PS2 Incompatible

We've had the Play Station 2 (PS2) for awhile now and I have always only played the karaoke games. Singing as a fat viking woman (it's the only not so thin woman available) and being booed off stage can be pretty humiliating but at least only the husband is around to enjoy the laugh.

A few months ago, the husband thought he would venture me into a cool game called Katamari where you basically are a rolling ball rolling over the universe to sweep up objects to make yourself bigger. Well that didn't work for me since playing on the big ass tv in our bedroom only subjected me to watching the ball on tv rolling and rolling and rolling and... you get the pic. It just got me seriously dizzy!! I quit playing the game after a mere 10 mins and had to call the husband at work to let him know the game got me sick. The man had a good laugh on my expense but I'll admit, it's pretty retarded and funny.

Well, the joke continues. Over the Christmas holidays, my sweet husband decided that since I can't watch little balls roll into big ones, he got a couple of new games for us. One was Simpsons and the other is Godfather.

This morning, after watching him test the Simpsons game before I went to sleep, I decided to be adventurous and test the game on my own while he laid next to me deeeep asleep. I didn't even get as far as stage two and I started feeling dizzy... trying to get Lisa's Science project to her was a real pain. OMG, before I knew it, I was feeling nauseous and sick. Yes, my breakfast didn't stick with me too long. Sure wasn't a pretty sight (or sound) when the husband heard me gagging in the bathroom. Yes, it certainly woke him up in a shock :s

Maybe it explains why my hands were shaking pretty bad when I was cycling on the stationary cycle this morning. So no more PS2 games for me. I'm not even brave enough to try the Godfather game. I'll stick to being the lardass viking trying to sing to a crowd of jerks who boo me constantly :)

Ten Days Of Feasting

Today, I went back to my regular schedule. What's regular schedule? Well, it's like Christmas plus working out lol

OMG after ten full days of avoiding even the thought of aeroboxing and spinning classes, I did a 45 minute 'switch' class this morning which entails switching (thus the name of the class) between ten minutes of stationary cycling and ten minutes of weights exercise till the 45 mins runs out. Talk about being in hell that would never end! I swear, all that good food (I was literally eating anything I wanted under the sun) during the holiday season, the luxurious breakfast every morning at the Grand Hyatt Seattle during our short stay there and the neverending flow of 'sticky paws' which I am absolutely addicted to.... ALL NOT WORTH IT(!!!). That is, only because I will be in hell every morning for a little while before I get back to my normal breathing pattern again :)

I'm sure the rest of the week and the next will be rough on me. I am certainly not looking forward to tomorrow, never mind the rest of the weeks to come :( Still, I would LOVE a sticky paw (or two) right now. No, I don't learn obviously!

No Thank Yous

It's a new year. A week after last year's Christmas day. We delivered the presents to the local nieces a week prior to the holidays. Birthday presents, christmas presents, presents from my mil (her wrist was in a cast from a fall earlier and couldn't shop for toys and certainly not wrap them). My husband being a very good son did all that for his mother. Everything was delivered on a Sunday afternoon and the bloody girl, the older one insisted (again) on calling me gramma. Worst, Gram-Mimi. That's the step grandmother. OMG I was gonna' bop her one I swear. She was calling me by the name of the woman who called me HUGE in my face! The little girl's been doing it for the last year or so every time I saw her. Immediately, her uncle threatened to take all the presents back if she couldn't address me by my correct name. Without a second thought, she quietly admits, 'auntie Karen' and shoots me the dirtiest look. Oooh, I so wanted to kill her. You laugh. But there is no love between us. She then runs across the room and hugs her uncle and turns back to me to say this-is-MY-uncle-and-I-love-him-not-you. KEEP YOUR PAWS OFF MY MAN I double screamed in my head. I realized quickly I was sinking to a new low fighting (in my head) with a five year old girl. Still... you can't blame me.

The husband is highly upset. Hurt though he probably won't admit it. We've speculated that maybe the girls didn't like their presents from us. But that's no excuse not to call to thank us. Maybe my sil didn't like the presents we got. Right, no bloody excuse for the rude behavior. Besides, the presents included a three hundred dollar gift certificate so the mother could get exactly what she wanted for the girls. We got them gift certificates because it's apparent that my sil and I have very different taste - I like kids to dress neat and preppy and she... doesn't. So the toys, an outfit each and the gift certificate has not deserved a simple thank you from anyone in that family. Not even when the husband called and spoke to the bil on Christmas afternoon. No mention about the presents, no thank you for the presents for the kids. So while I'd already given up on anyone calling to thank us, the call did finally come. Yes, a call from the sil out of the blues two days after Christmas! She left a message 'coz who in the right mind would pick up her calls right?! She was calling to ask for a favor. Yes, still no thank you. Still no mention of the gifts. Instead, she was calling to ask if her brother would pick up the birthday cake and ice for his nieces birthday party (after we returned home from our spending Christmas with friends, not family) because her husband had decided to work and she had three girls to handle in the house prior to the party. You know, we would do it for any of our friends; shit we would do it for a bloody acquaintance who treated my husband with some respect half the time. It was just so wrong for HER to call asking for this favor when first of all, she knew well and clear we weren't going to this five year old party. We don't live near her (thankfully). We just don't have that kind of relationship where you'd call to ask for a simple favor. Her brother was seriously upset while listening to the message. He roared his swear words while I spoke on my cell with my girlfriend wondering 'WTF' and shot him a look. I got off the phone quickly for him to relay the message to me. I was in disbelief. I mean, hello, aren't her friends' kids going to this party? Can't they do her that favor? Why did her husband decide to go to work instead of spend the day with their first born? Couldn't he do so before he went to work? The restaurant does not serve breakfast for crying out loud! Why was she asking her brother who had made it very clear wasn't attending the kid's party!?

