Tubing

This is the strange man (who I live with) & I at Colorado River 2 weekends ago.

Yes! We planted our ass on the purple tubes and floated down the river for 4 hours :)

When something bad happens,

I'm glad there is always someone/something good around.

Moral of the story: Don't work late all by myself again because when my car battery decided to die prematurely last night, it wasn't funny.

BUT

Happy to have friends who are just a phonecall away to give me a ride.

Happy to know someone with a handy jumpstart-car device.

Happy to find an auto shop with honest and helpful people working there.

Happy to find out the battery is still under warranty.

Happy to not pay a single cent.

Happy to have the same nice gentleman install my new windscreen wipers.

Happy to have streak-less windscreen.

Happy to find out tomorrow will rain before I wash my car.

Happy to be free to drive to the doggy park in the evening.

Happy to chat with dog-loving strangers.

Happy to have no TV that will waste my time.

Happy to go to bed now, but not before playing a little Angry Bird first.

Life goes on

Sparky makes his little spot in my room with an red ikea throw, a lime green wrap that was supposed to cover the printer, two of his buddies and a new teddy bear. Funny thing is I shouldn't have kept the teddy which was gifted from the ex, but I did. And one fine day Sparky walked into my room with teddy in his mouth. Now it's his to vent his frustration on, he loves chewing on teddy's ears. Nom nom nom.


I'm going tubing this Saturday! I'm very happy to be making more meaningful friendships with more people. Well, we never know how people truly are, but we can give it a try. And doing all these fun activities OUTSIDE with nature. It's wonderful just thinking about it. We'll be drinking and chatting, flowing lazily down the Colorado River... ...

So I'm all settled in...

My new Apartment! Everyone knows I'm always excited and up for re-decorating a whole new living space. But this time, I do it with a lot of sadness and haste. Nevertheless, I think I lucked out—getting a move-in ready apartment which is 10 minutes' drive from work and also very pet-friendly.

It's a 2 bedroom, so yes I have a roomie. He's a cute little boy who's a lot younger and my junior at work. So he has already encountered the very-bitchy-at-work me so I don't think it's any different from a very-bitchy-at-home me! He's very sweet, volunteered to do the 'man' stuff of the house, lets me have the master bedroom and is putting up with my hoarding issues. Most importantly, he has met Sparky before and loves him too!

We stay in a corner unit, on the second floor, there's a little balcony for the nice evenings we are having now. We intend to lay some wood flooring and put some nice lights. There is two full bathrooms so we don't have to fight over it. Our bedrooms are at the opposite end of the apartments so we won't have to worry about disturbing each other. I would be happy for him if he brings someone home, but I don;t need to hear about it! Vice versa!!!

I'm definitely not done unpacking yet, though the closet is already pretty organized.

I took as much as I can from the house. First, I didn't want to have to buy anything or spend anymore money. Secondly, I did contribute monetarily to most of the furniture and appliances although I was staying rent/bills-free over there. Lastly, I JUST didn't want him to have it. I took what I need, what was originally from my previous apartment, and what I thought I fairly deserved (on a very logically and rational way).

If you guys really want to know, read on.

So by the third day, I found an apartment because that was the main thing I had to do to keep sane. I cannot bear living in that house anymore. Although he said I don't have to move out (WTF right?) I started packing once I know I'm about to sign on to the apartment. It was painful.

The weekend finally arrived after a few more agonizing days. I asked a few friends to help me move. I felt weak, helpless. I really needed someone to save me and my friends did. They came, packed my shit in boxes, loaded up their cars and unloaded numerous more into the new apt, in crazy heat, never complained, and only gave me their very best. That's why there is a saying: boy/girlfriends come and go, but true friends always stays.

Sparky came with me. He has no means of taking care of anyone, even himself, so there is no way in HELL I would leave Sparky with him. I'm the one who takes Sparky to the vet, the one who takes him to the park and the one who buys his food. He is my son, haha.

Since then I've only return there once to collect some stuff I've forgotten. I probably need to make another trip, but there is no rush. I found the gate opener in my car, but who cares, it's his loss. I'll return it at my own sweet time.

With no risk, there will be no gain. This past relationship made me wiser. It's the first that I've been so open and so serious about. I'm learning from what I did—right, wrong or anything in between. Hope that through this, I am a better person for when the Love of my life appears in front of me, I know exactly what to do.

Sparky is a Star!!!

My photographer friend came by today to take some awesome Sparky shots for her portfolio.
DANG!

She made Sparky look even much better (which I thought was not possible).

Go to my FB! She tagged me in most of the pictures.

