Questing

I have decided to go on a quest to find where my passion really lies. I have set some short term goals for myself:

1. Run a half marathon (preparations have already begun)
3. Take interesting classes in anything.
6. See a ballet at the Met.

And one long term goal:
1. Change jobs.

Status

So...where to start? Been a Cornell grad for 8 months now, and it feels surreal. I have been all over the place; finally ended up living in Manhattan, New York. Ironically enough, I am working in Brooklyn. How did I end up there? Well.

It has been a struggle trying to land a job in New York City, a feat which took me six months. It was one relentless roller coaster ride - the wild joy and hope when I landed interviews, and the disappointment when I inevitably get that phone call or e-mail with standard rejection wording. You know, the one ending with "...but we wish you the best of luck in all of your other endeavors." Bah. Anyway, after the months of ups and downs so to speak, I found an employer through a staffing service, who was looking for a college grad to work in his small self-started energy management company (think 4 employees, single room office) and was willing to pay somewhat to the competitive standard to obtain a Cornell grad to add to his list of accomplishments. Sounds good, right? Here's the catch: he lives in Brooklyn, an outer borough south of Manhattan. Not Brooklyn Heights, which is just a couple of stops from Wall Street, where I live, but Marine Park, where even the subways don't go. I would have to take the subway from Wall Street to its very last stop in Flatbush, Brooklyn and from there catch the very unreliable MTA B41 Bus to my destination. Which means I am very frequently late for work despite my best efforts. Meanwhile, my co-workers just roll out of bed ten minutes before 8 and drive to work by 8, managing to sleep more and still be in earlier than me. Grr.

And the thing is, I don't have any other options. The reason why it is especially hard for me to land a job despite landing so many interviews, is because as an international (therefore I am evil), I have the H-1B work visa hanging over my head, meaning any potential employer has to be willing to expand about 5 grand to sponsor me to stay in the States to work for them. And that has most to all of them running for cover with their tails between their legs, claiming to "have their hands tied by upper management, as there is a budget quota." or "we don't offer sponsorships to entry-level college grads". So it is a very narrow road for me.

White december

It's snowing in Ithaca! I'm actually having a white December for the first time in my life! Snow makes me so happy :)

Memorable Potter quotes - a tribute to all the characters who fought to the very end!

Before begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'
- Albus Dumbledore to the rest of Hogwarts, book 1


"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy stargazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."
- Hagrid to Harry, book 1

Before begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!'
- Albus Dumbledore to the rest of Hogwarts, book 1

'What happened between you and Quirrel down through the trapdoor is a complete secret, so naturally, the whole school knows.'
- Albus Dumbledore, book 1

"And Snape said..."
"That's Professor Snape, Harry"
"Yeah, him."
- Harry to Dumbledore, book 1

'It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs.'
- Albus Dumbledore to Prof. McGonagal, book 1

'Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.'
- Albus Dumbledore to Prof. McGonagal, book 1

Harry got a shock the first time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen and it shouted, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" -book 2

"Can you believe our luck?" said Ron miserably bending down to pick up Scabbers the rat. "Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get the one that hits back." - book 2

There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't pink and fluffy. - book 2

Manners, Potter, or I'll have to give you a detention. 'You see, I, unlike you, have been made a prefect, which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments.'
'Yeah, but you, unlike me, are a git, so get out and leave us alone.'
- Draco Malfoy to Harry, book 5

"Worrying about poor 'ickle goblins, now are you? Thinking of starting up S.P.U.G or something. Society for the Protection of ugly Goblins."
- Ron to Hermione, book 4
'

"Dobby is used to death threats, Sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home." - Dobby, book 2

"Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells, we'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." - Severus Snape, book 2

"I accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once - long story - but it was telling me it had never seen Brazil and I sort of set it free without meaning to." - Harry, book 1

Harry was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it, when the bird burst into flames. - book 1