My husband, her brother, didn't return the call. He's still upset he didn't get a thank you call from her or the kids. ...and I'm sure my sil is now upset her brother who couldn't even call to say 'no I won't do you the favor'. AIYOH! WTF right?! The family has something about not being able to confront each other; or hold a decent conversation; or have a civilized meal; or agree to disagreement on anything. My mil we're sure, have heard it from my sil about what a horrible person her brother is but is keeping tight lipped about everything. Her answers are now shorter then ever when her son asks her anything concerning the sister. She's just not a very tactful mother I conclude. This 'silent fight' would never happen between my brother and me 'coz if we were upset with one another, we would speak up or I would yell at his wife hahaha! The Tays are just different from the Ryans I guess. We're better lol. Plus we're awesome with thank yous - just not very good with saying 'I'm sorry'. :D

What I Learned In 2006

Next to my husband, my niece EKT is my everything

I dislike Memphis less then I thought but I would not like to die here - NO WAY!

I love our house more than I thought

My husband is a far nicer man then me until other drivers piss him off

Friends are all disposable - even some good friends. No matter how much I like someone, at the end of the day, I can too easily turn my back on them.

It's not too late to lose weight if I want to work phucking hard lol

I must love Japan or really love Japanese food or both to go there five times in a year

Wives and husbands of buddies usually will not be your buddy

My mother may still give me a baby sister lol

'C' students will not end up being road sweepers contrary to the believe my parents instilled in me as a kid

I can be really mean to people I dislike or even sometimes like

I am a pretty good daughter

I hate stupid people more than I thought especially if they are Americans

I don't know how to appreciate country bumpkins or the southern accent

People think I'm a hick 'coz I live in Tennessee

No matter how many times I say we're not going to have kids, it still lingers at the back of my mind constantly

Why is it a headline piece of news when a 93 year old man dies?

I dislike mild winters

I still hate all summer anywhere

Australia and aussies are still at the bottom of my list - even lower then summer

Chinese songs are so much better than English ones

I dislike Katie Couric for no bloody reason

Travelling 150,000 miles in a year for fun is tiring :)

My once strong nails are getting weak and brittle

Sears sucks

I love my new SILENT Bosch dishwasher

I still refuse to shop at Walmart (thank goodness)

I cannot live without a tv

I know I can be a bitch - I just don't like to be told by someone else

Most people let me know (in front of him) that I'm too lucky to have a husband like him - no one, as far as I know, tell him same :s Hmmm...

I know I learnt a lot more but that's all I can handle for now. Happy new year to all of you still reading me after all this time :D I'm sure 2007 will bring lots more reason to blog. Stay tuned.

Seattle Beats Memphis Hands Down

Our three-day holiday celebration is coming to an end. I don't want to leave. More so, I wished we lived here. I doubt there is any chance but it doesn't cost anything to dream.

Christmas with the Shultze family was very fun as expected. Susan and Don were their usual generous hosts and Susan's parents were in town from NY and were their usual hilarious charming selves. ...and the kids... my goodness, do they ever stop growing?! Dinner was awesome! Susan went above and beyond and cooked this fantastic roast beef meal and fortunately, I could make myself useful in an angmoh kitchen by making the mash potatoes :) This is what celebrating with a family at Christmas should be like... lots of conversation and laughter, lots of fun, lots of wine and champagne (LOTS hahaha!) and just chatter in every corner of the house; which I suppose, explains why we are not in Memphis with my in-laws - I kid you not, spending two hours with that bunch shortens ten precious years of my life. Not because they're not nice... ok, there are nicer people in the world hahaha, but we just have absolutely no common interest. Plus there are way too many unspoken topics that can't be brought up ie, their restaurant.

Boxing day and the day after that was spent with our friends Julie and her boyfriend Yoshi. We met Yoshi some six months ago when they first started dating and thought he was nice but didn't really get to know him well enough. This trip, we spent some quality time with him and we really really like to see them together. He's very sweet and I think Julie albeit tired of her job, enjoys Yoshi a lot. I know the husband and I did. He's got a good sense of humor plus, he eats EVERYTHING! How awesome is that?! We're hoping everything goes smoothly for them and maybe we can even meet them in Tokyo next March. That would be awesome!

I had a lot of fun shopping two full hours in Nordstrom and then a little in Eileen Fisher the morning of Boxing Day. Nordstrom opened at 8am and the husband and I were the first in line...... ok there was no line. Together with four other Japanese ladies, I got two Ferragamo bags, two pairs of Cole Haan boots, a pair of Stuart Weitzmen suede boots (you can't go wrong with the service you get at Nordstrom), and two pairs of Miu Miu sandals. I also chanced upon a bunch of fun gay guys working there who helped pick some new fragrances for me. They were hilarious! That's what shopping should be like. Fun! So even though it wasn't the best sale I've been to, it was such a pleasure to be at Nordstrom again. ...Julie says Neiman Marcus is returning to Seattle. Yet another reason I wish to live here lol.

