All Shopped Out!!!

Two long one-week-trips within a month to SF is a little too much, as much as I love that city. The amount of shopping, the amount of food, the amount of laughter with old friends.... wow, a little overwhelming!!!

It is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice to be home. Gawd, it's so unbelievable how much I have come to love it here. Memphis or not, this is where our house is, where our good friends are and it's always nice to come home. Our bed... I don't care how awesome those beds in the hotels always claim theirs are, ours is the bomb!!! :)

We flew back on the red eye and arrived early saturday morning. Slept the afternoon away and was invited by our good friends out to sushi last night. YUM! It's always so nice to get together with another fun couple. I only wish there were more of them around. I guess I shouldn't complain. Some of my friends don't even have one cool couple to hang out with and we have THREE (even tho' one couple is moving away to the east coast SOB SOB SOB). Oh well, another friend to visit on one of my travels I suppose :) Plus I like their kids so it'll be nice to see them as well.

So six bags with matching wallets, one cool hand-carry for my future travels, some new clothing, stuff from crate and barrel and five pairs of shoes later, I'm ALL shopped out. I don't want to see another store or salesperson for a long long time. I'm not going to be in saks.com or neimanmarcus.com for awhile... I'm contented and I love everything I purchased but holy crap, there REALLY is an extreme end of buy buy buy! No more... nore more shopping for me... till... Japan... in 10 days!!! Hahahahaha!

Return to Shopper's Paradise

We took Nancy to her first dim sum meal at Yank Sing and she absolutely loved it! We thought it might be a good way to start her experiance; then again, we had to warn her never to expect the same kind of standard anywhere else in the US. Melissa and Ben joined it and it was very nice to see them again. Imagine the meal was that heavy we couldn't eat anything for dinner. Of course, dinner was merely two hours later ;)

Yesterday, Nora took the day off work and hung out with me all day. It was nice to be able to just gossip and laugh and SHOP - ok, that IS my life everyday anyway hahaha. Still, just to be around an old friend and talk about old times and hilarious memories. The shock of the morning was to see Nora drive. Yes, Nora who sat on my passenger seat constantly when I drove her around back home is now a two year graduate of driving in the streets of California. Hard to imagine. Of course, I was nervous many times but it was still pretty cool.

Dinner at Scotts in Oakland at Jack London Square was nice. I had the crab encrusted swordfish and it was absolutely wonderful! Even the white chocolate cheesecake was to die for. Bruce loved his sole and nancy enjoyed her salmon. I think mine was the best hee hee.

Today I'm going to San Francisco. I'd meet Mel after she gets off work which means I have quite a few hours to shop - surprise surprise. I'm TRYING to go slow but there really is very little diversion in the city. Oh well... and if we're lucky tonight, we'd get to have dinner at 'Slanted Door' again. It's been two years since we had our first meal at their old location (and it was awesome!) and since we've been reading so many writes ups since then, we simply have to go back there - granted we get an early reservation.

Got to start my day now!

Stupid Stupid Stupid

just as if we saw/heard a whiteboy speaking arabic, swahilee (sp) or a chinese speaking hebrew, we'd be surprised and curious to comment. it's not being chinese or being ang moh. if the people in taiwan and hong kng don't react to them westerners speaking a chinese language, it's 'coz they don't give a phuck! it has nothing to do with being chinese, american, brit or dutch! these ang moh's need to learn the psyche of us singaporeans. english is our first language. we speak it in school, we use it to converse with one another and we're very comfortable in and around it. we don't look down upon the chinese language (that's just a silly thing to even say!) but a lot of us use it only in chinese classes or with our older relatives. for crying out loud, if we speak to you in english, you complain. if we don't speak english, you complain. what do you want us to do?!?!

S'pore Chinese too ang moh, says ang moh - JUNE 30, 2004

The Heat... The BBQ... The Familiarity...

Despite the fact that it's been raining all week while we were away, it wasn't pleasant to come back to this heat and humidity. I'm already missing the fantastic weather in SF. But, I won't deny that it's SO nice to be home. No matter how comfortable the hotels boasts of their beds, they're not ours.

It was nice to see Melissa and Ben in SF. We had an ok meal at Sakana; it was impossible to make a last minute reservation anywhere with the influx of people for the gay pride parade... Margaret Cho was performing at the comedy club too and that's been fully booked for weeks ahead! Can't wait to catch up with Mel again on the gossips in a couple of weeks :)

We had a quiet Sunday. The husband stayed in bed on the computer most of the day and then accompanied me to the stores. Yes, it's nice to be driving on familiar roads, going to famialir places and eating yummy Memphis BBQ again. Hard to imagine this city girl can actually get used to and like it here... I'm sure my friends reading this back home would find it hard to fathom.