"I'd have to see what the Ministry'd do to me if I blew up an aunt. Mind you, they'd have to dig me up first, because mum would've killed me. - Ron, book 3

'Kreacher is cleaning, Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black -'
'And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy.'
'Master always liked his little joke. Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart -'
'My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher, she kept herself alive out of pure spite.'
- Kreacher and Sirius, book 5

'Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass-murderer and the Ministry's put a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the street and start handing out leaflets, can I?'
'And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community. It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf.'
- Sirius and Remus to Harry, book 5

"Well . . . when we were in our first year, Harry - young, carefree, and innocent -"

Harry snorted. He doubted whether Fred and George had ever been innocent.

- book 3

"Your father thinks very highly of Mad-Eye Moody," said Mrs Weasley sternly.

"Yeah, well, Dad collects plugs doesn't he?" said Fred quietly as Mrs Weasley left the room, "Birds of a feather..."

- book 4

"Percy wouldn't recognise a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea-cosy." - book 4

"If Hagrid's half-giant, she definitely is. Big bones . . . the only thing that’s got bigger bones than her is a dinosaur." - book 4

'I'm not putting them on," "I like a healthy breeze around my privates, thanks.'
- Archie, an old wizard wearing a night gown to a Ministry wizard trying to convince him to wear pants at the Quidditch World Cup, book 4

'There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.'
- Prof. Quirrel, book 1

'Ah, of course. There is no need to tell me any more Ms. Granger. Which one of you will be dying this year?'
- Prof. McGonagall, book 3

'Won't say nothing if you don't say please!'
'Alright, please.'
'Nothing! Ha! Told you I'd say nothing if you said please!'
- Peeves to Filch, book 1

'Mr Moony presents his compliments to Prof. Snape and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'
- The Marauder's Map, book 3

"Vell, ve fought bravely."
"You can speak English! And you've been letting me mime everything all day!"
"Vell, it vos very funny."
- Cornelius Fudge and Mr Obalonsk (Bulgarian Minister for Magic), book 4

"You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts ... but you cannot deny he's got style ..."
- Portraiit of Phineas Nigellus to Cornelius Fudge, book 5

'Don't put your wand there, boy! What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!' (Moody)
'Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?' (Tonks)
'Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!'
- Mad-Eye Moody to Nymphadora Tonks, book 5

'And this is Nymphadora -'
'Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus, it's Tonks.
'Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only,'
'So would you if your fool of a mother had called you Nymphadora,'
- Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, book 5

"Interesting effect," said George looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus curse?"

"Me," said Harry.

"Odd," said George lightly. "I used jellylegs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face."

- book 5

"Kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week." - Sirius Black, book 5

"I'll look for him later, I expect I'll find him upstairs crying his eyes out over my mother's old bloomers or something. Of course, he might have crawled into the airing cupboard and died ... but I musn't get my hopes up."

- Sirius Black, book 5

"Yeah, Montague tried to do us during break," said George.

"What do you mean, "tried?" said Ron quickly.

"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him head-first into that vanishing cupboard on the first floor."

- book 5

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat." added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge. - book 5

Fred: "Give her hell from us Peeves."
And Peeves, who Harry had never seen take an order from a student before, swept his belled hat from his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled about to tumultous applause from the students below and sped out of the open front doors into the glorious sunset.

- book 5

But not even the users of the Snackboxes could compete with the master of chaos, Peeves, who seemed to have taken Fred's parting words deeply to the heart. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, upending tables, bursting out of blackboards, toppling statues and vases; twice he shut Mrs Norris inside a suit of armour, from which she was rescued, yowling loudly, by the furious caretaker. Peeves smashed lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled burning torches over the heads of screaming students, caused neatly stacked piles of parchment to topple into fires or out of windows; flooded the second floor when he pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a bag of tarantulas in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast and, whenever he fancied a break, spent hours at a time floating along after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries every time she spoke.

