still planning

holly F*** we've been "discussing" every night,
this is really picking my ass

another night:
-we need to decide on a location-if we keep stalling we're never going to send out save the date cards and people need to know exactly when, to take time off.
-well we need to factor in cost and stuff
-forget about cost first and tell me what you want(repeat 'one night')

a different night:
-have you called to check availability?
-well, have you decided on a place yet?(quick repeat of 'one night leading to a repeat of 'another night)
-how can we not worry about cost?

I won't even begin to write about what happened after that. Let's just say we've both developed a sudden talent for sarcasm and quick come backs.

Tonight
-Do you want to send pictures as thank you cards?
-No, our thank you cards are part of our invitations, it'll cost more to make separate orders blah blah blah I'd rather spend the money on making our guests who've travelled far comfortable than something people may lose or throw away blah blah blah..
-could you stop being so long winded

then I got the LOOK

oops
heh heh..that wasn't a smart comment on my part

The end before the beginning

Wedding planning aka catalyst for arguments.

So many things to consider, so many people to please. Everyone has an idea and everyone wants an input. I watch these people speak Tagalog. I hear churches, hotel names, so and so's my flower girl.

-who?
-do you want to be a flower girl? or bridesmaid?
-no, she's too old, she'll have to be a bridesmaid.
-Headdump, show S0&So the dress you picked out for the bridesmaids, show her which one she's wearing.
-what dress?
-the brown one.
-of course, lemme see if I can find it again in the magazine, you asshole.

I don't think I'm being a bitch when I say I don't want some girl I've met 3 times my whole life to be my bridesmaid. I don't even care if the mention of her was just out of courtesy because your relative is in the room. The fact that I had to flip through pages to pretend I found the dress just boils my blood.

Sitting in a room dominated by the majority. I need back up. Back me up CB or you won't sleep well tonight.


on one night:
-I want you to have the wedding of your dreams.
- =) I want it in Boracay
-except for Boracay
-???????##@??????
-The church has to be in Cebu.
-I'm sorry, what did you say? a wedding in my dream?

Visitors

The only reason why the house ever gets cleaned.

Halo

I've never been a big fan of video games. Never had that hand eye coordination. I think it all started with Zelda. I'd go over to Winnie's place in Grade 7 and after an hour I'm happier being a back seat driver.. "turn left, you've gone right already.. open THAT box!" . Then my uncle brought over Atari, I actually liked the games we had on that then the machine broke because my cousin Felix got pissed on a level and decided to do some real damage. Then there was Tetris and Bommerman and Bombliss. ooh those were my favourites. Street Fighter and Mario Brothers? mmm.. no, what's up with those combination moves?? couldn't stand it. A few years ago I got a good laugh with Super mario cart and that was the last of it.

This past weekend CB pulls out Halo, I had to spend a day just so my man doesn't walk around in circles with his head down. CB had to partner with me just to keep me alive long enough to develop a learning curve.

Now I can walk decently, the aiming is very off, but I'm starting to like it more.

CB was so patient teaching me the buttons and all that good stuff. He even waited for me to walk up to his player (which took a few min) after I crashed my hover thingy because driving THAT is worse than walking. After 3 hours I got a little addicted and tired. Then he said to me " when I get the new game, just ignore me at night time, I'll be playing till I pass out"
well, can't I join you?
"no, I'll never improve if I play with someone who's..... not as good as me."

I miss you

It’s easy to tell CB I miss him, it comes out without hesitation when the feeling comes to me. I tell my family I miss them too, but I usually let the feeling build up a bit before I utter the sentimental words. We’re just not the smooshie type of family, quite typical of Asians. But we keep in touch with regular emails and adequate Skype time (with video) so I’m a safe distance away from breaking down and saying I miss you.

My close friends? No problem. If you’re reading this and I haven’t emailed or talked to you in a while… I miss you.

Then there are those friends who I’ve lost touch with. We were close at one point, saw each other frequently then we got busy, parted our separate ways and don’t even chat online to say hello. I see their names online, it’s highlighted, I know they’re only a click away and I think to myself “at least I see their name light-up and I know their still around” What kind of thought is that? Am I waiting for something bad to happen before I hit that button on the mouse? Some of these friends I haven’t spoken to in years, and we used to drive 40min up to SFU every morning then 60 min on the way back down. Then we’d head over to each others’ house to study after dinner and have sleepovers during exams. We used to know all about each other and after so much time has past saying I miss you just feels awkward. So I won’t say those words, it just doesn’t make sense to say I miss you and I’ve seen you online so many times but I’m just too damn lazy to hit the button to start chatting with you because I’m busy surfing online on four different web pages and adding another chat session would just slow me down. But I do miss you.