Why do we feel more loved in Seattle then we do where we live 300 days of the year!? We enjoy our friends here and they us and simply shopping at Uwajimaya is a thrill. Sure we do similar things in Memphis as we do here; EAT (surprise surprise!). But it's just so much more fun here! The evening at Julie's was really awesome too. She made a bunch of out of the ordinary finger food (I should have taken some pics dammit!) like proscuitto wrapped in papaya (yeah I bet you've only had it with melon right!? BO-RING!) lol, steamed dungeness crab that was heavenly and served a bunch of Japanese snacks that we really enjoyed. Simple? Sure. Different? Yes. Fun? Definitely! Oh, and the neverending flow of sake was nice too :D

I don't know when we return to Seattle. Maybe Easter, maybe the summer. Either way, I can't wait to see our friends there again soon. Who knows, a couple of them might fly over to Memphis for our annual Chinese New Year party in February :)

Northwest Airlines Still Sucks

It's been more than a year since we flew Northwest Airlines (NWA). We stopped flying them even though Memphis is a NWA hub because they have poor customer service, both at the airports and certainly in the air, small narrow seats though equipped with neverendingly long seatbelts - I think for humongous people who can't fit into the damn chairs lol and most more important to us, a bad mileage program. What happens when you've earned a shitload of miles and want to use them? Nothing. You can't. Either they can't find seats for you or they want double the number of miles for you to fly which is bloody ridiculous. The only times I have had been successful in using my NWA miles was when I lived in Tucson, AZ and flew Alaska Air to Seattle to see my then-boyfriend, now laogong - good thing those miles didn't go to waste eh lol. So NWA hasn't exactly been our favorite - oh and they have a yukky air alliance program!

The husband and I are loyal American Airlines (AA) folks. We made it a point to fly only them this year and yes, that meant taking at least one stop flights to Seattle, New York or L.A when we could easily take non-stop ones on NWA. Sometimes even paying more! This has helped us make Platinum Executive status with way too many trips to Asia. It's my first time and the husband has achieved it too many times with his more than two million miles - Mr. forever-platinum. But the perks that comes with platinum status and executive platinum is yet another world apart. Besides the international upgrade coupons you get, the service you get that comes with when travelling is endless. For one, the special airport lounges alone is worth every single cent we've spend with them. These lounges (not the ordinary lounges for practically everyone) really are fancy and comfortable. They are only for the executive platinum folks or people flying first class on international flights. No, not even if you're flying business class. You go to the lowly favored lounge which is usually packed to the brink muahahahaha. In this fancy lounge which I have spent up to nine hours at the LAX one and have time just fly by (I kid you not!), the flow of free food and drinks is embarassing. Yes, it includes all alcohol. The ladies who work there certainly aim to please and will go out of their way to have your commands a reality. They went out of their way to get me an international adaptor when all I asked was where in the terminal I could get one. Now that's what I call customer service! It's just little things like that. Usually when you're in one of these lounges, you hardly get four people in it and trust me, they're not small. Nicer bathrooms, fancy showers, plush towels... like I said, the list goes on.

Yesterday, Christmas Day, first time (certainly last of this year) we flew non-stop on NWA to Seattle. We were exactly thrilled since that means no way in hell we will be upgraded since we are back to being cattle class folks and we actually have to pay for a meal on the four and a half hour flight. Yes, small detail but it's been so long since we've had to do this. With winter weather going berserk everywhere these days, we decided not to take the risk since getting to Seattle on Christmas day to hang out with the Shultze family is important to us, we went the direct route.

The airport was practically ghostly. No line at check-in, no line at security and the one mile walk to our gate was deadly except for the black family behind us who insisted on doing every James Brown impression lol. Yes, he died yesterday but come on! The NWA terminal at the Memphis International Airport has been revamped and I will admit, nice! Much nicer than what it was before. At least the retail part of it. I asked the husband why haven't they done anything to the gates and definitely the bathrooms. He quick response, "'coz bathrooms don't make money...". I suppose, but walking past the beautiful retail area to the gates looks like you're walking in a college dorm! YUK!

The 'smart' people of NWA doesn't seem to have boarding down to a science yet obviously. They did the first class AND the people who need help (I could have gone since I do need help in many facets of my life lol) and once that was over, they announced boarding for ALL groups. Now this is a packed to the brim 757 flight! So you can imagine the mad rush when the idiot said 'NOW' lol. It's like having a bunch of refugees rush for the next boat to America. Even we were in line pretty quickly considering we had our carry-ons meaning everything, with us. People were already trying to trade seats before boarding so you can imagine the trading that went on upon boarding. The dumbasses didn't realize that they were holding up the line behind them; or they just didn't care. They just wanted to be seated with the rest of the family. For crying out loud, it's only four a half phucking hours! Even the husband and I had seperate seats (his directly in front of mine) and of course, someone was in my seat telling me I should go take theirs at 6F. "Yeah, phuck off!". Ok, I didn't say that but I thought it lol. You take your original seat first then you come ask. You don't take my seat then tell me to back-track four gazillion people behind me (waiting to run me over to get to their seat ahead) to go to a seat in front of the plane. Of course Bruce said no hee hee. He's my sweetie pie :D

The flight was not too exciting except for the bad turbulence throughout the four hours and the pilot who insisted on doing the play by play on exactly where we'd just flown over. Hello, we're in the either in the midst of thick clouds or above it. Who cared where the hell we were!? Just shut the hell up and let me sleep!!! That was when I whipped out my Nintendo DS and busted a groove lol. It's the name of my new game lol!! ...oh, when it was time to out away all electronics, I was removing my headphone when I noticed the old and unattractive flight attended glaring coldly towards my direction. I starred back at her and she mouthed 'turn it off now!'. I frowned and thought 'you idiot, my phucking cell phone's been on the entire phucking fight bitch!' Hahahaha!

Of course we have to fly NWA back home in a couple of days. But I'm not looking forward to having to deal with them even one more time.