Well, it's yet another Monday - not that it makes a lot of difference to me what day of the week it is. Got to get back to my routine and back on the darn exercise machines somehow hahaha!

Don't Believe the Hype

Why do non muslims convert to islam? women especially!! i just don't understand it. not even after reading the articles below! it just seems far fetched and silly. as far as i'm concerned, only serious brain damage can lead a woman of dull sense onto that path. of course, i already know there are a lot of stupid people out there who are not legally insane who do it...

when my very beautiful, wild and known for her party-girl status friend met this 'hot' american guy on the internet, within months, she flew to the u.s without letting her family know, met the guy physically and got married within weeks by some muslim official. he has since led her from her non-islam upbringing into one that is filled with religious classes and of course, her muslim sisters. she dons the head piece in the midst of a big not exactly cosmopolitan u.s city where everyone stares and she can't understand why and gets upset. she wears nothing that reveals her shoulders and anything that doesn't cover her calves. all she is allowed to show is her perfect features on her beautiful face and perfect complexion. she cannot do things she used to enjoy, like going dancing at a club even tho' her husband continues such acts. his excuse is because she is now a muslim woman and needs to know her place. all this for a man who vows to make her happy?!? how happy can anyone in their right mind be coming from a westernized country, middle class upbringing and once upon a time, of sound mind?!

when i went to visit and stayed in their living room, i realized her husband had gone through my luggage. yes, without my permission! at that time, she was banned by her husband from eating junk food. he took MY junk food out of my luggage and left it on the kitchen counter and said nothing. what a creep! when i told her this, she as-a-matter-of-factly told me that that's how her husband is. i was, obviously, horrified and disgusted.

when the club in bali was bombed and killed many, she called to tell me it was an act by the americans... so her husband tells her as he'd read it in a foriegn newspaper (but couldn't tell me which) and whatever her husband says is, of course, unquestionable. there is a reason why we are no more in contact...

why do good people end up with idiots might be a good question. or how do the muslim men find all the idiot non-muslims to brainwash then might be another good one. or why don't enough muslim women question their believes; or their parents'/husbands' believes...

questioning is a good thing and if a fool like me can do it, those people out there need to start as well.


Why Western Women Choose Islam - The Islamic Garden

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

we went back to 'ozumo' on the first night. dad loved it and said it was the best sashimi he'd ever eaten. of course, the best toro he was pointing to wasn't even the best. maybe chu toro at best. i can't wait to go back to japan and have some serious o toro - yummerlicious! :) we always have a good time at 'ozumo'. they have a seriously good list of sake, service is good and food is excellent!

yesterday for lunch, we went to the 'swan oyster bar'. my my my... it's AWESOME. it's not one of those fou-fou places where they name their counter seats (raw bar) where you eat your oysters/seafood. this is downright basic bar counter that might seat 20 comfortably, cash only, and worth every cent of your money. the clam chowder is oh-so-good and the oysters yummy and creamy. i'd have to admit however, i'm used to the size of those down in new orleans but the ones out here sure don't lack the taste! the crab salad is seriously crab heaven. very very friendly servers/owners behind the counter. screw those take-out counters at fisherman's wharf. this is the real deal!!!

last night was early dinner at 'boulevard'. yet another very good eatery. new american food! the crab ravioli is unbelievable. it's not one of those places that you're there for quantity (you're not at the cheesecake factory) but the quality of ingrediants, the mix of taste is superb! the service is gonna' make you want to tip more than usual and unless you only have a party of two and are very early, don't even try to go there without a reservation. there is a reason why on a tuesday and wednesday, the best we could do was a 6:15pm slot.

today dad leaves... i'd start my shopping spree :) he's done his fair share of shopping; it's my turn. got my aim on some stuff at gucci, saks and neiman. i'd have to take my pick at two out of the three bags. of course nordstrom started their sale yesterday. decisions decisions!! ferragamo starts their sale tomorrow so that'll have to wait. speaking of which, two very african sounding black men walked into the ferragamo store yesterday when i was there asking in their very thick accent what their price range was. the hot italian sounding salesman took four almost embarassing repeats before he could understand the question. i was fun to look busy checking out this AWESOME fushia (the IN color for fall, by the way) tote and matching wallet and trying to not laugh aloud. i'm glad 'most' normal people understand me :)

i think we're having dim sum at yank sing today and who knows where dinner will take us...