Chinese Fortune Telling

To all Dragons out there (born 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988) look forward to better luck next year. This year has just been the shits for me. Crap keeps happening to me, starting with my car getting broken into, (this monitor just went blank, followed by me pissing off, but now it’s ok) losing stuff left and right, CB’s car having problems after the break-in when it was under my care, the house having issues and on and on.. I was told this year would be bad for dragons, so I faithfully carried a little jade Rabbit to ward off evil and misfortune, maybe I should’ve adopted a pet rabbit instead.

The fortune has been released for next year and it looks like Dragons are going to have a 180 on their luck. This luck seems to center around relationships. If you’re single, you’ll get hitched, if you’re coupled, you’ll develop many new relationships. That’s nice to hear, but at this point I’d be happy to just recover my losses.

Double Standards

Last night CB and I were a the Grand River Hot Pot on Clement. Chinese hot pot typically means you grab your food at a buffet table and bring it back to grill or boil in broth. The place smelled great but it looked like a BBQ hot box. Do those vents hanging over tables ever work? The chairs and tables were sticky, probably from fumigating in that smoke all night long. The buffet tables were a mess. With the smoke and all it looked like heaven for roaches and that's what we had for company. About 30min into our meal CB starts brushing something to the right of me. I see a 2 inch cockroach running off the edge of the table. I didn't budge and CB continues to eat. Then I leaned back a bit just incase that thing crawls up from underneath. I said it went over the edge, but it's not like it fell off the table, it's probably crawling around the underside. 5min later it crawled towards the food again, this time I waved over a waiter who pulled out his towel as he walked towards us, I pointed and he grabbed. He knew exactly why he was being called. No apologies given, instead I said thanks. Anywhere else I would have demanded our meals be taken care of and then some bitching. But I would feel almost embarrassed to even bitch at a place like this. It just seemed acceptable for crap like that to happen here.

lost items

*sigh*
I think it's time to update my lost/stolen items list.

Red Roots CANADA T-shirt
TOMTOM
Rayband Sunglasses arrr.. almost had the luxury of forgetting about that one too.

ok, I can't go on with this list anymore I'm all irritated. what's pissing me off the most is that it seems like i'm losing or having things stolen from me that's particularily sentimental in nature.
Specifically things given by CB or the one incident TOMTOM that I gave him. What a friggin shitty year. I've never lost so many items in one year before.

Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels

The other night I had the Food Network on TV in the background. It's pretty much my default station when there's nothing to watch or I just want background noise. I figure cooking is something I could brush up on.

Rachael Ray has several shows of her own, meals under 30min, $40 a day and probably some others that I don't know.

On Oct. 24 Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels " Rachael’s taking us on a pub crawl across the country, without washing down a lot of dough" That caught my attention! Sounds like my kind-a-gal, let's just hope she swings by San Francisco. "Rachael starts us out with a trek through the Pacific Northwest for the best in brews from Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. Then we climb over to the Rocky Mountains and from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, experience some pubs with rock-bottom prices. And "pubbing" isn’t just for the west! We’re gonna get our drink on in the East Coast as we sample libations from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. And finally, where else does everybody know your name than Boston? "

Did you catch that? If you're not Canadian, you don't know what I'm trying to point out.

let's do it again..

Rachael starts us out with a trek through the Pacific Northwest for the best in brews from Seattle, Vancouver and Portland, Oregon. Then we climb over to the Rocky Mountains and from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, experience some pubs with rock-bottom prices. And "pubbing" isn’t just for the west! We’re gonna get our drink on in the East Coast as we sample libations from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. And finally, where else does everybody know your name than Boston?

So, she missed SF. That's fine, but she ends up hitting my hometown which IS NOT part of your country missy! Do the rest of those viewers know that? or did you expect to drive up there across the 'stateboarder' carefree as long as you carry no fruits and meats.

Lucy Mae Brown is her pub of choice in Vancouver, BC. I wasn't sure if I should be proud that we once again made a hit in an American show, or annoyed that once again, they didn't care to make the distinction that we're not part of them.

It's My Birthday

some birthday statistics.

Oct. 2000
drunk after one beer then passed out completely after a smoke my friend brought back from Thailand.

Oct. 2006

Everyone thinks I did pretty lousy job but I think I did pretty well.
2 Glasses of Champagne during dinner
then starting @ 10:45pm
Kettle Soda
A shot of something sweet and good
glass of Champagne
Chilled Crown (as if the 'chill' really made a difference)
soda
Crown
Crown
12:30pm. Passed out on the couch then some bitch tried to wake me up, didn't she know it was my birthday?

That's pretty good for 2 hours!!! I'm so proud of myself.

Shiny or Dull side

Aluminum Foil.

There is a shiny and dull side which occurs during the manufacturing process. Which side do YOU use? I believe the shiny side reflects heat better so to keep food warm I face the shiny side INSIDE. That's just the way I feel about it and I do it all the time! I came across some resistance to my preferred method of cooking this past weekend. Which, led to a series of loud/heavy "discussions" until we finally had access to outside knowledge....we decided to ask a Scientist but the answer was still vague.... maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm still sticking to my theory.

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???