Tweets for Today

• 00:24 slowly losing energy... dinner? who the hell cares lol - that's a first huh?!
• 13:49 doing my daughterly duty, hanging out with mom - our girlie time every morning...

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Tweets for Today

• 23:29 i've been so bad with updating twitter since i arrived... sorry friends...

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Tweets for Today

• 03:19 Annoyed already at dad for inviting mr exciting to a family dinner and then back to the house!?! Wtf?!
• 13:35 hanging out at 'home' with mom while everyone is still snoring away...

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Tweets for Today

• 01:03 Going to have steak dinner with sotong edward - apparently his surname is callimerri lol
• 04:54 i'm soooooooooooo sleepy now
• 11:32 too excited to sleep more; awaiting the arrival of my brother and his family

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At Home In Melbourne

Well, we made it. Yes, some two days ago and in a few hours, my brother, his wife and my two nieces will be at the door, arriving from Singapore. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. I've been up every half hour since 2am, waiting for time to past so I can see the girls again. I finally gave up going back to sleep.

It's been nice hanging out with just my parents. Of course they acknowledge the weight gain but actually mentioned it once and dropped it. Hmmm... that's kind of nice :) Didn't even make me feel bad about myself! Must be 'coz I haven't seen either of them in a year. They've been super nice and super sweet with the husband too so I can't complain. Of course, the king has been awesome about being the perfect son-in-law this far lol. I know he's not having a ball but he certainly isn't showing he's not... he even got the apt a wireless connection yesterday and I'm psyched about that. At least this part of Melbourne is in the 21st century lol!

It's been pouring the last two days... you all know how much I love rain but wow, it really is tough in a walking city with a big ass heavy umbrella in tow and having to make sure mom is ok walking in the streets with me with those darn helium butterfly balloons for the kids. Yes it was hilarious but we succeeded and my nieces will be happy when they see them - of course, it's a fraction of what they had at their super fancy birthday party my brother and my sil threw them last week but this really isn't a competition. I'm doing it to celebrate their birthdays with them... and I've gotten a cake from the city's fanciest cake people, 'Let Them Eat Cake' :D So I, more than them, can't wait to see the cakes they've come up with :)

It'll probably be hard to blog again until towards the end the trip. So far, I'm having a ball and am looking forward to spending time with EKT & HOT :)

Tweets for Today

• 15:34 back to clean up and then it's off looking for helium balloons for the girls - they arrive tomorrow!!!
• 20:14 back at home just chilling out - balloon search success!
• 22:10 At home waiting for the fridge repairman while bruce installs the wireless router for dad

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Tweets for Today

• 14:51 Just landed and i'm not even grouchy lol
• 19:20 nice and cleaned and going out to lunch

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Tweets for Today

• 05:05 awake and should be packing but isn't lol
• 06:27 finally packing for our trip to australia... how the hell am i gonna get everything in?!?!
• 17:32 Final-phucking-ly we're at the AA flagship lounge - qantas as usual could not find my electric visa - wasted an hour!
• 18:19 i want this loudmouth to go sit somewhere else!!!
• 18:35 why do parents LIE when they are boasting about their kids!? ...like this big mouth next to us!! GO AWAY!!!
• 19:15 awesome - the loud mouth and friends are leaving! Sorry london they're heading your way lol
• 20:45 oooh i'm soooo excited to see my nieces!
• 21:24 Off to catch the shuttle over to the int'l terminal
• 23:08 Ok we're on the plane - see you guys in 14 hrs!

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Killing Time @ LAX

Well, after standing at the Qantas counter for more than an hour encountering, we've calmed down and at the lounge. This anxiety with qantas is is something I ALWAYS go through when I'm flying to Australia. I don't know why. I can't possibly be the only Singaporean in the US traveling with a Singapore passport with a Chinese name as well as an English name!?! Well either way, they can't ever seem to find my ETA (electronic visa thingy) despite printouts (in the past) and last night, we actually called Qantas USA and they did it for me over the phone. They changed my two word Chinese name to one word. Ok, whatever works as long as I get a visa. So we tell the gate agent what we went through and he did what we were adviced to tell the gate person... nope nothing. This went on for 30 mins... usually the guy I deal with just gets me a new visa. Unfortunately, the guy today just starred at the monitor like some miracle would happen if he starred hard enough. AIYOH! I wanted to vomit blood! In the end, he had to call Qantas USA himself and of course, they could rectify it and told me which was my first name and which is my middle. DUH!? I know, it's my phucking name for almost 40 years for crying out loud!! For $20 to get this ETA, it sure isn't 100% proof. I mean, how can it happen to me EVERYTIME!? Worst, when I get to Oz, we're gonna' have to go through this again. I try to stay calm but you know once I see my parents, I'll tell them to sell the bloody house there LOL!