Gay Pride Week in SF

i never knew there were so many indians in memphis... yes yes, the indians with the dot on their forehead. i rarely talk about the american ones. there were ma ma's every bloody where i turned at the airport coming to sf. funniest thing is, this american dude was on the phone with his son (i hope) and kept asking him to say 'ma ma'. for those not from singapore, ma ma is a word we call indians. it's not exactly derogatory but it's not exactly flattering either. 'can you call mama, can you call mama?!' saying this facing the group of 47 indian men, women and too many children eating what seemed like unpopped popcorn YUK! i couldn't help but snicker trying hard to contain my LOUD laugh...

so it's mid 60s, sunny, somewhat windy in the city... so what are we doing in the hotel room? i don't know... just one of those blah feeling days i suppose. i saw my dad... he shook my hands... yes he shook my phucking hands. WTF?!?!? no hugs no nothing. we were walking on our way from the bart to the hotel with our luggages and he asked if we'd just bought some new bags. HUH!?!?! i don't know if he's confused or was simply trying to confuse us... oh well, long story... bruce and i checked into the pan pacific (on the cross dresser package - we're not even asking so don't ask us) and it's a nice hotel... nice enough... at least the bedspreads have no freakin' flowers on them :) i hate flower print duvets!!! had a nice quick lunch at bruce's favourite sf restaurant, henry's hunan on broadway and sansome, got dad transferred out of the westin over to where we are and we so we're 'resting'. i should be out shopping but i suppose there is always time tomorrow to spend money.

bruce is watching tv. seinfeld. i'm slowly losing him to z-land :) the poor guy... came here against his own will hahahaha. he loves me :D

not much exciting going on as you can tell... i'd go take a nap. maybe i'd gain enough energy for another firm handshake in case dad might like to shake my phucking hands again; must be overly thrilled to see me.

CHEATERS

In the last eighteen months, three of my girlfriends from back home who are each sitting on a different corner of the world have called to ask me 'can you keep a secret'. yes i can if i want to geez... but why are they all calling ME to tell me they're cheating on their husbands??? it's discouraging, disgusting and honestly, i'd rather not know. it's not hot gossip to me and i'm wondering where did i go wrong in picking my friends when i was a kid. i mean, i've known these girls for at least a decade!

oddly enough, these adulterers are all products of cheating fathers. what would the phsychiatrists say??? they know it's a horrible thing to do i'm sure. they've got to; they have seen their mothers hurt and go through excruciating heartaches. yet, they're invigorated by this new man who brings excitement to their lives. i have tried to dissuade all of them. i told my caller last night that it was stupid and she wasn't being fair to her husband... but did she listen? she's decided they're going to take a short weekend rendezvous together. honestly, i think she told me last night in the midst of my deep sleep because the young, free and single me would have found this piece of news exciting. i might have even stupidly enough, given her that final jolt to think being happy in a marriage was the husband's job; not understanding what a real comittment, what true love, what hurting the person you love, the person who loves you back with all his heart might be go through when (not if) they found out. but i'm no more that girl... i'm a happily married woman who knows she's married the right man and the man of her dreams.

so why am i so upset by this particular call/caller? i mean, people cheat... i've known that for a very long time. but i haven't been able to go back to deep sleep since this call some six hours ago. i'm puzzled by my reaction... and i'm annoyed at myself for letting it affect me.

i warned her of the consequences... she's already talking about winning custody of her kids if the worst happens. she's gone off the deep end. i hope she doesn't update me in this relationship of hers. maybe she won't since i wasn't exactly being very encouraging over the phone. still, i seem to be the only person she claims she's told; someone whom she claims she can trust. well i told her i'd tell bruce - after all, he was sitting next to me in bed listening to all my response to her and knew exactly what was going on. after i got off the phone, all he said was 'are you the only non-cheating singaporean girl?'. i defensively started counting the girls who haven't. THREE. three of my close enough girlfriends out of more than 10 (the others cheated awhile back thus got my other response).

i wish people who cheat understand that having a relationship with someone else isn't going to resolve the problem with the person you're married to. i mean, you really don't have to be einstein to realize that right? i mean, it's a no brainer. they need to watch dr phil!

It's The King's Birthday!!!

I have to call my mother-in-law (mil) today to thank her for raising a man to be who is he today... my father always told us on our birthdays that mothers are the ones who should be celebrated; not us :) Of course, he never did celebrate his own mother so we continued the 'old tradition' of having the happy-birthday-to-me attitude.