Just some vanity shots

Dropped by the Target Corporation sponsored free day at the local Springs Preserve.

Bleh. Wasn't very interesting at all, especially compared to the Lied Children Science Museum we visited last weekend. Glad we didn't have to pay the $10.95/person entrance fee.

To make matters worse, I wanted to try out the Wolfgang Puck Cafe at the location and the service was really slooooooow. I know, it's a busy day, they should put more staff on duty then. I blame the management, not the mistreated and I-don't-wanna-be-here-look-on-my-face kitchen to floor staff who had to deal with the overwhelming number of customers. Time we spent waiting in line to order plus waiting for the food to be served: 1 hr 45 mins. Time we spent actually eating: 20 mins.

They actually have a good view of the Strip on one of the trails, but that's not hard due to the low level architecture throughout the city.

No disrespect to the Native Americans but doesn't Little A look like her? Blame it on the haircut.
That's all folks. Yes, that place is kinda boring. I didn't bother to take any shots of the exhibit.

My invisalign video!!!

I will say it again — 1 step closer to PERFECTION!!!

Date Night

Supposed to go watch the UFC fight but ended up as a Date Night since we got some time to be just alone. And when I say alone it means only the two of us.

So he surprised me with a trip back to this nice neighborhood with its own man made lake. He brought me there like 2+ years ago on a date—It was later in the night, and we just had dinner and I wanted to go home already but he refused to *release* me. So he drove me to this lakeside to hang out for a while and it was freezing! I remember being very nervous, because I thought he was going to "make his move" but he didn't. Phew~

It was only a few dates later then we became officially a couple. So when we stood at the same spot just now, I told him he owes me a kiss, as I didn't receive one 2 years ago. It's all good now.

Awkward smile due to my Invisaligners

I look FUGLY in this picture (pls do not click to enlarge it) but I think is awesomely funny so I have to share it. The ducks came out of nowhere on the right and started running so I pretended it was chasing me :)

But then we figured they weren't interested in us. (this is how we see it) Turns out that the 2 white ducks are females and the 2 dark brown/green ones are males and the latter is aggressively chasing one of the white ducks. Because I joined it in party, the victim went to hide under the front of our car! But the 2 males refused to give up (horny bastards) and keep pecking at the poor girl on her neck. So much that I could see it turning red and the feathers are coming out. See below.

The other white duck can't really help much so it stood helplessly on the side. I kept screaming at the males, trying to shoo them away. The BF actually LIGHTLY pushed one of the males away and it didn't bulge!!! DAMN!

The BF was videotaping the whole thing but in the end we realize that he didn't actually record it \"(-_-)/

After 2 minutes, he went to move the car backwards and the girl got out and the males kept chasing her to the grass and one of them almost successfully got on top of her and started his humping. Luckily in the end she somehow got away and I guess the males got tired and gave up.

DAMN. the males are violent. I guess ducks are one fo the species who really dun respect the females of their kind. Makes me don't like them as much. Especially when the females were so pretty in their white feathers..... hahahha

Anyways, the next stop was my favorite cupcake place in Vegas— The Cupcakery. I'm so surprised he remembered. I had to wait till we got to another place because since I have braces now, I need to take them out and wash it before I can eat, and then put them back on.

I'm happy I'm doing this but I hope I can endure the pain and inconvenience for now and then I'll be looking great in my new smile :)

Goodnight!

current obssession 20

MAC Wonder Woman Collection!!!

I'm like 6 months late in getting roped into this news. Not news anymore technically. Most fo the items are sold out and boohoo! I have to pay more to get it on Evil-bay.

Getting that red lipstick (Russian Red) coz I tried my friend's and I felt in love with how my face beamed immediately.

Happy Easter!

From etsy seller, link here.

the BF's family is here, so our place will temporarily be a party house.

Went to my first bridal shower in USA, and it was short and sweet, had to skip the night out part coz of the BF's bbq party.

What's new but working like a Dog.

Sparky bit a little girl. It made me pretty upset.

I have a glass of Moscato next to me now and it's pretty good.

I have so many shopping obssessions, it's not funny.

What should I get?

my blog is not dead!

Blame work, blame the BF, blame life.

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Dreaming of Paris, but first...

I AM GOING TO SF FOR MY BIRTHDAY! YAY!

So exciting! Dunnoe why the BF suddenly said: Erm, why don;t we go to SF for your bday?

Then I sprung out of my seat, and immediately searched for flights.

It started out as taking the day off for my bday which is falling on wednesday this year. I took only wednesday off as I don;t believe anyone should work on their bday. But the BF took wed through fri, and I was like: it's not even your bday. Then he decided not to waste it by sitting around at home, so YAY!

