One Year and Change

Wow. The last time I was on here was April 2013! I can't believe it's been over a year!!

2013 was a trip. The last year has been incredibly trying but immensely rewarding as well. A year really can make all the difference. So, UPDATE of my crazy year and then some!

I left off in April.....hmmm. Let's see if I can remember what the rest of 2013 looked like.

In 2013, I.....

> Started a part-time job at the museum as a collections tech. Fun :)
> Helped coach some high school rugby at a campus with a view.
> Completed an internship with HHF and subsequently completed my certificate in Historic Preservation.
> Defended my thesis......but didn't graduate.....long story....was very confused.
> Went to a wedding and managed to spend some time with my fav Bay Area peeps!
> Tried out an aerial intro class. It was awesome and one day I'll get to it.
> Cat-sat for the first time in my life. Little did I know that cats can be pretty high maintenance...
> Outsourced a portion of that cat-sitting :D Outsourcing shit is amazing!
> Started a second part-time job doing CRM. Because 1 part-time job wasn't enough. Obviously.
> Renewed my greencard!! Yay! Not illegal!
> Got to tour Doris Duke's Shangri-La for free!
> Got re-introduced to Kpop as a music choice.....uhhh....no comment.
> Had moar roomie drama and then experienced that feeling of euphoric freedom that comes with the roomie-from-hell moving out voluntarily! But of course she'd screw us over as a farewell gift. That B*.
> Had a shovelbum-ish stint via my CRM job. Yeah, no. But apart from the rotting deer carcases along our transects, Maui was pretty.
> Lost a hubcap to a pothole. Thanks Honolulu.
> Went surfing for the first time ever!
> Had an awesome Christmas with some kickass people.
> Tried to work on thesis...grad school is depressing. 
> Obviously had to say goodbye to some friends because that is the nature of being in school and being on an island. But, met some amazing people and made them friends :)

All in all, kind of a stressful year but there were some great moments there too!

2014 was just as eventful. I.....

> Had a great start to the year with my rugby girls.
> Went for a conference in Cambodia and got to go home for CNY right after! Spent some time with friends and family in both countries just catching up with all my fav (and not so fav) people and eating my weight in comfort food.
> Had to adjust to a new bro-in-law.
> Went on a family trip for the first time in about 8-9 years.
> Started traveling once more. Vietnam with the family, Busan and Seoul with couchsurfing and airbnb. Traveling is definitely going to be a staple in my life once again. I think I've sufficiently recovered from the epic 2008/9 couchsurfing tour of Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
> Had to deal with a bunch of admin BS from the uni, financial aid, etc. Swore off a PhD at UH.
> Spent an awesome week in Hilo doing research with some fun (and funny) people, listened to coqui frogs serenade us in the boonies, and got edumacated in country music (aka torture. pls, make it stop. I don't think your tractor's sexy!).
> Spur of the moment Easter meant a chill time with friends. Could definitely use more of those in my life.
> Tried a TRX class. I definitely need to start that shit. and aerial. and yoga, and......
> Kona Rugby trip, 2.0. Not as fun but pretty interesting all the same.
> GRADUATED!!!!!! effing finally.
> Mum and Charl come for graduation and stayed on to visit. I have never shopped more in my life. in one week.
> House-sat and dog-sat for the first time. As expected, dogs are more high maintenance than cats and doggie daycare is a thing and is incredible.....also, dumb but lovable labradoodles are dumb but lovable. And can cause heart attacks when they escape.....also, also, I am a gullible fool and animals apparently can smell it on me. Totally got trolled several times by that doodle. Many life lessons learnt. 
> Indulged once more in one of my first loves when I hit up the McKinley Friends of the Library book sale and bought about a bazillion cookbooks, sci-fi/fantasy fiction, and Hawaiian arch books. I might have a book problem....
> Realized that I'm essentially a single mom of three....which became four once summer started and Wei got here to start her internship.
> Started pole back up again. Our on-off relationship is now back on :)
> Going back to being more social now that I'm done with school.
> Got a real job. Kinda. Just scored the Collections Manager position at the museum. I'm moving up in the world :P I'm really excited but slightly apprehensive. Guess I'll be in HI for a few more years.

