Monday, January 30, 2006

Jack and Audrey

24 is so gripping. Chaos, frantic searches, panic, wince-worthy punches, nail-biting action...they're working against the clock people!! So amid all the national security nightmares, one concern makes me grip the couch more than any: will Jack and Audrey EVER get to be together happily ever after?! Ohmygod, it's SO not fair! After everything they've been through and given of themselves! Jack deserves to be happy damnit! So does Audrey! *Moans!*

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Happy Chinese New Year!

Okay, so I've been slacking off. Gimme a break; it's Chinese New Year! (Or, if you want to be PC, Lunar New Year.) Anyways, this is the time of year when we get to take it easy and relax. Well, technically. I still managed to work the entire weekend but I stayed away from studying - even though it's mid-terms week! - and away from the computer (kinda), etc. I played video games and watched TV *gasp* and hung out with family. It was nice. So was the food, but then, food plays a HUGE role in all Chinese and Taiwanese traditions. It's New Year's Eve: gather the family and have a feast. It's New Year's Day: let's eat the leftovers form yesterday. It's the second day of the new year: let's gather the (other side of the) family and feast (again). It's Valentine's Day: let's put food out for the Lovers (they're deities and there's a legend attached to this which is a story for another time) and then eat it for dinner later. It's the Lantern Festival: let's cook the kids' (and adults') favourite foods and eat. It's Pay-Homage-to-Your-Ancestors Day: let's put the best food we've got out for the spirits, pray and burn lots of incense and then eat it all for dinner. It's Mid-Autumn Festival: moon cakes for everyone! Yay! See a pattern? Exactly. We love cooking and eating.

Anyways, getting back to the New Year traditions. I grilled my mom about them and here are the basics and this is from a Taiwanese wife's point of view:
  • New Year's Eve and Day: visit and stay with husband's side of the family and do not even THINK about seeing your mother because that will bring misfortune to your family! However, feel free to visit friends, gamble, drink and eat, of course. That's what most people do: visit friends. You're also not supposed to do any kind of work, i.e. cooking (my mom said 'lighting fires' to signify 'work' which reminded me of Sabbath), on Day One. Oh, and everyone's supposed to stay past midnight to ensure that their parents lead a long and healthy life.
  • Day Two: now you can go home to visit. More visiting, gambling, drinking and eating.
  • Day Three: sleep in and rest! Except, don't forget to cook the meals.
Now my mom recited some little diddy about the first three days and I don't really remember it but it went something like this: Day One early rise, Day Two early rise, Day Three sleep your fill. This means that on Day One, you get up early to pay visits to all those obscure relatives on your husband's side of the family (...I'm recalling visiting relatives out in the farm country on my dad's side and being completely bewildered, lost and confused...). Well, Asian families tend to be rather large anyways. Day Two, you get up early again because (traditionally) you need to catch an early train to your mother's house. Day Three is your chance to sleep in and get some rest. So that's how it goes. Interesting, no?

As for the food (again), there are a bunch of dishes that are traditionally eaten at this time of year and most of them have some sort of proverb or rhyme attached to them to make it all make sense. It's all a play on homonyms and quite clever really.

So raise up your glass, toast everyone around you (make sure to hold the cup with both hands - one around the cup and one under the cup to support - when toasting elders to show respect) and I wish you and yours joy, prosperity and good fortune! Gong shi fa choi!

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Monday, January 23, 2006

Casanova - The Movie

I just watched Casanova with Dem today and it was GOOD. It was surprisingly funny - I laughed quite hard at some parts - and just a great feel-good movie! I wasn't expecting all the humorous bits - quite delighted though - and was kinda expecting a more romantic movie. That's not to say that it wasn't romantic, for it was, but it was more along the lines of a romantic comedy, which was excellent. It's set in 18th Century Venice, which is SO romantic. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love period films and Venice (!!) is breathless. I want to go there so bad and I've been wanting to go to the Venice Carnival for years! Dress up in opulent and extravagant costumes with a beautifully elaborate mask and attend a masquarade ball! This year, however, I'm gonna miss it; it starts 17 February and runs through 28 February. Bummer! Well, I still wanna go see it..have a romantic stroll through Piazza San Marco, a romantic ride on a gondola with a singing gondolier (though I've heard that it's very expensive) and buy an authentic carnival mask. It looks so exciting.