So we're finally relaxing at the American Airlines Flagship Lounge - the 'secret lounge' so the king calls for people who travel way too many miles (like we do - last year I flew more than 120,000 miles lol) or for people (or their company) who pay way too much money for their tickets lol! I guess it sieves out the fools who would come in here and take total advantage of the free booze (uh huh free alcohol!), free food, free every bloody thing. Guess what they don't have for free?!?!?! Free wifi LOL! Apparently they ran out of password cards - whatever that means. Fortunately for us, we have T-mobile hotspot... thus, I'm happy again :) I guess it explains why the few businessmen around are either reading the papers, eating or both and not on their computer which is common when it's free wifi :) ...crap so much bloody space in this place and this loud mouth has to come sit next to us - GO AWAY LAH!!

So we have another good 5 hours to burn. Five hours is nothing... the last time I flew to Australia, I had a 10 hour layover here and boy did I enjoy it in this lounge lol! Like I said, barely anyone is ever in here when I'm here and there are more people to service you then you need. Once your plate is empty, the staff comes out from nowhere and clears it lol! Just the way I like it... no... just the way it should be :D

I just called my dad to tell him what time we're arriving. He sounded a little discombobulated since he and mom arrived some five ago :) Apparently, he's already gotten some vendor at Victoria Market to get lobsters, oysters and king prawns delivered - I guess that's what we're having for breakfast when we arrive lol! That's dad for you! He don't play no games when hosting lol! Mom, according to dad, has checked-in to work after he told me she wasn't around to come to the phone. That, in our family terms means 'mom's gone to the casino' lol! Yes, when in Melbourne, mom joins the ranks of all other Asian aunties at Crown Casino clocking in at 10 or 11am and getting home before dinner time. I think as long as she's out of his hair, dad's happy she's doing something, anything. Maybe my husband will feel like that too after we've been married for 40 years... ok, maybe he already feels like that lol! No, not that funny...

I kind of want to talk about this family who was going through security ahead of us in Seattle. A mom, dad, two teenage kids and one below ten. OMG the mother who's gotta' be at least in her late 40s kept bending down and showing her purple thong lacy panties! I kid you not! Those jeans were SO low rise I could see her ass!! Even my straight laced husband couldn't ignore the unattractive sight. Well, ugly to me at least lol! What made it worst, she did this constantly and her ass was in our face at least four times! I was SO looking for my camera phone hahaha! That was amusing and disgusting at the same time. I would be SO staying away from her if I was one of the kids... bloody embarrassing man! ...then there was the mother with her 18 month old kid flying from Seattle to Los Angeles in first class seated right in front of us who wouldn't stop chatting to a fellow passenger - not traveling with her. ARRGH! Thankfully, for once, I had my ipod with me and boy did I blast it 'coz she was talking over all the airplane noise. Uh huh - LOUD! Her baby was more quiet then she was - imagine!

Right, time to have a snack :) So much to choose from - I almost want to ask if they can make me some stir fry HAHAHAHA! Yes, of course I'm exaggerating lol!

Tweets for Today

• 06:37 online shopping and catching up with laundry before we leave tomorrow - happy easter!
• 08:33 it's a beautiful rainy morning!
• 10:26 getting ready for dim sum with julie s. and eric
• 11:31 off to dimsum then easter egg hunt mid afternoon...
• 17:08 home from indoor easter egg hunt - i didn't find the golden egg :( but i did a ton of candy lol
• 17:43 stupid eta won't give me my visa to go to australia
• 19:33 got my aussie visa sorted out phew - not ready to pack however lol
• 20:14 heading out to serious pie for dinner
• 22:24 not packed but heading to bed anywayz hee hee

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Tweets for Today

• 07:48 @sling - don't be mama drama ok lol
• 07:49 awake and facebooking
• 12:23 Got takeout lunch from uwajimaya - now on the way home
• 18:01 getting ready for girl's night out
• 23:50 home from girl's night out and had a very nice time with julie t, olivia and hana

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Tweets for Today

• 06:03 wide awake and glad it's before 7am - don't ask me why :)
• 08:05 time to do laundry and get some breakfast...
• 10:58 start to the day part 2
• 11:58 all dressed up and nowhere to go lol - i think i'll head to target in northgate
• 13:06 still home - gotta' get outta' here NOW
• 15:31 home from shopping downtown... it's so hot! where are the clouds?!
• 16:52 At the movies watching Be Kind Rewind
• 19:24 Having dinner at Wild Ginger
• 21:11 @nata2 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)
• 21:27 home from a nice friday evening... glad to be in seattle!
• 22:11 stupid scrabulous is messing up big time!! i asked for two games and it gave me like TWENTY! arrgh!!!