Now that I'm married to this awesomely good man, I can see dad's point of view... I see the husband at times in my mil no matter how much he refuses to admit it. It's almost endearing sometimes how he claims he cannot be any more different. The truth is, this boy is his mother's son through and through. I love him for that. She's a very nice lady and I know she loves me because I make her son happy. How many daughters-in-law can honestly admit that or even know that. She's super nice to me, buys me little presents constantly (albeit not really my style, it's really the thought that counts) and says things that sometimes drives her son insane and makes me laugh. She's sweet, stubbornly independent and smart. She's in her 70s and still has a full time job. That's a lot more than what I can say for myself :s

Today is my husband's birthday! This must be the 7th birthday of his that we're spending together... where have the years gone? I know... the first two and a half years we were dating, the next one and a half I was chasing after him (hahahaha, yes, truly and hard!) and then eventually, he gave in and married me :D Life is good: for me and him, I know.

I haven't gotten him a birthday present. He seems to have it all. He has me, doesn't he :D I offered to get him a couple of things but he seemed bored with the ideas. A new cellphone (the one he has look like it's been through a whole lot; talk about a used and half damaged phone), a new set of golf clubs (since the fools in his Dallas apt stole it from his parking space when he had to pick me up from the airport when I was visiting from Arizona four years ago)... so here I am... no present for my favourite man on his day. :( Yeah I feel bad but I've tried. I did get a card though :)

I wished him a happy birthday at 1am when I woke up and heard him typing feverishly on this laptop. He's deeeeeeep in sleep now. It's only 4:58am. I'd go make some fresh fried rice for him. That should start his day well enough :)

My Friend Russ

He came into our website and noticed he wasn't mentioned in my blog and just could not believe it hahaha... so here it is Russ... an entry JUST FOR YOU :) Happy now? :D

You've Got to be Joking right?!

First of all, William Hung is NOT a singer... he's not Asian American (he's just Asian - I know I'm not the only one hearing that strong Cantonese accent) and he has death threats?! HAHAHAHA! I guess there are sicker people out there then himself wasting time on him. ...so he was funny for a week but c'mon already!

Yahoo! Top Stories - Death Threats for Unlikely 'Idol'

Another Year Older...

...with the recent torrential rain in our area and such beautiful gray skies, being the first sunny day today, I was actually inspired to go get some plants. Okay, so the husband has asked me a few times (very nicely and patiently) to get some on a weekday since it's a mob on weekends. Still, I went out there in the screaming heat. Takes A LOT of initiative on my part you know :)

I came home from Lowes with a bunch of stuff... culinary herbs, fruits and vegetables, marigolds and little flowers that have no petals (I hate flowers with five regular petals) and just some color for our very dull deck. I figured being a year older now, I'd try something new instead of leaving the planting to my husband. BIG MISTAKE! The only smart thing I did was to go out there equipped with my gardening gloves (brand new from last year of course) - which are sitting in the thrash can right now. We had some leftover soil (or at least something black and ikky) and I poured them out onto one of those long ugly containers and bravely I dug into it with my gloved hands... it felt ok... and sort of planted the marigolds... ok, I have no idea how much soil I need so when Bruce comes home to the deck of terror, he might have a good laugh but hey, at least I tried. I stayed out there for a neverending 10 mins and I'm leaving the rest of the planting to Bruce... I'm sure he likes it a lot more than I do.

Well, at least after this experiance, I know one thing's for sure. One year older or not... I still hate the sun, I hate the feeling of it on my skin, I hate soil and flowers and plants of all sorts... I hate gloves that are not lined so your hands don't actually stay clean (what's the bloody point?!) and I hate gardening (even tho' it was just on the deck).

Maybe I'd try again next May...

G'bye Mates...

More like good bloody riddance. Australians are rude... the ones in the city at least. Don't even believe that just 'coz it's bright and sunny (and you white people think this type of weather put you guys in a good mood... NOT), people are friendly (yeah right the ozzies are as friendly as the bloody garden hose) nice and helpful (nope, nada, no way!)... on the contrary... but maybe it's just a big city thing... the nice ozzies say it's a big city thing. MAYBE. I haven't had similar experiances in NYC, SF or Tokyo?! Too bad my family loves it here so much... and yes, I have to return. As soon as in 30 days ARRRGH! :)

Still, it was nice to see my family, spend time with them, shop and eat and shop and eat some more... story of my wonderful life! I should stop complaining about the people here... they can see my picture and they may hunt me down... they are after all ozzies and hunting is probably a big part of their life hahahaha! Boy do I sound like one of those ignorant Americans :)

I'm at the Melbourne International Airport right now and the guy sitting next to me thinks that these internet booths are phone booths chatting away on his cellphone complaining about how it's too noisy here. DUH! There are six people typing away around him and this IS the bloody airport right by the cafe and gates! Yes, Ozzie hahahaha!