Time to go get ready for boxing day shopping adventure now :D

America Makes Me More Chinese

In Singapore the term used to describe someone as being very Chinese would be 'cheena obiang'. A derogatory term calling someone 'too Chinese' - if you know what that means. You know, the greasy straight flat hair parted in the centre, glasses so thick you can hardly see the eyes that were already small enough to be blind-folded by dental floss, speaks nothing but a Chinese language so loud your family back home can hear him. To put it simply, just a Chinese who is immediately recognized (or guessed) to be from Mainland; someone who seems rather fresh-off-the-boat'y :D Crude in mannerisms and personality. Forever stuck in their own little Chinese world.

While I have neither straight flat hair and gawd forbid, parted from the centre of my forehead, nor do I speak as loud as any typical Mainlander does (tho' I'll admit, I am loud lol), I am Chinese. I don't seem to look very Chinese to most people. I see that as a problem since most people think I'm Filipina or Hawaiian. Someone has even asked me what tribe I'm from thinking I'm Native Indian and one thought I was this Indian girl's sister (yes, the ones with the dot on the forehead). WTF!? But, living in the US of A has made me come to embrace being Chinese a lot more than I did ten, certainly twenty years ago when I was a mere know-it-all (well, know anything but Chinese) teenager.

This morning, I had a surprise IM message from my cousin's 21 year old daughter while I was listening to my itunes and catching up on email. She was gasping in surprise that she could see my playlist for a good hour of Chinese pop. Jay , Jerry, Jolin, Jacky, F4, LeeHom, you name it! Sure I listened to some Chinese songs growing up. Lord knows mom sang only Chinese songs to my baby brother and myself when we were kids - the same songs our little EKT is listening to now. But Chinese pop music wasn't exactly my forte. I could hum a couple of Emil and Jacky songs but which Chinese can't? These days, I look feverishly for them online, when I'm in Chinatown in NY, even in Japan when I'm at HMV.

I think it's because I'm returning to my roots. Being older now, living in a city where there are hardly Asians and speaking Mandarin means I'm talking to my mom or a couple of friends on the phone or maybe the Taiwanese sushi chef in town. I'm even trying to read the Chinese subtitles when I'm watching Chinese dubbed Korean series and making a point to match what they say with what I read. Insane as it might sound, but I can certainly read more Chinese chararters now then when I was in school when it mattered most lol.

Oh well, that's what living in America has done to me. I am now practically 'cheena' minus the physical charateristics . I suppose being surrounded by a bunch of not-the-brightest non-Chinese and non-Mandarin-speakers who I love to bitch about will do that to you. I only wish I could bitch it to someone else who will understand :D

Winter Is Here... Or Is It?

I know, it's been a month since I've posted anything and while I sit here skipping the 8:3am aeroboxing class (hey, Randy's been sick the last week and I'm tired of doing the alternative which is going to the gym that's filled with ugly old men (and I mean OLD) and even older women just to use the eliptical machine). I took yesterday off working out to prep for the Math department end-of-the-year party that was held at our house; so I figured taking the first class off this morning would be a nice treat for myself. Fine, I'll admit it, I'm feeling bloody lazy after a big ass bolw of fried rice for breakfast; there, I said it.

I can't say nothing been going on since my last post considering we did fly to Hong Kong. Nonetheless, I can't say it's been all that much different from any other month. Everyday's Christmas in the Ryan household. Okay, everyday's Christmas for ME. The weather, however, has been cranky. Last week we had below 20 degree days (that's below freezing for the people outside the US) and this week till Christmas it's going to be days as warm as 70 degrees! When did I move to Florida?! I want my real winter back!! I want my bitterly cold days and icy ass nights! I want to be able to be able to wear my winter coat, my leather gloves (cashmere lined of course), my high boots and my luxurious scarves without looking like I'm out of place. Ok, I will look out of place anywayz 'coz I live in a city where dressing up means you're going to court. Still, I enjoy going it - without explaination - and I want to, with permission from no one but the weather. I want to go shopping and see the stupid Salvation Army idiots standing there ringing the annoying bells asking for a donation (no, I NEVER give 'coz they spend the money people donate on sending people like me who don't, personalized address stickers and silly stuff like that which I trash without a second thought) dressed in their silly uniforms, not tees and cargos!

Okay, so where is the summary lol.

Hong Kong was a blast. Despite our incredibly short trip there, the husband and I spent two short but very fun days with my baby brother who was there on a business meeting and was able to stretch his trip to hang out with us... we saw my buddy and his new wife whom I cannot talk about here 'coz he reads my blog (lol). We will certainly be back to Hong Kong in the near future. The husband says the Chinese in Hong Kong are super nice (unlike the Singaporeans); but that's only 'coz he's a gwei lo and in a recently de-colonized country, they still feel that the gwei lo is King (not!) :D

I'll be the first to be admit, after flying 30 hours to Hong Kong for two and a half days and back and after flying more than one hundred and seventy five thousand miles this year, I had just about enough of taking long trips. After five trips to Japan, one to Hong Kong, one to Thailand, and I think two (or at least one) to Australia, going anywhere far isn't on top of my list for Christmas. The husband did suggest Japan and Thailand, even Singapore. But as much as I love to go to Asia for vacation, I had to shoot him one of those are-you-kiddin' looks and say 'naaaaahhhhhhhh!'. So Seattle it is for Christmas. Yes, we will spend it with the Shultze family and then see our friend (Japanese) Julie (not to be confused with my friend here, British Julie) whom we did a couple of trips to Japan this year. It's bad when there are more people who like to spend time with you who don't live in the city you live in where your friends and family live.

