some people live for the fortune. some people live just for the fame.

Who is EXCITED!?? I love Alicia Keys, by the way.

By the way, I'm throwing a shout out to my cousin Joe who says that he will just skim my blog because I am "quirky". Nice.

SO this morning I really couldn't go to sleep until like........4 am? I guess I am worse jet-lagged than I thought. I got home at a reasonable hour after (missing) watching the F1 race (that Indianapolis lost to Singapore...lame) and shopping a bit. I bought a nice business card holder, and I also bought two colors of havaianas, which are "good quality" (as my friends tell me) flip flops - one pair brown, the other champagne. nice. If I really find myself lacking, I will buy a pair of white or black havaianas. I miss my red purse... :(

So what else is new? I missed Asian food so much that I got teased for eating so much since I've gotten back. It's not my fault that Mexico and London didn't satisfy me. But I am planning to go wakeboarding (no cancellations this time!!) this Sunday for a few hours, so hopefully I will get a bit of sun as well as someone's eyes bleeding out because of my round tumtum. WHAHAHA. seriously. laugh out loud. I need to stop gorging myself with delicious Singapore food. Today I had a bowl of beef udon, sun maki and a raspberry fizzy, sugary drink (esprit) for lunch.

Tonight I will be cleaning my apartment and doing loads and loads of laundries. I figured out that my washing machine:
1. likes to eat my socks
2. likes to chew my shirts
3. doesn't like to take a big mouthful
4. takes less than an hour
5. cannot wash reds before whites. cannot wash anything before whites. or else the whites are whites no more. they are pinks. or greens.
6. eats my money

So hmm...what else is new? I had a small chat with a guy with whom I went to junior high school. I bothered a few of my friends. Rescheduled wakeboarding for Sunday. and OH YEAH I got a new number for Singapore. No more prepaid for me! :) I didn't get another phone though. Not yet at least. I have to pay a minimum of $100 to get another phone, but since I already have two, I'll just carry two around because I have like 900 minutes to use up from my other phone (even though I cannot have any incoming calls, which is totally lame but whatever).

Buying an iphone is $208 with a 2-year plan. That is super cheap, man! I feel like I should have waited to buy a phone because I would have saved a lot of money, but it's ok, I guess because I wanted a phone before I knew that I would be based in Sg and not Dubai.

I was back at work today and reading more about the Mex project. I'm thinking about signing up for gymnastics classes, which are on Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons. I think that I would rather sign up for the Thursday night one because I can hang out with my friends on Saturday afternoons. The only bad part is that I might be very sore the next morning (Friday). Waking up sore on Sunday would be ok because I get to recuperate some, but Saturday afternoons are when we all hang out, so because I need my exercise, I think Thursday is the way to go. It will cost me $500 to get out to December 13, which I think is quite reasonable. I want to find out if I can purchase enough for 10 classes or so though or more because I don't know how often I will be out of town. I will check out the place/class this Thursday night after work.

Is there anything else to ramble about? No? Well I'm going to upload a video of one of my cousin's daughters being really cute.

eating char siew pao and um pork porridge

so i stayed out late last night playing pool with some of my friends, and then i slept over at a friend's house and watched a few movies (on top of the four that i watched during the flight)

so let's see. from london, i went to paris for a day and a half to visit ma famille! i met some of the cousins (the arrangements were so last minute :p, so i didn't get to see everyone). i will upload pictures later. my cousins' children are SO cute! SOOOOO CUTE! and I had a good time just seeing family again because it's been over 1.5 years since I've seen them last (Christmas 2006). Well anyways, it was about a two hour train trip back to London, then a 57lb trip to the heathrow airport. for real. i have the most precious video of my cousin's one year old daughter scooping rice to put into the rice cooker. PRECIOUS!!!!!!!!! (lalu!)

then, what else? then i didn't sleep on the airplane because i couldn't fall asleep, so I watched What Happens in Vegas, Prince Caspian, House of the Flying Daggers, and Don't Mess with the Zohan. Yeah...I was that bored. I was even bored enough to follow my trip across Europe, Middle East, South Asia and down to Singapore, even though it was all in Chinese characters. Bored.