- book 5

Indeed, a week after Fred and George's depature Harry witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn he heard her tell the poltergeist out the corner of her mouth, "It unscrews the other way."
- book 5

He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he had told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realise he had been describing his examiner's reflection.
- Ron, book 5

"And from now on, I don't care if my tea-leaves spell die, Ron, die - I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong." - Ron, book 5

Professor Umbridge left Hogwarts the day before the end of term. It seemed she had crept out of the hospital wing during dinnertime, evidently hoping to depart undetected, but unfortuantly for her, she met Peeves on the way, who seized his last chance to do as Fred had instructed, and chased her gleefully from the premises whacking her alternately with a walking stick and a sock full of chalk. Many students ran out into the Entrance Hall to watch her running away down the path and the Heads of Houses tried only half-heartedly to restrain them. Professor McGonagall sank back into her chair at the staff table after a few feeble remonstrances and was clearly heard to express a regret that she could not run cheering after Umbridge herself, because Peeves had borrowed her walking stick.
- book 5

Snape: "Do you remember me telling you we are practising non-verbal spells, Potter?"
"Yes," said Harry stiffly.
"Yes sir."
"There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor."
- book 5

Madam Pomfrey: "You shouldn't overexert yourself."
"I don't want to stay here overnight," said Harry angrily, sitting up and throwing back his covers."I want to find McLaggen and kill him."

"I'm afraid that would come under the heading of 'over-exertion'," said Madam Pomfrey ...

- book 5

WHY ARE YOU WORRYING ABOUT

YOU-KNOW-WHO YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT U-NO-POO! THE CONSTIPATION SENSATION THAT'S GRIPPING THE NATION!!

- Fred & George's advertisement in Diagon Alley

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia froze where they stood, staring at Dudley as though he had just expressed a desire to become a ballerina. - book 7

"Well, none of us really fancy it, Harry," said Fred earnestly. "Imagine if something went wrong and we were stuck as specky, scrawny gits forever." - book 7

"Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library." - book 7

"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" Harry interrupted again.

"So he can sneak up on people," said Ron. "Sometimes he gets bored running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking ..."

- book 7

"And the rumours that he (Lord Voldemort) keeps being sighted abroad?" asked Lee.

"Well who wouldn't want a nice little holiday after all the hard work he's been putting?" asked Fred.

- book 7

"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

- book 7

Back on the road

I think it's about time I cleared the fine layer of dust covering my blog. Sorry about the lack of updates lately, peeps, been too lazy to write...haha that, and my extensive use of facebook! Anyways, recently life since coming back to good ol' Penang has been a dream. I can't believe the fun I had hanging out with the girls last week. Mandy, Cheryl, Christy, Dini and Ru, we should do it again soon, this week, before Dini here goes back to Sri Lanka for good. Is anyone gonna watch Potter??


And lastly, another update: I'm leaving for Cornell on the 4th of next month. Taking the UA flight to Atlanta first, then later on going to Syracuse (that's as close as I can get to Ithaca on a flight) and then to Ithaca on the 11th for pre-orientation. Then things'll really get crazy then.

I've got just a little more than 3 weeks left here!! Let's party!

I'm COMING HOME!!!!!!!!

Words are redundant.

Back from oblivion

Heya people!! Oh wow, I miss you all. Ru, Serena, Mian, Yih Ling, Maria and especially Ed. Thanks for your comments on my previous few entries, btw. Somehow they helped me move on haha. What have you guys been doing when I was AWOL? Tell me all the juicy details!!!

I'm done with the 2-week Europe trip. It's been insane. In response to your 'why on earth would i need a vacation from this vacation?', Ru, I'll tell u why. Have you ever woken up at 6 in the morning everyday, travel in a bus for hours, then spend the rest of the day rushing from one location to another with no chance to freshen up, to say nothing of taking a shower and then checking into a different hotel every night?? It's unbelievably exhausting. And I've been doing this for 2 weeks, to say nothing of my 4 days in Barcelona before that. There was one day where I woke up at 5, travelled from Austria to Germany to Liechtenstein to Switzerland all in one day. When we checked into the hotel at night, I was so exhausted I barely had strength to brush my teeth, wash my face and take a shower before collapsing into bed.