Christmas is in the air - well, not really here in Memphis, but it's an awesome excuse for me to shop :D Ok, I never need an excuse to shop 'coz like I said, it's Christmas everyday at the Ryan's. At least I get to use my Christmas china lol!!! I still wish the temperature will drop drastically - no chance though. But the very very sweet husband of mine has suggested we do some quick shopping in Boston and Chicago next week. So shop I shall... and I'm sure it'll be way too cold and I will be bitching, but I will be bitching with a big smile :)

All Better

After flying into Memphis and catching a cold on the plane, I spent the first evening with my laogong sniffing and resisting some coughs. I woke up the next morning to more serious sniffing and real dry coughs. Yuk!

I wasn't feeling all that bad... but yes, I had caught a cold and I couldn't deny it. My treatment, lots of water, my Chinese yin qiao cold tablets and set off to the gym for a 'switch class'.

It's the day after and I'm all better. Weird. Considering how mom freaked out when she heard that I'd gone to the gym with a cold. She claims people in Singapore have died from that... of course, she's also the same woman who warned me to stay away from crazy people or they will strangle me HAHAHAHA!

I'm all better and ready for Hong Kong in a bit.

Home... and sick arrgh!

It's sooooo good to be home. Truly. Being away from the husband for a full 13 days has been quite an experiance. Not just the seperation anxiety but having to be independent when I travel on my own is just annoying. You know, the usual having to fill up the forms before I gain entry into a country and little things like that. When I'm with 'the man', all I need to do is sign at 'x'. I don't have to worry if I have my documents 'coz he deals with them... I have zero responsibilities when I travel with him and stress free.

Yes, I had a wonderful time with my now-19-month-old-niece, EKT. She's adorable, mischievous, hilarious and a pain all at the same time. Scary thing is, she's soooooo much like me. My poor brother lol. We even make similar facial expressions and I don't even live with her for her to know I do that!!! Genes... scary how that works. It was nice that my brother brought the nanny/maid... it was cool not to have to cook, clean or even do what I usually enjoy doing - laundry :D It was nice to have my half boiled egg ready when I opened my eyes and mom would crack it lovingly for me. I say lovingly 'coz honestly, I did appreciate it and I know she loved doing it for all of us - seriously! She'd serve it to me with two pieces of my favorite Hup Seng crackers (lol). That is the life! It was nice to have EKT's very hardworking nanny have the laundry all nicely ironed and folded on my bed daily and my baby brother... wow, that baby's-daddy is a really good cook!! He specializes in one-dish pasta meals. I can't say he'd disappointed us at all in all the times he cooked. So you see... as much as I missed being with the husband and wished he was there enjoying little EKT with me, I can't say I missed doing what I enjoy doing for him day in and day out hahaha. Ok, that came out bad... but now that I'm back, I do look forward to being a wife all over again. Yes, it's good to get a break (shuddup, all off you who complain about what a good life I already have) every once in awhile to be my mom's kid all over again.

My long trip to Oz only confirmed how much I dislike the country and even more, the people. Wow... I didn't think a whole city could be made up of more rude, lazy and annoying people; but it really does! If you think you get rude and bad service from Asians here, try going to Melbourne where the Asians there don't work for a tip hahaha! It's BAD! Cab drivers are mostly Africans and Indians and they're usually alright and pretty friendly though quite a few of them seriously need to think about taking a shower... but ALL the Aussie drivers we came across SUCK!! They are so rude! Salespeople are nothing like the ones in the US - once again, the not-working-for-commission makes a ton of difference.... and the flies... my gawd the phucking flies! It's only spring and they're out with a vengeance. YUK! You'd think that a bunch of assholes at the airport who stop you from bringing dirty shoes into their already dirty country would be more concerned about what these flies are doing instead. Noooo... we get sniffed by dogs at the airport, questioned rudely by jerks (I have been to Australia a lot and not once have I been treated like a dignified human being, I swear!!) and made to get our bags scanned and checked for fruits, plants and crap when we enter the sorry ass country (yes, everytime so don't even think about bringing ANY thing you're not supposed to) and then get mistreated by their country's unwelcome people as well as the similarly unwelcome pests. Don't these people know we come to spend money in their damn country originally made up of criminals?!?!

It's gonna' be awhile before I have to step foot into that country again. Next week, destination Hong Kong for Thanksgiving where we'll be seeing my baby brother who will be there as well :) Life is good :D

A Day In Airports And Planes

It's November 2 and with mixed feelings earlier this morning, I left my laogong and started my trip to Australia to see my family. Why mixed feelings? Well, I'm really excited I'm going to be spending some quality time with my now 18 month old niece, Emma. But that also means being away from Bruce... and having to spend a full day at MEM, DFW and LAX before I finally take my final flight out to MEL late tonight and arrive two days later (due to time change and of course, forever and a day on the plane itself) on Saturday morning. Does that mean I actually skipped a day of meal? Which means I can formally pig-out when I get there? Ok, no, but I will anyhow lol.

This is the first time I'm going to be away from my husband for more than eight days since we got married some five years ago. Okay, five years and almost a week :) Will I live? Yes, even though he said I shouldn't have to cook a bunch of stuff amd freeze them or prepare anything specially for him while I'm gone, I did (last minute). I showed it to him this morning and there were no complaints - so I think he was pretty happy and contented. Thirteen days away... never mind him... will I survive the seperation anxiety?! Can I live with my family for thirteen days? It's been years and years since I spent anything more than a week with them :) No, I'm sure I'll be fine... thank goodness for skype, free international calls, webcams and emails.

