MUS: Class of 1980

Last night saw the final night of 'celebrations' of Bruce's 25th High School Reunion. After Friday's golf session in the afternoon that Bruce didn't attend (I guess he's officially quit golf... plus hello... some people do still have to work on a Friday afternoon), Friday evening's eeiky Pig N' Whistle BBQ (certainly not my favourite here in Memphis) that we didn't eat but did hang out and meet some folks before our varsity football team trashed who-the-hell-cares-who-were-playing-since-like-I-just- said, 'we trashed them!' :D Saturday afternoon was a picnic out in the boondocks an hour drive from us. Picnic spelt grass and we all know how I feel about nature lol so Bruce kindly declined and explained to all his friends (now maybe ex friends) what a weirdo city-girl he's married to lol and then last night's shindig...

Last night's cocktail party at the University Club though showed all signs of a boy-produced party: big ass styrofoam cups that the rather unfamiliar young bartenders would fill with loads of alcohol before dripping literally drops of tonic or juice (no complaints here!), all food consisted of meat meat and more meat. The 'vegetable platter' of the evening was this very very rich (but good) artichoke cheese dip... no flowers (no, the trees by the pool doesn't count lol) and of course, hot chicks... but all being somebody's wife (everyone left with whoever they arrived with, in case you were wondering). Then again, after I downed a large cup of gin tonic that was more like a humongous gin martini, it didn't really matter where I was nor what the place looked like. No no, I kept my composure. I was not drunk... it was only 2 cups after all. Nothing like our night last week in Bangkok lol. All I was concerned was that the toilet was close enough for my most uncomfortable Manolo's to take me, I was quite happy. It was. Fortunately.

It was awesome to meet the bunch of boys, now almost-old balding men. Most of them seem so much older then Bruce... ok maybe it's a prejudice judgement. But at least one certainly did not look 43. Nor 53. Nor 63 HAHAHA! No, at least 2! But only one I truly dislike lol. But I've known him prior to this party. So no big surprise there. He's our former immigration lawyer lol. Need I say more? I did, however, use the opportunity last night to tell him the flaws of his office management and the idiotic parallegal he had us placed under his care. I spared no mercy - trust me. He pleaded for a second chance NO CHARGE after I told him the amount of money we paid him and got zip in return. He commented that was not about the money. "IT IS ABOUT THE MONEY!" I exclaimed pretty honestly. Bet he wasn't expecting all that and more from me... the one who's usually cool, calm and collected (and polite!) - in his office lah! I know those of you who know me are laughing about how I act differently in front of certain people ie, my in laws lol... I'm the sweet quiet do-everything-my -husband-says kind of Asian wife lol. Hey, it works...

Yes, the bunch of 1980 graduates from MUS are a hoot. Mostly successful bunch of guys, most of them sane (those with no more than three kids are sane at least); pretty comfortable financially and of course, that comes along, naturally, with hot wives. YES, I AM INCLUDED (of course!) THANK YOU VERY MUCH lol. We seemed to be the only sensible ones with no kids... it was quite funny how when the men asked me where I am originally from, they usually at least recognized the word 'Singapore'. But with the wives, it was either a 'oh, I've heard about the great shopping there!' or a brief 'ohhh that's nice' meaning oh-I-have-no-phucking-idea-which-part-of-China-that- is. Lots of conversations with me included:
Them: Do you have kids?
Me: Nope
Them: Do you work?
Me: Nope
Them: So what do you do?
Me: I'm Bruce sex slave... HAHAHAHA... no... but I was pretty tempted (and this was BEFORE all the gin lol). But I didn't know which were the seriously religious ones (the kids weren't around for me to judge that) and I didn't want to be blamed for any heart attacks that evening... so I gave my normal safe answer, "nothing, just hang out and be Bruce's wife".

'Hairy Chest and the Pukkabees' was hilarious! I can't explain them (maybe Bruce will in his blog) except a bunch of these guys I guess had a band and made up this group that would lip sync music back in the days and take over their chapel sessions. They were a hoot last night. Kim (short for Kimbal) was awesome on the drums. Scott Stevens, Mr Hollywood did most of the singing tho' Hopie Brooks did his rendition of geez... maybe the gin did get to me more than I thought... I can't remember jack! It was fun and funny nonetheless. I guess you just had to be there.

It was a great night! We got home at about 2am... way way WAY past our bedtime. Bruce thinks I've invited the entire class to our next Chinese New Year party lol... that should be interesting. ...if not, I guess it'll be another 5 years before we see this bunch of people again.

Where Have I Been?

It's been awhile since I have logged in an entry... There is SO much to report but I've been just sitting stagnant lately not willing to write. Why?! Well, I'm a little bitter about not winning the lottery, not losing weight despite all the exercise I've been doing (but no dieting of course) and most of all, having to return from a trip. Usually when we travel, by day three or four, I'm often looking forward to getting home to our own bed, our own space, our own home; despite home being out in the middle of nowhere boondocks. Nonetheless, it's still home to us.