One year. So much change, so many ups and downs. I do regret some things but for the most part, it's a learning curve I just gotta keep up with and learn from. I'm setting new priorities and goals in life and the changes/improvements are noticeable. The lower stress levels are definitely a plus for 2014. The rest of the year looks pretty good so it can only get better from here :) I can't believe it's been (only) one year!

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2012 in review

This is going to be kinda disjointed. I'm.....not sure what I am feeling right now. Stressed, hopeful, frustrated, elated, tired, happy, disappointed, cynical, amused, annoyed, satisfied, sad, headachy or a combination of all the above with many more mixed in. Is it even possible to feel all of that at once? I wish there was a single word that would explain exactly how I feel. I'm too distracted to focus on aimlessly surfing the internet but I feel the need to just talk about something other than the last hour or two of my life that I've wasted trying to be nice while not allowing my life to be put on hold for the convenience of someone else. Bear with me.

December has been crazy. I think I've been more social in the last month than I have in the last few semesters. In some ways, it's like undergrad all over again. lol. The semester ended on a fairly hectic but good note. I've done a bit of going around the island, mostly to show people around (which, unfortunately, isn't as fun as one would think) and hung out with people without deadlines hanging over my head. Although, that said, I've got the mother of all deadlines plaguing me right now and I'm nowhere near done. How I'm supposed to hand in the final draft of my thesis in mid-late Jan, I don't know. To make matters worse, my computer is spazzing on me >.< Here's to hoping it'll last until the end of the upcoming Spring semester.




Christmas was good. Pretty chill even with the crazy ham impulse buy (20 pounds!! wtf do I need with 20 lbs of ham?!?) and the stress baking. I've got 4 kinds of cookies, a cheesecake and brownies. And a whole lotta ham. It's pretty redic.

Finally got my birthday/christmas present in the mail today! My shiny new pole is here!! so stoked to put it up!! :D

I can't believe we're almost done with 2012 though.

When I look back, this year has definitely been one filled with ups and downs and whatnot. It started out so well then went to shit and is now starting to even out. The first part of the year was probably my hardest semester in grad school. Mostly because of the trouble I was having with a prof's teaching methods. I have to admit, at one point, I was pretty ready to throw in the towel and say fuck the scholarship because it really wasn't worth it. Not to mention the problems I had with a promising friendship that pretty much went down the drain. So, yeah, a super negative semester that was topped off with the anxiety of producing the thesis and thinking about the future.

Summer helped a bit in that I got to relax at home, make new friends and meet with old ones, and eat awesome food. The research bit in Cambodia was a mixed experience for sure. From a learning standpoint, it was a really good experience but the stress of being introduced to the joy of "office politics" and trying not to drown under a pretty ambitious project put a damper on the whole summer.

Being able to talk to other people who have been in my shoes during summer helped with the whole thesis anxiety and the second semester of the year started off on a high note. Roomie issues brought it down but eventually it evened out. I got through the semester with fewer battle scars than before and then got caught up in the social wave that is pole and rugby combined. A week or two ago, I thought that all in all, it wasn't a bad way to end the year. Spoke too fast I guess. Grandpa passed away just before Christmas and then today, it looks like my roomie troubles are back on track :/

I guess, I just have to buckle down for the rollercoaster that 2013 looks to be. Already I can tell that it's going to be a little insane. I've got about 3 weeks to write my entire thesis. Then back and forth with the editing and revisions before I defend in March >.< then off to KK for a wedding and back in time for the SAAs. Summer is still up in the air, as is the rest of my future. There are quite a few options but......we'll see how it goes. There's a good chance I'll be down in Mexico excavating for a month before I head back to Cambodia for 2 months of Angkor again if I can make it happen. Or I could be enslaved in a CRM job. Who knows. I sure as hell don't. Beyond summer, I don't know where my life is going. I'm pretty sure existential crisis #2 should be happening sometime next semester since I'm feeling the inklings of it even now.

