Some Perv!

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Came and went

It's been a while since I blogged. After Thanksgiving, it feels like it's the right time. A relationship had come and left. Many nights of serious talks, and nothing really got fixed. I acted like I was a house guest. I did not make enough an effort to change that. I did not bring up the finances. I had intimacy issues. The list goes on and on. I wish I knew all of this when I was physically present, or when the "problems" were happening. Still, problems are problems. Thought we would move forward. Then I was left hanging. Communication issues, check. Why do all my relationships get into a bumpy phase? Grass is always greener. When I was single, I thought being partnered up would be so great. Now, I wish I didn't have this pain. It's good to reach a conclusion. After a couple of weeks, it's not good to stay confused and feeling lost. Friendship I can do. Love, I just don't know.

Packing

I hardly blog anymore. Oh well... Work's been a lot to handle, understandable? Tomorrow I will be visiting Saint Louis, it's exciting. If I only had more energy I would be jumping up and down right now. Instead I am writing about how happy I am, and thinking about what I may be forgetting to pack. Someone is also coming to fix my disposal tomorrow. It's going to be a hectic day. What is Saint Louis like? I am going to find out soon enough :)

Happy time

It's been a long time since my last post. I've been lazy. What's new? Well, how does Saint Louise sound? It should be fun and exciting. Sylvia is happy. Caretas is moving. Life is good. I have been sleeping better too. One thing that's not too great is I've spent a lot of money. Some of it is necessary, some, not so much. It's annoying to pay for things just for the sake of paying of them, fees that I shouldn't have to deal with if life just stays surprise-free. Oh well. Let's not whine. It is good news, no, great news that such a big, happy, surprise is on the way. What's $300? Still, ouch! I suppose I will need to rethink what is necessary and what isn't.

Sleep no good

Haven't been sleeping well lately. It's like on and off switch, never shuts completely, never really all the way gone. Not sure if it's stress, or what. Just know that it's a bothersome occurrence. It's still not as bad as insomnia, where I don't get any sleep. I just don't fall into sleep that deeply. It's fine. Perhaps it's the weather. The following days this week is going to be fun. Today's Dave's birthday and we had lunch. He didn't really like the present I got him, because he didn't feel he would need one. Oh well, I kind of knew it would happen, he's not easy. He said he's going to think about it. Tomorrow we're having our weekly dinner, and he said there will be a surprise guest. I wonder who this person is going to be. Probably an ex friend of his. Or simply an ex?! We'll see. Thursday night I'm having dinner with Eric and Mike, who are finally taking a vacation. Speaking of which, I should find a good place to dine in the Anaheim or Buena Park area. Then there's more dinner fun with other friends throughout the week. There's also Dave's birthday pizza party on Sunday. Oh boy. Time to hit to the gym!

Dad met Sylvia

Dad met Sylvia! That was fun to hear. Sylvia told me first and said dad was "adorable" - and we looked a like - uhh, thanks? Then dad called to say thanks for the little b-day present. I was happy he liked it. His recent car accident really worried me, and I was glad he was alright. Hopefully my little gift will bring him some luck! Today is Tuesday, which means Lost night! PK came by and we watched another confusing episode. The show is nearing the end, but still manages to confuse and frustrate. The episode started out slow, but got better towards the finish. I really don't know how things will conclude. How are they going to address all the mysteries? So far, the major ones are gradually answered. Well, it's just a tv show. I wonder what we will watch every week after Lost.

Favorite new fruit

I am very into pomelo this week. It's becoming my favorite new fruit. I've always liked it, but this week I've elevated to the "love" level. Of course, no other fruit can take the place of Fuji Apple, my all time favorite. I guess pomelo is now my very close 2nd favorite. It's refreshing, lemony, tangy, sweet, juicy, it's just yummy. I have been having it every night. It's SO good.

Earthquake and things

I watched the news and heard there was an earthquake. Yea I heard. I actually didn't feel it. It was supposedly serious. I was doing my taxes, perhaps I was too focused. This was a good weekend. On Friday I had hotpot with Viv, my new friend. We also went to a popular Chinese dessert place afterwards. On Saturday I hung out with PK, saw Hot Tub Time Machine, and celebrated Jen's birthday at her place. The movie was pretty funny. The story was simple, the actors were a lot of fun to watch. I wasn't expecting much and I was totally entertained. Last night there was some heavy rain which kept me up on and off throughout. I was glad to see my car looked clean this morning though. I was just thinking I should bring it to a car wash yesterday... My thoughts are kind of all over the place. Caretas finally got her wish granted. They will be planning their move. Well, I will wait a little bit before I get back on the market. It's just too soon.