Last Wednesday started fall break and Bruce and I boarded the first flight out to Dallas and got on our merry way to Bangkok, Thailand. It's been two years since we were last there (and back then I didn't want to leave either) and this time, we were meeting my brother and his wife, Geraldine, and my still very much insane buddy, Mathi, who was flying in from Copenhagen via Hong Kong, via Jakarta, via Singapore whilst on a so-called business trip so he could make it out to meet us on time. What a ball!! 27 hours on the plane later, we finally arrived. Ahhh, The Oriental... To say the least, nobody wanted to leave! ...and that's a fact! We introduced 'The Oriental' to Kevin and Geraldine and it certainly sounds like neither of them will want to stay any where else the next time they are in Bangkok on vacation. It's simply an awesome place to stay... the service, the food, the little things they do for you... anything and everything! Actually, never mind staying there for a short vacation. That's how and where I'd like to live! Yes, living at the Oriental Bangkok would be a dream come true. If I'd hit the $340M lottery the other night, that's where you would have found Bruce and I.

I put on 2 pounds in Thailand - naturally. But I've gone straight back to my exercise routine... arrgh imagine... I worked out six weeks in a row prior to our trip and not a pound or an inch lost. Four days in friggin' Bangkok and I put on 2 pounds. What kind of a world is this?! It's just not fair! I don't care if my heart is stronger. I don't even care if I'm beating my 100 laps every morning by 1 min these days... I still can't fit into my fat clothes, never mind the less fat ones. ...so you see why all the pent-up bitterness?

...so that's where I've been.

My Secret Identity To Be Revealed

Tonight, or in the near future, my not-so-secret, secret identity as the Queen of the Mountain Tortoise might soon be revealed to my sil. Yup, imagine... she'd be reading all these blogs about my mil and herself. How? Why? When? Who? What?

Well, after a nice long nap this afternoon, the husband and I thought a longer drive for dinner out to midtown to have some yummy Vietnamese pho and lemongrass tofu would be nice change. We had a nice dinner, saw familiar faces and since it wasn't even 8pm after the meal, we thought we'd venture downtown to see just how well the sil and bil's always-packed (her words, not ours) was doing. We drove by Cafe 61 fast and unnoticed like a thug in a drive-by-shooting. It was full of people alright. Full of people standing outside reading the menu lol.

After that, I suggested dropping by the sil's to give Marley the Christmas present we'd got for her that's been sitting in the trunk of my car for the last couple of months. Everytime my exercise mat touches it, Dora the Explorer goes "SPLASH(!) I LOVE SWIMMING IN MY POOL". Once Bruce was driving and heard it and almost drove off the road lol. We figured it wouldn't be too hard to buy her anther present in the near future.

So we did just that... and not a minute had gone by and already he was summoned by the sil to deal with hr computer problems. He solved it, of course... and continued to teach his sister about the difference between websites and blogs... and then went further to teach her how to build one. That's when he almost made the faux pas of revealing the identity of my blog. He was trying to tell her how simple it is to create a blog ie, even retards like me could lol. First he showed her his blog where she read the post about the fortune cookie before the mil went for her surgery. She asked "how did you get the name Mountain Tortoise?". He brotherly answer, 'don't worry about it'. Now only if you had a brother like my husband would you deal with that answer with complete SILENCE. I was laughing hysterically inside my head. He went on, 'yeah it's really easy to create a blog... even...' I was like OH NO YOU DON'T!!!! Fortunately, he caught himself hahahaha. Changed the subject and went on to step two on creating her blog for the restaurant.

If my sil is as nosey as I am, or half as curious as her brother is, she'd start reading his blog entries tonight and find a link to my blog. Of course, that would mean she'd have to remember the link or go through the trouble of goggling mountain tortoise... and she gets there, actually take time to read through his links or read his articles and actually pay attention to the links. That is, if she knows that the highlighted words ARE links. At least at the writing of this, she doesn't know YET lol. If you see a nasty comment, you'd know it's her lol.

Why I Love My Manolo Blahniks

Granted, most women have a shoe fetish. I am a woman. A woman who loves her shoes. A woman who wears shoes that other women notice... a lot. A couple of women actually confessed that before they talk to me, they have to first check out the shoes I'm wearing - hey, I have no problem with that :) So when I get ooh's and aaah's from friends (and sometimes strangers) about my shoes, where I got them and no, they're usually not that surprised that my purchases are not from Memphis; it's flattering but not surprising. After all, I have great taste! :)

BUT, only a pair of Manolo Blahniks would get the attention of a 95, yes, read - NINETY FIVE year old lady sitting next to me at the hair salon. I think I caught a short gasp first... then I noticed her making eye contact with the owner of the hair salon, Lisa. She called Lisa's attention to my shoes with her eyes and raised her eyebrows (probably thinking look-at-the-pair-of-shoes-this-bloody-chinkie's-wearing LOL). When she saw that I was smiled in her direction. She glanced at me and said 'oh my, aren't those hottie shoes. I wanted to thank her for calling me a hottie but preceeded to understand that she was calling the shoes 'hottie'. Certainly under no circumstances was she pointing to me lol. It was great! Still picking out hot shoes at 95... that would be me :)

Guys, never mind those blue boxes - unless there's a huge ass diamond in it! Go for the Manolo's! Trust me.