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I'm Just Here...

Not much has been going on since my last entry. I mean, my friend Ling and her husband visited Seattle and we had a nice time hanging out... oh, wanna see the dark'ish video of us playing Wii tennis lol! It's bloody embarrassing but I now understand why these tennis players grunt and groan when they play :) Yes, the shorter, wider one on the right is me - don't judge my green cardigan... it was St Patrick's day :D



Oh, I went out with my girlfriend Linda and she baked me cookies! Check this out! She had it all personalized with the tag explaining the cookies and how they're freshly made (no preservatives) and that they should be eaten fresh. Of course I took the advice - I'm done with the almond ones (SO GOOD!) and have only a few walnut cookies left. Yes, I take such instructions very seriously :D

Other than that, I've been shopping. Yes, crazy shopping. Yesterday, I got myself new outfits (with the weight gain and all arrgh!) for my upcoming Australian trip to see my entire family - well entire immediate family - I simply cannot wait to see my two little nieces. EKT is not three, well she'll be three the day she flies to Australia and the little one, HOT (Hannah Olivia Tay) just turned one last week :) Talking on skype with the video cam just isn't the same as holding them... so that'll be my highlight of the trip - yes it'll be nice to see my parents, my brother and my sil too lol. I'm also throwing a mini birthday party for the girls - I've even ordered cakes for the mini event via the internet so I cannot wait to go pick them up. I hope they turn out nice 'coz this bakery has really an awesome reputation :) Now, to find girlie balloons... if only they have a Red Balloon like they do around the corner from us. Yet another reason why I dislike the Melbourne CBD area. Everything is so hard to find and they don't even have a decent grocery store! ...it's not like nobody lives in the area... of course I haven't been there in a year so maybe some things have changed... yeah right! This is Australia we're talking about. People are so laid back they're too 'busy' doing the official Australian wave ie, swatting the flies away lol! No really, the pace is really slow there... even slower then Memphis lol! Nothing wrong with that, I'm just used to things happening a lot swifter. Hey, I'm Singaporean!

I should be able to update my blog from Australia... till then... follow my tweets. Oh, still a few days before I leave I suppose hahaha, so there might be another entry or two before I leave...

Tweets for Today

• 07:05 awake... not really... doing laundry...
• 07:15 thrilled to see new pics of nieces on flickr
• 08:55 getting ready to go meet gigi in tukwila
• 10:32 gigi canceled - i'm off bank interest rate shopping instead...
• 14:13 shopped for interest rates but enjoyed real shopping MUCH more :D
• 16:36 home after happy hour at shultzy's
• 22:47 making dinner... my noodle sucked so i'm heating up my good old hei bee hiam sandwich YUM

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Tweets for Today

• 07:00 woken up by a phonecall... still sleepy
• 08:57 having a nice slow morning... just had breakfast and watching yesterday's 'the view'
• 10:12 catching up with emails and then getting ready to go meet linda in a couple of hours
• 10:39 @sling - have a safe flight and see you guys soon!
• 11:33 out to run an errand before heading to pabla in renton
• 16:25 home from lunch with linda, picking bruce up and checking out a house for sale... still no luck :(
• 19:05 the mini nap was so nice!

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Tweets for Today

• 07:03 went to bed at 3am and up already... need to learn to sleep-in
• 10:13 made chicken curry and prata for breakfast and now off shopping in the neighborhood
• 16:16 off to pick ling and mark @ pier 55 then do starbucks headquarter tour...
• 21:01 had nice feast with ling, mark and kira @ new star in i.d - now home and gonna' call it a day now - i'm beat!

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Tweets for Today

• 04:04 up for awhile and can't sleep after a nasty email from some idiot in tn about my flickr pic / comment about his fav restaurant DUMBASS
• 04:53 heading back to bed...
• 09:16 up again, getting ready to run an errand... do do i dare go to target on a weekend?
• 13:01 hanging out at shultzys and then going to an open house in a bit

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Tweets for Today

• 06:52 cleaning and doing laundry - what's new :)
• 09:55 getting ready to meet ling, mark and their local friends at chinooks in magnolia for brunch
• 14:25 back from hanging out at gossip for bubble tea for a little bit...
• 21:27 had homemade chicken pie and cheesecake for dinner... well, we're still alive lol

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Going Non-Asian In The Kitchen

I must have been in a weird mood this week. In the last two days, I've managed to bake a cheesecake AND a chicken pie. How un-me of well, me lol!