How opulent! How beautiful! How fantastic!

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Sunday, January 22, 2006

Haircut FINALLY!

Yes, I finally got my hair cut. I went to a friend of Ryan's, who works at the Regist Salon up at Northgate Mall (She's does a bomb-ass job!), to do my hair because 1) she's more trustworthy (She came with a reference afterall.) and 2) I've seen the great jobs she's done to Ryan and Jr.'s hair. I wanted red in my hair again and since I've seen her red dye job on Jr.'s and it turned out really red and really well, I knew I could trust her to dye my hair properly. Anyways, the apointment was Saturday morning (I had a day-off - gasp!) and not only did she take off about 5" of hair (ALL split ends! It hits right below my shoulders now.), she also gave me long layers; my hair looks so much healthier and neater and more alive now. Then she put red streaks all over. They look SO good!! I was SO thrilled. Take a look; I love it!!


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Thursday, January 19, 2006

Take Me to the Movies!

Watched The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on Sunday - a little behind again.. - with my sister and it was good. I never saw the original live-action one but I've seen an animated version. The creatures in it were SO believably real and it really conveyed the epic feel of the whole story. The Witch looked pretty damn cool, too. During the battle scenes (which were pretty amazing), I actually kept thinking about the battle scenes at Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Brokeback Mountain won 4 Golden Globe Awards (Yay, that's ma boys!) including Best Drama, Best Director (Ang Lee's Taiwanese!), Best Screenplay and Best Original Song. Now I've got my eyes on the Oscars...

Some other movies out or coming out that I wanna see: Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen? A period film set in England? Of course!), Syriana, Tristan & Isolde (It's a love story! Duh!), Casanova (Another love story!), Underworld Evolution (Vampires! Yay!), V for Vendetta (It's set in Britain! Duh!!) and Munich (Danger! Intrigue!). That's a lot of movies...

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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

March 26

Start counting down the days; I am!! THAT is the day I fly back to England!! WOOHOO!!! I've been watching ticket (one-way) prices since I got back in August and on Sunday, they dropped to an incredible $246 after taxes and fees at statravel.com! That's right, Ms Bargain Hunter has struck again! I couldn't believe my eyes so, of course, I booked my ticket right then and there. (Now I just need to get an ISIC...) Ooh, I need to start planning packing! I also emailed one of my dad's business partners/friends - a valuable contact considering he's a team lead in a UK-based company - and he's forwarded my resume and CV to several of his contacts in the UK. I expect a call from him later this week. WEEEEEEE. I'm so excited...I hope he doesn't call today! I was in such a hurry to leave the house that I forgot not only my lunch - sad! - I also forgot my phone! Drat. Well, there's always voicemail. Now I'm off to attend my favourite class!

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24

YES. The new season of 24 premiered Sunday night. I just about hyperventilated when I heard it on the radio; thank God I was listening to the radio, otherwise I would've missed it and just how tragic would that be?! VERY TRAGIC. It had a special 2-day, 4-hour premier: 2 hours on Sunday and 2 on Monday (It's on Monday nights at 8pm on Fox...now I just gotta make sure I'm free to watch it everynight or have it recorded!). Watching it was like welcoming an old and familiar friend home. And ohmygosh, the first 10 minutes had me screaming 'noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!' Yeah, it's that damn good. Oh the suspense, the action! The men in uniform rushing to save your butt! (Granted, Jack's not in uniform but that's besides the point.) Needless to say I was glued to the TV, on the edge of my seat, wringing my hands and bemoaning the hopelessness of it all! Oh, and also cursing President Logan; I cannot stand him! Argh! He makes me want to wring his wrinkled neck and shake him about!! I, for one, would not cry if someone took him out. Good riddance, I say! But I guess he just makes everyone else look that much more intelligentm smarter and just better all around. This is definitely an addiction. Until next Monday!