Stay

After looking at many, many apartments, I decided to stay. It wasn't an easy decision. After all, I did give my landlord my 30 day notice and was pretty sure I was going to find a great new apartment. Something better than mine, something that's an upgrade to what I have now. The places I saw were either not good enough, or almost there, but not quite. The whole experience was quite humbling. I thought I was overpaying, but now I think this is pretty fair. Of course, if I continued to look, I might find something better. I just lost my drive. I did not feel like calling places, making appointments, checking out sub-par or slightly better apartments, and then giving up again. I might as well just stay and be content. I was glad I took time to search very carefully and aggressively though. I was casually looking before I gave my 30 day, and I was never that serious about finding the one. Because I set that deadline myself, I pushed myself for definite results. Even though in the end I didn't find the apartment upgrade I was looking for, I learned my apartment was actually pretty decent, even if it had its own problems. For now, consider this task checked.

Apartment shopping

Saw a few more apartments today. I didn't love any of them. The firs one located right by the stairs. The type of old stairs where the flat pieces are held by metal bars. I have those now right in front of my apartment, and every time someone steps hard my whole room starts to shake. So, no, just because of that, the first place was out. Not to mention the inside was dirty. I checked out one of those bungalows before heading home, also managed by the same company. It looked fine outside, and perhaps inside would be ok too. However, the whole complex sits very close to rail track, and so no, not going to get any peace in the middle of the night if I am to live here. The third place I looked at was, well, not quite right either. The carpet was animal print-like, 3D too. Trippy stuff. Again, next to the stairs, although this one isn't as bad, it's concrete solid. I did like the bathroom, it's got a bath tub and a shower room. I also liked that the heater had vent into the bedroom, not a feature I saw in most apartments. Yes, at this price range, these are the kind of places out there. With all its nice features, I just couldn't get over the stairs and the carpet. So I'm going to have to say no to this one as well. Sigh. On the way home I drove by one that had a tiny little sign on its window. I was excited and called right away. Of course it was pricier and probably not the right one for me. Still I made an appointment tomorrow. It won't hurt to look.

Bittersweet

It's a bittersweet day for CH and me. Really sad to see her leave. Working together has brought us closer. It's an amazing experience to share and laugh and learn on this tumultuous ride. Too bad the drama just never seems to cease. To those who have done you wrong, I say to hell with them. To those who have supported you, I say bravo. You're the best at what you do, and no power starving b*tch can take that away from you. All the naysayers who disrespected you, who were mean to you, who wrote you off, will get their comeuppance, and you shall be the one laughing out loud, starting from now. How can one not know how wonderful and phenomenal you are? How can one not see how brilliant you are at what you do? How can one not know that you used to design classes and teach courses in university, after you've worked in the same organization for years? Who is this lying bastard, winking and telling you that we all agree your work's not good enough? There are a lot of good, decent people who cherish you everyday, then there are ones who simply do not deserve your awesomeness. I will continue to root for you, in wherever your direction leads. I know you will do the same for me. Ciao CH. Perhaps we will again align ourselves one day in the same battlefield. No matter what your and my next step will be, we will always embrace each other's moving onward, upward and forward, ALWAYS! Love You!

Another apartment to see

Tonight while looking at rental listing I saw one of the apartments that I was interested in checking out last week was still available. So I emailed the poster and asked if I could see it. I mean, maybe it is a great apartment and why not go find out in person. Sometimes I make a decision, I think it is the right one and I am happy about this decision. Then something comes along I change my mind. This past weekend I thought that moving wasn't going to happen because I just didn't see any apartment that was good enough in my price range. I also thought about the cost of moving, cleaning, and the whole nine yard. So yea, I decided, I would stay. I was content with this decision. I felt it was right. Then I saw this listing online... Well, just the fact that I was still reading apartment rentals says something, haha. We'll see how this viewing goes. It really doesn't hurt to look.