I have been trying to get him to go visit with me for a while. I've been away for 3+ years, but I'm pretty confident that I can remember the buses to take to the Ferry building so I can have a Miette cupcake (or three) on my special day. I can't wait to see my friends, breathe in the cool crisp bay air and just dance in this fabulous city I used to call Home.

I'll def. write about my trip after I'm back.

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Next up, is planning for Paris. I always wanted to go there. I would move there in a heartbeat once I can figure how to speak French and manage a stylish lifestyle there (Any French royalty interested in a cute Asian gf?).

this trip should happen later this fall. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, I have been living a very modest lifestyle. Even when I went shopping last Saturday, by myself, with no BF nagging at me, I DIDN'T BUY ANYTHING!!!!!!!

sighz, I have grown up.

last post for the year.

what can I say? 2010 was highly anticipated for me coz 2009 sucked like nobody's business.

at least 11 is my favorite number AND my mom forwarded me and email saying 2011—the rabbit year is great for Monkeys like me so I'm definitely looking forward to the new year.

Did I just give away my age? *shrugs*

The house smells like freshly baked brownies and sausages and bread, coz' yes we made some brownies and pigs-in-a-blanket. Hooray!

I got extremely sick for the past week, so ironically, despite the extra days off, I did nothing much but lounge around at home. Why did I get sick? I don't know, might be because I also spend the last 3 weeks working like a dog.

But the good news is, I finally got the 'approval' from the big guy at work! So i'm glad. Just hope that I'm not a one-hit-wonder and can keep up the great work in 2011.

I know I can. I must.

So today is spend eating yummy home-made Filipino-style Spaghetti, one filet mignon leftover from X'mas and yummy potato au gratin. And surrounded by love.

It's 11.41pm. *cough cough* Almost there!

I really wanna sparkle this new year. I will. And I hope the very best for all my family and friends out there.

Cheers!

I promise

this blog is not dead. the owner is just lazy.

Plus I had a refill at the dentist today. Refill—took out old cavity fillings and replaced with new shiny cosmetic white plastic based ones. So that when I yell at someone, they don't focus on the visibly awful black mercury fillings in my last few Molar teeth I had since I was a child.

Speaking of which, I totally cannot erased the memory of our Primary school dentist. That dingy so-called dental office located in the other school next door always smells musky. Filled with totally out dated equipment (I knew even when I was a kid as the same loathsome chair was never upgraded for like 6 years) and dizzy ceiling lights. I think she is not even a dentist. She seemed more like a dental hygienist who hates kids. I know she hates kids because she doesn't care how we feel. She doesn't need our parents' consent to do any dental work on us, which I think is total BULLSHIT.

She extracts our tooth whenever she think is appropriate and she gives us POISONOUS MERCURY cavity fillings without thinking twice. How do I know? I went to a dentist in USA a few years ago who told me:

"You should change those fillings."

"Why?" I asked.

"They look like they are starting to chip off on the edges. They are probably old right? And they are mercury-based."

"That sounds poisonous!"

"They were only poisonous when they first put it in... ..."

Inside voice: WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

He continued:"Also, I can't even just throw them away. By law, I have to dispose of them in a safe procedure because of the mercury."

Inside voice: 1000000000 x WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

I know now that I am a victim of a psycho dentist hygienist, who probably wasn't smart enough to be a real dentist, hated kids and chose to freaking drill into our teeth like there is no tomorrow. My cavities were probably not even alarming at all. But I was just unfortunate. I was poisoned as a child and maybe, I feel like going back to the country, sue the Ministry for negligence. The mercury had probably entered my blood stream and cause some deficiency that I will find out later in my life. Which will probably be too late.

The sad truth is, I wasn't the only victim.

H&M heart Lanvin

Can't wait till November 23rd!!!

Imma back

but busy catching up with Life, just like Lucas was, busy playing with my shoes. I heard he is especially fond of my red pointy shoes. heeheehee

Ramen Everywhere!!!!!!!

Going to Ohaiyo-Land with the family~

There will be plenty of updates when I am back!

Restaurant week in Las Vegas is a great idea

In Las Vegas, I keep telling myself that I should maximize my time here by doing everything Vegas. I kinda overdid it when I had that huge influx of visitors during my first year here. It's like everyone thinks: oh we have to visit you there now!

So before my time (and money) runs out in Sin City, I'm glad that I've finally tried Restaurant Week, organized for Three Square, a charity/community to help out the starving by stuffing ourselves with great food, in great restaurants, at great affordable prices.