It was my first attempt with the cheesecake. Considering neither of us are big cheesecake fans, I don't know what knocked me in the head to even want to bake one. Oh I know, I'd gone to my room mate's home and she baked one and it was awesome! She told me which cookbook she got it from and after I found it on Amazon for almost eight bucks cheaper then the local bookstore, I ordered it :) It's taken awhile since then as I only brought the hand mixer back from our Memphis trip last weekend... so I baked it Friday evening and managed to get a slice of it last night after dinner. Hmmm... it tastes much better then it looks fortunately - and the king did some research for me on why the cake cracked shortly after I removed it from the oven. .. turns out the cold draft didn't help and apparently it's practically a badge of honor for amateurs :) See, that's what cookbooks need to tell you darn it! Ok, maybe this one just wasn't the best cookbook lol! I also didn't bake it in that water bath thingy so if I ever want to attempt baking again, I might just do that. Not much more trouble after all.

One thing's for sure however. I hate the accuracy of baking. Having to measure and mix and do all this thinking is just too much for me to have a slice of bloody cake lol! But yes, to do it from scratch, I must say, certainly gives me a sense of achievement especially since the taste is pretty much spot on.

Fortunately for the chicken pie, I didn't have a recipe LOL! Well I say fortunately now only because we have yet to taste the pie. I got up this morning and decided to get it started. After all, I had all the ingredients and why have the fridge stocked up with all that stuff right? Of course, now I have the fridge packed with a cheesecake AND a chicken pie lol :) DUH!

I've made the chicken pie before and I've tasted it a gazillion times. My sister-in-law (sil) back home used to buy us over with her cooking and her mom's baking when she and my brother were dating. Boy, let me tell you, did it work lol! Eventually, my brother and her got married, I moved back to the States and she was kind enough to give me her recipe. YUM! Unfortunately for me, the recipe together with our favorite cookbooks and recipe files were lost by USPS when we shipped it over here a couple of months ago. Guess who's screwed?! :) Worst, my sil can't find her recipe either - who needs recipes now when she's already married and has two kids LOL so i decided to wing it... yup, and wing it I did!










Like I said, I have yet to try the chicken pie but I'm pretty confident it turned out alright. I mean, how wrong can I be right?! The filling was already precooked before I put it in the oven... if this turns out right, I guess I should jot it down to make sure I know exactly what I put in and how much of it or the next time will be yet another experiment. Ahhh, I'll just wing it :D

Tweets for Today

• 07:42 hopefully it'll be a better day today then yesterday...
• 08:23 @frankarr - yes i will celebrate by shopping... $314? hmmm...
• 10:42 it's spiderman!! ...actually it's just the window cleaner outside our 17th floor window :s
• 13:49 off to find a side table for the guest room...
• 14:04 omg is it really past 2pm already?! ok need to get out of here of i'll dive right into crazy friday traffic
• 16:33 i hate friday afternoon traffic - doesn't anyone work a full day in seattle?!
• 20:16 waiting for my cheesecakes to be baked... keeping my fingers crossed
• 23:28 my cheesecakes are semi successful - tastes pretty good, looks ummm not exactly a beauty lol
• 23:57 off to bed - been a long day...

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"Go Read The Chinese Newspaper!!!"

I used to hate that statement!! Whenever my mom saw me hanging around the house doing absolutely nothing, that's what she would ask me to do... or when she sees me looking into the fridge to see what was there. To not let me eat (again), she'll ask me to go study my Chinese or read the bloody newspapers! It became a habit - for me, not her - looking into the fridge lol... even when I wasn't looking for food. When I was bored, I would open the fridge... I couldn't walk by that big appliance in the kitchen without opening it. But this entry isn't about the fridge or my fetish with the refrigerator... it's about my mom, whom I used to think, couldn't stand to see me happy ie, in a state of nothingness lol... yes, when I was bumming around the house with absolutely nothing to do - homework not counted as something to do - I was the happiest. But mom wouldn't have that. ...and her most said phrase to me was 'go read the Chinese newspaper'; after that would probably be "go wash your face it's rough like sandpaper!". I kid you not!

My mom is Chinese educated and just couldn't understand how her daughter, even tho' fluent in Mandarin, just couldn't write an essay with ease or flair... nor read the five gazillion characters like she can. ...of course, my mother the typical Chinese woman who's a size 2 or 4 (when she's fat lol) also can't imagine how a big buffalo like me came out of her lol! Hey don't look at me... it's those darn big bones... yeah right!