Never mind all this bitching... despite all that, this is a nice place to visit - don't ask Bruce tho'!! :) It really is... shopping is good (not great, but good)... there are actually some cool Australian brands (Perri Cutten) to buy and they have very good Chinese food here. Steak at Lazar is good (I still like Ruth's Chris best!) but the service can be off on nights when John isn't in his normal cheeky mood. People have stopped returning solely for that reason.

Anywayz, I have to go enjoy my beef roll and orange soda so I can hurry up on the plane and sleep for fourteen hours. I tried to sleep as little as possible I could last night - I got 3 hours of z's - so that might help.

See all of you real soon!!

Lobsters and Steamed Fish For Breakfast

This is the life! Well, minus the part of having to do the dishes hahaha! You all know how I can't leave dirty dishes sitting around... anywayz, I've had lobster noodles every morning since I arrived and this morning, I had some serious slap-yer-mama-good steamed grouper. YUM! When was the last time I had fresh steamed fish... HEAVEN!

Yesterday, Kevin (my little brother) drove the entire family to the outskirts and visited some vineyards... it was an absolutely great day! The sky was really dark and cloudy, it rained super hard at one point and for the first time since Bruce's and my wedding almost three years ago, the Tay family was together again. I'm still a Tay by default after all. We all missed Bruce and talked about him (okay, namely dad and I talked about him hahaha) but it was nice for me since he's part of our family and I felt bad he wasn't with us. Of course, he might be tickled to even think my claim of him missing out on anything overly awesome. Can't say he loves Australia.

We had a sumptious lunch at this winery... oh before I go on, why do the Aussies call the appetizers 'entree' and pronounce the 't' in 'fillet'??? Why can't people just speak English?!?! Anywayz, to start, we had antipasta, grilled salmon and pan fried liver salad... everything was yummerlicious. Then the main course consisted of rabbit sausages (awesome!), steak (pretty darn good), grilled snapper (a little salty but good nonetheless) and an order of delicious pork confit. Can you believe we actually managed dessert after all this?!?! No wonder by the time we got home early evening, we all crashed for a couple of hours. In fact, mom and dad went to bed and never did return to join us three bozos for the evening...

It wasn't a very exciting evening compared to the last two nights where we all (except anti-casino Dad) burnt time and money at Crown Casino. It was riveting... so exciting when you're not gambling with your own money hahaha - dad is going to kill me if he ever reads this. ...instead, we ordered some ribs and pizza and watched 'The Italian Job'. I was loyal to Memphis ribs and passed on it hahaha... tried a slice of the meat lovers pizza from a local pizzaria... overly parmesaney for my liking. Not the best I've had for sure... Kevin and Geraldine loved it though, so that was good... I had some more steamed fish...

Oooh, the husband is on msn chat so it's time to chat with him... the rest of this blog entry will just have to wait.

Land of Criminals, Accents and Smelly People

It's just way too much trouble coming to this country. I had trouble getting a tourist visa (simply because mine was valid and no one spoke enough English at the Australian High Commission to advice so) and then when I eventually got a new one, the people at LAX airport insisted I got another one. By the time I arrived and went through immigration, they pulled me aside for who knows what, but probably visa problem. What are they like?!

All that and fourteen hours next to the smelliest Australian jerk made me just want to turn back and say 'to hell with you bunch of criminals who speak funny and call Burger King, Hungry Jacks'. Gawd!

Yes, I have arrived. Albeit unpleasant stuck between that smelly jerk and the old man who insisted on sprawling his dwarfy arms and legs onto my side of the two middle seats, I'm glad I'm here in one piece and together with the rest of my family. Of course, after the initial speculation of my weight, color of my skin and new hair color/style, we headed straight to dim sum... or better known to some of you, yum cha. It's so nice for the entire family to be together except we're missing my little sweetie stuck at home on his own. I am NOT talking about the little black pug stuck back at home with Jo... it's my husband stuck home in Memphis, missing me... and I him, of course :( Hopefully, this will be the final trip I'm making on my own this year. It simply is no fun travelling without Bruce... forget what I said earlier when I was in Minnessota... forget liberation, forget freedom. I want my husband with me!!