So yeah, 2012 was crazy and it's not quite over just yet. I predict 2013 will be even more insane. Here's to hoping that I get through it intact. Things usually work out for me but I'm still crossing my fingers. The luck, I'm going to needs it.  

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upswing

Whew.

What a week. It's been pretty busy since I've been back and I was feeling fairly blah about it but in the last week it's been even busier and yet I feel great; like I'm finally getting into the swing of things. Feeling more social, being more social.

Pole is coming along well. I'm gaining back the strength that I lost over the summer and learning some rad moves. I'm also learning how to teach the lower levels. Excited about that for sure!

I like the new anthro cohort that have just come in. They are definitely an upbeat bunch and combining that with the outgoing fellas from last year's cohort, I finally feel like there's an academic community that I can rely on. It is an awesome feeling to be able to talk to other people in my situation who are right here.

The Hawaii Vintage Rugby festival, a week long event, has also just started and is kinda pulling me back into rugby. It's fun to watch because there are 45 teams from 16 different countries. I have never see so many old dudes drink and play rugby in one place. I tried playing last year with a local team but pulled out after the first game when our scrumhalf broke her ankle. I'm uninsured. If that had been me, I would have been screwed. I'm still uninsured right now but the team has been awesome to hang out with these last few days and I think I might drop in on practices and training/fitness sessions; no contact though. And what better way to rejoin rugby than having a training session at Kapiolani park with guest coaches Greg Somerville (a former All Black) and Stephan Larkham (a former Wallaby) who are here for the vintage tournament. The double rainbows and moon over Diamond head plus the gorgeous sunset over Waikiki as we practiced were pretty awesome too :)   

The roomie situations are evening out. It's not 100% fantastic but it's not as sucky as it used to be. I still have to plunge the tub occasionally but it doesn't happen every single time I have to take a shower so the angry part of the plunging is becoming a thing of the past. This in turn is helping with my zen "eh, fuck it all" attitude. I could do without the weird insinuations regarding the lack of testosterone in my life from the one chick who finally has some stable testosterone in hers though. Yes, all three of the housemates now have boyfriends. What is your point? Whatever. I'm taking it in stride. I find it completely ironic that someone who comes off as a feminist is telling me that my life is lacking without a man in it. As it is, I could definitely do with seeing less of her man in my house at all times of the day and night. 

The thesis stuff has barely been started but I'm feeling better about it. I should be able to (finally) focus on it once I get the work from this summer out of the way tonight. I am so glad I'm done with the postprocessing stuff. I didn't realize how annoying it could be to deal with inconsistent information. lol.

All in all, things are looking up :D   

Now all that is left is to chase UH for my money. It's the end of Sept and they haven't issued my Aug/Sept stipend. UH, y u no give me my moneh?!??

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All over the place

Woo. The end of the semester came and went by pretty damn fast. Not my best semester but I managed to survive. Man, so glad I'm done; hoping next sem isn't as much of an emotional roller coaster. The whole housing situation totally worked out too so I don't have to pay rent until I get back in August! Yay!

The three weeks at home flew by in a blur as well. I mainly spent it over-eating, sleeping and terrorizing my brother with love :D Oh, and meeting up with people. I even went to a photo project on bersih my friend was organizing with some other local photographers. They did it in this abandoned mansion in Bangsar which made it interesting. I also took a couple of pole classes which were pretty awesome - I managed to learn quite a few new moves and start on a handspring mount to eventually go into a jack knife (http://poledancedictionary.com/moves/276/chinese-flag-contortion/) which will come in handy for when I get back to the 808 and start up superstars. Just need to remember to keep up with the core and strengthening exercises so I can actually pull moves like those off.

