10. Days. Left.

Woopee! Just 10 more days until Hong Kong :D :D :D and I can see my G-ma, after nearly one whole year!!!! Must remember to get her a bday gift...

Other random thoughts:

• I saw a real-life Ken doll at the office today
• Who knew an accordion could produce a dance hit?
• Need to plan videos!!
• Time is running out... :(

She-Hulk!!

'So, guess what I was for Halloween!' I said to Carlson, handing over my mobile phone so he could take a look at the pics.

Squinting a little, his first blurt was 'She-Hulk??'

Baffled, I froze and thought, now WHY DIDNT *I* THINK OF THAT??? Woulda been pretty cool...perhaps even cooler than my original idea of The Green Giant which led to me eventually turning into Burnt Broccoli.

No one else had ever suggested the She-Hulk and to be honest, I didn't even know she existed!! but now thanks to CS... I now have another version of Halloween 2007 to tell :)

Lay Ho Ma??

"Ahhhh..."

I shift a little, folding my knees into my chest, readjusting my head on the couch's arm.

"Eeee..."

With my eyes closed, I hear football fans chanting faintly in the background.

"Ngaaw..."

Lifting one eyelid, I see him sitting on the couch in front of me, curled over a tiny book.

"Tzchhhh..." he continued, contorting his thick lips in the best way he could.

Grumbling, I stirred in my half-sleep, wondering what the hell those sounds were, and why they were disturbing my very peaceful rest after filling my tummy with brussel sprouts and pea soup. Slowly, it dawned on me: C was practicing his Cantonese.

Does a wonky eye = success?

Today I had a meeting with a man with a wonky eye.

I always find it so awkward when someone has a wonky eye. Like, where are you supposed to look? At the eye that's gone astray or the eye that's actually working (if they have such an eye)? Should you ask them how they got that way? or how they see things (do they have panoramic vision)? Do you assume they can see what you're doing at all times even if they appear to be staring off into the distance?

Quickly I focused on his one good eye, and reminded myself the whole meeting on to keep my eyes on his. But my mind couldn't stop wandering. Had he had such an eye his whole life? Did his eye ever frighten anyone, especially kids? Was his eye real? Did his eye ever get in the way of his professional career?

Well, apparently not, because this was one guy who was at the top of his game, being the director of sales for a very large company. Maybe his wonky eye actually helped him, as many people might let their guard down thanks to the curiosity surrounding his strange gaze...plus, with his increased peripheral vision, his ability to address a panel of people without ever having to turn his head is pretty impressive, wouldn't you say? ;)

Handy Me

Ahh...fresh air finally. Without the threat of small, medium or king-sized flies coming in through the window. Not to mention mosquitos.

See, I just installed a mesh cover over the window that I got from Blokker, and I did it all by myself! :D It's quite a nice feeling, considering that usually when a light bulb goes out in my place, it stays out for at least a few months before it gets the least bit attention (I just can't be bothered to change it). That and I usually let others take care of things like that, such as mosquito-chasing and zapping, fly-catching and cleaning out dirty garbage cans (muahaha).

It's not that I can't do any of that myself. But when there is someone to do it for you, it's just so easy to let them do it and get used to them doing it... but now that there's no one here I finally did something myself and it feels pretty damn good. :)

GOBS: Girls Only Ball Sports

So today was the first day of the girls-only games at work. Me and 5 other girls from our team went venturing out into the hot sunny bball court to play some 3 on 3, blondes against the dark-haired ones. :) We started alright, but realised quickly none of us knew the rules of 3 on 3, as in what do you do if the other team gets the ball, (apparently you hafta throw it back out) so we settled on playing full court 3 on 3. Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted after 15 mins or so of running around!!

Anyway, next week is gonna be tennis! I hope it's as sunny as it is this week :) It should be by now, it's June dammit!!

Babies and muisjes

Today, one of our colleagues brought in his nearly brand new baby in for everyone to gawk at. Being a mixed kid of Danish and Japanese descent, he was destined to be a star as he was cradled and rocked in a very rugged (and probably very expensive) stroller.

It's amazing how many people are having kids now!!! Is it cuz we're at "that age"??? Anyway part of Dutch tradition is to spread butter on really DRY, CRUMBLY biscuits and then sprinkle blue and white (for boys) or pink and white sprinkles on 'em, and then eat them altogether. So, these MUISJES, as they are called, were consumed by us in a circle, while we all stared silently at the lil baby, occasionally oo'ing and ah'ing here and there.

The baby was cute, but I can't say the same about the muisjes. Turns out the lil sprinkles were actually sugar coated aniseeds, which tasted something like a mix between mint and licorice. Apparently they were traditionally eaten by new mothers to encourage lactation (upon hearing this I had trouble swallowing) but then, if men eat them too, I should be okay... (?_?)

It must be something to become a parent. It seems that once you are one, you suddenly connect with all other parents. Suddenly you can ask them, 'Did your baby get that too?' or 'What did you do when your baby did this?' etc. It's that deep nod they give to each other, an acknowledgement of the 'i know what you're going thru' feeling, that somehow bonds people that have kids. I guess its' the same for everything though. I've also heard that people who lose their parents, can only be understood by others who have gone through the same. Funny how human beings connect isnt it...

*random thoughts continue...*

Sucky Eye Makeup Remover

Just a tip for all the girls out there - don't buy L'Oreal's eye make up remover!! It's pretty cheap but doesn't work at all. Basically it just removes your eye shadow but as for mascara/eye liner? Forget about it! You're better off paying double for the Body Shop's amazing camomile-based eye make up remover instead!!

Bite my a**!

Hey y'alls!

I was in Nice, France the past weekend visiting the French Riviera and enjoying some warmer temperature and balmier sights. We were on our way to Cannes, and stopped at Antibes to check out Fort Carré, which happened to be closed. Anyway, I needed to use the washroom so we stopped first at the Piranha Café right across the train station.

Walking in, we saw that the cafe had real piranhas in a tank, floating ever so still, and some of them had bite marks on their upper backs where the others had obviously bitten a chunk out of. Gross. Anyway, I walked into the back where the washrooms were, and waited for the ladies room to be free.

A minute passed, and then another few, and I got desperate so I pushed open the Men's toilet, only to find 3 urinals. A few more minutes passed, and I thought, ugh this is takin too damn long so I'll just go somewhere else.

Walking out again, I was passing by the bar when the man behind it said in his typical French accent, "What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, water?"

"Oh, no thanks, I'm fine," I replied. On second thought, I asked him if he had any ice cream, as it was such a fine sunny day.

"Non, that is only for eat-in, by the kaart. Tea coffee water, you must order something," he continued, and blabbed on about how I used his toilet, and that I need to order something now. Calmly, I explained that I hadn't used his toilet, and that I had waited, but it was locked with someone inside. (In fact, the women's toilet required a 4-digit security code that you punch into the wall, in order to get in!!!) Anyhow, he said "I am not crazy, I saw you go in and I saw a man come out, now you must pay, what do you want - tea-coffee-water."

Our bantering went back and forth, and he was convinced I had used his goddamned toilet, which I totally hadn't(!!) so in the end, I had had it, so I gave him the *HAND* (sorta) and said, "I'm NOT paying! What the hell.." as I walked out of his stupid cafe (secretly panickin a bit and hoping he was not racing out behind me.)

Surprisingly, he didn't chase after me, and I was able to prevent being gypped out of 2 euros, just for stepping inside his godforsaken cafe. So the lesson is - if you go to Antibes someday, dont visit this Piranha man!! He is a total jerk and for all I care, he can make like a piranha and BITE MY A**!!.