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Friday, January 13, 2006

Random Pics Inside My Camera

Found some random pictures..

It's home! That's what I squealed when I saw this giant gingerbread creation. It was Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The Globe Theatre and The Tower Bridge. How cool!! (Before Christmas.)















The front of my house when we had that freakish snow weather in November.












I love this picture. I found this sign on the building behind my building when I was at my internship. What the hell is an English sign doing in America?? Either way, I had to take a picture of it!

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What da hell...

That's what I thought to myself when I saw that monstrosity of a car in front of me. What da hell...? And, yes, it is a car. It's a SUV and the thing's bumber was exactly level with the top of my car. It had hydraulics that allowed it to raise itself up so that the bottom of the car body was about 6 feet off the ground. Talk about bizarre! I saw this thing while driving downtown one night on my way to meet up with Ryan and them. The picture's taken from inside my car from the driver's point of view; I took it when we stopped at a red light. At one point, the car started to lower itself down, making all the appropriate and stereotypical eerrrng, errrrng robotic sounds. It was funny and weird and a touch surreal. You don't see that every day...

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Thursday, January 12, 2006

Pictures at R Place on New Year's Eve

inally got these pictures uploaded and resized. There's only a couple and they're from New Year's Eve at R Place on Capitol Hill. Fun times!

Georgia and Ryan with Jr.'s best friend in Montana...I forget her name...








The guy next to me is always at R Place and boy, can he dance. AND he's always got the cutest shoes!! (His shirt says 'I'd Do Me' haha.)










I was seeing triple...and I was the sober one!

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Wednesday, January 11, 2006

My First Pedicure!

Ok. Everyone who knows me knows I'm the Fashion & Beauty Guru. I love clothes and makeup and I'm the Queen of Shop. So this may come as a shock when I say that I had my first ever pedicure yesterday. I know, I know! Holy cow, you say. I hear ya. Why the hell didn't I do this sooner?! Em, Dem and I went to InSpa, a Seattle based day spa chain, to get pedicures and get some girl-bonding-time in. Well, we didn't get to bond too much over our sessions because we had to stagger our appointments..but anyways, it was great! I loved it!! We went to the one in Bellevue Square and the people there are really friendly and professional. If felt soooooooo good, putting my feet in the warm churning water, getting them all soft and smooth, trimmed and beautified! Funny story: the lady who did my feet was absolutely horrified at the calluses. Yes, I admit it: I've got calluses. Hell, if you've never had a pedicure - either professionally done or self done - in your life, you'd have them, too. Anyways, I was slightly embarassed - I'm supposed to be all up on this kind of thing! - and was taken aback at her dramatic reaction. She was, like, "You've got to get zis fixed! If you do not do anysing, those calluses vill get vorse and vorse and it vill hurt very much to get zem removed!!" Holy cow, again. Ok, so having been properly scared, them pampered, I bought a foot masque, a foot cream and a little filer thing designed especially for such purposes that will guarantee me soft and pretty feet. 'Chu-ching' went the register. Yikes, beauty sure is expensive. Damn them flaws... But now my feet are pretty and my toenails are painted this AWESOME hot pink colour; it's called 'Take Me to Greece' and it's OPI (read: really good nail polish). Dem said it's electrifying and, damn, it is.

Bottom line is, though, pedicures are SO great. Dem and I both shared a look that said, "We need to get this done more often!!" I don't know how I never thought about going to a day spa. I guess the high cost associated with such things was extremely off-putting, but the services themselves can be pretty cheap. Just another ritual on the List of Beautifying Rituals.

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Thursday, January 05, 2006

Brokeback Mountain

Ok, I know New Year's Eve was so 11 days ago and I'm a just little behind. Bite me. :P Anyways, this was the first year that I planned to do anything for New Year's Eve. First I had work, as usual, and then I went out with Ryan and them. We went to see Brokeback Mountain and lemme tell you, it was GOOD. Delicious in fact. There's only one other man on this planet who can make my knees go all wobbly and that's Jake Gyllenhaal. But he's not really real because he's a celebrity and celebrities aren't really real because..well..they're celebrities. I mean, I know he's a real person but he's not really real. Celebrities are real to other celebritites. I mean, yeah they're real people but they're not really 'real.' That make sense? Made sense in my head...