I ate a lot too on the plane. I'm sorry of in love with the pretzels that were salt and vinegar-flavored. yes. I think I preferred the plane's food to the food in Mx, and besides two meals (even though it was just a cream of chicken with roasted corn, it wasn't too shabby).

yes.

ok so what else? i got back, unpacked a few things (well, my laundry basket is now overflowing if that is what unpacking is actually) and then headed out to meet my friends who I missed!!!!!!!! so now I am going to play risk and eat dinner with ma famille singapore!

and my friend SH is totally doing my hair right now. I think that we're going to have a good laugh.

and i love john paul mitchell tea tree shampoo. it is the best. and i might look like an alien right now.

LOVE YOU!

Sans

hell's chicken!?

dinner was amazing.

first course: quail's breast with spinachay and champignons
second: mashed potay-toes! with pork chopp chopps
dessert: traditional sherry trifle

my lemon-blueberry trifle was much better, don't worry.

my next trifle is for this weekend - strawberry + peaches! you know what peach in spanish is? DURAZNO. i told everyone that it sounds scary - like Ay Dios! DURAZNO VIENE!!!!! (the peach comes!)

hahaha

I keep saying aiyo. and people are like what?

and there are a lot of americans in london. and i got photographed today for faces of London. Interesttttting.

and i'm spending tuesday/wednesday night in paris. w00t w00t w00t w00t!!!!!!!!!

and i spent 2 hours at the concierge desk today. but all is well.

and i sort of love my bed at the hotel. i love four pillows. and i love white sheets and comforters and white pillows. it's really nice and clean :). and now it's 9pm...

i can't wait to hear french again, but I'm pretty sure that I've lost just about everything. we shall see. oh man. OH MAN. next time i'm at home, i'm going to dig out my french texts. maybe in singapore i will buy something and try to work through it.

shoot. chinese or french? or latin? or spanish? i DON"T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!!!!!

there is south park in german. time to change the channel. for two reasons.

ok in terms of the language thing, i think i will do it in 3 months of each language. for right now, i will start latin in october. sounds like a good plan! :)

ok watching hell's chicken. i mean KITCHEN. WHOAOAOAOAOAOAHAHAHA oopsie.

sorry for the lack of details. had a great meeting today.

miss you all!

m

flight to london

the flight to london was totally awesome! i'm laying my bed now, and it's so comfortable and nice nice but anyways, i slept from mexico all the way to ireland - so i was teased a little bit by the steward, but all is good. i love to sleep well. there was a little girl that kept screaming and crying at the beginning and end (i suspect the ears popping) but other than that all went well. i did get grilled at the customs, but i mean, i understand the necessity of Knowing. it IS an international airport, heathrow, and one with much traffic. it wasn't a pleasant experience, but i experienced something new so i can't complain much.

i might have played dress up in my dresses today. might have.

and tomorrow and tuesday are meeting days!

toodles!

gracias a dios, es viernes!

Well I think that everyone is pretty beat up after such a hectic schedule since the beginning of the week, so everyone is sleeping in (I assume). I went to sleep super late and still got up at 8 because ...yeah I don't know.

So today I am working on a big presentation for the London meetings, and I will be all over that soon enough. I am still really super duper excited about going to Paris to visit the family!!!!!!!!!! w00t!!!!!!!!! But then I'm totally rushing back to London to catch my flight back to good ol' Singapore. I can't believe it......but I actually MISS Singapore. This is nuts! I never thought this day would come, but I have a great group of friends now, so I guess that's the main reason. I wish they were all here with me to enjoy Mexico.

Today or tomorrow I plan to buy a chilano poblano or something like that.....it's a traditional Mexican dress. Very very pretty and cute!! yipee. If it's not too expensive, I'm going to buy one for my auntie in Paris who collects Asian clothing - but I think that she might like this also...I hope. I am wondering what to buy as souvenirs for my friends also back home. I think I need to buy like 15...somethings. Maybe wood carvings...just because they last longer than food...or shot glasses (ugh so cliche). My flight is for 9:35PM Saturday night, so since I have time I sent some stuff to be washed in the Laundry Service of the hotel because this girl needs clothing to bedazzle in London.

