oy vey

A friend that I'm not really very close with at all- okay, an acquaintance- told me the other day that I'm really special. (Not in a retarded way). It made me really happy/ a little sad, because nobody close to me has told me that in a while.

i'm breaking. apart. slowly.

these posts keep getting more emo by the day. story of my life.

I miss the days when we didn't have to think about futures or consequences.

I was going to write about my thoughts which I shared with Freddy previously. He then agreed with my thought, but declined to write an entry about it. NO WAY I AM WRITING IT.

This is what I term 'mutually effed'

So instead, let me tell you about how crappy my health insurance company is being. Originally, they were going to drop me when I turn 22 (at the end of this month. Did you buy my birthday present yet!?). Since I'm in school full time though, they will (or rather, should) continue my coverage until I'm out of school. I called them yesterday to check on the approval status of something, and they told me I had been dropped as of 12/4, and that my entire family was switching to a new plan. What?
Called my dad, who spoke with them today. Somehow without us knowing, the company dropped my brother, mom, and myself from the plan. WTF.

So, we're getting switched to Blue Cross Blue Shield as of 2010. Until then, kiss my ass Aetna.

sitting, waiting, wishing

I've been feeling sort of aimless / lacking direction lately. A lot of what-ifs and reflection on the decisions I've made that have lead me to where I am. I don't regret the place that I'm in, but I wonder if there are things I could have done that would make life easier...or more in line with what I used to want or thought I wanted. At any rate, I'm blessed to have the people that I do in my life to help me figure it out.

escaleftors

I realized (recently) that I’m becoming a jaded Washingtonian. It’s come to the point where I roll my eyes and sigh heavily at escaleftors –can’t they just WALK for crying out loud- and secretly laugh at the tourists on my morning commute. I never thought I’d be one of the rude snoots that brush everyone out of the way while walking…but seriously, if people would just STAND to the right, and WALK (very briskly) to the left…we wouldn’t have these problems. Haha.

black friday

Yes, that time is approaching. I found out today that I may have more money than I anticipated for the holidays...which means that on Friday, I will be perusing the corridors of Tyson's Corner at midnight.
...I was going to do that regardless of my financial situation. I make awesome decisions =(

Snuggie for me

If you thought the Snuggie was ridiculous...

https://www.snuggiefordogs.com/flare/next?tag=os|sm|go|gn

Why not buy one for your dog too!? I just got a free one; should arrive in 6 weeks. Muahaha.

whew.

Some people just need to take a step back, and calm the crap down. Nothing is ever accomplished better when you're angry, except hurting feelings unnecessarily.

I also need to advertise the fact that Freddy purchased a five pound bag of gummy bears on Amazon.com (if you are a slickdeals or dealnews reader, you'll understand why), decided (rightfully) that it was a bad idea and cancelled the order, and then almost got Yichen to convince him to re-buy the gummy bears. At the end of the day, Haribo loses...and so do Freddy and Yichen for being tards. Way to go guys.

Liquids

I’ve made a number of observations on liquids of the consumption variety in the past few days that I’d like to share.

Automatic Water Fountains.

In theory, they sound like a fantastic idea. Who hasn’t struggled to twist off the cap of a water bottle while drinking water at the same time. The reality of these concoctions though, is a bit of a nightmare. Imagine placing your face tentatively near the spigot. Nothing comes out. Leaning forward a little more, you pray (mentally) that something comes out- and something does. ALL OVER YOUR FACE. To add to it, your professor is walking down the hallway as you emerge, soaking wet, to greet him. He smiles with a puzzling look, wondering why you decided to take a shower in the middle of the Elliott School. Okay, the last part didn’t happen, but I’m just trying to say…I prefer the buttons on my water fountains, thank you. The germs factor can sit on a back burner.

Cranberry Juice

A lot of people say that this is good for you. True, in its original form, 100% Cranberry Juice is probably rich in antioxidants, plentiful in vitamins, and tart as crap. Enter Ocean Spray. I glanced at my bottle today, and the first thing I see, “Ocean Spray Light Cranberry” and then in size 2 font, “Juice Cocktail from Concentrate, sweetened with Splenda.” Well if that’s not enough of a turn off, I flip to the other side. “Contains 27% Fruit Juice.” I have to ask it, Ocean Spray- where do you come up with the magical 27? Is this some margin whereby containing 26% makes it not… “juice”? To add to the indignity of it all, I finish off with the ingredients.