There was another day when we travelled from Holland and stopped in Belgium for the afternoon then travelled for hours to Paris. Do u guys have any idea how many hours on a bus that is? Then on the last few days we took EuroStar, the underground metro from Paris to London with all of our luggages. Ugh. Jo's mom fell sick somewhere between Germany and Amsterdam. This was how hectic our schedule was. I'm never ever doing a tour again. I prefer staying in one place for at least a week and take my own sweet time eating the local food and meeting the local ppl (ahem).

Grand deluxe tour of the HOUSE!

Aren't these roses just lovely? They're everywhere here.



View of the river from the house in Poio



Where I've been blogging the whole month.


The pool from my room. That's Aida on the left


That's the house!! It actually has a name: 'Mi Jacal'


Garden, pool and beyond. Lovely view


Steps leading to the doorway


The living room


The dining room


Staircase



And...voila! My room!


More uploads later.

Ed´s Theory

Shit Happens.

But what about his other theory?


Do miracles happen as well?


I find that the only one proven and affirmed is that Shit Happens.


Real life, smelly, stinking, puddles of shit that catch u unawares unless u keep ur eyes on the ground u´re walking on at ALL times.

I know I will come back from this tryst stronger than before, but I´ve never felt so weak and unhappy and crappy. I feel like cutting my trip short and just flying home.

Depression

I was robbed. last night. I got adventurous and went clubbing with Krista and friends last night.

Around 7 am (at my 3rd, albeit shady discotheque-the only one still open at that hour) I left my bag on a stool for a few minutes underneath my coat. I turned my back on it for a moment and the next thing I know, it was gone.

Some dude said he saw someone wearing glasses go off with my bag. We were screaming where?? Dondé?? so damned many times, and the FUCKER kept on talking and asking RIDICULOUS UNECESSARY questions while no doubt the culprit was escaping. What made me so mad was even after I got hysterical and tlked to the bouncers, they took the whole damned thing so lightly! I resorted to broken spanish/hysterical English to communicate the situation. I even suggested/demanded that no one leave the perimeters until they´d been searched. They said they couldn´t do that, and while they were talking nonsense and asking their fucking questions, people were happily cruising in and out of the door. I felt so powerless and I´ve never felt despair like this in my life except once last year.

I lost:

1. my new nokia E65 mobile phone with ALL of my contacts, messages and important notes
2. Aida´s mettalic pink sony ericsson flip phone
3. my iPod (fully charged, containing 2000 over songs which is thankfully backed up in my laptop)
4. AND my new Nikon digital camera in which I´d taken over 300 photos since I came here.

What made me so DAMNED ANGRY is that they never bothered to do anything, the bouncers, or any of my so-called friends. Bastards. They continued laughing and dancing and talking as if I was just talking about the fucking weather. In the span of a few minutes, everyone in the club had found out that I´d lost the contents of my bag, but of course, other than succeeding in spreading the word,nothing was done, and the fucking who took my shit probably got off scott free laughing all the way home. A few minutes later, someone found my bag in the ladies´, empty except for my green half-length long sleeve top. The robber was so thorough i almost broke down in hysterical laughter if I hadn´t been so upset. She/he even stole my lip gloss, a slip of paper with a friend´s contact on it, and a bottle of half-drank mineral water I chucked in. It´s utterly, absolutely ridiculous.

I was so desperate to get my things back I broke down and cried in front of the club and nearly resorted to begging, but they wouldn´t have understood what I wanted to say, or who to say it to, anyway.

I feel so down like I´ll never be happy again. And why did I have to lose the 3 things that I can´t live without, right now? Did I do sth so wrong as to deserve this?Is it karma? And the fact that I lost my very important iPod and my new phone doesn´t help either. Nobody is giving me the support that I need here...Aida and Enrique told me that it´s life. What´s happened has happened so just let it go. Buy new gadgets. But how can I let go of the CONTENTS in my gadgets? My contacts? My songs? My 300 over pics taken?There are just some things that money can´t buy.