You Never Know...

This past Friday was a regular day for me. Spent my morning at Germantown Centre, came home for a quick lunch and went for my hair appointment with Maryanne. Okay, the hair appointment isn't part of my usual Friday routine or I wouldn't have as much hair as I do now lol. As usual, my very busy hairstylist was running late; so I sat around kicking the breeze with the other hairdressers hanging out; namely, Lisa, also the owner of Germantown Hair Salon.

She called me over after a good 15 mins of small talk with the other customers and practically whispered 'hey, Karen, I need to tell you something - I feel you need to know and I feel really bad about it'. Since I only have a mere acquaintance relationship with Lisa, I was puzzled and confused what she was about to tell me. She went on, 'has Tracey contacted you lately?'. Tracey being my former cleaning lady, also one of Lisa's very good friends, who left Memphis after working for me for more than three years because she had to take care of her very sick father in Alabama... 'no?' I replied. 'Well remember Jim, the guy Tracey was cleaning for at Southwind?'. Of course I did. Jim, the guy who was much more anal then me, the bachelor who had his closet arranged by shades of colors who lived in a mansion all by himself after three divorces and owns a gazillion watches - information all provided to me courtesy of Tracey. Lord only knows what she told other people about my anal behavior lol. I told her 'yes, Tracey told me his house was burglarized when he was out of town and when she went to clean the house (she has full excess all the time), the bed was not done which she thought peculiar.' Turns out, Tracey was arrested on Thursday together with a male accomplice in Alabama - and she was tested positive for cocaine!!! My blood turned cold and rushed away from my face. I was shocked, confused and sad all at once. Is it really possible to be all those emotions all together? I like Tracey. I felt bad for her. She must have been so desperate. It all makes sense now why she left her house unsold nor advertised to be sold and just she picked up and left. It all makes sense to me now why she stopped going to her job at the restaurant in Mississippi which she ranted and raved about the great pay and great hours. Before she left Memphis for Alabama, she was offered a job by this guy (the guy who was arrested with her) in Mississippi and she would still come back to Memphis every two weeks on weekends until her house was sold and she would still clean for me and Jim - apparently, her two most favourite clients. ...and now, who knows what lies ahead (or not) for her.

I returned from my haircut and found that our security system had gone off while I was out. My first instints 'omfg, Tracey is here to kill me!'. Ok, why I thought that, I have no idea... but I did and I was petrified. I came in, sent the husband a note on Skype and ran out of the door in case 'she' was still in the house waiting on me. It sounds utterly ridiculous and bloody stupid now but I truly believe my life was in danger. If it wasn't Tracey, it was some other burglar. Hey, our home (when I was a kid) was burglarized twice and robbed twice at knifepoint - so you can't blame me one bit.

Of course nobody was in the house. ADT just sucks! I went to do my nails and then my nice husband came home earlier then usual from work just to make sure I didn't have to come back to the house alone hee hee. Yes, he does think I'm insane but what can he do?! It's too late now that we just celebrated our 5th wedding annivasary yesterday muahahahaha.

It's so sad about Tracey... sure, she had a complicated lifestyle. I could always picture her on Maury, or Jerry Springer... but I know she wasn't a bad person and certainly not a 'crackhead'! Guess I was wrong.

The Stalker Has Left The Building

Today is a happy day for me. My friend turned ex-friend turned stalker is leaving the Memphis area and I no longer have to screen all calls and keep a low profile within the city limits any more. Yes, the 'missing entry' is now back on the blog and this time, for good. No changes... just plain honest truth.

Of course, K came and stirred up more unnecessary crappy emotions within me. Anger. Disbelief. Loss for words. Okay, not so much speechless but disbelieve and certainly incredible annoyance.

On the last Friday of September, I got a brief email from J warning me of an out-of-the-blues visit from the ex-friend. I laughed aloud when I read that email. I dashed upstairs and e-chatted with the husband via skype (of course I couldn't use voice chat since you all know how loud I am lol) and explained the situation here and delayed picking him up from school. The more we typed, the more angry I got at K for messing up our schedule. Why was this person coming to my door, first without even a courtesy call and secondly, why was she coming at all when I had made it clear that she is history to me? Yes, my exact words were, 'I no longer have time for you and I have moved on'.

So in the midst of the e-chat, the doorbell rang... I stayed very still - my fingers typed slower, my body frozen to a stiff and my legs crossed uncomfortably on my chair. No I was not going to give the person outside a single clue that there was actually somebody at home. ...two endless chimes of the blasting door bell and 20 minutes later, I heaved a sigh of relief. The phone rang and she left a message. It was inaudible since I was still upstairs but I could make out her still-familiar voice. I ignored it and decided to stay inconspicuous and sat in front of the computer for a little longer. So still no movement other than my happy fingers typing away - my feet still not touching the carpet; they did not touch anything except for the faux leather on my chair for a good whole 45 mins I swear. No way was my feet going to rest on the carpet only for the wood under it to creak and then to shake the entire house. I was not having that - I was not 100% who was more insane yet. Me or K lol. After awhile, I figured the coast was clear and I dashed out to pick the husband up from work. Of course, there was a message on the cellphone as well. Blah blah blah. I can't remember what she said but she mentioned a gift at the front door. A gift?