Doing a little

It's the beginning of another week. Over the weekend I cleaned out my small fridge. I had a lot of untouched yogurt in there, expired. They just sat there, bugging me every time I opened the fridge door. Yes I know, why didn't I just get rid of them months ago? Well, I'm lazy. I don't have a good excuse. This weekend somehow I decided this was it. I dumped, like 9 of them yogurt, into the toilet. Gross! Yep, off they went. Maybe this would be good for the pipes?! This morning I switched the work laptop location with my off-work laptop. These days I've been working and sitting on the couch, not a good position for my back. I figured moving to kitchen chair and table would be a good idea. So far, yea not bad. I also like the brighter windows behind me. This area lights up better during the day than my couch area. Sometimes doing a little can change a lot.

Quiet little week

It's been a quiet little week so far. Work has been alright. Evenings have been fine too. PK came over last night and we watched another new episode of Lost. It was a Ben episode, ah I love Ben. Last week's Sayid episode was weak. When I was watching the recap, I got really mad. What a waste of time! I can't believe there are critics think this season has been great. It really hasn't. It sucks. When we should be getting answers, instead we are getting more unnecessary questions, new characters (thank goodness they got killed last week, the only good thing I have to say about last week's episode). No one was answering the questions, ok, they are wink-wink answering them, and those don't count. I do love this show, but this season really has been lackluster. Last season was so good. I don't really know what happened to these writers. And now they aren't even going to answer all these random questions and "mysteries"! What the...

Home all weekend

It was restful weekend. I didn't really go out, except for having dinner at Dave's last night. We ate a ton, and watched Star Trek. His DVD player was skipping a lot, so we ended up using Jose's MacBook to play the movie. I saw it when it first came out, and I was surprised that Dave and Jose actually wanted to see it now. Today I stayed at home too, except for going to the gym, I didn't leave the apartment. I watched a lot of "Housewives" on Bravo. I missed most of the Oscars. When PK came over we caught the director category then the best film. Both went to The Hurt Locker. I didn't see this movie. Most war movies just don't interest me. This was a pretty unproductive, but quite nice weekend.

Not doing much this weekend

It's been a pretty full week. Every night there was something happening. Not tonight though. Just hanging out by myself at home, easy breezy. I don't have plans for this weekend either. Perhaps I will go check out a couple of apartments. So far shopping for apartments haven't been really working out at all. Maybe I should up my rent limit. I just don't find that many great, places in my price range. Perhaps I should just stay put. Now my loudest and most obnoxious neighbors have moved out, living here is not as bad. Then again, having some nice hardwood flooring would be really nice. I keep going back and forth on moving or staying, well, something to think about when I'm bored.

Enchanting! The Magnetic Fields!

Acoustic Guitar by The Magnetic Fields

I went to a concert last night. The Magnetic Fields was and still is one of my favorite bands. I don't follow their records as much as before, I guess I was a big fan then and now I am just a fan. The venue was great and the theater was almost packed. I was very surprised to see so many people came to this. In my mind I always thought that The Magnetic Fields was a small band, only a selective few knew, only the ones who were cool would love. I was dumbstruck how popular they had become.


It's Only Time by The Magnetic Fields


Born On A Train by The Magnetic Fields

Well, perhaps very popular only in LA? Dave Jose Cam and I had our seats on the upper level in the theater. It was not the most comfortable or spacious seating. We sat through the opening band, which kind of put me to sleep. When Stephin Merritt and his gang finally appeared, the whole theater cheered and applauded. They played 50% newer material and 50% older songs throughout their set. It was amazing, really brought back a lot of memories.