I'm in Cambodia now. Have been for the last two days. Tonight is the last night of freedom before the kuli work starts up. My day starts at 5.30 AM tomorrow and that's the way it'll be for the next two months. Yay, summer hols! Maybe this is why I'm feeling a little burnt out? I haven't actually had a proper break since 2010. I think I need to make it a point to go for a local Hawaiian staycation in the next year or something where I do nothing but touristy holiday stuff in order to relax and recharge.

Anyway, it's been alright. didn't do much but play with the prof's kid and wander around Siem Reap a bit. I did a little shopping for fruits and toiletries and spent like an hour in a Khmer bookshop choosing Khmer children's books for myself :) I'm kinda excited about that - I got Cinderella in Khmer (Disney in Khmer? I'm there!) and this one with a winged elephant on the cover because, really, why wouldn't I want to read about a flying elephant? I'm sure the vocabulary in that book will come in handy somehow. Also snuck into a conference about religion in Angkor - it was good to finally put some faces to the big names I've been reading and some of the presentations were interesting but there was a range in the quality of the presentations. One guy did his on the sinozation of mainland SEA and he literally did not have much substance to his presentation or his arguments. So many fallacies, contradictions and speculation of the "i observed/i think/i asked my mom" kind.

My roomie, Phoebe, is going to start her PhD at UH next semester so I've been talking to her about everything and anything under the sun but especially about continuing with the PhD. I've already decided to see how it goes this summer and in Fall before I decide if it's not for me, at least for right now anyway. But I've talked to my mum and my sis and now Phoebe and they're all kinda saying the same thing - take time off and come back later. There's obviously a lot of merit in following their advice but I've also got other concerns about taking a break - making feasible contingency plans, paying back my student loans, taking too long a break and not returning for the PhD, etc. I've got a couple of other people I'd like to talk to and see what their two cents are but it seems like the scale is starting to tip to once side. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I think that I'm definitely gonna stick to my plan of giving myself a year to figure out what I need to do, whether it's a PhD or a plan B/C/D, but the advice I'm getting is really making an impact on my decision. Oh well, I've got a year so we'll see how it goes.

I'm hoping to actually update more regularly on the Cambodian craziness this time, really.

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Here's another random update :)

Hello friends! Life has been hectic as usual. Spring break was well intentioned but fell short of my expectations of getting ahead in my schoolwork. It might be the fact that I ended up sleeping and lazing around for three days straight...hmmm. The fact that I can't remember what happened the rest of the week means it was prolly just as unproductive. lol. Actually, I lie. I do remember Thursday well. Only because I ended up spending about 5 hours or so counting teeny tiny landsnail shells at Bishop. Random fact: Oahu has more than 300 types of landsnails which is more landsnail diversity than all of mainland America. Titillating, I know. Look forward to more random snail facts cos apparently I'm on loan to the malacology dept indefinitely. And while I wasn't there, the anthro dept decided to put my face on a recruiting flyer.....because I looked so happy counting stone flakes. lol. Check it out.

Don't I look super happy to be counting rocks? lol. And can you believe I've graduated to counting snails? It's surprisingly soothing, even if it's tedious.

|

V

 Yeah, totally spent a couple of hours doing that. Worked out a sophisticated way of counting too. The anal retentive side of me totally enjoyed filling up all those squares. Don't deny it, you would have done it too.

I think there might have been a picnic/bbq or two ...or three...thrown in there somewhere. However I wasted Spring break, it is obvious that I didn't get much done. Not homework or cleaning or decorating. I did however, go on a bit of a shopping spree. Ohh, yeah, I also spent about 4 hours in a baking frenzy where I made sour cream coffee cake (and experimented with making coffee cake cookies. Lemme tell ya, the cookies rocked!), banana bread, whole wheat crackers, artisan bread, coconut macaroons, and strawberry jam. My housemates either think I'm crazy or I'm evil for contributing to the American conspiracy of making them fat. I won't lie about the conspiracy but I'm pretty sure my baked goods have not been that large a contributing factor. That pretty much sums up my spring break.....which is pretty sad actually....oh well.