The husband and I found this at our front door. What do you say when someone has made your front door look like you should have carved out R.I.P on a headstone and attached it to the house? We laughed a little, ran to grab the camera and proceeded to rather cruelly, do this to my 'gift'. No, of course I didn't appreciate it. Why should I? She knows/knew my style and these were not it. Anywayz, with the flowers came an almost five page letter. I thought of scanning it but though against it. Why give another loser the chance to plagerise and make someone else have to read it. I don't want to have to put you guys through it either. All I can say is, does this person have any pride and integrity left?! I mean, c'mon!! This bitch (me) has told you off and you're still pleading for her friendship? Apologizing for something you have no idea why she (I) is so mad about... begging for forgiveness for whatever you've done and simply wanting the friendship back on her (my) terms?!? That's crazy! Nobody does deals like that?!

I read the neverending letter aloud and by the time I got to the three or four choices she gave me on how I could patch back the friendship with her, I'd just about had enough of her nonsense. How can one person be so bossy and insensitive without even realizing it? Ok, my bad, I know she knows she's bossy. She just still believes it's an endearing side of her. Oh well...

Needless to say, I took none of her few options. Yes, I have moved on. So I do feel sorry for her sometimes... but it's not for me to fix her nor her life.

Pa's Birthday

Maybe because of the crowd I'm in these days, sixty doesn't seem to be that old anymore. My father turned sixty today and in the midst of our sushi dinner (due to the 13 hours time difference, we had to call last night), the husband and I called pa to wish him a happy birthday. He sounded to be in good spirits. Good start.

My sweet baby brother took the family to Tenshin (no website yet)- a much talked about Japanese restaurant at the Regent Hotel in Singapore for an uber extravagant tempura lunch. Since I could not think of a good present for pa, I called the Regent Hotel and got Suzie from Something To Go to get a nice chocolate cake delivered to the restaurant via Winnie once the family was done with lunch. Needless to say, the family was happily surprised though the brother had wished I'd been even more thoughtful and picked up the almost S$900 tab. No, of course I left that for mister big shot banker to do his deed :)

齊天大聖之憲在不准笑(音樂課)Part 2

Make sure you check out Part 1 first

齊天大聖之憲在不准笑(音樂課)Part1

If you speak both Mandarin and Fujian, you will appreciate this video :) Then check out part 2

Missing Entry

I just got an email from my friend J. She just read the merciless blog entry (her words not mine) about our mutual 'friend' and she suggested that I edit it. While she respects my freedom of speech, she just doesn't want to have to deal with the result of it all if this person reads this particular entry. ...and since I do not edit any of my posts - shiiiiiiiiiit, I don't even do that for the posts on my mil and sil (lol) - I will (as a favor to J) remove it temporarily. But only for J and her personal safety hahaha. Though I only did it upon reading in the same email to me, J told me that her daughter had egged a friend's house last weekend. Hmmm... maybe it was a threat and I removed the blog for my personal safety hahaha!

If you have not read 'If They Are Not Psychos, They Are Stupid' and have a need to do so before Oct 8, email me directly.

New Cleaning Ladies In The House

Traci - the ex-cleaning lady who had been working for us for more than three years, moved back to Alabama to take care of her father a month ago. Since then, the house has been, well, not clean. I am a clean person and people tell me I'm anal about cleanliness. But there is only so much I can do... or want to do in regards of cleaning. I can handle a one bedroom loft apartment. I can handle even a two bedroom and two bath apartment. But I can only polish the bloody huge ass screaming red island in this large kitchen so many times before I decide to just let it go to hell! There is only so many times I want to vacuum the deck (we have the top deck covered with an outdoor rug) before it pours a few hours later and all the damn leaves and crap from our neighbor's trees get onto the deck again.

I've been searching high and low for a reliable cleaning woman. But everytime someone gave me a mere glimpse of hope, the cleaning person would call and break the bad news to me about not having any openings. I have been so disheartened I was ready to polish the damn island all over again. ...and then... last Friday, I had to go get my hair done (of course!) before my crazy girl's night out; and who was getting her hair done by the same hairdresser, Maryanne, but Angie! Angie was talking about starting her own cleaning business and voila(!) 'a matchmade in heaven'. :D Well, Maryanne's words, not mine.

Today, my new cleaning ladies are here and I am, to say the least, thrilled! Angie and Paula are sisters-in-law and I'm glad to see that not only are they professional, claim to be anal (like me), are clean themseves (they smell nice lol) and bring everything they need; unlike Traci. Not to say Traci was bad. But Traci sometimes didn't have her act exactly together ie, not looking like she was totally out of bed or smelling like an ashtray or both. With Angie and Paula, I have my own client file, they take notes when I'm showing them around the house and they let me know when light bulbs are out and needs replacing or little things like that. But it's always the little things that count, isn't it? They are nice and tell me that the first job takes some extra time and then they will upkeep the place after this first long cleaning. Yes it sure was long. Both of them took three hours to clean upstairs alone! Traci used to finished the entire house AND the deck in 2 1/2! Yes, Traci worked at lightning speed but I like the detail that my new cleaners are putting in. Hell, they even cleaned the chandeliar in the foyer!!! Best of all, they cost less then my former hired help. How can you beat that!?

So I'm a happy camper again. The husband even did his part to clean up his usually un-vacuumable/cleanable room so they were able to clean it out. He adviced that they not step into the closets for fear of falling objects hahaha and I made that pretty clear to the ladies :D They might never see the floor again after this first clean but hey, at least the room is prestine and clean for now.

I'm giving them each an ang pow (red packet/envelope) for good luck. They just started their business and I think they'd do awesome at the rate they're going. Traci called earlier to say her former customers need someone to clean their houses too and if my new cleaning ladies are good, to send them her way. Angie and Paula are thrilled and so am I to be able to help :D

They left a half a page of flyer for 'comments or future projects' for me to fill out. I inspected their work and as happy as I am, the half a page wasn't enough lol. I feel bad but hey, if I'm paying someone to clean, I might as well let them know they're cleaning for Hitler right!? No, I try to be nice... really! I even complimented the good job they did... then went on to let them know what they overlooked. We'll see what their reaction is in two weeks :D My happiness might be short-lived hahaha!

