hello again

hm.. it's been a while..

ok, here we go.. some pics of what took place in El Salvador.


I've never worked so hard in my life. I had two other chiropractic students working with me in a church. We were confined to a concrete room with one window and three fans and a 30min lunch. We start at 8am and that's the crowd that awaits us when we get there.

Morning crowd

The room was probably over 100 deg, or it felt like it. When we'd step out for lunch, the air outside would be cooler than the room, that's just wrong. By lunch time our finger nails would be black from touching so many people. yah.. EWWWW


My morning started off with Yoga, led by one of the students there. It was nice to warm up the day. Especially with the view...




I quickly lost 5 pounds in one week down there. All my meals were much smaller... it made me realize I really don't need a large chocolate cake to justify a complete meal.


I met up with my cousin Josephine there. She's in the peace corps and traveled 5 hours by bus just to meet me for the weekend. We went to the malls which had A/C in addition to other crazy stuff like Louise Vuitton, Channel then Puma and Polo selling at American dollars. I'd get a better deal up here with a sale! What the hell??? Their average monthly income is $300? I just don't get it. I could get a kick ass meal for $7, but coffee is $1.50, movie is $3.50 and I got a Tony and Guy Hair cut for $5 including tips. The prices are all over the place. Gas is over $3 how do they afford to drive? Josephine's weekend with me apparently hit deep in her pocket books. Since she's based in a more rural area, her salary is much lower.

Now, I just want to sleep. I've got nothing interesting to say about my life except to bitch about mundane issues that most people share.

I guess there is something worth mentioning. I'm searching for a GPS device for a child or tween. Something discrete, preferably an implant, is that allowed? That means cell phones, removable wrist bands any legal looking devide will not work. We want this kid located at all times. Preferably delivering an electric shock when she wonders too far from home.

El Salvador

Going to El Salvador

For the first 3 years of elementary I lived in a small city in Taiwan, somewhat ghetto actually. I walked to school everyday passing the fruit lady with her fresh fruits, the metal gates of stores yet to open and this small medical clinic filled with pharmaceuticals that I could smell at 7am through closed doors. There was a homeless old man who laid by the front door every morning. I could smell him too. He wasn't thin, but just looked limp and you can see his saggy wrinkled skin through his dirty grayed T-shirt. Sometimes he would mumble and freak the shit out of me. Sometimes his shorts slid all the way up to his hips showing the most horrifying flaccid piece of "ji ji" as I called it back then. I was afraid of him and felt sorry for him and I wondered if the doctor inside does anything for the man. So, I would tell my grandma that I wanted to be a doctor. She was ecstatic. At that time I didn't understand why. Then I told her I wanted to help those poor people and she just told me to stick with the first part, “just finish studying first."

So, I finished studying. I'm not your pill doctor but I do something more hands on and I'm about to do something I've always wanted.

With finances on my mind I was hesitant at first. I started making up excuses of why I shouldn’t go. I talked to CB who asked me what I would get out of this trip. That upset me a lot. I just assumed most people would understand why 'cuz it sure as hell ain’t for the money. How do I explain why I’m taking an unpaid week off work, paying for flight and housing in El Salvador instead of Hawaii? I'm staying in a church, I have to bring my own sheets, there's no hot water (not that I'll need it) then be sweating in 80-90deg weather with no A/C and working M-F 8-5?

CRIME: The U.S. Embassy considers El Salvador a critical crime-threat country. The homicide rate in the country increased 25 percent from 2004 to 2005, and El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Both violent and petty crimes are prevalent throughout El Salvador, and U.S. citizens have been among the victims. Travelers should avoid carrying valuables in public places. Passports and other important documents should not be left in private vehicles. Armed assaults and carjackings take place both in San Salvador and in the interior of the country, but are especially frequent on roads outside the capital where police patrols are scarce. Criminals have been known to follow travelers from the international airport to private residences or secluded stretches of road where they carry out assaults and robberies. Armed robbers are known to shoot if the vehicle does not come to a stop. Criminals often become violent quickly, especially when victims fail to cooperate immediately in surrendering valuables. Frequently, victims who argue with assailants or refuse to give up their valuables are shot.