So I lost a day flying here... which mean my intentions of staying for six days is actually incorrect. Accurately, I will be in Melbourne physically for five full days... a little short considering this ain't no China (hahaha, sorry Pegster, I don't mean you, I'm talking about China and the bloody fools there :D). But I suppose five days certainly beats no days...

We've eaten a couple of times already since my arrival at 9am... it's 6:30pm and dinner is in about an hour or so... I'm ready :) I've done some shopping and my brother and sister in law have bought me a coat and a couple of tops. Boy do I love my family hee hee... I know Marjorie, I'm a lucky bitch - so sue me :)

I'd be home in time to play bunco... in time to celebrate my birthday HINT HINT!

I promise to eat enough for all of you. I'd start swimming when I get back. I promise :)

...but what happens to my bbq pork...

So you can mail your knives back to yourself. Who in today's world with a brain still carries a knive with you when you travel!? Why in the world would you need a bloody knife!? Especially knives passed down from gramma?! Get a life!! ...this is NOT a note to gramma nor my mother in law to give me any knives. I don't want anyone else's knives... okay, I wouldn't reject one from my sushi chef :)

Anywayz, my Mei Zhen Xiang bbq pork was seized when my sister in law mailed me some from Singapore recently... the canned pork came through, all my little Chinese New Year goodies came intact and even my dried prawn spring rolls were untouched!

Then this time coming back from China, I decided to experiment and brought some into the country. Yup, Mei Zhen Xiang bbq pork is sold in Shanghai too! Granted, I DID declare it in my customs form (and they wouldn't have stopped me if I didn't and yes, they got seized) but what I want to know is, what do they do with it?! The guy who asked me to remove it from my suitcase (Chinese guy from GuangZhou) did comment when he saw it 'oh, this is good stuff' and without shame and obviously annoyed, I replied 'no shit it's good stuff!'... but who's to say they don't eat it right there?! No self-rspecting Chinese of sound mind would throw away good vacuum-sealed Mei Zhen Xiang bbq pork... not when he knows just how good it really is!!!

CNN.com - Save your knife, mail it back to yourself - Apr 23, 2004

Verlinda from MLGW... Arrrgh!!!

GAWD!!! If a person really needed to win the Corporate Spelling Bee last night, it was Verlinda... whether she's the meter-checker, the person we all dread to speak to in customer service, or worst, holds a high enough position to mean something to the company/city, or just someone the company hires to take part in this annual contest (I believe this last reason is it of course) I believe everyone who'd stayed (too late) to watch the MLGW team win this supposed 'charitable event', either wanted to see Verlinda jump three feet high on the make-shift stage when she won or more than likely, waited with feverish anticipation to see her misspell a word and then crumble to her defeat. Okay, so I did... wouldn't you if you had this rather man-looking-woman-creature who, for every word she spelt correctly, acted like she was crowning herself King (not Queen, thank you very much) and with no one really cheering her on but herself... with such spunk, I might add. Arrrgh! Talk about needing a life!

Still, there was no doubt her team would win from the get go. The moment I walked in, saw her team mate first, an Indian guy (yup, the ones with the dot) and then her, I knew we were doomed - our team was simply way too cute to withstand the competition... the third member MLGW, a black lady who'd brought her entire hometown and out of state friends (who sat behind us) was basically a non-participant. Of course, with Verlinda as captain, there was no need to confer if her way of spelling a word was right... GAWD FORBID she wasn't sure!

BUT... WE got most of the prizes for the audience participation. Yes, AUDIENCE participation... who joined? Mr Dot and Ms I-Can-Spell-Every-Bloody-Word-On-Earth. Still, the fat Chinese girl beat the ugly girl and the Indian dude. Take that!

I'm home... well, kind of...

...at least at the Narita Airport, people are civilized and polite. Those damn Chinese, I swear... I figure if I wanted to say anything about the Chinese, I'd better leave the country before saying anything hahahaha - and certainly not on my buddy's computer :D

But what is up with those people... it's just every single thing. The way they drive (or can't), the way they walk one path with blinders and certainly no fear of walking right into other's diameter of comfort?!?!?! GAWD... I swear if I don't try to avoid them, they'd slam right into my face (no wonder Chinese people have pan-faces hahaha) and of course it'll be the damn foriegner's fault. Bloody Chinese! And what about the tone of voice... every conversation sounds like a public rally or an argument... (of course I may be a little guilty of that myself sometimes hahaha, it's the damn Chinese blood in me) and is there enough oil and salt in the food in Shanghai... and even so, where the hell are the fat people?!?!?!? Yeesh!