It's Official!

I have achieved Platinum Executive status on American Airlines hee hee. I am SO excited! When I woke up in the middle of the night (2:30am to be precise), I had to go online to see if the miles from my weekend trip to San Francisco had been fully posted. Voila! Not only had it been posted, my Platinum status had already been changed to platinum executive. ...and at that ungodly hour, I woke the husband up and showed him the page on the notebook. My sweetie pie managed a "huh? WOW! Yeh for my sweetie!", and fell back asleep immediately. That was all I needed anyway.

Now I'm aiming to hit the final 25,000 miles for this year to qualify for an extra four more one way system wide upgrages. Meaning, apart from my regular 8 one-way system wide upgrades I'm getting from flying 100,000 miles already, I will get 4 more for this year because of the 25th anniversary celebration. Wow! That's 6 rountrip international upgrades for free!! How awesome is that!? Plus upgrades on travels within the United States will be automatic and I wouldn't have to use my 500 miles upgrade coupons from now till feb 2008. Double awesome!!

I'm a happy camper. We're hoping to get these system wide upgrade coupons early so we can start using them for the next few trips this year. The husband should probably make it to platinum executive too - of course, he's platinum for life after hitting the two millions miles mark lol. Yes, we are a crazy flying couple! If he makes it, wow, we're gonna have 10 international upgrades to use for a year. How will I be able to fly economy class again after February 2008 if I don't make platinum executive ever again!?

Update On Girls Night Out

Well, I went and I'm back from my crazy quick trip to San Francisco. For a change, I did not see Union Square, did not go to Slanted Door, Aqua or Farrallon... did not even stay at a downtown hotel! In fact, the only thing I saw of SF was the exit on the highway to downtown SF lol. We spent all our time in San Jose and Walnut Creek.

My trip consisted of having a yummy neverending lunch at Prima Taste - the only Prima Taste restaurant in America (I believe the ones in Singapore all closed down. The satay practically brought tears to our eyes. It was SO bloody good! We had an awesome dinner at Singaporean Chris Yeo's Straits on Santana Row... and in between, we shopped on Santana Row at Gucci (didn't buy anything there), Ferragamo, Tods, Cold Haan and window shopped some. Most of all, the most fun thing we did was just hanging out and catching up with gossips and how everyone's been doing.

It was so nice to see W again. It has been almost ten years since I last saw her. She just turned 30 and ready to grow up - her words, not mine. She is ready to go on with the loser she's been with for the last 7 years. That was music to all our ears. We bugged her to get her Green Card (after all she's been married to an American man for seven years - and no he is not the loser I just mentioned - yes it's a story too long even I wouldn't get into lol). But W looks AWESOME! It was like looking at a hot Korean actress. The once tall, curvy, super tanned Chinese girl who loved Black bad boy military boys is now (after a series of lipo and cosmetic surgery) a tall, trim and pearl complexioned girl who's ready to be committed to a legitimate (read: rich) Chinese man. She says she wants MY life hahaha! I guess I should be flattered. She obviously doesn't know what she wants lol. What's a hot bombshell gonna' do with laundry detergent, spices and a dishwasher lol. But kudos to her for picking the only somewhat normal one in the group to emulate lol. N showed me the commitment ring Mr Jehovah Witness gave her... I suppose I will accept Mr JW. At least he's educated and has his own business, a home owner and is good with N's three kids. For some reason, my acceptance is important to N - or so she claims lol. M is pregnant and her once showy big firm breasts have gotten humorously oversized. Sort of like Pamela Anderson's. Maybe bigger - but surgery-free :D She's annoyed about not being able to see the floor under her, sick of not being able to tie her own shoelaces - fortunately people at the office are kind enough to do crap like that for her - though she has turned to just wearing flip flops; yes, even to her corporate job everyday hahaha. Her tummy in comparison to her large neh nehs is not so big at six months. But she's happily pregnant and loving food all the more. Loving A LOT of food hahaha! N and I had to laugh. It was a side of her we were not used to. I laughed and told her that it was a refreshing time for me since none of them have ever beat me in my bra size hahaha and N warned her that after the baby, the pair of bazookas would get even more ginormous. I'd like to see that! I don't know if baby Annaliese would be well fed or afraid of being suffocated or both. All I know is the Mister (her Mister) is psyched about that part hahaha!

My flight landed on time yesterday at 2:30pm. The husband and I rushed to lunch at Blue Coast Burritoes for fish burritoes - mmm, burritoes! We were starving! His breakfast consisted of two nectarines - yes, that IS considered breakfast lol and mine of water with no ice on the plane, a few pieces of Gardettos mustard pretzels (the only kind of pretzel I like and will eat) and some DEEP sleep. At home, I slept the moment my head hit the pillow... with absolutely no sleep at all the previous night - M, Mrs Motor Mouth was on full blast and I'd admit, we loved every single minute of it even though a lot of her gossips were of people I still have no idea who she was talking about hahaha - plus it's just not right to slip in any sleep if I'm going to be anywhere for only 17 hours - sleep was a welcome gift for a change. I slept for a good four hours... woke up and went out to dinner and then again hit the sack till 5:30 this morning. I'm now well rested :)

It's back to the salt mines today. No, I'm not complaining. How could I? There is actually someone out there who wants to have MY life hahaha :D