Anyways, the movie was seriously good. The emotions in it were really intense and there were moments when it hurt to watch. I cried in the end - heartwrenching grief does that to ya. Well, I get really engrossed in movies and books to begin with so... *shrugs* Haven't seen the movie? GO WATCH IT.

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Monday, January 02, 2006

The Best of 2005 (cont.)

After reading last night's post, I realised I kept dwelling on a lot of sad moments and hardly talked about anything else! And here I was raving about how great my year was! Well, I was half asleep and slightly delirious when I was writing that; I really should stop posting when I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Anyways, there was more to my 2005 than what I'd written yesterday! The best thing I did for myself was joining the ballroom and latin dance club at uni! I've been talking about taking dance lessons since I started college...4 years later, I finally went through with it! That's where I met Flick, Phil, Elena and Jess; they, including Ruth and Row, and Claire and Mike, were my dance buddies. (That's where I met Nick as well. Funny how Fate works, huh?) We had the best of times together! Flick is one of the most funniest people I know, especially when she's drunk - she becomes Drunk Flick then! She's also know as Cherie Blaire (Yeah, the wife of the English PM) because of her smile...oh my indeed. Phil is El Prez; he became the new president of the club when Penny graduated. He's also got THE biggest feet I've ever seen; he had to buy dance shoes from an American company because the ones in UK don't go up that high. Haha. El - the club vice pres- is also known as Princess Coral - she almost got a job as playing a mermaid character for children's' parties - and Big Eyes. She's got these great big, wide eyes that, when turned upon Phil, can make him do anything. Jess was my dance partner and our names constantly made things confusing. Ruth and Row were housemates of Phil and Jess (they lived in a 5-bedroom flat). Claire - club captain - is possibly the sweetest and ditziest girl I know; she's great. Mike, her boyfriend, is Flick's twin; it's like they're the same person and when they're together, they're too funny! Planet Coffee is their second home (Not my second home as I'm only there if Flick and Phil are there; I was always at Sun Cafe with Nick - they've got free wireless internet!) and Flick's started Planet Tea at her place, which she shares with El and Claire. Her, El and Phil absolutely love tea. We also have so many inside jokes; one of my favourite ones is 'Paris.' When we went to Blackpool to compete in the national dance competition, we stayed an extra day to explore and have fun. Well, Blackpool Tower looks like a stockier version of the Eiffel Tower and we joked that we were in Paris, which completely confused Claire - bless! - and the joke stuck.

We have too many hilarious moments together...like on Fetish Night at Asylum (the nightclub on campus), for Halloween, Phil had gone out drinking with his bowling mates and did this whatchamacallit drinking score card thing, where at a different pub he gets a different drink and the amount increases with every visit, like a pint there and 2 pints at the next one, etc. Looking at his score card, he'd made it all the way through and the amount of alcohol he'd consumed should've put him passed out flat on his face but, no, he was still standing and conversing at the end of the night. Impressive. However, he doesn't remember much of that night. Haha. And there was that time when I had a vodka and coke at dinner before dance class and, of course, got tipsy off that one drink - even though I'd consumed food, yes, I know, lightweight - and had the merriest time at dance. At the end of the class, I managed to trip over my own feet and landed in an unladylike sprawl on the floor. Afterwards, we all went to The Rez - the pub on campus - and I had myself 2 more vodkas and cokes. Boy, did I get drunk. Phil said I was completely bright red - duh - and apparently I kept singing all night. I think I drank so much that night because I was upset about something...don't really remember. I just remember that dance was a lot of fun that night!