I Am Sorry I Love You by The Magnetic Fields

Monday night out

PK and I went to Target tonight. He said he had a bad day, mine was OK. Work was quite long and tiring, so it was good to get out of the apartment and breath some fresh air. We both got a couple of things and browsed the aisles aimlessly. Sometimes it's just fun to hang out with a friend and talk silly. On the way home PK wanted to visit this comics store in the neighborhood. I didn't really feel like going, but I thought since he came with me on my little shopping trip, it's the least I could do. The store was small and dirty. A couple of kids were playing Magic the Gathering on one of the tables the store provided. There were two bookshelves with random DVD titles. Then some more shelves stocked with various manga. There were a lot of anime character figurines, but under the dim light, looked dusty and unorganized. Overall, the store had zero customer appeal. Still, PK enjoyed the trip and even bought himself two Japanese DVD's that were on sale for $2 each. Before we headed home we stopped by one of the nearby frozen yogurt places to have some small icy treat. This was another sad shop, with 2 of their 4 flavors out of order. The owner was trying so hard to repair the other machine. There were a lot of notepaper and flyers and posters everywhere, on the wall, over the counter space, behind the cash register, again, very poor customer appeal. There wasn't that many flavor options, so I just got the original with blueberry topping. PK got their other flavor, mango, with mandarin topping. Mine was not as good as his, it missed that certain yogurt creaminess and had a sorbet-like consistency. We still had fun. Of course, we felt incredibly cold walking out of the joint. Glad to be home!

hello blog

Distance of the Hearts by Eason Chan

Wow. Has it really been almost a month since my last post? I suppose I just did not have a lot to say, or just was too drained to do it. Neither is a great excuse. There were nights I was just lazy. So what's new these days? Well, I am selling my MetroPCS phone and switching back to T-Mobile. So far I'm happy with this new used phone. Not sure about the plan, I will most likely downgrade it to save a few bucks. Tax season is upon us again. Not really looking forward to working through all the forms, but once I get the process started it will go quickly. The almost relationship had come and gone. I'm thankful. Some said I should have given it the final word, to attempt a proper "closure" - yea... no. I am not the kind to end things, not when it comes to personal relationships. What I do is I let things run to the ground and I shrug. No calls? Great. I'm not calling either. No text? Works for me, I don't like texting. No emails? I do write them but since I don't know your address I'm off the hook. So what's done is done. Where to from here? Not sure. I do have a new (used) phone though. That's always a good thing.

1st day worked from Seattle

Today's the first day I worked from Seattle. The weather is cold and cloudy, but it is really warm inside. I forgot how nice it is to work along with someone. I have become so used to taking care of business alone, it's good to feel like part of a team again. CH and I had zhongzi for lunch. I wasn't expecting much from something frozen, but it was actually quite tasty. After work today I talked to mom briefly. She sounded upbeat and quite spirited on Skype. Most likely she's discovered some new venture that's keeping her occupied. I called Caretas too. She was happy to hear from me, and told me she helped pay my rent yesterday. It was nice to hear her sunny voice. Soon I'll be coming home - I'm going to try to enjoy Seattle's moody wetness and gloominess some more :)

Photos from Seattle

Downtown Seattle - Clean and Cold!

Walking towards the Pike Place Market - Next to the port!

Cheese Shop is REALLY busy! People L-O-V-E their cheese!

Busy Beecher's Cheese - It's all handmade!

The First Starbucks - The Coffee Craze started here!

Inside Pike Place Market - Super crowded and exciting!

Another view of the market - Fish throwing guys said hi!

Gaudi's Tapas - Bacon wrapped dates, sweet and savory!

Paella for 2 - Clearly it's more than enough for 3 grown-ups!

2 Small Flans - Too sweet to finish by all, really!

Central Market - You can pick your own eggs and your own carton box!

Blue C Sushi again - This time at University Village! Yum!

Finally

The week's finally over. Now I can sleep late and not think or talk about work day in and day out, what a relief! CH came to pick me up, and I finally arrived at her super sweet home. For dinner she and Robert decided to take me to Bai Pai for some Thai food yumminess. It was pretty good, if a little fancy and salty. We came back and all watched X-Men 2 on DVD, which I brought. It's really not their typical film or taste, but I think they kind of enjoyed it, hahaha. Now we're just too tired from this very long week, and are preparing for bed. I think I definitely want to take it easy this weekend. Gonna try hard not to worry about work...

Not homesick yet

I'm extra tired today. We got to visit our client's office buildings in the morning and stay there for the rest of the day. We had both lunch and dinner with them, and by the end of the night I was exhausted. On the way back to the hotel, I was dozing off in the backseat. After I returned to my room I cleaned up and relaxed a little. Tomorrow I will need to check out, so I started sorting clothes and packing stuff. Some people are leaving on Friday, some on Saturday. I am staying for another week. I am not homesick yet, just tired.