Ru, Serena, Yih Ling, Mian and Rina, I so NEED u guys´ support right now. Nobody here seems to understand, even Krista. She sympathised with me, for about 10 minutes and resumed her flirting with the guys she was with and talking about the guys she was with and was so flippant about the whole thing.In short, she couldn´t care less since it didn´t happen to her. She almost made me cry again.

I know I´ve been DAMNED stupid to leave my bag lying around in a club, esp since I never do tht in Penang, but I´ve already got the guilt trip from my mom when I called her to inform her and to ask her to cancel my SIM card. I´ll prolly get the number back. So the next week, guys, dun message my number. I´ve cried so much my eyes are perpetually burning.

Aida told me tht even if I report the incident to the police, they won´t be able to do anything. My things are gone for good. Why oh Why was i so stupid? I should have glued my bag to my skin. I just woke up from a nap hoping all this was just a nightmare...but no. I still smell like an ashtray from the clubbing. And I can´t bring myself to do anything but come to the computer. I feel like I´m having a nervous breakdown. Please, someone save me from myself.

Maybe it could have been worse. I could have been stupider and left my passport and wallet and money in mybag, but I didn´t. I keep telling myself it could´ve been worse, and maybe it could´ve, but I just don´t feel comforted. I feel so stupid and worthless. What´s more, there are so many pics I wanted to upload that I now can´t coz of obvious reasons. what´s even more painful, I met a cute guy, a friend of a friend who was interested in me, super popular in the clubs, is a lawyer and wants to practise speaking his english with me. His name´s Alejandro, or Alex. He left before this happened, and I don´t have his contact number, so he doesn´t know what happened. I dunno if i´ll ever see him again, but the reason i went into the seedy club in the 1st place was because I thought he might be there, since he left the 2nd club without us. I FEEL SO STUPID NOW. I shouldn´t have done that for a guy who in the end isn´t even worth losing the 3 most important things to me.

Can anyone save me from myself? Please? I´m breaking down, for real. I can´t do anyth but cry. And now I´m so tired of and from crying that I just get this heaviness in my chest that tightens everytime I think about what happened. I feel so lost.

UpDatEs!!!

In more than one sense. First things first.

Ru, I expect a DETAILED account of how ur b´day went. Or Else. (In case u´re wondering, yes, I am threatening u. ROARR!!!)

And next, I got into The UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. I realize it´s a dust speck compared to all the other schools I´ve got into lately, but hey, it´s the school ranked with a big fat A for the hot factor of all guys and girls there. In short, it´s hottie central!!!

Now I´m really in a dilemma.

Please do me a gargantuan favor, people, and help vote!! Well, only the votes for the first 4 school counts, but I thought it would be fun to post all the universities I got into (I haven´t actually gotten into Cornell, but I stand a VERY good chance, too). So vote! And help me decide by Next Tues!

Cornell University (1)

Emory University (2)

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (3)

The University of Georgia (4)

Ohio State University (5)

(Pls vote with the numbers I have placed in the brackets :D) Click on the schools to check them out 1st :P

EmBaraSSmenT!!!

Stupid old, ugly, lau-ia car. (Ru, since u´re learning hokkien from Si fu Serena, u shud know what lau ia means)

The dumb manual volkswagon polo car I drive here had to go and die on me this afternoon while I dropped the kids off the school after lunch. I usually stop the car at the side of the road to drop them off, coz it only takes a few seconds for the kids to jump off. Which was what I did. Everything went fine.