Ingredients: Filtered water, Cranberry Juice from Concentrate, Fructose, Pectin, Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose (Splenda Brand).

Let's break this down. 1. There is more filtered water than juice from concentrate in my Ocean Spray. And while it's "Light", there is still fructose in this (15 grams of it actually- that's 15 paper clips of disgusting) and yet Ocean Spray decides to further insult me by putting Splenda last on their ingredients. Is it to enrich, perhaps, all the other artificial things in this bottle of wholesome goodness? If someone can tell me where to get just CRANBERRY JUICE (I'm okay with tart) without shelling out a fortune, it'd be much appreciated. I know that most juices of this type (Ocean Spray, Juicy Juice, Motts, etc.) are all similar and I should just not buy them, but this incident also led me to two thoughts:

1. Why the heck would anyone feed their child this? I am now thanking my parents for all the water I was served as a kid instead of this...Capri Sun...Kool-Aid...all that awesome stuff with cool packaging =[

2. How do companies get away with this!?

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee

It's supposed to be as good as a regular cup of joe. Or at least, as I read on a few other forums, tastes like a mediocre version of Starbucks blend coffee. Let's break this down. Starbucks coffee= mediocre. So on a scale of 1-10, thats say, a 7? Now mediocre of mediocre...let's just say it's a 5. I purchased a pack of three the other day because the Gelman Starbucks was having a special- buy a pack of VIA, get a grande coffee for free. I figured why not, and tried the packets later. The first thing I noticed is that one packet goes with 8 ounces of coffee. Nobody drinks 8 oz. anymore, especially if you're sitting at a cubicle all day! 2 packets= 16 oz.=a means of making it through the work day. But if this is so, that's about $2 for your uber-mediocre instant coffee. (3 packets is $2.95). I guess if your alternative is passing out at your desk, it's handy. The packaging is kind of cute, after all.

I've 2 other things I wanted to comment on, but I need to get back to work, so I'll save it for another time. Midterm week and of course I fall ill...my timing is impeccable. Toodles!

eprops

I just realized this morning that people have been leaving me comments.

It's like...discovering the hidden cookie stash!

orchestra

If you're around this Sunday, come to my concert.

Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Orchestra
performing at Bishop Ireton High School
Sunday, October 14, 2009- 3:00 PM
201 Cambridge Rd
Alexandria, VA 22314-4809


...apparently when I blog about these things it helps boost the orchestra's website rankings or something.

I want to work on music with people. Duets, trios, any sort of chamber music, any instrument within reason (aka there's music written for it out there). Contact me if you're interested, especially if you play piano or a string instrument haha.

WORD.

Despite not having posted anything for close to a month, I have acquired 2 more followers! How exciting...and yet, I have not much to update about. Just kidding. For starters, if you haven't been doing your Facebook stalking lately, I have more furniture and some semblance of a living room! I also have started my "reading corner" complete with a papasan chair and rug; the balcony also has a nice hammock for reading/napping/being lazy. I'm just going to have to put it out there: Craig's List is pretty nuts.
School is okay. But only okay. As I mentioned before, I read a lot. I'm talking averaging about 400 pages a week, on a good week. The people are nice, but it's hard to meet and connect with people when you only have class once a week for two hours. This is where Thursday Night Out comes in- my school's Grad Student Association sponsors this event every Thursday- usually at a bar near GWU. On the last Thursday of every month, they switch it up and have Thursday Night IN! Oh boy, you say. What does this entail? A keg at the Elliott School of International Affairs, and rampant debauchery, of course! ...Or so I hear. I was sadly absent at the last TNI. I feel like I've been going out MORE now that I'm in grad school. Example: I've been to Fishbowl and Fed Hill twice already. This is no small feat if you know me. Actually, I've probably just climbed Mount Everest twice and back. Something is amiss!

AH.

After many, many, many cover letters and job applications, I finally have some glimmer of hope. Alas, interview requests have made me realize the stark reality of the job market, especially here in Washington: it's fierce. Time to put my game face on!

Piled High on Reading

One of these days, I need to take a picture of all the readings that I do each week for my classes. No wonder we only take 10 credits a semester (40 total to graduate)- any more would probably be considered suicide. Not that I'm lacking in the time department for completing my readings at the moment. The job search is painstakingly slow, although recent returns seem to indicate that perhaps my applications are not printing directly into a recycling bin, at least 1% of the time. At any rate, I got a chance to see my friends this weekend, hang out, and play games. Nice to know that there is still comfort to be found in Taboo!