I met maybe two decent Chinese on my entire trip. I mean the locals of course. If you're a westerner ie, if you're white, you'd absolutely think what the Chinese let you believe - that you're superior. Oh puh-lease!!!! IDTS!! (I don't think so!) I'm glad I'm just a damn foriegn Chinese and look Filipina, Hawaiian, Indian, Mexican, hey anything but a Mainlander!!!

It's cheap here for internet connection. Only 100 yen for 10 mins so there is a line of Americans bitching behind me... do I care?! Hahahaha! There's that Chinese in me hahaha.

Ok, time for not so good ramen and buying crap...

As a Southerner would say... 'ba ba Shangha'...

Well it's the morning of my departure. In five hours, I'd be leaving on a jetplane, don't know when I'd be back again... hahaha. Kiddin', I will return... with Bruce in tow.

It is now 3:54am. The air in here is hot and humid... Peggy and I stayed up till past midnight laughing the night away. I'm going to miss everyone in this household; they've been the perfect host (see Peggy, now the whole world knows :D) and they showed me a great time in Shanghai, fed me well (boy did they seriously feed me well!!!) and made me feel very comfortable in their home. Thank you Johnny, thank you Peggy, thank you little Marcus.

Gawd, I dread the flight home... especially the Shanghai-Tokyo leg. I suppose I'd be too tired to deal with the locals and try to get some z's. No one had better mess with me today and hopefully, no-two-old-couple-trying-to-get-it-on-sitting-next-to-me like my flight here. I swear I'd whip out my video camera hahaha!

Well, this is it... I should be home with my next entry. Oh I forget I do have a 5 hour layover in SF so maybe I'd have time there like I did in Minneapolis...

...am I really in Shanghai...

It's a beautiful morning. For those who know me well enough, you know it's cloudy and even better, raining heavily. Waking up to such harmonious pandemonium warms my heart. Sitting here right under the sunroof, listening to the intense patter of the rain on this third storey of the house makes me remember my days growing up in Singapore... where rainy days meant waking up even earlier and enjoying the day because it would be much cooler and somehow, romantic - yes even to an 8 year old girl. of course, I'm just remembering that I'd also just put out my laundry out in the backyard to dry yesterday evening... arrgh!!

It's been so fun spending time with Peggy, Johnny and Marcus. Marcus is slowly warming up to me and I, him - imagine that ha! Spending time with Marcus, I realize that motherly instincts just is not an inborn thing in me. It's probably funny to some of you and certainly more odd to the others, but I'm not complaining and I certainly haven't got a need for it hee hee.

On Friday, after a very un-Chinese breakfast of bacon, ham and toast (but adding Maggi Tomato Chilli to it certainly is hahaha) and getting the boys out to work and to school, Peggy and I spent a lazy morning grocery shopping at CarreFour then just catching up with news, gossip and more memories. Boy, do we laugh when we're together. It's so awesome that after so many years of not seeing each other, we definitely appreciate our days back in school and being able to spend time together now as married, mature (we try) women... we really haven't changed that much, we agreed.

We had lunch with Peggy's cousin, Wendy and a few of her colleagues from Singapore Airlines, at the very nice and modern Pudong Inter-Continental Hotel restaurant. Talk about a typical spread of wonderful seafood - yes, yummy fresh oysters that I love too - beef tenderloin, sushi, sashimi, trout, made-for-you-on-the-spot satay and a never-ending spread of very Asian dishes including the best Chinese sweet and sour pork I've had in my life (sorry ma :D). I certainly felt like I was back in Singapore with this stretch of familiar food.