Well, all that came back to bite me last night. The king and I ventured out to the boonies on the east side for dinner. Yeas Wok had great Yelp reviews. "Best Taiwanese food!" one reviewer said... nobody mentioned anything about their different menus in any of the reviews... well, we walked in. "No wait for a table for two' the girl at the counter told me in Mandarin - like I was hoping to wait for one and would be disappointed without the big wait. I looked at her and said 'hao' which means 'good'... like what else am I supposed to say? "Yippee ai eh"?! We were seated, and hot tea and ice water were served without being prompted and we opened our respective menus. Bruce quickly realized and said "they gave me the ang moh menu" which, to me meant that everything in that English menu had Americanized Chinese food. No problem, I thought... I have the normal Chinese one. Well, I flipped through the menu and bellowed "OH NO!!! OH SHIT!!!". To my horror, there were only Chinese characters in the Chinese menu. No English translations that I always assume and expect. I mean, we ARE in America! ...and every other restaurant has it that way... Chinese AND English 'helping words' to let me figure out what things are... WORST, it was all in traditional characters unlike the simplified version people in Singapore and the rest of (most) Asia who grew up in the 70s were taught. I had to think quickly... but I didn't want to order stuff I knew... we're at a new restaurant, a Taiwanese one at that... I want to eat something different!

The waiter came over and I spoke to him in my Taiwanese accented Mandarin (yes, like in English, Mandarin comes in different accents as well). I said sheepishly, "I can only read like 30 percent of this menu - can you help me order?". Man! That was a tough one and it certainly didn't help with the husband laughing his head off sitting across from me - he was laughing so hard his eyes were red from crying! He just couldn't stop. He wouldn't stop even after the guy left. Arrgh! Hey, there are Americans who don't read English - and they don't even have a backup language to help them - so there!

Fortunately, the waiter was helpful but I can't say I was overly impressed with the stuff that was brought to us. First dish was beef and basil - the server brought the food to the table and asked if we ordered it... my other sheepish answer of the evening 'ummm, I have no idea what I ordered' lol! No really! All I told our waiter was that we wanted; a tofu dish, a beef and a fish dish preferably without bones and that we want really spicy food and we'll eat anything. The beef was good but nothing out of the ordinary... the tofu dish was actually tofu skin with veg, beans... a pure vegetarian dish which wasn't half bad but nothing I would probably order if I could read the menu... and sea bass which was good but on the sweet side. Oh and the servings are huge! The husband wanted potstickers as usual and they were BAD - the dumplings were bad, the sauce was bad and they don't even have their own made hot sauce/oil... at least they only gave me bottle sambal olek type chilli when I asked for it.

I did look around to see mostly non-Chinese families having their Thursday night meal and a crying baby who just wouldn't quit. Everyone was eating Americanized Chinese food. To be quite honest, their food looked really good :D We sat next to the lineup of bags of take out and I noticed that EVERY take out order had orange beef, or orange chicken, or orange something. Must be good though that's as Chinese... well it's just not.

I probably wouldn't go back unless I have someone who really wants Taiwanese food and can read traditional Chinese. I'll take mom there when she comes... of course, she might remind me that if I'd read the Chinese newspapers when I was growing up, my reading skills would help me order something good at this restaurant - arrgh!

Tweets for Today

• 07:06 hopefully it'll rain all day as promised
• 09:03 getting ready to go run errands
• 12:56 back from errands, rushing off to pick bruce up to lexus dealership

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Tweets for Today

• 06:29 up and just pissed off with the world
• 08:58 getting ready to go meet connie at ikea - YEH!
• 16:09 home from hanging out with connie... so much fun and laughter between us :D
• 21:19 Having dinner at Chiso with Yoshi
• 22:01 it was nice to see yoshi again... home now and watching king of queens reruns
• 22:41 playing word scramble with connie on facebook lol
• 23:11 watching 'little mosque on the prairie' - i kid you not lol

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Tweets for Today

• 06:36 half awake...
• 08:27 prepping for dinner... i know, a little early eh lol
• 12:22 finally out of the kitchen, took awhile to make a watermelon juice and clean up...
• 12:59 off to crate and barrel :)
• 19:29 got stuff at c&b, bought my nieces presents, picked bruce up and now i'm home

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Tweets for Today

• 07:35 i don't like daylight savings... woke up at 7! :(
• 09:35 arrgh just cleaned up a big mess in the fridge... i was wondering where that black sweet sauce went LOL
• 16:52 went to costco then dropped bruce off at shultzy's - then went to target
• 17:36 about to make some dinner... i feel bad i haven't cooked much since we moved here :)
• 21:01 @sling - you still there!? sorry forgot to call you...
• 21:18 bruce enjoyed my cooking tonight... off to the bedroom to catch up on tv shows

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Back In Seattle

Despite the crazy going-ons while we were back in Memphis ie, me being locked-out of the house and then locked-in the following day lol... the insane snow storm... we had a very nice time.

