GMAT time
today i ate at wahoo's with ray. speaking of which, i either owe him money or i buy the next time we go to lunch. it's weird, i noticed that no matter how much or little i eat there, i always walk away feeling incredibly full.
tonight i start studying for the gmat. i'm going to focus on the math section --ahem... JOHNJOHN-- and not so much on the verbal because that appears to be my strong suit. reminds me of the SAT. i think i'm going to start studying with joe on tues/thurs since he's studying for his class at ivc.
i applied at trader joe's today. there was a small math test with a word problem and i had to write a mini-essay. that was weird. hopefully the manager likes my application and gives me a call otherwise, i'll have to bug her on thursday.
so sleepy at work today. i think i had less than 1/4 of a cup since that stupid coffee bean cup leaked out my precious energy, i mean, coffee.
do not over eat
yesterday i knowingly ate way beyond my stomach's capacity and paid for it at the end of the night. my stomach was in complete and utter chaos and i felt like yakking. i almost did several times but i absolute despise throwing up so i willed myself not to. for brunch i had a buttermilk spice muffin, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, and a belgian waffle. later, for a snack i had sees candy chocolate chips and garlic pita chips. for dinner i had a plate of baja chicken nachos enchilado style. directly following that i had coldstone's french vanilla with double oreo.
i was in my boss's office this morning working on his computer only to come back to my office to find coffee all over my desk. the cup had a leak and it made a mess. stupid coffee bean! starbucks coffee cups don't leak!
stuff
yesterday morning i went running, or rather jogging and walking, for 10 miles with jovan, belle, and cicely. of course, i think jovan and belle went further than cicely and i. running/jogging/working out, sure goes a lot faster and better when it's with someone. thanks cicely! it's amazing how out of shape i felt. i was sore already having worked out at the gym earlier in the week and then running made my body hurt more. it made me feel old because my body doesn't bounce back as quickly as it used to. bummer. i ate a chicken salad and took a nap after that.
then later was jay's birthday celebration. he got drunk off his booty. we went to joseph's cafe where the valet service was an unheard of $15. then i found out that across the street the fee was $25 and that was just public parking. got to see some people that i haven't seen since probably joe's birthday or around that time... mike arceo, norman, johnjohn, mina, danny.... talking to johnjohn makes me laugh, even when he is making fun of me. how quirky is that. so i opened my big mouth when i saw mike arceo and asked, "how's phoebe?" only to learn that they had broken up back in august. oops. i'm out of the dayz loop.
this morning i went to breakfast at 9 with my friend Eric, who is actually my Godfather as well. It was great to catch up with him. our timing isn't the best when it comes to finding time to get together. we finally exchanged our birthday and christmas gifts, caught up on news, and caught up on each other's trips (his to italy, mine to australia). in the card he gave me, one line really stood out and it read, " As a friend, I'm excited to hear about the latest thing or adventure or guy; and as a godfather, I worry that someday one of those adventures will make you outgrow me." of course that got me to thinking about friendships again... the ones that pass in and out of my life and the ones that are true and constant. two people i thought would always be true and constant friends i now rarely speak with let alone hangout with. it makes me sad in a way but then it made me incredibly happy that i do have those constants in my life.
the wonders of AIM
you gotta love aol for their instant messenger. i keep in touch with a lot of people that way. is it cheating? it's better than email because it's "instant." is it the same as the telephone? absolutely not, however, i am inclined to believe that it's better to keep in touch on AIM rather than not at all. not to mention the fact that i'm not a telephone person unless i'm dating someone, even then i'd still rather email or go on AIM.
work has been crazy lately and not just because i'm playing catch up. thank goodness for my 4 days of grace before i started back. my desk is actually looking much neater and today i'm leaving with only 2 large stacks instead of large stacks which covered my desk, part of the floor, and the filing credenza dealio. thank gracious.
Australia geek
yes. i'll admit i'm a geek for blogging while in australia.
oopsies and weird aspects of the trip...
~having erin sign my passport only to have me sign hers because i thought she signed the right one
~not having a visa when we checked in at qantas, LAX and panicking that we wouldn't be able to go to australia only to be told a second later that we could buy a visa at the counter
~getting off at the wrong bus stop on the way to the airport when we went to Cairnes and having to walk for half an hour to get there
~having everyone assume they know erin and my ethnicities. e.g. an ignorant boy shouting "nihao" at us, laughing and thinking he was all that and a bag of chips. a waiter who said "xie xie" and looked on expectantly while we just stared at him. when waiting for a tour bus, a driver who got out and said, "oh you're japanese, the people i'm picking up are korean." one of andrew's coworkers stating "oh, you guys are all chinese" only to be followed by "i feel like such an idiot, i thought you were all related." a lady at a street market saying to erin who was browsing handbags, "these are very popular when you go home to malaysia."