So I've been to Manzanillo, Monterrey, Hermosillo and Mexico City since Monday...and we canceled two of our meetings in other cities as well...kinda crazy! I didn't think Monterrey was much (except that it had its own International Airport) until my boss told me that this area has the highest per capita income of the entire Latinamerican countries.

And I also learned that the official name of Mexico is "Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos" - so they are a bunch of united states as well!

So London is going to be super ex(pensive, sorry...Singlish) la, and the bunny is not so happy. BY THE WAY. I was so sad when we went buy this restaurant on the way to a private airport (Toluca) and saw that they were proud to serve........conejo (rabbit). I know that it's delicious, etc. etc. but it doesn't make it any better :(

And I found out that I'm going to be based in Singapore, not Dubai, so I can finally buy a real cell phone line! Yipee!! Then I don't have to get eaten by all these overseas fees...or I will...find out, I suppose.

I am staying in one of the executive rooms in Hotel Nikko in Mexico. It's totally awesome - Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries. Seriously? ...seriously. I might have taken a long and steamy bath/shower last night that took more than an hour. I was too excited to sleep until about 2am...3am? Something along those lines.

I have met some awesome people here - and we have such a good time!! It has been such a great experience being able to see all the mountains (and try pronouncing the names in the Aztec language - nahuatl) surrounding all various cities. It's interesting to see that D.F. (Distrito Federal - aka "Mexico City) is cleaner than I thought it would be. Someone explained to me that because it rains so much, the air is cleaner than in other cities. I also thought that because DF is surrounded literally all around by mountains, that it was a strategic place to be since very few people can attack you (before planes/helicopters came about) due to the enormous amount of effort it would take to seize DF, but of course people laughed at this idea when I said it aloud. But why not? It's strategic. Maybe I even showed them something they never thought about. I mean, look at the Swiss. Who would be crazy enough to attack the Swiss (rhetorical...ok it's been neutral since...1815? thereabouts)?

So HA! And I think that when I get to Paris, I'm not going to do any siteseeing at all. I just want to see all my family members again!! My cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandmother! I miss my family back at home so much, and even though this is no substitute, I think that I never knew how hard it would be for me to live so far from everyone else. But I will travel a lot, and think that I (well this is a secret) will be in the States within a few months. East coast. La. And hopefully this isn't the last time in London! Everyone was like if you've never been to London you should totally go and explore it, but at the end of the day, family means more to me - and I would want to explore London with at least one more person, you know?

And I get back to Singapore Friday night around 5 pm (Indy time: 5am) bleck and I will probably be smashed, etc. and dead for the entire weekend. Someone will have to come try to pull me out. I miss my friends, and hopefully none of them read this blog, but I think that I want to throw a little surprise picnic for them, but I don't know what exactly to do. Maybe buy a bunch of bread and ingredients for sandwiches?

The only reason that I'm totally obsessed with sandwiches right now is that on the plane to Mexico, I had the best sandwich EVER. Nothing has come close. It was oatmeal bread, a little smidge of Boursin, tomatoes, rocket (yes...I ate something green), and chicken breast. It was so, so incredibly delicious that I've been sort of looking forward to the trip back just to have another sample of this sandwich. I've been trying to come up with ways to make it better...and I know that bacon is sort of overkill, sadly. The rocket seriously....just......amazing.

And I thought that the food in Mexico would have been seriously amazing, but I was sorely disappointed. The most delicious thing I had was the continental breakfast at "Royal Palace" (no joke)...Bistec Ranchero. Seriously.......just.....sauteed beef, onions, green peppers and seasoning. simple, easy...and definitely something I need to learn how to make.

I ordered Chicken Fajitas in Hermosillo, and it was the driest chicken I have ever tried to chew through in my life. And I might have eaten too much because I see a leeetle pudgey around the tumtum.