As usual, the sushi gang made us feel very loved like superstars when we walked into Sekisui Collierville on our regular Thursday evening sushi-bar get-together. Sharon & Billy, Joelle & David, Dr DeWane & his sister, Rachel, who was visiting from Nashville, and of course, the regular Thursday Sekisui staff, Chui, Mike, Kelly and Yoshio all made the evening just like before... fun fun fun!

The king got to see ex colleagues on the first night with the gang from his usual boy's night out ummm, boys... and then the next day, I missed seeing the Murphy family 'coz of my hair appointment. Hey, Maryanne could squeeze me in, so I was more than thankful as it was; missing burrito lunch or not lol!

Of course, the snow storm made things a little bit more exciting! Actually, it was awesome to see some nice serious snow come down for a good 12 hours or so! We even had to postpone our dinner plans with the Sgolombis' on Friday evening, we stayed in, ate frozen pizza and just hung out in bed watching tv, playing scrabulous and were just happy to be inside and safe.

We eventually caught up with Julie and Gaby at New Asia (and also got to catch up with Vincent for a little who was working that evening) and had quite the feast lol! But that's nothing out of the ordinary when the four of us get together :)

It's good to be back in Seattle... but... where's the cloud and rain I was looking forward to coming home to?!?!

Tweets for Today

• 02:02 up at an unearthly hour... online and watching 'tucker' on msnbc - can't find the remote...
• 02:06 ok never mind getting more z's now
• 07:31 crazy sun outside but it's below freezing :)
• 07:54 need to get out of bed and be a little productive...
• 11:36 had yummy indian food for lunch... back playing scrabulous...
• 20:43 had a nice dinner with julie and gaby... now gonna' have a couple of hours of sleep before heading back to seattle
• 22:12 finally caught up with scrabulous... now gonna' get less than 2 hrs sleep

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Tweets for Today

• 03:43 no snow as i expected... why are the meteorologists here ALWAYS wrong?!
• 04:11 going back to sleep... i'm sleeeeeepy...
• 10:00 made a quick trip to the grocery store - mad rush there like it's the end of the world lol
• 10:30 OMFG my husband just locked me in the house - i can't get into the effin' garage!!!
• 11:49 Maryanne my local hair person is horrified with what the seattle girl has done to my hair
• 12:26 home from my hair appointment and i'm happy again :)
• 13:39 SNOW SNOW SNOW!
• 18:38 dinner plans canceled, snowed in and hanging out in bed
• 19:10 @sling - how long have you been in the u.s!? why are you still doing the conversion lol
• 19:14 still snowing... bet it'll be ugly tomorrow morning...

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What Is It With My Luck / Brain On This Trip

So yesterday I left the house without the house keys and my cellphone. Instead of getting to a payphone immediately to get the husband to come home and let me into the house, I went shopping. ....and shop I did! I hung out for a good more than three hours, and coming home to check after each store I went. 2:00pm, 3:30pm, 4:45pm... after the third time I figured that was enough time he'd had hanging out with old colleagues so I relented and went to a pay phone.

This morning, I left for the grocery store after my lunch date was canceled. I figured with the winter storm warning, I would run to the grocery store quickly. The husband reminded me of my keys and phone. I did that successfully, came home and left my pocketbook in the car since I was leaving the house within 30 mins for my hair appointment (yes another hair appointment since I didn't get it highlighted the other day). I came in, my girlfriend called from Seattle and I'm on the phone while the king leaves for his lunch appointment. I get off the phone, start to leave the house and guess what?! The husband has locked the door to the garage door, I don't have my keys and I'm stuck 'coz even though I can get out of the house from the front and/or side doors, I can't get into the garage!!! OMG!!! I can't believe my luck.

The owner of the hair salon has said she'll come get me but she's doing someone's hair right now, so I'm still waiting... arrgh!!! Two days and I've had two days of keys issue.

Oooh, Lisa just called - she's on her way - now I just hope the husband remembers to come pay and pick me up LOL!

Tweets for Today

• 04:56 awake in my nice big bed... lots to do today...
• 06:59 still refusing to get out of bed
• 16:35 left home this morning without my cellphone AND house keys... LOL went shopping... then went hunting for a payphone... tsk tsk
• 16:49 resting for tonight's night out with the sushi gang

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Things Fall Apart

Besides it being the title of my 'O' Level literature fiction (yuk... double yuk!), we're here at our country home HAHAHHAHAA - I'm sorry, it's just our former home in Memphis but it just sounds so glamorous being able to say it... 'our country home' LOL!

We got home last night and the thermostat on the air-conditioner in our bedroom didn't work... a couple hours later the king - on his way out to boy's night out - realized that his car's battery was dead dead dead :s So this morning, we got AAA to come help jump-start his car and then he headed to the dealership to get his battery replaced... and then the a/c & heater guy came out to fix the thermostat. Well, at least everything is fixed now...