Ok, so i'm only spending one week there and it's not like I"m Angelina Jolie pulling babies out of 3rd world countries. Besides, my cousin Josephine is in the Peace Corps located in El Salvador too. She's been there for a year already...I haven't seen her in years, so it will be very nice getting to see her again.

What I"m looking forward to: Seeing Jose, going to the beach :), site seeing, hopefully performing miracles with stories to bring home, eating.... I love trying local foods when I travel.. hopefully I won't get a case of Monteczuma's Revenge. And returning safely with minimal mosquito bites or gun wounds.

Western Caribbean

First night, our welcome parade in the promenade. It was neat to see them manage to throw a parade in such tight space, but it was also kinda cheesy.


First stop: Labadee, Haiti

Sea Kayaking, visiting the village of Labadee. It was kind of sad visiting this small worn down fishing village. Our guide informed us that they fish all day long because the size of the fishes they catch are no bigger than 3-4 inches long. All the big fishes are gone.




Formal dinner night on RCCL. We have the same waiter every night, Sydney (far left), who had to put up with a lot of shit to please our table. My aunts and uncle sat with us and their lack of English created havoc every night. They got upset over wrong orders, as if it was Sydney's fault, calling him several times to change orders. But Sydney kept a smile every night and eventually the aunty's started to like him. They thought he was so cute with his big eyes so they'd call him over repeatedly to chat with him instead of harassing him. And I get to do the translation while eating dinner.. yippee. I switched seats after the 3rd night.

ROOM SERVICE
The service on RCCL is impeccable. Our rooms are made every time we step out of the cabin. It's as if our stateroom attendant peeped out everytime we accessed the room to clean it after we leave. I've never had to use the same towel twice! We liked the animals they folded for us at night.




Second stop: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

After hiking up a waterfall for an hour we enjoyed a local Jamaican jerk chicken at Mama Marley's.


That's my uncle sampling a cup of Jamaica's famous Blue Mountain coffee. This was my dad's highlight! He bought 16lbs of coffee, CB bought about 9lbs, our whole group walked out with about 50lbs of Blue Mountain!



The down side of the trip was the storm that hit Grand Cayman, which raised the water levels at the port. Ships were not allowed to dock so we missed Grand Cayman and my sister had to reorganize her wedding to take place on the ship insteadWe were all disappointed, but the wedding pulled through and as Peter (my brother in law) said "life is full of unexpected surprises and Brenda and I will take care of each other through any unexpected events.” How sweet.

I've been asked if my sisters and I look alike. I'll let you decide.


The highlight of my trip was Cozumel.

We woke up early to go Power snorkeling!

Then we arrived at Playa Mia around 3pm. Half an hour later all the tourists were called back to the shuttle for transportation back to their ships (RCCL and Carnival). Since my sister, CB and I arrived on our own we stayed behind and the beach became very quite with only a few people left. I passed out for a few minutes and when I opened my eyes I found myself floating far from shore, it was the most amazing feeling. Then I started to get spooked because I WAS all alone in the water. I quickly paddled my way back to shore. All the dark areas under the water seem to be creeping up towards me...

This was CB's favourite table.



This poker table automatically takes a percentage of the pot everytime it deals a hand. I think it's 3%. So the pot could be $300, but you only take home $100 after all the "self tipping" is accounted for

Other onboard entertainment.. ice skating

Final Stop: South Beach, Miami

(picture of miami from our ship)The people are so much better looking over there. The guys are HOT. I'd go back there to party again. CB and I ended up at The Mansion
It was nice to step into a club where people dressed up and didn't have guts hanging out. It was also nice throughout the entire trip to get drunk and be able to walk back to our cabin/ hotel.

Cruisin'

My sister's getting married at Grand Cayman next week and it's all happening on a cruise.

One week on The Navigator of the Seas with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line.



Ship Facts for Navigator of the Seas
Maiden Voyage: December 14, 2002
Passenger Capacity: 3,114
Godmother: Steffi Graf
Gross Tonnage: 138,000
Length: 1020'
Max Beam: 157.5'
Draft: 29'
Cruising Speed: 23.7 knots

Destinations: Labadee, Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel.

email pet peeve's

*I write a concise short email asking a few important questions and adding some useless chit chat so the email doesn't seem so direct.

They reply with useless chit chat.