As useless as spring break was, I think I might have hit my grad student stride (if that actually exists) this week because I've suddenly kinda lost interest in surfing the internet aimlessly in favor of catching up on work. I'm not sure what happened. Or if its related to me feeling exhausted at like 10pm and going to bed like the little old cat lady I am at heart. I'll never know but for now, with all my deadlines, I'll take it.

In other news, summer plans are looking up and hopefully, I'll head to KL and Siem Reap for free :) Yay!

Oh, and pole is awesome. The girls are great and we had an event where we demo'd some moves and pretty much just played on the pole for hours to get people interested :) (and I just realized how bad that sounds in a "that's what she said" kinda way. lol. but whatev) I'm moving up the levels and can't wait to get to the advanced stuff. Here's where I'm at now.....I guess it's intermediate? I dunno. But it's fun!

 Laterz!!

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Hello, I'm aliveeeeee!!!

So, I've finally remembered that I should update. So much has happened since that last angry post four months ago. lol. Since then, I've found a new place and moved in for the long haul (hopefully), finished one semester and started another, went to SJ for winter break to pack up the rest of my crap and ship it to Hawaii and also to say bon voyage to Charl before she moved to Spain, etc.

The new place is great, a little windy but whatev. My landlady is kinda neurotic in that fussy, very precise old lady way. I'm still trying to get my room in order. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with the DIY projects that I've decided to undertake when I was still high on all the excitement of having a place of my own to decorate (also, excitement over being cat face man free). Lol. But seriously, this DIY thing is kinda getting out of hand. I've already reupholstered my cheap ass computer chair but the two pressing projects are to sand and paint ALL my furniture, and make my bed frame (yes, from scratch. My sister (and everyone else) thinks I'm crazy). The rest are minor things like crafting or upcycling junk to become decorations (which, with the arrival of my three, yes three, boxes of craft stuff, has me making useless but cute junk to scatter all over the house. wheeeeee). I'm not sure I'm saving all that much money doing everything myself but the other day I used a circular saw for the first time and boy, did I feel manly. I think I might actually see the appeal of power tools now.

On the school side of things, the new semester has been really really crazy. It's been like one long emotional roller coaster (I didn't know I could get that upset over a class/teacher/teaching methods) and a bit of a rush for time. Some of my cohort-mate are graduating this semester and are desperately rushing to complete their thesis and defend by mid April. I'm glad I won't have to do that for another semester but I'm feeling the pressure as well since I have to start on my thesis now so I don't flail around in panic in Fall. That on top of classes and work and internship and extracurriculars has me a little stressed out, so much so that I'm baking at least once a week. I think I may have a slight baking problem. My opening sentence has become "Hey, how are you/what's up? Do you want a cookie/muffin/slice of cake?" I wonder if there's an equivalent to AA for this habit of mine. It's not terribly expensive, just slightly fattening and possibly time consuming in a bad way (three essays due tomorrow? eff that, I'm making muffins/surfing the web for recipes). Oh well. We've all got our vices. 

So, life's been a little crazy and I've been so scattered but I think I've definitely managed to settle down here and I don't think I'd mind having to stay here for the next 6 years all that much. Despite the craziness, I'm feeling content.

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Alive!...sort of...in Phnom Penh

Yeah, just a quick note to say I'm not lost in the jungle that is Phnom Penh. So, so much is going on, I can't even keep up with everything being thrown at me. I've had to move to a new place 2 days after getting into Phnom Penh. Language classes are going at a fairly fast pace. The field trips in the afternoon and on Saturdays are interesting but so very exhausting (having to wake up at 6.30am everyday and having late nights does not help). Food poisoning is the bane of my life right now (i got like  an hour and a half of sleep last night, I was so busy running between the bed and the toilet) and to add to that, boy problems I didn't want to deal with but kinda expected have popped up. Otherwise, having an absolute blast here! :D I'm living with two Brits so my accent/English has kinda shifted to mimic them. lol. It's actually kinda funny. But we've got a great group of people, both in the CKS and ASK programs and it's shaping up to be an awesome, awesome summer!!! Or at least it will be once my stomach decides to stop rebelling and my lifelong random/dirty-food/things-in-my-mouth training kicks in. I'll update more once things have settled down and I feel better.