And there's Yvette and Sophie. I met them both through Nick; they've been friends since their first year at uni. I'm far closer to Yvette and I am to Sophie; usually I have nothing to talk about with Sophie and she has nothing to talk about, period. Yvette, however, is amazing. Tall, beautiful and brown - yeah and gorgeously so! - she's also hilarious - God, her facial expressions are priceless!! - witty, smart, intelligent and ambitious. Her downside? She is the moodiest person I've ever met; she even said so herself. But it's alright cuz the rest makes up for it. Bottomline is, Yvette's a very good friend who, even though we've only known each other for 10 minutes (inside joke), has always been there when I needed her. She was there for me through the rough times - and if you read the previous post, then you know there were definitely some rough times - and supported me when I needed the support most. She's priceless. For everything else, there's Mastercard. She's also my only brown person to dance with when I was there. English people don't dance like American people; I can't really describe how the English dance but they sure as hell don't grind. Americans grind. They get dirrty on the dancefloor and I love it! Yvette's dancing was the closest to grind there. I can't wait for Ryan and co. to visit me in England; we gonna tear up da dancefloor!! Oh, and she's got bigger boobs than I do; they're magical.

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Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year!

So 2006 has finally arrived. Wow. 2005 flew by so fast and, boy, it was some year! Yeah, 2005 was, by far, one of my best years; my senior year in high school was another damn good year, too. (That was the year we, Em, Dem and I, did a summer roadtrip and followed Nsync on tour down the westcoast. That was crazy!) (This year was also my senior year, albeit in college.) My great year started in 2004, though, when I finally went to study abroad in England. I've been thinking about that day since my freshman year in high school - 8 years ago! It was a dream come true to receive the acceptance letter from the International Programs and Exchanges office for the UK program; even though I knew it was coming - I'd spoken with my study abroad advisor already - my heart still soared when I opened that letter. My entire experience in England was amazing. In one year, I experienced the joyest of joys and bluest of blues - at one point I seriously thought I was gonna lose my mind and sanity and be completely consumed by grief and heartache but I lived through it. I lost my breath when I saw Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and cried when I saw Michelangelo's La Pieta. My knees trembled at the top of the Eiffel Tower, my heart tripped at the sight of David, and my stomach dropped at the sight St. Peter's Square and Basilica. I awestruck of the Colosseum and Pantheon. I was humbled by the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Holy Sepultre...and pushed to the limits of my patience by the guys in the market place. Oh, and I got the tan of my life! Floating in the Dead Sea was unreal and Petra was incredible; humans can be an amazing species. That's just my travels.

I'm totally hooked on English tea...proper English tea that is, with milk and 1 sugar please. I found someone who makes my knees weak with just a look, who takes my breath away with just a 'hey,' who trips my heart at the mere thought. I fell head over heels in love unwittingly but gave my heart completely. In September (2004), lust and the pitter-patter of a heart ruled. October, idiotic smiles were abound. November, the bright light dimmed... From then through to March, it was an emotional roller coaster, with no middle ground. My life soundtrack was Will Young's Leave Right Now for several months, but I couldn't walk away despite it all. I remember thinking to myself, what the hell is wrong with me? If someone else was in my shoes and I was giving advice, I'd have told her to leave his sorry ass and move on to someone who deserves her...but I didn't. Looking back, I guess deep down inside, unconsciously, or whatever, I knew there was something special and different with what we had, yes, despite everything, and that it was worth holding on to. (Ok, I know I'm hitting a lot of cliches but, damnit, they fit.) I hit my peak on the morning of 8 Feb, the morning after watching House of Flying Daggers and before Team America: World Police. (Oh, the things I remember! Haha.) I hit my low on 24 March - smack dab in the middle of the Tuscan countryside of all places. My entire Italy trip was crazy and almost too emotional - that's good HIGH emotions and bad low emotions all the time and sometimes even simultaneously. Madness.

In April, I got my hair dyed with flashes of red and it was HOT. May held the End of Year ball at uni and it was essentially my prom because I wore the dress that I would've worn for prom if I'd gone back in high school. July saw Nick and I go to Israel and Petra in Jordan - just one of the best trips I've ever had - and, yeah, that's when I got my wicked tan (which is starting to fade now - *gasp!*). August gave me London and a love of Thai, separation and heartache. The remaining months of 2005 were busy, busy, busy with internship, school and work. All day, everyday I was working in some sort of way or form, keeping myself busy literally from sun-up to sun-down. Workaholic is my middle name I suppose.

It was a damn good year.

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