Until I tried to start the car again. As u ppl driving manual cars know, u have to switch off the ignition to get out of the car, or it´ll die anyway once u take ur foot off the clutch. THE STUPID IDIOTIC CAR WOULDN´T START!!!!! At first, I kept calm. I took a deep breath and thought, ok, I´ll just keep trying. So I did. Again. And again. And again. And again. And again. All this time, with each second that passed and with each of the car´s pathetic inaudible coughs, my panic rose like Moses´ parting of the Red Sea. So I did what any sane person would do in my place.

I called the house.

With Aida´s phone. (she let me carry her mobile when i drop or pick up the kids in case of emergencies) The stupid thing kept ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing (that doesn´t even sound like a word anymore) until I nearly chucked the phone onto the path of an oncoming car in frustration (but I rmbred that it wasn´t my phone - just in time :P). I felt damn panicked and was cursing the stupid lousy old car. THen I remembered that I had another useful number with me -ENRIQUE´S!!! So without hesitation, I dialled his number. He answered, but of course, he said he could only be there in 10 minutes´ time. At that time, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and took out my OWN phone and started fiddling with it just so that I didn´t have to face the curious stares of BLOODY INQUISITIVE pedestrians (got nothing better to do ah???!!). But of course, this being me, it wasn´t the end of my very humiliating experience. Oh no.



A BIG FAT AUTOBUS had to try to pass this particular street too (Damn the typical European narrow streets, and the cars parked on both sides of said narrow streets). There was this loud-ass honk behind me and the driver got down to ask me what was the matter (like the HAZARD signal wasn´t info enough, you big fat retard!!!) and was only satisfied after my distressed claims of ´no puedo!´And coz jumbo here couldn´t pass, the entire line of cars behind it was stuck too, with all the other drivers getting down to see what the holdup was.

OH, THE HUMILIATION!!! OH, THE SHAME!!! I was praying for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. But of course, this being me too, this didn´t happen. So WHAT exactly DID happen, u ask. Well, I´ll tell u what.

The hordes of drivers (ok, 4 of them) came to my car window (I kept praying they wouldn´t talk to me, and that I wouldn´t have to say anyth else besides ´no puedo´ until Enrique came, but of course) and BOMBARDED me with utterly unintelligible stream of gibberish (Spanish, kononnya) telling me to do someth. At this point, I had panicked already and was frantically gettting Enrique on the phone again. And guess what? He picked up just in time to hear the utterly unintelligible rubbish (he was having the time of his life LAUGHING at me over it later on) of what the hordes of drivers wanted me to do.

Turns out, they told me to put the car in free gear so that they can push the damned thing to another side of the road which had more room. Of course, again, being me, I didn´t get what they ACTUALLY meant until i was deliciously poised for humiliation. I got outta the car, thinking that I could help them push the stupid thing until with horror, I realized that it was still in 1st gear! One driver had to get into the car and shift the gear for me while the others pushed it. Then they left to get their own cars, their business done, while I was BURNING with humiliation and frustration wishing the ground would do me a favor and swallow me, along with the pathetic excuse of a car. Haih...wat a day.

Aida and Enrique had the time of their lives laughing at me and joking that this incident would come out in the evening news in Pontevedra :´Chinese girl blocks whole street of cars´.

HA. HA. HA. :P

The sun!! The sun!! My kingdom for a honey bun!!

I spent the whole day today at the beach!!!! In a strange twist of fate, the kids did not have sch today coz their teachers are on strike. The reason for the strike? Coz they refuse to work in the afternoons and evenings. But Krista and I were just discussing this issue yesterday, and it´s unanimous. THe strike is such a JOKE. Even working till evenings as they do, their lifestyle is SO laid-back the reason to strike is MOOT, really. I mean, their sch starts at 10am, they have a 2 hour lunch break from 1 till 3, and finish school at 5.20. What the hell are they complaining about??? (Let´s have a forum about this issue here, Ru, YL, Mian, Rina and Serena. I´m sure u guys have a lot to say). Sheesh. Anyways, enough about lazy Europeans.

We seized the advantage of this sunny day and went to Sanxenxo, a smaller town where their grandmother lives and spent the day at the beach there.