*I resend the email bulletting same few questions minimizing useless chit chat. Remind receiver to answer questionS.

I receive one answer

*forwarded spam, the one's about "get a free ___ if you fwd this to 10 friends and they have to fwd to 10 friends and so on until infinity and you will receive your free ___" yup, that's right, your free (blank= NOTHING)

*forwarded email from friends pleading "I never send forwarded stuff but...." And the end of the email reads something like this "send this to 10 friends and make their lives miserable or you will have bad luck for the next 7 years."

*I write a nice long email and I get back a two liner.

Lost Items

You ever wonder where some of your stuff disappear to?

I get really hung up on lost items. Why would something just disappear?? For example I packed away my yoga mat then went looking for it a month later and I can't find it. It's already been a year!! Here are a few items I'm still hoping will show up on their own.

Sport Radio arm band, disappeared
Jessica Black pants, part of a suit.
White shawl.
Enterainment book.
Bikini top.
5 white missing sock, 1 black. perhaps the dryer ate it
2 Starbucks travel mugs
Blue Contact lenses
Soft Lips chapstick cherry flavour
Yoga bag and Mat
4" Christmas tree

that's all I can think of for now.

The weather

I'm trying to learn Spanish. It's been 5 months and I still have difficulty creating a question. Aside from "Donde esta la bano?" (ignore the spelling), everything else starts off as"qu'est-ce que..., or Qui est... " really really messes me up! Now I'm incompetent in two languages!

One thing I can talk about is The Weather.

We learned that early in the course because all human beings are genetically programmed to talk about the weather when they have nothing else to say.

-esta lloviendo (it's raining)
-si, esta lloviendo mucho
-hace frio tambien ....

Weather is easy to talk about, because there really isn't much to say but to agree with the person unless they don't know the difference between sun and rain.

Speaking of Llueve. I've been here six years and this year I had to buy an umbrella. Llueve.

surveillance

what is this?

This is the stuff you see on The home shopping network at 3am in the morning.

Purpose? For aesthetics. To strengthen your cheek muscles, to give the appearance of a higher cheek bone.






1. Place the device in your mouth.
2. Try to close your mouth against the resistance of the spring.
3. Repeat....











Higher cheekbones eh? Riiight...........


Comments???

Home Alone

It's Friday night and I'm home alone. I had planned to stay home this evening to ease my rhinitis symptoms (stuffy nose) and salvage the mess I've made in my room, but I'm starting to feel restless and bored. It's been sometime since I've spent a Friday night by myself. I've always had the pleasure of CB's company but he's in the Philippines chilling at some beach. That thought bugs me more than being home alone, espcially when I was supposed to go with him. I guess I'm feeling bitter that I'm stuck here working when I could've been over there having tons of fun, and I miss him. damn it, damn that Boss.

So, I've had this stuffy nose and congestion for the past week. It's been awful. I was only able to breathe through my nose so my throat is completely dry in the mornings and my lips chapped. My nose would be dripping all day long but I couldn't blow it because it was plugged up. I've been dosing myself with Sudafed daily mixed with Afrin nasal spray and I tried using nasal rinse too. I got so irritated that I even pulled out my rhinoscope to see what the hell was going on in there. Finally, I got a day off on Thursday and I used the steam room in my gym which helped to clear things up a bit. For 4 days food had no taste, I ammused myself one dinner time by pouring Chinese hot sauce over my steamed fish just to see what I could taste... nada. Barely tasted the hot sauce. For days I couldn't smell my soap in the shower, I couldn't smell if that left over food in the fridge has gone bad, heck, I couldn't tell if I smelled bad. This sucks!

You look tired

There are days when I'm totally fine and I get greeted with "are you okay? you look tired."

I'm not quite sure how to react to that. I thank them for their concern and assure them I'm fine. But then I start to feel insecure about the way I look. Do I look like shit or something? I really hate that comment, because if I feel fine and I think I look fine, then this is as good as I get, for the day. And for the rest of the day, I'm basically going to look tired.

angry ex

oh boy, if your ex- girlfriend is vindictive you might want to make sure your face isn't on this site

www.dontdatehimgirl.com

This was featured on the Today show.

best calling card

I found the best calling card!