No more stuff breaking please!

Tweets for Today

• 04:07 getting ready to head for the airport
• 05:05 At the gate waiting for our flight to Chicago - yawn!
• 10:23 Another one hour before the flight to Memphis - checking emails and burning batterey life...
• 15:37 back in memphis in our big bed and lovin' it! :D
• 16:10 no car to go get my dinner exchanged - stupid einsteins don't understand english!!!

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Tweets for Today

• 07:25 late start to the day... just woke up...
• 08:29 @nata2 - i know, no fuss, good food, in and out - can't beat that :)
• 08:46 trying to get all my appointments set up for when i'm in memphis
• 11:46 Got a haircut at Ten Pachi, shopped at Urban Kids Play - now what
• 12:54 i look like bozo the clown after the haircut... hmmm... HELP!!!
• 17:21 arrgh it's SO sunny in here! annoying!
• 20:19 off to serious pie for dinner... still lookling like bozo

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Going Shopping @ Home Again

It's our second trip back to Memphis since our official move here. Again, I'm heading back there with my empty luggage to go shopping in my closet... probably 'shop' more in my kitchen even tho' I've practically run out of space in the cabinets here. I miss my Memphis kitchen... :(

It'll be good to see some friends... I'm seeing my nail people, my hair people... one friend... and I'm quite happy about it. Of course there is our sushi gang who will be waiting for us at the sushi bar... I have a couple of people to call and maybe see; but knowing me, I probably won't get around to doing that this trip lol.

I cannot believe I haven't left the country at all this year! It's already March lol! I don't think I have ever stayed that long in Memphis and not left the country.

Okay, I have to go get a couple of hours of shut-eye before our 6am flight out.

I Look Like Bozo The Clown

You'd think that from a person who used to say she has pig-nose, Bozo the Clown would be a step up. Unfortunately, it's Bozo WITH the pig-nose LOL!

I went for a haircut today. I decided to check out Yelp and went for the cheap haircut that EVERYONE who reviewed this place gave it five stars! Well... I should know cheap doesn't always equal good... or good enough. It's not bad... I think it's more for the young college kids... or just for the person seeking a cheap haircut. I, obviously, isn't in any of the two above subset.

I don't hate my haircut as much as you might think I do. After all, I have hair that grows like hares multiply in cartoons... so it doesn't bother me as much as if I had thin and ungrowable hair. But it's just the way the girl styled it and then the other lady came over and said "Cute! I like it!". It was just wrong. It made me look like one of those haircuts (with fringe) that they'd just cupped a bowl around my head and given me one of those typical Chinese pianist/violinist haircut. Laughable! ...and those mirrors... ok I know they don't have fat mirrors in there to make you look fatter but OMG, their mirrors sat right there starring back at me with no counter top/table to just show my upper body... but I'm sitting in front of a full length mirror. Wow that was an awakening. I didn't know I'd put on THAT much weight since I stopped working out ummm... right before last Fall. Of course, I've been eating EVERYTHING I've wanted so that certainly hasn't helped lol.

So the 'ugly full length mirrors' and the odd hair style and oh... chairs that couldn't sustain my weight!! They kept creeping down! I could feel it - I could bloody hear it! Now I know I can't be the heaviest person to go in there... this is, after all, America! I finally gave up and said 'I think your chair can't take my weight' half jokingly. My hair person said it was all the chairs but I honestly doubt it. It's a new salon - only five months - so she was just being nice... but it was rather embarassing for a fat girl, you know what I mean? Thank goodness I'm older and don't give a phuck about what people say about me... but if I were a young college student, I would be devastated and ran out of there crying lol! Yes, it's quite funny 'coz little things get to young girls... and this, to me, probably wouldn't be that 'small' a thing... oh well... just had to moan about my morning experience.

Maybe I should just go to Chinatown... but that's even worst - all the atypical skinny Asian girls with long straight perfect hair go there.

Tweets for Today

• 06:49 been awake for an hour... wondering if i should crawl back in bed...
• 07:47 AWESOME! it's drizzling - i need to find somewhere to go lol
• 10:11 omg past 10am and i'm still in front of this bloody thing... gotta' go get clean and go out somewhere...
• 14:15 Rented new dvds at Great Wall Mall - now heading back to Seattle
• 16:06 home and about to join the husband for a nap...
• 16:55 no nap for me... on the phone instead...
• 21:00 Having dinner at Pho Hoa and nice chat with Bruce
• 21:51 home after a nice simple bowl of pho in the i.d...
• 22:39 off to bed with my soya bean milk

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Tweets for Today

• 06:46 playing scrabulous on facebook
• 07:06 @sling - come on messenger
• 07:32 @hikikimo - why are most of your tweets duplicated?!
• 13:02 Off to look at open houses - again
• 16:05 Saw every house we wanted to see - if we have to buy a house today we'll be homeless lol
• 17:57 weird... deleted one of my doubled tweets and both are gone now arrgh - ok still full of red mango frozen yoghurt...
• 18:11 about to make dinner with leftovers from chiang's and who knows what i'll find...