~having a mild panic attack 30 feet under water when erin almost knocked the regulator from my mouth when we went scuba diving
~being hit so hard by erin while she was sleeping that my ribs ached for 2 days
~getting sunburned on the 14th day of my 14 day trip
favorites of the trip...
~seeing andrew after 8 months
~not having a cell phone
~andrew's constant trip ups in conversation... e.g. "there will be shattered scowers today"
~meeting andrew's roommates who have awesome, lovely accents (n. ireland, scotland, and england)
~making enchiladas for andrew & his housemates as a thank you, only to have it be INCREDIBLY spicy since the chili powder in australia is vastly different from here at home. good thing they all like spicy food... they were sweating as they ate.
~seeing jeevan after 6 years have passed and renewing a crush i'd had when i first met him my freshman year at uci
~going to the great barrier reef, scuba diving, snorkeling, and not getting seasick
~seeing awesome architecture everywhere... my favorite building was one that reminded me of a waffle cone
~visiting one of the "most liveable cities" in the world, melbourne. the weirdest thing there being a house whose front was made of panels to show a huge picture of pamela anderson.
~meeting new people (a german student and a couple from scotland) on the skyrail in kuranda going over a rainforest only to have them avoid erin and i at the various stops because i guess we talked too much
~going to a free jazz festival where they played no jazz but there were literally over 100,000 people attending
~eating gelatto or some type of dessert after every meal
~potato wedges with sour cream and sweet chili sauce...mmm-mmmm-mmmm
~learning i can't say "getting tossed" or "double fisting [drinks]" because it means something quite creative and lewd in australia
~going out with andrew's friends and coworkers and at the end of the night being grateful i didn't have to pay any of the $1,500 bill (i guess that's one of the few things deloitte is good for)
~going to the sydney opera house and seeing andrew dozing through the first quarter of the opera
~holding the most wonderful, soft, cuddly koala and feeding a kangaroo
cairns
cairns is crazy humid! worse than hawaii i think but the scenery is incredible. we just booked two tours so now we get free internet. one we're going to the great barrier reef and the next day to kuranda. today we just walked around and went shopping.
getting to the airport was a bit of a trial. the bus driver wasn't quite helpful so we got off at the wrong stop. it took us a good 30 minutes to walk to the airport but we made it to the gate just as they started boarding. the nice taxi driver at cairns airport that took us to our hotel was nice and had great advice so he made up for the meanie man. i had to participate in a "random" check for bombs and such at the airport. they used that swab deal on my bag and clothes. i say i had to simply because the man asked if i spoke english and upon saying yes he made me read a laminated paper. the paper stated what was happening and then there was a question that went along the lines of, do you consent to such a search, yes or no. he didn't give me the option to say no. not that i would have. i think that would have held us up a bit.
we did quite a bit of shopping as well. it was nice though. i've found a lot of decent jewelry here to add to my collection at home. it's great!
yet again
today was pretty cool. it was pouring in the morning but that's ok because i was sleeping in. then i woke up and we went to mass. one of the ladies asked erin and i to do collections. we had to do it twice too because of offerings for the tsunami victims. after that we went to downtown sydney, which is cbd not cdb. we went to The Rocks, to a market there, and then around sydney. we bought a lot of jewelry but it's quite cute. we went to darling harbor as well. we came back here to andrew's place and there was a big bbq with his roommates. that was quite fun as well. we're going to go to bed early today because we're leaving super early for cairns.
truly weird
i walked around in sydney today. what'd you do?
ok. i know i'm halfway across the world from california but for some reason, it feels like i'm in SF or somewhere equally random. it's awesome here. sunny weather. i actually got a little sunburned today. i guess that's what i get for teasing erin for using an umbrella to block the sun. today we toured downtown sydney. they don't say downtown. they say cdb or something like that. there are funny signs here. "no standing" actually is no parking. "go slowly" instead of yield. oh, and quay is pronounced "key." andrew is taking me to the sydney opera house for my birthday present. how cool is that?! we're going to see an opera with music by prokofiev. i'm excited. tomorrow we tour sydney more and then we're off to cairns!