I've been using calling cards to call Taiwan and Canada for the past 5 years and I can't believe it took me so long to search online for better cards. Calling card is the best way for me since wireless companies don't have calling plans to Asia and I can use the card anywhere. Plus calling cards are cheap, 2-3 cents/ min to Taiwan!

1stphonecard.com allows me to recharge my card, which really isn't anything new, but it also recognizes the phone that I'm using so as long as I call from the same phone, I don't have to enter my 9 digit long pin number. THEN it stores up to 3 destination numbers on their system. If I store the local access # to my speed dial, I only have to hit 2 numbers to reach my parents!! Or sisters.

I'm really happy. I haven't called my parents much lately because my last pin # was so hard to remember I was already grumpy by the time I say hello. I think they will be happy to receive my routine pointless calls again.

"how are you doing mom? are you taking care of yourselves? yes, I'm talking while i'm driving.. yes, I know it's dangerous... yes, I behave when I go out....yes, I take care of myself...no, I don't stay out late...no, I don't stay at my boyfriends'..... long distance is expensive.. I'll call you guys next week"

my dad still thinks it costs $2/min to call Asia

developing film

Remember back in the days when you had to drop off film? wait? then prayed that your pictures turned out right? I developed a roll at Target with my Cabo pictures in it. An hour passed and I got all giddy opening the package to see what other pictures I had in that roll of film.

Oh look, pictures of Mag's going away party from April last year! Tahoe trip back in Thanksgiving '04 and.... woa.. talk about a blast from the past. This was rather unexpected.

"Miss, are there any pictures you would like to enlarge?"

"huh???? um, I don't think so, I'll just pay for these.. $10 right?"

$10 for 24 pictures and one of them was of Tine's carpet when I accidentally pushed the button. I almost forgot how expensive it gets.

Cabo Wabo

Cabo San Lucas, a place where the Mexican’s speak better English than the Mexican’s here. A place where men make you feel like a goddess or harass you like whore.

This was a trip with my two co-workers, Elsie 50yo and Abby 38? It was going to be a little hard partying with them since our ages are almost decades apart. But we managed, or I managed. On our last night Elsie dragged me out of bed after dinner and we headed Mambo Café at 10:30pm. Abby? “I’m going to bed to relax, I won’t be offended if you guys went off without me.”

Mambo Café was great for Elsie, she loved the live band that played Salsa and she danced and danced. It was more of a locals bar, where everyone knew how to dance, even strangers danced with each other as if they’ve been dancing partners for years. Strangers would approach me and insist to dance with me “oh, no no no.. I can’t dance, why don’t you dance with her (Elsie)” “I can teach you to dance” “oh no…..Elsie very good” “but I want to dance with YOU” damn, persistent lil’ fella isn’t he?“ok, if you want your feet stepped on” (he was cute too). So I danced a few songs then the band retired and the music changed. The crowd thickened and the younger crowd moved in. Now, Elsie and I were sitting and listening to techno/hip hop music and chatting with some new friends we met. Then the music started to get to me and it was either get out or go dance. So I turned to Elsie and she’s nodding her head to the beat of the music. Elsie is quite knowledgeable with Salsa, Mambo, Cha Cha etc. and she would tell me what kind of music the band is playing and how the dancers, as skilled as they look, are dancing to the wrong beat. So, just out of curiosity “do you know this music?” “yah, yah,, HD this is Brazilian music, it has more of a Brazilian beat to it, it’s.. blah blah blah” I’m listening to her explain and watching her squint away from the laser show that’s casting light onto her face. Brazilian music eh? Right. “Elsie, you want to dance?” So there I was dancing with Elsie to techno, that was weird. It’s like clubbing with my mom. Then I was floored when she started TEACHING some older folks how to dance! It was a scene out of the movies when one dude dances a new move and everyone followed.

There were other highlights like ATVing on an empty beach with just the three of us, watching the sunset and whales in the distance. Whale watching on a morning cruise and sun bathing with cabana boys coming to my service the minute I lift my head to glance their way. Ok, the best was the service. Instead standing in line at a bar and staring at the bar tender for what feels like hours, here’s a guy who rushes to my service and it’s FREE (all inclusive). So I got drunk on the beach.

