The last few days have been really great for me. Lots of time to myself, no travels planned, many things I've been wanting to do, I've done. What can I say...it's really good to have some time to myself, and only myself. For a while, I did not like to be alone, but now, I'm really glad I'm alone. Okay, Mochi is with me, but hey, I don't depend on other people's company to keep myself feeling "secured" anymore.

I wake up, do some house chores, eat, go to work, visit Pika at the quarantine, eat dinner, do more house chores, go to the gym or go to the spa (for facial or massage), come home, shower, and sleep. Oh, and I'm back to the whole reading before sleeping routine, and it's doing wonders to helping me sleep better at night.

After reading Kite Runners, I want to get more reading done. Any great books out there that could lift my spirit? It just makes me feel really good to read a well-written novel. Yes, Kite Runner - so awesome. I think I cried three times while reading that book at CeBIT. I was hoping no customer would come or else they would see tears in my eyes. Haha.

Although having life in a routine is not great, but it keeps me really focused. I'm back to using the date  book on my new cell phone so I can keep my life neatly organized. Having things in place makes me feel like I belong. Hope that made sense.

Update

Body: Going to work out more often now. Not working out makes me feel really out of shape. I'm going to continue taking classes with my trainer, or else no one will keep me motivated to exercise. Every Monday and Thursday 9pm, I will work out!!! As for the other days, I am going to go to the gym if I have time to do some aerobic exercise by myself. So my weight should be around 115lbs right now. My goal: 100lbs.

Beauty: Scheduled for a facial every Wednesday night. Damn blackheads, they get pretty bad when I'm traveling a lot. If possible, massages on Tuesday nights. I have all these knots in my back, so it's good to have them loosen up. Oh yeah, I'm also drinking more liquid everyday now...keeping my skin hydrated!!!!

Work: Many many things going on. Some I have no control over, some I can help a bit. It's not so great when you feel a bit useless. I'm just in the hard part of the learning progress...I can get through this. There are just many things I need to come to accept, and many things I need to find ways to solve eventually. Observe and learn - that's the best I can tell myself right now.

Friends: Doing more things with my cousin now. I'm taking the initiative to hang out with people. It's actually pretty nice...social life is getting better.

Love: Has its ups and downs, but he has pushed me to be more independent. He has his career to worry about right now, so he can't be by me all the time. He told me, don't let him be the center of my universe; there are many things I need to focus on right now, and it is not him. It's true, I let my focus stray away from my career. I need to thank him for being honest to me, pushing me back on track. It's not everyday that your friends would tell you the harsh truth to your face. I sorta forced him to say it to my face. I cried because I finally heard those words that I needed to hear. They're not everything, but it's a good start.  This is his way of showing me he cares. 

That is all! Hope everyone is doing well.

Pictures are available!! Go check them out.

It's been a while since I blogged...so here's an update.

Between March 12th and April 3rd

• Cin visited me in Taiwan and we took a road trip around Taiwan in 1.5 week.
• I went clubbin' for the first time in 2008...and that shall be my last one for the time being.
• KTV two nights in a row.
• Patron Silver Night - my tolerance has definitely gone down.
• Walking around the night market while drinking beer = best experience during our trip.

I came back to California with Cin on April 3rd. It was good to be back and I'm really glad I chose to come back. We were able to have a full HS Friends Reunion (WAFFLE) on April 4th. Seriously, everyone was there! Good food at James', then some drinking + Karaoke at a dive bar in Fairfield. I miss them and they made me felt at home that night. At one point, I was about to cry - but that may be because of too much alcohol content in my body - like I've said, my tolerance has gone down.

April 5th was Joe's wedding. It was like a Circle K + Middle School/ High School Reunion. It was fun to see Joe being the one who cried first during the wedding. Oh Joe, you didn't fail me. He is a sensitive soul. Congratulations, Joe and Rika!

I slept a lot during this stay...there were two days where I slept until the early evening. It's okay...I wasn't sleeping so great in Taiwan, so it felt great to just sleep effortlessly. I've always thought my bed here is soft, but really, it's pretty firm. So maybe my bed in Taiwan is too soft, because I thought my body likes soft beds. Hmmmm....

Yesterday, the 7th, I had dinner at Ad Hoc, a restaurant by Thomas Keller, in Yountville with my fellow foodwhores - Phuoc, Cin, and Joy. It's confirmed, I really don't like fried chicken, no matter how much better it is than KFC. It was good food, but not GREAT food. I enjoyed the company though...that's always the reason why I go out with them. Yay foodwhores!

Today, Cindy, James and I watched 21 (the movie). It was GOOD!!! I remember when Quan was reading "Bring Down the House" and told me how great it was. I was interested at that time but never got around to reading it...but how awesome is that when they made it into a movie for me! Woot! James and I really enjoyed it, so go watch it! I came out of that theater happy.

Leaving for Taiwan tomorrow night with Pika - the soon-to-be Int'l Traveling Dog. I really hope she'll be okay flying in that container. Yeah, they won't let me take her into the human cabin with me. Please...help me pray for her safety.

Next time back to the states. September for sure for the DeVera-Nguyen Wedding. Maybe June for Helen's graduation if she decides to walk.

Picasaweb

Enjoy!

Yesterday, I finally turned 25. Quarter of a century...eeeeks! I know, compared to some of you, I'm not THAT old...but omg, I'm getting there. JK.