thank you!
thank you to everyone who came out to my birthday, my brother Chad, Robert, Paul, Lisa, Rick, Sam, Rachel F., Rachel N., Albart, Francis, Bob Acab, Dalisa, Chan, Erin, Joe, Tommy, Ryan, Cicely, Jay, Mike L., Mike A., Kay, Mike (Joey), Iya, Dorothy, and Glenn. thanks to those who tried to make it, Eliott, John, and Dang who were driving on the 405 through LB when we left Fox Sports Grill and to Rose and Josh who spent an hour and a half at D&B wondering where everyone was.
i'm blogging in AUSTRALIA!!! how fun. i just got to my friend's place here. it's the first time i've been in a country where they drive on the other side of the road AND the driver is on the other side of the car. too funny. we tried to bring my friend hidden valley ranch dressing but the customs people took it away because it has egg yolks in it. punks.
happy birthday... to me!
i know. what a kid. jeez. wishing yourself happy birthday. it's almost 1:30 am. why am i awake? i should be making mimis right now 'cause i have work early. oh well. paul told me that when he was in the marines, they said, "making mimi's" when they meant going to sleep because when someone sleeps, they murmur "mi mi mi mi mi" in their sleep. i'm not sure if that translated well but ask me in person and i'll demonstrate. it's really cute. or how when they played spades, they called the clubs suit "puppy feet." how cute is that?! it's funny because you don't imagine big bad marines sayin stuff like that. surprise surprise.
my brother ate a ton of cookies tonight. um... me too. then i went to the gym. i think i worked off 6 of the cookies but not the other 6. they were honkin cookies too. i was making them big so i'd be done baking them real quick. good idea!! um... NOT!
was emailing with cicely today about how staying in touch with friends is difficult, especially for those that don't seem to want to keep in touch with you. i saw someone at mass sunday that i used to hangout with constantly and around the time i moved into the apt. in tustin, we stopped talking. i understand it could be my fault since i told him that i didn't think we should hangout all the time out of respect for his gf. he thought it sucked but said he respected my decision. we seriously saw one another every day. after that, i sent a couple emails and didn't hear from him. then i called him. nothing. so a month later he IMs me and says, "hey, i got your message" and i'm thinking... ok... that was a MONTH ago! we ended up going to lunch between that IM and now but i felt weird the whole time. after that we didn't talk at all. i texted him happy birthday on his bday. he left me a message on my phone right after but i didn't call him back. you know on evites, when you're the host, you can check to see if people have checked the evite? he didn't. i don't know. maybe he doesn't check email anymore. well, anyway, when i saw him at mass it was really awkward for me and i'm sure he sensed that. i felt bad but i seriously just felt awkward. what's going on man?! there's gotta be a reason for this.
speaking of people i've dated, i'm going to see my ex tomorrow morning. he's going to drop off a donation. i haven't seen him in a long time. his current gf is a super possessive super jealous super weird girl so we don't ever get to hangout. we went out almost 6 years ago. get over it i say.
i'm getting more and more excited about australia. it's official. i'm going to spend time in melbourne with jeevan. i haven't seen this guy in 6 years. CRAZY. way back when, i had a crush on him. it musta been that aussie accent.
ok, definitely time for sleep. i appear to be rambling.
cookies
happy new year! i wonder if people actually made new years resolutions that they're going to stick by. i only made one that i promised myself i'd stick to. why make a whole bunch that you're gonna break when you can make one that you know you'll abide by?
healthy eating? what? that was the plan... back to healthy eating. but then something went wrong along the way and cookies, of course, were my downfall. it's ok. nothing wrong with a few cookies here and there. it's just that i add up my "here and there" and eat them all at once. :) i had a really strong craving for some cookies last night after i came home from the gym. i almost made some and would have undoubtedly eaten them all but for the fact that i am out of vanilla extract. thank gracious.
australia awaits! three more days to go. i'm excited. erin and i are going to fly into sydney and stay with my good friend, andrew. then we're going to fly up to cairnes to go to the great barrier reef for a few days. then it's back to sydney. then i'll probably fly down to melbourne for a day or maybe a couple of days. erin will have to fend for herself back in sydney. i invited her to come along to melbourne but she said she doesn't want to spend the money. who knows when the next time i'll be in australia will be so i want to visit my friend, jeevan. i haven't seen that guy since the end of my freshman year of college. CRAZY. i wonder if he looks the same. i know i do.