Of c0urse, the beach here can´t compare to the beaches in Australia, but it´s still beautiful. The SUN, of course, is wonderfully hot!! haha...what a bEautiFul day! I got several shades tanner already...I barely recognize myself. We were just lying there on the beach tanning while the children played in the sand. And when we got too hot, we´d run down to the clear Mediterranean Water and dip in it for a few minutes (The water is sUpEr cold eventhough the day´s warm). When I was swimming in there I wished I had a professional photographer to take a couple of pics of me haha...(what I lack in model stature and looks, the scenery would have made up for it). Oh, it was beautiful! The water was so clear and shimmered in shades of blue like a glamor...

We had lunch in their grandma´s house (do you know that the Europeans´ houses are built in such a way that it traps all the cold air inside, and even on hot sunny days it feels as if it´s air-conditioned?) I noticed that the grandmother always soaks the food she cooks in oil...both times i´ve eaten there the food were practically SWIMMING in oil. This time it was grilled chicken with potatoes. The last time it was some sort of rice with meat and chicken SWIMMING in oil (No wonder Europeans only eat one square meal a day; not counting breakfast and dinner which only consists of whatever u wanna munch on - their food´s really heavy ).

On the drive back to Pontevedra, We had a lovely view of the ocean with the sun glittering off its surface as if it was a sapphire crystal glass. In fact, the day was so beautiful, the kids jumped into the pool again as soon as we were back in the house. Of course, I had to take care of them, so I had to put on my bathing suit again. THen I had an English lesson for Carmen (While in the bathing suit right outta the pool-I was freezing), took a hot shower and am now blogging. And this is how Europeans spend their vacations. Now how´s THAT for a way of life? Do u agree with me that a strike by EUROPEANS is simply laughably RIDICULOUS???


(Of course, without the strike I wouldn´t have been able to spend the day at the beach, but that´s besides the point here. Let´s just isolate the two events and analyze them that way.)


Oh ya, I´m ecstatic coz QUEENSBAY IS OPENING AN ICE-SKATING RINK SOON!!!!!!!! Thanks for the info, Ru. It´s wonderful!!!!! Hopefully it´ll be opened when I get back from Europe and before I go off to the states.

Bad influence

I was actually supposed to speak and teach English to Carmen for an hour just now, but as soon as Aida went out to get Juan from football practice, we went swimming in the pool instead. And conspired to tell Aida that we did study. Well, I did test Carmen on several phrases I taught her on friday. Well between our swimming escapade anyway. Does that count?

I´m such a bad influence, aren´t I??

Carmita y Juanito

Carmen was so adorable yesterday. After having lunch with the family at a seafood restaurant called ´La Peregrina´with the entire extended family, with a beautiful view of the beach, we came home around 6.30 (lunch took 4 hours) and I went into my room.

I was getting all comfortable on the rug, with my laptop and pillows and everything when Carmen came in and lay down beside me. I was watching the bloopers for ´Friends´. Although she couldn´t understand much of what the people were saying, she didn´t really have to coz it´s bloOpErs. Need I say more? Body actions RULE haha...and that´s universal. She was laughing at the part when Ross was shouting ´´Pivot!!´ and Chandler went ´shut up! shut up! shut uuUup!´Oh, and when Monica was dancing in the fat suit! haha...

We watched ´Yo Soy Bea´ after that(the Spanish version of the Latin American ´Yo soy Betty La Fea´) and she was explaining to me some parts i didn´t understand. I must say, Alvaro looks cuter in this Spanish version. Juan joined us halfway, and we were watching on the floor of my room, just the kids and me. They´re so adorable!!

Kids´re back!!

I cannot express how happy I am to see Carmen and Juan back from their grandma´s house. Carmen just came in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Little kids are so sweet and they make you feel important to them :D

Around the block

It seems like when I came to Spain, all of my friends forgot about me after the first few days. Except RINA, of course. Nobody ever asks me how Spain is or how I´m doing. Does anyone ever know how hard it is to go through a new experience alone?