Anyway, I've had the blessing of being in the company of some good friends here in Taiwan. So here's my birthday story.

After two tiring and annoying flights back to Taiwan, Marco picked me up. I showered and then off we went to have hot pot at this new place he found in Taoyuan. Good soup!!! Then he dragged me to go to YingGe to pick up our ceramic cups, then to his house to pick up his sister so we can drink up for my birthday.

When we got back to my place, I saw a pair of Adidas that does not belong to me outside my door. "Whose shoes are these?!?!" I said. I tried to unlock my door, but the people inside locked EVERYTHING.

Background: I have 5 locks on my door. Yea, I know...crazy, but five locks. 3/5 locks cannot be opened from the outside. So we were stuck outside of my home...I couldn't get into my own house!!! And my friend, Liang (a girl btw), was on the other side saying "No one is home." Yeah, hilarious!!! Some surprise right?

When I finally got into the house, they filled the room with 160 heart-shaped balloons and many tiny candles. In the middle of my living room table was a big round cake. Liang, my cousin (Bubble), and Rhino were inside my house saying "Surprise!!!"

Bubble's Pictures: Pictures of how they set up my house. Very romantic!!!

Then later, two more of my friends came over and we just ate the cake and hung out. Around midnight, we went to a KTV (karaoke place) and sang until 6:30am!!! Yup...great birthday celebration. Definitely another one to remember.

Thanks to Liang for coming up with the surprise party idea~although she did give it away when she asked me a few weeks ago~ when is your birthday? may I have Marco's number? Yeah....not very slick.

Thanks to Bubble and Rhino for setting up the house.

Thanks to Marco for blowing up those balloons (yeah, he spend 6 hours doing that all by himself~there were suppose to be 200 balloons, but he popped 40 in the process), ordering the delicious blueberry-hazelnut chocolate cake, calling up Bubble and Liang to get everyone together, and putting everything together.

Also, many thanks to everyone's wishes on facebook!!! Oh, and those personal e-mails were awesome!!!

The show has ended. I wouldn't say the show was successful, but we did see some potential clients. Need to remember - it's not quantity, but quality. The last day was suppose to end at 6pm, but by 2pm, the booths around us were packing up already. We were like...umm, aren't we not allowed to do that? But then again, we figured, if we actually stayed up, by 4pm, we would be the only booth left. So yeah, we joined the bandwagon and started packing up around 3pm (the internet gets shut down at that time anyway). By 4pm, we were on our way back to the house. Yay to the end of the show!!!

I looked pretty horrible at the show today. I had the chills, my muscles were aching, and I was having some major headaches. After taking some Taiwanese medicine, I felt a little bit better. When I got back to the house, I took a 3-hour nap to rest my body. Right now, I am feeling a bit better, but my appetite has not come back yet.

At 4am, we need to meet up with our tour group to go back to Taiwan. A 4-hour ride on the charter bus from Hannover to Frankfort to catch our 12pm flight. Geezes, it'll be a long ass day. It's okay, I can't wait to be back in my own home.

Hope there will be happiness waiting for me at home.

When you're in a foreign country, don't eat the leftovers. Last night, we had leftovers for dinner because they were just sitting there and we didn't want to waste food. I didn't want to...there was something in me that told me I shouldn't. Boy, I should have listened to my intuition.

Now I think I might have a stomach flu. I have diarrhea and I'm feeling nauseous. Last night was the worst sleep for me this week.

Leftovers--I hate you.

Don't worry what its existence means.
Just accept it, and know it won't last.
Nothing in this world lasts.
This is a reality we all must face.
The best we could do is enjoy the things we have.
When it's time to let go,
Raise your hands up high,
A big smile on your face,
And wish them the best as you wave goodbye.

Because really, all we want is for everyone to be happy.
If we all know things don't last,
And are prepared to let things go,
Then maybe we'll live happily ever after, after all.

My past, my wrongs, my eagerness to hold on to everything around me...

1, 2, 3...I'm setting them free.

It seems like there will be a possible reunion with my high school friends in April. I will be making a trip back to the states for around 10 days. Yeah, it's short, but man, I miss my friends.

So now I have something to look forward to....April 3!!

I love the bathrooms in Europe. There is this sanitizer spray next to the toilet in the bathroom and you can take a piece of toilet paper, spray the anti-bacterial liquid on it, wipe the toilet seat, and do your business worry-free. Oh, and the toilet already looks clean too...so different from Taiwan. What's even cooler~in Frankfort, there's this sanitizer machine that drops down and touches the toilet seat after you've flushed the toilet, and the toilet seat rotates under that cleaner-in the end, you get a cleaned toilet seat for the next person!

I love clean bathrooms.

Last night, we had Italian food for dinner and I absolutely love their soups! Tomato soup actually tasted like it's made from fresh tomatoes~very different from the ones I had in the states. Germany's Italian cuisine is definitely the best I've had so far. I can't wait to go to Italy one day and try the REAL Italian food. Oh, and Helen had Minestrone~BEST Minestrone EVER! It had that extra flavor in there that made it unique. You just have to try it to believe it.

We just had the worst Chicken Chow Mein  in the world. For $8Euro, we had the most oily and salty chow mein. That's it, no more Chinese food take-out for lunch at CeBIT.