feeling PM's going to come through, despite the tendency to cringe if they say yes. I can move into the city. Indulge myself in the yuppie lifestyle and do whatever the hell I please. The initial year that I had originally planned has now become 2 years for safety measures. I’m starting to see it as a grad school program.

LB looks pretty feasible too. I would call this “Sure I won’t have a penny saved up, but hey, bring on the mah jong nights!”

Deep down (and I do mean deep, deep, deep down) I know what road I should take. I’m going to act on rationality for once and see where that takes me -- but that’s only if I get accepted into the PM's Graduate School for those that really want to read good.

You don't say...

So there's this Airwick commercial that shows a giraffe mom with 2 warthog teenagers.

Yes, whenever a giraffe gives birth, Pumba pops out.

Bom Chicka Wah Wah

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These Axe commercials are just TOO funny! LOL!

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Dream a little dream...

I've been having these weird ass dreams lately. I mean, twlight zone weird. Must be from the stress or water or something. The one last nite was full of different segments and the one that I actually remember, I ain't gonna share cuz its freaky weird.

Anyhoo, I actually dreamt about the LB gang (yet again) couple nites ago. I was back in Taiwan and was waiting in the LB lobby for peeps to go on their lunch break. Of course, Mandy and Queenie were the first one's to leave but for some reason, didn't notice me. Whatever~ Then the rest of the PMI team came down -- Emile, Jude, Terence, Yafe and Sean.... I felt kinda bad cuz I was holding 2 containers of Peets coffee and it clearly wasn't enough for everyone. We stepped into the elevator and lo and behold, Ivy was there! But she wasn't Ivy.... It was a weird mix of Howard/Ivy into Ivy's body. See what I mean by weird....