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crunch time

Hmm, youtube is ruining my life! I can't help but watch random things instead of doing work that really, really needs to be done. I've got zero will power :/

Went for the Cambodian New Year celebrations this weekend when I should have been hard at work. Eh, oh well. It was good. Had some awesome food, saw some traditional performances and got to get to know some ppl a little better. The dances were alright but I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of Cambodian social dancing.... I dunno, the moves and music throw me off and I end up looking like a huge dork, well, a bigger dork than usual, on the dance floor. Not to mention my tendency to trip over little old Cambodian ladies who are gracefully getting their groove on. lol. I'm a right disaster on any Cambodian dance floor.

I can't believe how fast this sem has flown past. I've got less than a month to catch up on homework I've fallen terribly behind on, write my papers and take my exams. Then it's a whirlwind of packing up, flights and too short stays in some of my fav cities seeing some of my fav people. And Hugh Jackman. Yup, Charl n I have a sister's day out in SF planned and Hugh Jackman singing broadway is the perfect way to end the night :) I'm psyched to catch up with people in SF and KL and see + make new friends in Phnom Penh. I've never been but I've been promised a good time and great hidden food places :D It's Cambodia round two: The Phnom Penh edition and I'm hoping to be more on top of updates (meaning I'll finish the Siem Reap series after school is done...only like a year late, whatev :p) while traipsing all over the world. We'll see.

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sun, sand and surf...... it must be SPRING BREAK!!

Hana'uma Bay

Spring break is finally here! And it's really gotten off to a good start :D

I received a preliminary notice that says I'm very likely to get that scholarship for my summer intensive language program (although I've never had a preliminary notice given before. It's like a weird limbo; did I get it or not? This maybe, possibly, perhaps thing is really messing with me) AND I've been shortlisted for the academic year scholarship!! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that announcing it here won't jinx it. Y'all betta cross yo fingers (and toes!) too cos this scholarship means $30k that'll cover my fees and living costs! I also got an acceptance letter for concurrent enrollment in a historic preservation certificate program through the Department of American Studies :) To top it all off, I finally made it out of Honolulu for a great day of hiking and snorkeling at the beach. The weeks leading up to spring break were kinda stressful since midterms and papers and proposals were due so it was really nice to unwind. Now THIS is the real Hawaiian paradise everyone keeps dreaming of, not that horribly crowded touristy crap at Waikiki.

The eastern-most point of O'ahu

Windward side of O'ahu

 With jenny and Josie on the Makapu'u trail. We saw 5 whales swim by!!

The lighthouse has the largest lens in all of America.....I think...

Is it sad that I've been here almost 7 months now and this is the second time I've hit the beach and the first time I've had to break out the bathing suit/actually get into the water? I obviously need to appreciate paradise more.

Great snorkeling at Hana'uma Bay

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not ded. really.

like the title says, i'm not dead. just really really busy. I don't mind school all that much but grad school definitely has different expectations. I've seriously never worked this hard on assignments/school in my life (and i'm a slacker compared to some of my peers here :/ ) I've actually been writing on the blog but not posting since I haven't gotten around to editing and honestly, you don't want to read any of the crap i spew without at least one edit. lol. The things I say and think when I don't use my (occasionally useless) filter.....well, I think Ron summed it up nicely on fb a few weeks back "I love Charm, she is so sane and yet insane. She's the quiet girl who's having kinky sex..." hahaha....gawd, this cracks me up so much and has stuck with me since Van told me about it.....mostly because it's so true and is pretty astute coming from someone who only knows me moderately well. it kinda makes me wonder what other ppl think of me....hmmm. who knows. anyway, long story short:

not ded yet. will post once grad school takes a break from kicking my ass over the hols. I hate finals. fml.