Oh yeah......I MISS ASIAN FOOD SO MUCH!!!!! I canNOT believe that I am WRITING THESE WORDS. I never thought that I cared so much. But I need some rice rolls with char siew (siew mai) and also the ones stuffed with strawberries. And I need Mee Pok and Chicken Rice and Rice with everything and food food food from Asia. I wouldn't mind Japanese food later though...we'll see.

I miss my family's Pho Bo...Pho Ga...and Chau Thit Heo...

I can't wait to have Vietnamese FOOD. REAL VIETNAMESE FOOD IN PARIS!!!!!!!!!! I'm seriously about to cry......gosh......weak sauce!

Just for your information, there is only one acceptable Pho in Singapore, and it's one of those least-expected places. That's right. Bunny is Vietnamese.

And right before I left Singapore, I went to Wisma Atria to get a hair cut. I don't know exactly how much I like it (they sure like to thin out your hair in Asia...) because it needs to be maintained (though I am walking around the executive lobby looking like 1. a gorilla that 2. just woke up. LOL)...pah. Hair! Boring and too girly for me.

I almost wish I were bald.

I wish several things were socially acceptable:
1. to punch people in the face (ok this is a facebook-inside joke, peoples)
2. that I were bald
3. to wear sleeveless dresses in Asia (meaning, business-wear)


Well surprisingly, I am tired (4-5 hours of sleep will do that to you), so I'm gonna head back into my comfy comfy bed.

Toodles!
Sans

it's 4am

and i am eating guacamole and chocolate ice cream. yes.

MEXICO

Yes, it is true. I am currently in Hermosillo, going back to Mexico City today. I have been visiting several locations for this new project, and I have meetings in London; I will be leaving Mexico on Saturday. After a few days in London, I am going to visit my family in Paris! I am totally excited about that!

But traveling for business is no cupcake, and I have been craving cupcakes for a long time :(. Hm...anything else? I received two bottles of tequila, which I will give to my friends back in Singapore because I don't drink. And I want to buy one of those traditional Mexican dresses for my women's clothing collection back in Singapore! Hooray! And I suddenly am craving chocolate all the time now because Mexicans sure love their chocolate. I learned that the best chocolate though, according to natives here, is from Brazil - super expensive though.

It's so good to be using my Spanish!!!!! Seriously.

OK, there isn't much more to say that isn't confidential, so.....I'm off back to the private jet ^.^!

Bye baby, love sans.

webcamming with the baby

Wow a lot has changed since my last post!

I am going to Mexico tonight (less than 12 hours now...) and still have yet to start packing :p. Hmm but it's all right. I've been reading a lot this past week, and because I am spending 30+ hours each way to MX, I am going to be reading and listening (hopefully) to a lot of music. Hm...what else? I should be back in Singapore by Monday or Tuesday of next week.

I am currently obsessed with Alicia Key's "No One" and "If I Ain't Got You." Yeah...so now I'm packing. Bye!

weekend

well I got off a little bit early on Friday because there wasn't much to do, and I took a taxi to get to Orchard to do a little bit more shopping. I ended up buying a dress from bebe that is really nice - apparently JC doesn't like the grey color on me :p-and some things from Zara. Nice. I am supposed to go to India sometime next week; the delay is due to red tape stuff. Then Friday night we just ran around after some dinner at Taka and I was a bad girl because I was really cranky. Oopsie! And then on Saturday I met up with a friend to check out an art exhibition, I'll post the pictures later. The place is valled 8q, and the art is very "avant garde," but frankly it was a bit too absursd and weird for my tastes. Give me Rembrandt anyday. So afterwards I got to sneak into the National Library, but crazy thing is that it didn't have ANY tamora pierce or diana wynne jones....sob.....ok well after that we went bowling, and I was a bit subpar, but nothing too terrible. I want to go again. Then I got to try a place for some "chicken chop" before hitting the hay.