We could only pick ONE place out of the extensive and tasty list of participating restaurants, and we (I) picked Fleur de Lys!!!

At USD$50.10 per head (not including tax, tips and/or drinks), the Prixe Fix menu didn't seem like we'll be short-changed for paying half of what a normal meal would be. Plus my fellow colleague/foodie gave the encouraging nod. Since there is only 2 choices of each of the 3-course menu, the bf and I can practically try everything.

So we dressed up fancy, dropped off the little monster, parked, arrived early, played the slot machine, went back, got seated, had a drink or two and BAM! When I first tasted my Truffled Onion Soup, I thought I would never ever taste a better soup than that again. it surprisingly doesn't taste much like onions, I thought there was duck in there but I can't taste it either. I can taste the Truffles which is yummy and definitely the soup is just good. I would even drink it if someone tells me that it's made with rat's tail. Yes, it's worth the drawback after, if ever.

So they serve you with an empty bowl first, with only the truffles, then they pour the creamy yummy soup in, in front of you. The soup plate has a little bottom pit and he poured it to the brim, that's why it looks like it's flat on the surface.

The bf had the (raw)salmon salad which is so fresh and pure, you can taste the smooth silky texture of the fish. That's the way to do raw fish right.
Next are the entreés. I had the Halibut for the hell-of-it (heehee) and the bf had the something steak. Boy am I glad I got the Halibut!!! It was served in the beautiful custom plate and the chef purposely presented the dish in a way to complement the flower design on the plate. Le Sigh.
And what else can I say? The fish is so fresh and tender, lightly salted and seared on one side. The sauce is light, with carrots, corns, some beans and perfectly enhanced the gentle taste of the fish. It was kinda South-western, yet I don't know. Can't find words to describe.

The bf had the steak, which was good, but forgettable. It had the smallest and cutest baked potatoes I've ever seen.

Next up dessert. We were both stuffffffffed. We finish everything and I have to say that the servings were pretty impressive. I was kinda worried that the bf would need a stop at Burger King right after because fine dining are known to be pretty small portioned. But did you see my fish??? It was ginormously fabulous! Plus I tried all 3 kinds of bread rolls they offered. Once again, I ate more than my date.

There wasn't a choice for the dessert, so chocolate soufflé it was. Great for chocolate lovers and even greater for me as their chocolate sauce was just perfectly semi-sweet. Except that I gave the bf my mocha ice-cream since I'm not a fan of coffee. The soufflé was so fluffy (I'm gonna die!!!), freshly-made, perfect, with the chocolate sauce. YUMS.

Doesn't the ice-cream on the right look like a little mouse?

So the order of my favorite dish actually follows the order of how they were served. I read online that the soup alone usually costs USD$20, which I think I might just go get it another day on a whim. Or to cheer up an otherwise gloomy day (which are plenty recently due to work).

We ended the night with a short round of slot play where I ended up leaving the hot seat of the Sex and the City machine with $30, instead of the $5 I started with. Small YAY. (Mmmmmm that could buy me that bowl of soup again......)

It's a long weekend, with Labor Day holiday occuring on Monday. It turns out I might have to work again (having to work today-saturday). I hope I get those comp days. Or I'll just give myself some when the rest of my clan arrives. Woohoo!

I don't know if you know much about sugar

But most of the drinks in USA are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, instead of sugar. I made a double-take when I saw this in stores and wanted it immediately. For the nolstagia and the fact that it's using real sugar. It tasted a bit different. I like it, just not used to it. Tried the Mountain Dew version too and it tastes interesting...

It's funny how we are all subjected to the 'right' choice and when we have the 'real' choice, it's like a special occasion and for this instance, it tasted interesting.

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There's so much going on right now. So tired and busy and weak. will chat with ya another day.

If you haven't realised......

We went to San Diego Comic Con this year!!!

And sorry no, I didn't sit in on any panels or special talks because I'm not a big comic fan so it was just a free and easy trip. Comics are great, unfortch, I'm not into any right now. But maybe I will soon.....

Took some great pictures. It's like Halloween or something. Check them out.

The Agnes SO-Fluffy-I-can-die Unicorn.

R2D2!

And the coolest picture of the century...............

I know. My mouth is opened way to wide but that's how buck tooth I am. It's still an awesome pic.

Tickets for next year is gonna be on sale soon. You should get yours. The next one I wanna go is prolly Anime Con. I heard there is one in Vegas!

And before I forget. We also got to see the ocean! At last!

At Pacific Beach in San Diego

And look at the 'Monkey' I found at the beach...