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first hectic weekend in forever and I'm loving it!

This weekend was like a blast from the past. lol. Totally did the college student thing and realized how much I miss it.

Started the weekend with a somewhat chill Friday night in SF. Driving up with JK, we realized that our dads went to the SAME highschool and were probably there around the same time. o.O Man, what a coincidence. But then again, KL is really quite small and MBS is a pretty popular school to attend. But still, small world, eh? Now we're gonna go bug our dads to see if they knew each other......I think it would be hilarious and probably very, very awkward to meet JK's dad if they have bad blood between them....like if one of them bullied the other or something. lol.

Met Van's new roommate. Clingy and needy does not even begin to describe this girl. Poor Van and Susan....this one will drive them up the wall. She's nice and pretty I guess, in a fairly generic blond way and she immediately reminded me of sorority girls during rush. I suppose she's new to town and naive but the girl needs hobbies. All I can say is, good luck ladies and remember, it's hard (but not entirely impossible) to throw a "meet the new roommate" party if the roommate moves out before the party.

Vaish's thing at the W hotel was a little bit of a bust which was both a relief and an annoyance. On one hand, we (mainly meaning Van) would not have to endure being mistaken for an escort in the hotel lobby as we head for the pretentious XYZ (if that happened to me, my contingency plan was to hide behind Van and let the magical double D power of Dolce & Gabbana distract the out of town CEOs looking for a good time :D) AND we wouldn't have to pay outrageous prices for drinks. On the other hand, we ended up horribly overdressed at O'Brien's; the type of overdressed where everyone looks at you and thinks "douche" (according to Van) or thinks that you're a Marina girl with a bad sense of direction. lol. I solved my problem by keeping my coat on over my little black dress while Van had no issues with being overdressed and being hit on. lol. Sigh, sometimes I wish I had her confidence. It's times like this when I wonder if I'm missing out on something by not being inclined to meet or pick guys up at bars. Regardless, between the few of us (mostly Van) and the cute, awesome bartender, we got the birthday girl drunk. Mission accomplished :) Too bad Van's eye fuck buddy didn't meet standards in person...but the whole process was an interesting (and educational) experience to watch. If there is a female version of "The Game" published, I definitely need a copy because I obviously do not have a clue as to how it works.

Van, do you like how much I've referenced you in regards to this one night? lol. Can anyone tell that the bar/club scene is really not my thing??

Anyway, had a great time with Van (as always) as we giggled and warbled '90's love songs into the wee hours of the morning (and probably kept the new roommate and her guest up). Totally brings back the nostalgia of college days gone by. Man, we are SO easily pleased :)

Saturday was a satisfying rush of used book sales all over the south bay. I absolutely love the Friends of the Library book sales!! Wish I could be here for the huge one at Fort Mason in Sept. I'm one of those kids you can leave in a library or bookstore (or supermarket) for a couple of hours and I'd be pleased as punch. Dropped by for a joint birthday do later that night and caught up with a whole bunch of people I've not seen in about a year. And had some kick ass brownies.....they were so good, half a pan's worth came home with me :)

Apparently, it's a weekend of reunions. Saw Rachel one last time and met up with a bunch of ppl in Berkeley for coffee (ah, lounging around in Strada and cutting through campus) and an early dinner. Wonderful company on a really nice day. What more could I ask for?? Apparently, a second dinner with the sibs + Han at that Hong Kong restaurant in Newark. So full. But so very satisfied with life right now :)

Seriously, it was an awesome weekend!

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girl's day out - SF

So, meeting up with the girls in SF the other day was awesome!! As usual, we were late and the queen got misdirected. lol. But lunch was great as was hanging out after. Best of all, the SEA travel plans are coming together nicely!!