I also met, for the first time, a Chinese guy speaking English with a Spanish accent. Apparently his family owns a Chinese restaurant there.

happy valentines

Oh, it is that time of the year again. Happy Valentine’s everyone.

Just wanted to share some interesting dollar figures I heard from the morning new. Today is obviously the busiest day for florists. The whole week has been spent on ordering hard parts, assembling flower arrangements, receiving orders then down to the last 3 days, they barely sleep. The average price people spend on flowers? $80 for a bouquet. For the day? Men spend an average of $128 on Valentine’s and women $76 when they pull out their wallet or nothing at all. Todd, my coworker shrieks “HOW does that work out? $80 for flowers?” (pause) “There’s nothing better than flowers to get you out of the dog house” That’s true, as much as I dislike receiving flowers, they do bring a smile to my face.

But Valentine's isn't just for couples anymore. People have found ways to market to the singles out there, such as singles parties, speed dating etc. Of course Valentine’s day can also be very difficult time if you're single, and so San Mateo offers clinics on this special day to provide emotional support for those in need. I can't imagine how that works. A group of single, heart broken women assembled in a room, depressed and angry.

2005 must have been a good year. I spent a good deal of time yesterday, Saturday, retracing my paper work from the past week to correct the dates I mistakenly written as 2005. Last year flew by really fast for me. It all started with an attempted New Years kiss by CB leading to countless dates and small trips to places I've never been. Then YN moved down and built my alcohol tolerance to a level that I should have acquired back in college. In the midst of the all the chaotic summer weekends I cured myself of narcolepsy and can now serve as a reliable designated driver. The biggest achievement of all ... running my first marathon. The training consumed my life, but it was all worth it. November '05 was my recovery month and I enjoyed everyday of it with lots of food and sitting in front of the TV. The vegging continued to the end of the year. I'm sure I didn't need 3 months to refuel, but I was convinced that chocolate bars, apple pies, ice cream and all the nutritious foods were necessary to replenish all the calories I burned during my 5 hours of running. It was also best I moved less. Less calories burned, faster refueling. And REFUELED I am for the new year.

24

Thanks to Tine and Mikey I was hooked to the show '24' for the past month. I spent all day yesterday finishing up season 2. That's 12 hours remaining. After just one hour I held onto the controller so I can fast forward through any scenes that involved Kim Bauer, a character that seems to always get herself into trouble, incredibly whiney just too stupid to realize how stupid she is. By the last 4 hours I would also fast forward to scenes that involve and Kim AND any interactions that involve her with other events of the show. I guess the writers didn’t mean for us to be watching the show hour after hour. It was meant to be a weekly thing. I simply took the show 24 hrs too seriously. More stupid events started taking place that I got so irritated I started screaming at the TV. CB started laughing at how worked up I got, he would tell me to stop fast forwarding because “another really stupid scene is coming up, don’t fast forward you have to watch it.” Stupid stupid stupid!!

not so sweet home

I boarded the plane at 7:40am with a heavy sinus congestion. It’s only a 2 hour flight home, but I was scared of the pain the altitude change would put on my ears. I carried a bottle of water, a pack of gum and a pack of tissue paper. The ascent was ok but the decent nearly killed me. There were moments I felt like tearing open the cockpit door to beg the pilot to slow the descent. At baggage claim, my sinus headache got worse, my ears were plugged and the world sounded muffled. I stepped out of the building and into Vancouver fog. My world remained foggy and muffled for the next 3 days.

Two hours after arrival I find myself crying hysterically in my rental car at the Roots Outlet parking lot on Boundry Rd. After less than 30 minutes of shopping I slid back into the drivers’ seat to find my red MEC gym bag missing from the front passenger seat. I had that school/gym bag since 1999 Christmas, given by my sister. On it held a lock that I’ve been using since high school. I’ve had it for so long that I would open it without looking. I don’t remember the combination anymore. But in the bag wasn’t my usual T-shirt, shorts socks etc. I had my mp3 player, camera and two purses which probably cost more than my luggage in the trunk. I was in a state of shock since I didn’t see any signs of forced entry. I couldn’t grasp what just happened. It was a twilight zone moment when something seemed to have disappeared before my eyes, something that had a lot of value to me. Then like a child I let out a whimper that climaxed into an uncontrollable outrage. I called CB immediately who couldn’t understand what I was saying at first. He thought I was crying because I missed him, whatever man. He tried to calm me down which didn’t take long because I couldn’t breathe with all that crying and sinus congestion.