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Women!

This is our second week in a row house hunting; going out to check all the open houses that we're interested in. ...not counting flying out here week after week before we moved looking for a suitable home until yup, we gave lol. It's so much easier now that we live here and being able to go to open houses. Since we're working with the Redfin people as our 'agents', I don't have to call to make appointments to see a house or explain to the seller's agent why THEY have to open the house for me and why my 'agent' can't come with me or open the lock for me... sometimes they (seller's agent) get so mean and won't even let us view the house! Yes, it's happened! Insane huh!? Funnily, we went around the house that the realtor (a woman) who didn't want to do her job and let the homeowner know... boy they were not amused lol! I mean, how would you feel if you're trying to sell your house in a hurry and your real estate agent - the person working for you - won't show someone the house just 'coz they're working with people who work with Redfin (apparently, MANY real estate agents hate the Redfin people...). The reality is, I have a computer, can gain access to all the MLS online and have a car with a gps... now remind me again why do I need a real estate agent to do the job I can do myself and then pay them waaaay too much money?! Especially now that I'm A LITTLE (very little) familiar with Seattle neighborhoods and a couple of the suburbs...

But yes, women... women realtors in particular. WOW! What is it about them?! The nice people I have met in this line are men. All men! Honestly, I have not met a single female realtor I liked... or even want to deal with on a friendly basis, much less if they're working for the seller. Pain in the ass! Why are they so pushy!? They get on my nerves! Even at open houses... just leave me alone, won't you!? I'm there to view the house... not buy it! If I like it enough, I will return. Your job is to open the door, tell me a little about the house and what I NEED to know (if you must) and leave me be. ...and if I have questions, I will ask! Don't ask me if I have any questions 'coz it makes me feel like I'm back in primary school and staring back at you just doesn't make me feel (nor should it you) very intelligent. So there!

Today we went to a very expensive home... a home I knew we would not buy unless I strike the mega million and have money to burn lol. But I had to see the house! It's just too cool looking from the pictures online! So we went and of course the wow-factor was in action. Unfortunately, a woman real estate agent was there to greet us... worse, Russian. NTAR!!! When we arrived, there was only a single Asian man, and the woman was selling HARD to the Asian man. She called it a 'tour' HAH! Then a young group of foursome with a couple of Asians walked in after us... what is it with this house and Asians lol! Ms loud Russian woman took every step with the one Asian dude while we were ignored lol. Not that I'm complaining but I felt bad for the guy. I mean, this is an open house but wow, this woman wasn't gonna' give up so easily on this guy. He wasn't particular well dressed (quite the opposite actually) and his car outside was well, let's hope he had banged up the rental lol - but he got there first so he was stuck with her lol! We walked around, I fell in love more when I saw the kitchen and deck area... and then we slipped quietly out the front door while she bellowed about what the architect did with the tiles and the doors and yoga room... yawn! Honestly, even if I did strike the lottery, this wouldn't be the house - it was out in nowhere Bellevue! Deeeeeep Bellevue...

So no perfect house yet... but we know for sure we don't want to live in West Seattle, Wallingford or View Ridge. See, we're slowing coming to terms with what we don't want or where we don't want to live :) Soon... we'll find something we love - I hope :)

Tweets for Today

• 07:34 cool - just got upgraded to memphis
• 12:41 just finished watching 'raisin in the sun' - blah
• 13:39 what thunderstorm?! off to the movies...
• 15:28 Watching Semi Pro - not that good this far
• 16:16 Omfg! It's super hailing in downtown Seattle!
• 17:26 home burning time before heading out for dinner
• 18:41 Off to Chiang's for some Chinese food
• 19:14 Big wait at Chiang's - this had better be worth the wait
• 19:39 Finally got the waitress's attention - thank goodness i didn't take Bruce's advice and took my top off
• 21:50 writing my yelp entry and heading to bed in a bit...

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Tweets for Today

• 06:57 soooo sleepy... but it's cloudy outside so you know i'm happy :)
• 11:05 off to meet a couple of singaporean ladies for lunch
• 16:05 home from lunch with shirley, dorothy and tammy
• 22:28 home from wing-experiment for shultzy's lol

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