We'll see how this first trip goes. if it works out well, it's gonna have to be made into an annual thing. yup. Do you hear that girls? Somehow, we'll have to make sure it becomes an ongoing adventure no matter where we end up :)

Man, I wish we could meet up more often.....makes me miss those carefree college days. I didn't realize it before, but I really really miss having a bunch of girl friends to hang out with.

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The calm before the storm

So, quick sum up of the last two weeks:

Van had a party and since it was an open event on facebook, lots of random weirdos came. Needless to say, they'll never do anything of that sort again. Shitty lesson to learn but it was interesting. As much as I dislike them, parties with random people are the best for people watching! Like that one girl who thought it was fine to bring people she just met at happy hour (and boy, was there a jerk in that group) or the two 'yellow fever' dudes who creeped out every girl at the party (there wern't all that many, surprise sausage fest that it was). They pissed the hell out of me and I still get upset whenever I think about it. They tried out some Malay on me (which is pretty typical when someone knows a smidgen of the foreign language you speak) and instead of hearing the usual pick up lines or greetings, one guys says some rude words and then makes a big fuss when I pretend to not know what he's saying. I don't care where you're from, what you do or who you are; it is NEVER alright to say the words for circle jerk or masturbate in the language of the person (esp. a girl) you've met like five seconds ago. Not impressed, I ran away and hid behind scrawny engineers the rest of the night. Oh, yeah, and that one dude who tried to eat my food once the party died down and the munchies hit. Not cool. Nevertheless, it was loads of fun and some great realizations came out of it. There were more but the only one I can remember is:

'Everyone who goes into Van's room comes out sluttier.' *nods fervently* Proven fact.

That and the fact that JK, despite being an engineer, can't properly navigate using a GPS device.

Apart from that, there's been lots of lazing around. I think I may be sick of it now (prolly the cabin fever kicking in). I feel restless and can't enjoy the indulgence of doing nothing but eat, sleep and watch tv...and that's just sad (my number 1 back up plan of becoming a tai-tai is looking less peachy right now. Give me a couple hours of hard labour and I'm sure it'll be back up there soon :D). This is what unemployment does to a person.

On the bright side, I'm going through more of my junk and getting rid of more stuff. Mostly books and such. I can't believe how many (non academic) books I've managed to accumulate in the few years I've been here. All my stuff fits into two suitcases and something like ten boxes. Seven of which were full of books and heavy to boot! It's good news though since it means I'm not a hoarder = no reality tv interventions for me :) Did I mention I've been watching too much tv?

In order to elevate the boredom, I've been cooking a lot more. But because of the enormous sweet tooth I have, it's mostly been sweet stuff - mooncakes, leng chi kang, apple crumble, etc.
I even made my brother brownies for his birthday! Urm...the icing job was sad tho. pics coming shortly!

The weather probably has something to do with the extra cooking too. It's been pretty cold and overcast these last few weeks and it even rained for a day and a half. I love rainy days! It's awesome getting to sleep in when it rains :) I get the urge to stay home and bake. My sister says I should just cook for a living and Van calls me a suburban housewife but I don't think it would work out - I'd get diabetes.

But, I may have spoken too soon. Those boring, lazy days are ending this week :( I got a call from my boss today. Apparently work is still going on at the site and they found two more burials. So, I'm employed for the first part of next week. Yay money! Not so yay for the commuting and early hours.

Also, we're having extra practice next week in preparation for the tournament.

And to top it all off, I registered for the GREs sometime last week and picked October 30th for my test date. I just looked at the calender. I've got exactly seven days to start studying!!!!! Crap. I am soooooo screwed.

After showing concern about my ability to cope with the craziness that next week is going to be, my sister, in a burst of optimism, told me that at least I can now afford to retake the test if I fail. urm. thanks. I think.

AAAAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Moral of the story? Procrastination kills. Or maybe damages you a little bit. And works with karma to mess with my life.

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