Post-Orientation

So now that I am fully oriented...school begins Monday. I couldn't help but be amazed at how small the world is after orientation. Friday as I wandered around the Elliott School, who did I see but my RA from Beijing, also looking for our language testing classroom. We chatted about what we had been up to in the time since Beijing, sat down in our classroom...and then last years US Embassy Singapore intern sits in front of me. SMALL WORLD eh? Then I went to a banquet in Gaithersburg for my friend's club volleyball team and saw some girl. She seemed familiar. I told Stephen to ask her where she goes to school. Starting at GWU. Oh, she was in my testing earlier that morning as well!

So I guess feel a little better.

Crystal City

I'm moved in, and officially residing in Virginia. My room is set, besides not having a desk chair and wall art, my shoes are organized along my walk-in closet, my closet is divided and space maximizing. All is well. I was living without a kitchen table for a week or so which was pretty fun...eating off of Rubbermaid storage bins in my empty living/dining room was probably the epitome of the poor graduate student experience. But really, I blame the abundance of space, rather than the lack of furniture! There is entirely too much room in my entire apartment, so much so that I need to brainstorm potential mini-room solutions to take up more space and create the illusion of occupancy. If you have stopped by my apartment recently and/or helped me move, my thanks go out to you. A good friend loves you even when you have nothing but the carpet and a cup of coffee to offer.

At any rate, orientation begins today, so I suspect my home decor endeavors will soon be curtailed by the onslaught of reading that we like to call 'education'. I checked out the syllabi posted for two of my four classes. The first thing I noticed was that they were both well over ten pages long. With what, you ask? A deluge of scholarly articles, with an average of one book read every week. I really should look into speed reading techniques, but fear that my attention span is so scattered that skimming over certain sections will equate to daydreaming about frolicking through meadows and concocting delicious recipes.

Wish me luck!

Home?

Being back in Maryland is not what I thought it would be. I've been home since Tuesday afternoon, and have yet to see any of my friends. Not because I don't want to but...actually, yea, I just don't feel like seeing people. I have also been out of my house all day running around trying to get my stuff together. I move in tomorrow morning but have yet to accomplish anything, besides changing my mind about what color sheets I want about 20 times, and buying a huge/insanely awesome desk. There's too much space in the suburbs! I miss being jostled and crowded along the busy streets and underpasses of Singapore. In short, I have a severe case of reverse culture shock. *bangs head on table* Hopefully this will pass.

Countdown

The day has finally come, and I'm about to leave for home. First however, I will have to go through a 3 hour wait at the airport, 13 hour flight, 6 hour layover in Heathrow, and another 8 hour flight. I am fully prepared for my journey: I've armed myself with a pack of baby wipes to "shower" with while in London! With a few hours until I leave for the airport, I have been debating whether to leave the confines of my air-conditioned paradise to brave the Singaporean heat one last time, and make some more last minute shopping purchases. Never in my life did I expect to shop so much, and still want to shop some more. The Sings have an uncanny knack for turning the ordinary into extraordinary.

Things I will miss about Singapore:

• Shopping (especially: Wisma Atria, Vivo City, Etude House, Charles and Keith, and the super-organized Forever 21!)
• Food (especially: What Do You Prata, Wisma Food Republic, Hotel Rendezvous Kopitiam, Plaza Singapura Kopitiam, Mos Burger, Kopi-C, Red Dragonfruit, 'Exotic' fruit in general, Milo McFlurries, KAYA toast, and Killiney Kopitiam)
• People watching at Pacific Plaza
• Tan, well dressed, attractive Asians
• Signs that provide guidance for every imaginable aspect of life
• Beautiful, new, expensive, shiny cars
• Beautiful flora
• Cleanliness. The US should implement fines for all of the things the Sings do- our air pollution index would drop exponentially.
• Ardmore Park. I feel like I'm going home to live in the slums now.
  

My future roommate sent me a link to fight jetlag. It basically says, don't eat for 16 hours to reset your inner clockwork. HAHA, not happening when I fly on Singapore Airlines!

High Society

One of my favorite places to sit and people watch in Singapore is at the Starbucks at Pacific Plaza. That CD Shop, a Singaporean chain, blasts some fantastic music mixes on its speakers at just the right volume that I can still hear those around me talking, while enjoying the music. I finally ventured in today to inquire about the music that was playing. It's from a Singaporean label called High Society, that packages and mixes music into collections by genre- for example, there's one called "Lust", "Shanghai Jazz", etc. They have a limited edition set that I really really want (and I don't normally buy CDs)- it's not available to download or on ITunes, so I have between now and Monday evening to decide if I want to splurge my hard earned money on this...You can look at their site here:
http://www.highsociety.com.sg/
-------

Update: I purchased it! Temptation was too strong. It comes in this beautiful white leather lockbox with a red velvet interior, gold key, and pull out drawers. Oh and a deck of cards too, random.