After 10 days here, I remain the only one who´s been asking everyone how they are doing and what´s going on (and getting monosyllabic answers)back in Penang. Come on, man. I´ve been writing in my blog everyday and nobody bothers to even ask me in my Cbox how things are going for me? And now that I´ve posed the question for myself, I´m doing just fine, thanks for asking. But did anyone know that I wasn´t a few days back? No.

I dunno what I would have done without you, Rina. THanks so much!! Guess you finally know who´s genuinely happy for you.

New experiences

Spent the night at Krista´s. We went out for dinner at this cool place called ´La Ibense´ where they have all sorts of ice-cream (and food too!). We ordered a salmon salad and fries, but the salad was really sad, really. It consisted mostly of lettuce leafs and very little salmon and red peppers. They serve olive oil with the salad here. We had coffee and churros after the meal (I´m so addicted to the European´s Café con leche!! Gosh). The coffee serving here is really small (Prolly coz the Europeans drink it 5 times a day). If there´s one thing I´d miss from Spain, it´s churros. They´re a kind of long fried pastries sprinkled with sugar and a little salt that are served with coffee. It´s sooooo good! But kinda fattening though. I´ve gotta cut back on those. Krista and I took one lousy un-glamorous picture. We´ll take more soon. ANd, some pics of churros too, my friends. It´s such a shame they don´t have churros in the States. I´m really gonna miss them.

After that we rented a movie and was planning to go to a discotheque at midnight after watching the movie, but halfway through it I fell asleep. I was that tired!! What a waste. But it´s ok, there´ll be other days. (The movie was ´Finding Neverland´ by the way. I don´t recommend it.)

I came back and guess what? Aida told me that she and Enrique went to a discotheque to dance last night. She had a better time than me!! How sad is that? Haha...but Krista was cool about the fact that I fell asleep during the movie she likes so much. I never got to see how it ended, but to tell the truth, I don´t really wanna. It was kinda dull.

If there´s nothing going on today besides going out to lunch with the family, I might meet up with Krista later.

Nice sunny day...

It was kinda cold this morning, and I was hoping that the weather would be as nice and warm as yesterday, and it seems like I´ve gotten my wish!

It´s such a nice, lazy, sunny day...(it´s such a shame I can´t upload photos here. Not to worry though, I´ve taken plenty and will upload soon.)

And I don´t mean sweltering hot like our M´sian sun. The Galician sun is like a long lost friend - long time no see, and when you do see it, you wanna bask in it as long as possible. Cool temperature, cool breezes, nice, wondrously warm sun that doesn´t burn but warms you within. Ack, is this me talking??

Anyways after dropping the kids off to school this morning I went to driving school for my last driving lesson (had one yesterday). Gosh, I´ve finally gotten the hang of this. I can drive to the city and back without any trouble at all. And when the car ´se apaga´, I was totally calm. It felt weird at first, with the driver´s seat on the left hand side of the car and driving on the right side of the road. But I´ve gotten used to it, and am now good with a very old, heavy manual car, to boot!! I´m so proud of myself. I mean, how many people has driven a car while taking instructions in Spanish??(do not try this at home, though). I did extremely well tho, if I may say so myself. Aida´s letting me drive the kids to school alone on monday. And then I can meet up with Krista.

I was supposed to meet her after lunch, but Aida has like, a million things to do (no idea what) and she has taken the car. I´m blogging coz there are some guys fixing the pool outside (they´re not hot, btw. Que feo.) so i can´t lounge by the pool like yesterday. I shifted my chair to the glass panel so that I can bask in the sun while blogging.

Nice lazy day.

Ah...que vida bonita...

ONe more in tHe bag

Berkeley Schmerkeley. It can go and kiss my feet.

estoy muy muy felíz!

I . GOT . INTO . EMORY . UNIVERSITY .



Is that cool or what??