We hung out for quite a few hours here. Yes, I know most of you are not surprised. But it was namely because we were engrossed with the flight stories we were told by these flight attendents and one pilot. Talk about the dirt that happens while you're asleep on a plane! I'm keeping my camera/video recorder out on my flights next time! Sex, violence (okay not that much violence) but certainly death and... "doo doo doo doo" (theme from Tales of the Crypt)... Ghosts! After that we took a drive out to who knows where 'coz the Singaporeans and Malaysian wanted to get dvds, pirated, of course! Yes, I'm definitely hanging out with the in-group hahaha! So we went to this unpaved street where Peggy very quickly realized after several missed turns that her prediction that her favorite dvd store is closed was wrong;, the store had been demolished. I suppose it's not just in Japan that stores just disappear hahaha! Fortunately, the same guy put out a small collection of his products outside a fishing store next to this very coarse woman selling china dishes of Mao and what she insists are antiques I should buy. While the crew checked out dvds, I bargained a brass opium pipe and a plate that I believe was thrown in sand and mud just to impress stupid tourists like us that it's old all for the price of four whole dollars. Yet, the highlight of this trip here was running into the public toilet with Peggy, giggling and trying SO hard not to laugh and breathe, and take pictures. All six little cubicles filled with traditional toilets ie, hole in the ground (which is no big deal really), but these cubicles had no doors!! And you can forget about toilet paper!!! Welcome to China. My advice is, find a really nice hotel if you really have to go.

That night, Peggy and I took a cab to Pu-Xi (pronouced Poo-See HAHAHAHA) and checked out Shanghai's night life. Much like a lot of the night life in Asia, it was filled with lots of wannabe locals, expats and women who wanted to be with them. We ended up at the bar at Sasha's... a rather big bungalow-like building that lacked any personality bar/restaurant and a new Mexican Cantina next to it (same pompous Australian owner, Ian) on the corner of Heng Shan Lu (the stretch of road where houses bars, restaurants and more bars). We stayed quite a few hours till almost 1am. After seeing a guy take a one hour nap on the bar followed by downing the ashtray right before he left, we knew it was pretty much time for us to leave... we then headed to Lan Kwai Fong. For season travellers and party-goers, you'd be familiar with this name I'm sure. Lan Kwai Fong is an area in Hong Kong where much like Singapore's Boat Quay or Collyer Quay, is the place to hit if you want some excitement. Our favourite bartender of the evening Joe, who spoke great English (he actually said "SHIT" when his fellow bartender messed up hahaha) hailed us a cab and directed the cab driver where to take us. Apparently, the community, I believe is all inside Parc 97 and houses quite a few bars/restaurants in here. From what little we saw amongst the crowd and big people, there was a sushi bar, an Italian restuarant and a very happening dance floor that there was no way two smart sobering 30-something year olds were going to join. We hopped on a cab past 2am, avoided a couple of fatal accidents (all part of being on the road here in Shanghai) and got home in one piece. PHEW!

Yesterday, the entire family spent a nice day out. We started the morning early with some touristy stuff; sight-seeing/picture taking, followed by a perfect brunch of magnificent dim sum at the Shang Palace in Pudong Shangri-La Hotel

We then headed to XiangYang market where the headquarters of fake merchandise is exchanged. It was jam-packed with foriegners and oddly, locals too. We decided that monday morning was a better time for Peggy and I to come without the boys who were bored stiff; we could tell one of them was losing his patience very quickly when he commented innocently that he did not fancy crowds :) We headed to Raffles City where I was again awed by the fact that I did not feel like I was in China. Where were the bikes on the streets, the beggars, the broken huts and unpaved streets. Sure, I saw this in parts of my travels but so far, Shanghai has been quite a rude awakening to my image of China!

At Raffles City/Raffles Square, where Singaporeans congregate, of course you'd find FOOD! At the basement, on the top floor, food galore! I managed to get some Mei Zhen Xiang bbq pork (how I'm going to go through US Customs, I have no idea) and full as we were, scoffed down yummy much-like-home mee rebus, black chai tow kway and Old Chang Kee style curry puff. For someone who lives in Tennessee and craves Singapore food constantly, this meal had already dissolved all pain and suffering from my flight here hahaha!

We'd had plans to spend all day and night out but by the time we'd all bought shoes, ate way too much (and I didn't even mention ice cream!) we were all ready to come home for a nap.

Last night, we babysat marcus (well, sort of... it was more like he babysat us hahaha) while Johnny tended to a business dinner. We engaged two masseuse to the house for two full hours of massage each. It was absolutely overwhelmingly amazing. We both got our massages on the same bed with Marcus between us watching Thomas the Train on dvd (if only he knew just how lucky he was hahaha) and between our giggles and yelping out in pain, we carelessly slipped into deep sleep only to be awaken by baby farts from Marcus - well the farts were from a baby, not necessarily baby in magnitude hahaha! Two long hour massage house calls for a total of less then $20 for both of us. The most beautiful part of it all, they declined being tipped! Where am I?!?

So here I am... the beautiful morning has now changed into what seems like slight drizzle and I'm sure intense humidity. Arggh! Time to go get dressed. Wow, these people can really sleep hahaha!