Alone tonight

I got to spend the night alone today. After the meeting I went to the gym, came back to my room, and had dinner by myself at Beach Cafe. I had fish (sear salmon) tacos, they were delicious. My night was quiet and relaxing. Then I caught up with dad and some friends over the phone and Skype after the meal. Tomorrow the day is going to start early and end late again. I'm happy I get to have the night to myself before the last 2 busy days (w/ meetings) in Seattle.

Small gym to Big house

Today's meeting was not as intense. Still, there were times where I was feeling sleepy and fighting to stay awake. I was happy that I was able to squeeze in a little gym time by the end of the day. The little gym on the other side of the hotel was mostly efficient. There were some familiar machines, but none the familiar faces. In fact, there was no one when I walked in. I didn't spend a lot of time, I was on this machine, then that one, then back to this one, then that one, then I was on my way out. We were going to have dinner at someone's house by the lake. It was a big house, custom built for the owner. The view, although we couldn't see at night, was pretty vast and impressive from the inside. Its got heated hardwood floor and many levels. It made me wonder who these people were and why they lived in such a huge house. For dinner we had pizza's, and I played a little Taboo with some of the company folks. It was nice to get to know some of these people in a more relaxed, not all about work way. I got back shortly after 9 and did a little bit of work. Wrote Dave an email and took a shower. It was a good 2nd day here. Hope the rest of week turns out just as pleasant.

Stuck in the parking underground

The meeting today just was long. There were short breaks, but people just logged on and did work. Then we were back. Dinner was with the company folks too. So yea, it was a full day. The restaurant was a big restaurant again. El Gaucho was just spacious and grand. The food was good. The service was good too. But the parking situation was a joke. We were stuck in the parking underground and couldn't get out of the building after we finished dining. We were even requested to go back to the restaurant to get our tickets re-stamped, because the intercom lady claimed our validation was wrong! It was ridiculous. Finally someone walked out and swiped his parking attendant card to let us out. We were lucky we had a lot of cars with us and were all leaving at the same time. Otherwise, CH or I would probably have to get out of our car, go back to the already closed restaurant, and ended up paying freaking $15 for parking! What the...

Seattle I am here

The trip today was very smooth. Jose came to pick me up around 9:30 and we were at Long Beach Airport by 10:10 - Smaller airport = smaller crowd = shorter checking-in time = quicker entrance. I loved JetBlue's complimentary TV + first bag + snacks and drinks. It was just a very nice experience, except for the crying kid in the front, but there's not much you could do about that. Seattle's raining today, just like LA for the past several days. Dear sun where have you been? The wet and gloomy weather makes me sleepy. CH and Robert met me around 5 and came with water and Fuji apples (yay!)... They also gave me my birthday present: Sony Bloggie! Now I feel the pressure to make some seriously fun and cute videos hahaha. Thanks CH & Robert! We had our early dinner at Blue C Sushi in Bellevue - It was a modern, fresh and young sushi restaurant. Music was rocking indie, there was a video projection on the high rise wall, vibrant color-coded plates, lively graphics and mural, little anime figurines and drawings and toy robots here and there (on the belt train or in the display) - The food was good too! This was a truly multi-media restaurant experience. Later we grabbed some coffee (of course), and walked around the mall. Before they dropped me off we stopped by Cefiore frozen yogurt for some icy, tart treat. We were actually thinking about getting something from Cheesecake Factory for dessert, but we agreed fro-yo was lighter and more refreshing. I really spilled the beans on The Lovely Bones, which I didn't like very much. I might have said too much and gave away the movie completely, oops! I came back to the hotel room and chatted on Skype for a bit. I was tired, but happy. I hope I get a good night of sleep. It's going to be a long (but hopefully pleasant) week ahead.

Night ruiner

I've been seriously slacking off with blogging. Sigh. This week's just a mess. Tonight I was supposed to have a nice evening out, that didn't end up the way it should. I said a few things that hurt someone's feelings. Then I managed to say a few more. Then a few more. I was disappointed I wasn't getting what I thought I was going to get. I know, spoiled brat! It was just not a flattering thing to hear that I was a weirdo or acting weird. Or Asian places just had too many Asians. Not something I wanted to hear on a night that's supposed to be a belated birthday thing. Of course, I still had a wonderful time during dinner. Tony Roma's was fun, and I was able to talk, share, and learn. Daybreaker was an OK film. I didn't expect it to be kind of political and dramatic, a nice change from the typical vampire thriller flicks. Still, by the end of the evening, I was feeling, well not too special. And once I opened that floodgate there's no holding back. The feelings were hurt, the night was ruined, thanks to me! Sigh. Tomorrow begins another trip. I'll survive. Just a feeling a little down, that's all.