Later that day I picked up ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ to keep my mind off things. I spent most of my time reading and nursing my congestion. Then Thursday arrived and I picked up CB from the airport. On the way there, my sister wanted to play her iPod in the car. I thought that was cruel since I lost my mp3. She needed some help setting it up while she drove, so I took it from her and threw it out the window. Hey, if I don’t have an mp3, no one gets one. But after snapping out of my psychotic thoughts, I didn’t think throwing it out was a nice thing to do so I just looked at the iPod and said “no, I’m not helping you.”

Within a day CB became congested and sick too. (I can’t believe my bag got stolen) I introduced him to my sisters, friends, Blackcomb and my dog. I think they all took a liking to him except for my little sister, because he beat her in the game of Uno.

Friday night we aimed to have dinner at Coast. We had a late reservation since we went to Blackcomb during the day. We waited patiently at the bar for 30min for our 8:30pm reservation, but the hostess was racist and seated another couple who walked in at 9pm. Five minutes later we were seated but were too angry to stay so we walked out. ( I can’t believe my bag got stolen) She frantically tried to find out why we were so disappointed. We just told her not to worry about. I don’t understand how it is that we could be upset enough to leave, but not enough to tell the girl off.

Across the street at Rodney’s Oysters, we enjoyed one of the best plate of oysters ever! The scallops were great too.(my bag my bag)

Then we went to Elixir Bar to meet up with my friends, but we had to wait in line! We waited about 15min in a line of 8 people. How retarded. (I can’t believe my bag got stolen) Then we hopped over to another place, Subeez I think, I like that place.

Saturday was sunny and cold, but at least CB got to SEE what Vancouver looks like. His comment? “it’s cold” . The trip was overall tragic. It was frequently interrupted with me blowing my nose at least once an hour and my random outbursts ..( I can’t believe my bag got stolen.).

Back at work on Monday morning. I was looking forward to my lunch break until I found a trail and puddle of oil underneath my car. (You’re fuckn kidding me, my bag my bag, my car my car) FINE, I AAA it over to an auto shop across the street and it’s STILL there. Everyday the cost seems to be rising and something new is wrong.

This month is turning to be very expensive for me. I’m so Scrooged for Christmas… ba humbug.

killer squirl

It's been 10 days after the marathon, the limping has stopped with just a little soreness remaining. I haven't worked out at all since the run and it made me realize just how much the training had consumed my life. I've been sitting in the office during lunch time instead of working out, I have nothing to do but read blogs, news, nake an afternoon nap, it's been really nice. But now I'm starting to feel edgy. I've got all this pent up stress and I'm getting restless.



I was actually going to blog a story about this stalker squirl living on our roof. The other day when I was walking along the sidewalk to my car, this squirl started following me. Then I stepped onto the road to cross the street and the squirl came right in front of me, just 1 foot in front of me, blocking me. I shuffled to the right to avoid him and he BLOCKS ME I shifted back to the left and he blocks me again. How strange? So I sort of stepped around him and walked across the street to my car and he just waited there for me. On my way back to the house I walked between a different set of parked cars and the squirl hops back on the sidewalk and runs up to me. That started to scare me so I ran/limped my way up the door steps and he's right THERE by my ankle! I ran through the door closing it quickly behind me and screamed for my roomate. "**** THERE'S A SQUIRL AFTER ME!" "what???" She comes down. We both started laughing out how stupid I sounded. But there he was, waiting outside, running back and forth between the door and the window, waiting for me.

On Sunday I stepped out to go to the store and the squirl was there again. This time he perched on the wooden railing like those fake owls. I called for my roomie again, and this time she threw a bag of shoes at the squirl. He ducked but came perching there, she threw the shoes again (the shoes, um.. didn't belong to us, btw), then he charged at us! We slammed the door "see! the squirl attacks!" I screamed. So Ms. GK, with shoe sac in hand, decidedly said "ok, Headdump, go ahead, step out and I'll cover for you. " cover for me? am I being held hostage by a squirl? psycho squirl.