Craig's List

I think I'm addicted. I keep refreshing the furniture window every 20 seconds or so to see if anyone has posted. I've got my fingers crossed for a dining set and a couch set right now...problem? Possibly.

Winnie the Pooh Quotes

I wanted to put something clever as my header, so I started thinking about possible quotes. I had "Alis Volat Propiis" (She flies with her own wings) for a while, but it was just too serious for the way I was feeling this morning (I drank a pretty big cup of coffee, so I was quite jittery). My search brought me to Winnie the Pooh, and the quote you see in my header. I found a whole bunch of Winnie the Pooh quotes online, and I think I fell out of my seat from the cuteness overload that ensued. Here are some :

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever”

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh," he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."


Okay, you can go keel over from the cuteness now.

The Real World: Singapore- Final Episode

I think this is the part in The Real World where everyone begins to leave and say their goodbyes. A long, long hug, a tearful promise to keep in touch, and as the day trickles on, the Real World-ers depart one by one. I suppose the only difference is that my roommates and I don’t really hug, and that we’re leaving over the span of a week or so, which makes everything seem even more drawn out. Last day and a half of work. It’s been a great summer…and now on to greener pastures?

$1 Fat

I learned recently that overweight schoolchildren in Singapore are required to attend a mandatory after school exercise program called “Trim and Fit” until they reach the ideal weight range for their age group. They are also required to run laps during their recess time instead of playing with other kids, and participate in a ‘calorie cash’ program, wherein cash can be traded in for food at lunch. The amount of cash each child receives is inversely proportional to his/her weight. Trim and Fit is ‘FAT’, spelled backwards by the way.

I discovered the Daiso, the Japanese 100 yen store (or Dollar Tree, or 2 Singaporean dollars) with Grace a few weeks ago. I ended up spending $42 on my initial trip there because I thought everything was $1 SGD (so I purchased 21 items…). Realization that everything was actually $2 SGD didn’t deter me apparently- I went to the Daiso in VivoCity on Saturday and purchased four ties and an earring stand. Ties! For $2 SGD!! (That’s about $1.40 USD) Obviously 4 weren’t enough. I went back on Sunday, and purchased another 10 ties. So to my guy friends- expect ties as souvenirs. No cheesy magnets or I Love Singapore t-shirts for you!

Aging

I was browsing through old friends' Facebooks today and suddenly realized that many of the people I hung out with freshman year of college are now married. That, coupled with a summer spent amongst older graduate students and experienced professionals, has led to a constant, impending sense of doom- er, I mean, antiquity. I am not ready to be one of those people on Facebook that you occasionally stumble upon and think, "Oh, she used to be fun." Granted I am pretty boring to begin with, so imagine what a full time job and a few years will do to me. Actually, don't imagine. I've got two years of graduate school to get through first, so by golly I will not be the old boring person until after I am the super huge nerd at the library!

I Googled myself the other day, and to my dismay, one of the first entries that popped up was some random Xanga entry that I wrote in 2003. Oh my goodness, the things that you are so certain of at the age of fifteen...Well, that was the last straw. I'm shutting down (or privatizing, whatever) Xanga, so check my blogspot from now on. I'll even attempt to write more intelligent, thoughtful posts!

One last note, in case you haven't heard: I am moving to Crystal City mid-August (August 15 is the plan). After living in university housing for the past four years, I am absolutely lacking in the furniture department. So, if you have: sofas/couches, coffee teables, end tables, floor lamps, lamps, a desk, maybe a full size bed frame, any kitchen stuff, area rugs...ANYTHING- I want it all! Alternatively, I need strong hands and a minivan or truck to help me pick up random pieces of furniture that I will probably end up purchasing off of Craig's List. Send me a message, offer me your help, and I will feed you after I am settled in, promise :]

Fresh Start

I feel that my Xanga lacks credibility. Maybe it's because I blog about useless items, most likely it's because I've had it since the ninth grade and have ranted and raved on numerous things that are most likely not a good idea to keep public anymore. So in an attempt to validate myself, here goes nothing.