Raining. Messy.

I did not expect the rain when I came back to LA. Yesterday it was bad. Today it was worse. Soaking wet, freezing cold, totally sleepy and slightly depressing. Work was pretty rough. Why am I complaining? I'm tired. I do not have a solution to an unsolvable problem. It's true sometimes when you are in a dilemma only an outsider can provide some type of perspective. The only thing is that I don't know if I have that serious a problem. I probably do, I just don't know who to talk to, where to begin, how to get it out of my system. Sigh. It's not a big deal, it's just personal and maddening. I'm going to sleep it off tonight. I will find a way to get myself out of this.

Take off

Work was draining today. I was happy to get out of the house tonight. I did some shopping at Target, well, I got just one thing. Then I went to the bank. Finally I did gym before coming back home. It's been a hectic start of a year so far. Things are just moving quickly, going smoothly, and developing unexpectedly. It's such a difference from a year ago. Sometimes life just takes a while to take off, and sometimes it just flies. I'm still trying to see where all this is leading, and I can't wait to experience what's to come.

Badder Romance

Jose sent me this fan video and it killed me. I watched it several times and it just kept getting funnier and better. I laughed 'til I cried! No joke!



The original Bad Romance by Lady Gaga:

Purple

I went to Dave's last night and surprise! Regina and Anjelo also came by to eat with us. Dave made Thai food last night. Again it was very good and delicious. Anjelo brought a purple ube fudge from Philippines, it was mysterious looking but very yummy, sweet and complex. After they left we watched an episode of Top Chef, American Dad, and Family Guy. It was just another typical Wednesday night at Dave's. I received my ski goggle and T-Mobile prepaid card today. The goggle is so big! It literally covers my 2/3 of my face. Very funny ;P Watching the commercials for the new Google phone this week really makes me want to switch. I can't and I won't. I'm going to make sure this crappy Samsung phone gets enough usage before I retire it. For now, I will just watch and drool! Hahaha.

BBQ Ribs

The pork rib restaurant, Ham Ji Park, we went to last night was not bad. Yes it was super stinky when I stepped in, reminded me of Chinese stinky tofu. I never thought Korean cuisine could be that pungent too. The standout was their ribs and pork soup. However, it was the company that made the night great, not necessarily the food. Afterwards we went to Ice Kiss next door for some icy treats. It turned out this Korean ice dessert was also very Chinese-like. It was shaved ice with all kinds of stuff on top, syrup, banana, ice cream, etc. The weather was cold, but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. I did feel tired and a little distracted though. I guess I was still adjusting to the life after the holidays. Ha!

I'll miss the holidays...

Time doesn't stop for anyone. The holidays are over! Sigh. I will miss you! New Year's Eve Thursday I went to Dave's again, then to Jen's to do the countdown with other friends. New Year's Day I was at home, went to the gym briefly, then home again to relax some more. Saturday I went to New Capital with PK and David for dim sum. We waited for half an hour to get in, there was a lot of people! We were lucky though, I got my ha-gao and David got his fried taro dumplings. At night we all went out to Silverlake for some drinks and hanging out. I had not done that in a long time, it made going out a lot more exciting. Today I woke up very early to see Avatar with Sylvia and her brother in the mall. We got the ticket and glass for IMAX 3D, it was awesome! I really liked the movie and thought it was better than I expected. Sometimes when a movie is so hyped and talked about, the movie itself can never live up to what you think it is, but in this case, it is just as good as I hoped. For lunch we went to Apo Apo, it was all looks and none the taste. Yea the place was clean and trendy, but their food overall was just bleh and unimpressive. The shaved ice was quite good though. And there was indeed a long line waiting to get in, so I supposed a lot of people did like it. Tonight we had a big group going to Hong Yei again, and we all overstuffed ourselves. It is very nice to end the holidays with friends I love. Even though we already ate a tone, we all decided to have frozen yogurt afterwards. I can never turn down an icy treat, and we all need some kind of dessert to end the holidays!