Sunday was a bit of reading, studying and watching tv...as well as some cleaning!!! I am such a good girl. Haha and my friend that I went to the gallery with told me I would make a good wife for a day because he liked my buffalo wings. Heehee!!

Ok I am talking to you...bye baby!

Sarah Brightman - Deliver Me

Monday was a bunch of reading documents and organizing them. Tuesday was the same. Wednesday (today) was typing up a bunch of things and translating. I also had to prepare some information. I found out that I was supposed to go to India on Friday, but because the embassy requires 5 working days to process it because I'm not Singaporean, then I will have to travel to India next week! How exciting - my first trip to India!!

I don't really know what to do when I get home because usually I am too tired to study, so I end up watching a movie and then going to sleep. Today was a rainy day, and I borrowed an umbrella from the office.

What else? I'm supposed to go to Night Safari next Friday night. I don't know what the plan is this weekend but I know that we can't play badminton because all the courts are fully booked :p. Hm...what else?

September 1st was the mark of the beginning Ramadan (sp?), in which Muslims fast when the sun is up. It amazes me how much people will do for faith. You could never get me to do this. Ever. I love food way too much.

Yesterday for lunch I went to Purvis St. for some chicken rice, western-style pork chop and some "roasted/fried" pork [I have no idea which it was...but it was covered in a sweet black sauce]. Purvis St. is near City Hall, and it was surprisingly a short trip from my office building there. The rice was cooked with pieces of garlic, and I think that it was especially nice. I realized there also that I haven't really had any bad food in Singapore except some lame pho. I will need my fix of pho soon though. Today I tried eel at a Sakae Sushi (obviously, a Japanese restaurant) as well as my usual bowl of beef udon, seaweed salad and sun maki (yum!).

Well...that's it for now. I've been spending a lot of time figuring out different features of my Nokia E71, which is TOTALLY AWESOME...

yes...
ok.

bye.
sans

No Labor Day for Bunnies!

So Friday night I went to the opera to watch Puccini's Turandot with JC. It was all right. I mean, it was my first opera and such, so it was ok. I don't think that I'll go watch opera for a while though...well maybe not in Singapore. I would give it a 6.5/10. But the Nessun Dorma part was so delicious and juicy! Yum! Afterwards, I got kicked around on the pool table, and then we all went home.

Saturday, after some tennis and swimming in the rain (and getting eaten by mosquitoes), we went to eat some delicious food - I can't wait to go back there! I had some fried rice (which I haven't had since coming to Singapore!!) and some ...something else that was wrapped like banh cuon but it had siew mai in it, and then for dessert I got to look at 'lotus seed and white fungus' (which is also present in the Vietnamese set of desserts but I don't have any clue what it is called in Viet) and 'peanut soup' and 'durian with wrapper topped with crushed peanuts (?)' but mine was the best with wrapped fresh strawberries in a nice strawberry sauce. YUM! And it was loaded with strawberries too! Afterwards we went to the Settlers' Cafe and played Risk twice (I won the first time ^.^) and then hm we played Mad Gab (girls dominated!! w00t! SH!!). Then we went for some prata (I ordered strawberry prata, and in the picture there were strawberries, but it turned out just to be strawberry jam. bleck. in a crepe. ha! "prata" blah blah blah!). Then I went home. Bunny was sleepy.

Sunday woke up around 230 and made some calls. Ended up at Carrefour at Suntec to buy some ingredients for Smoked Salmon Pasta and Bruschetta. The smoked salmon pasta was all right, but I think we added a little too much lemon. I don't know. Pasta sauces are tricky! But the bruschetta was a little iffy at the beginning, but in the end it was DELICIOUS!!! CS doesn't cook at all, and I totally put him to work!! I love cooking so much! It is so much fun! Hm...I want to pick it up as a hobby, but there are no kitchens to use :(. Oh well. So after cooking, we all sat down to eat while watching the Opening Ceremony to the Olympics because I hadn't seen it yet! Then we just had a good chat for a while, and then I went home.

And here I am, working on Labor Day because I'm in Singapore! haha