Friday, January 30, 2009

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

IMG_2510.JPG

This week we kissed the rat good bye and moved on to the year of the ox!

Chinese New Year is fabulous because it's a three day holiday and most people enjoy the long weekend outta town. For mainland Chinese, it's a two week holiday or longer, and bzillions of them cram into trains to get home to see their family.

I slept. Drank sake and champagne. Sung kareoke until 6 AM. Isn't that what the ancients had in mind?

I can't find any good answer to exactly what the year of the ox means for us. We'll just have to decide that for ourselves.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

2008 Survey and Year in Review

You know I'm a sucker for this BS. As I was looking over the questions I kept brain-farting. What happened last year again?

1. What did you do in 2008 that you had never done before?
Wakeboard. Shoot a gun. AK-47. Walk everywhere. Drank a Flaming Lamborghini. Ate hotpot. Ate frog. Attend a spin class.

2. Did you keep your new years resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't know if I made any resolutions last year. It was so different that I just wanted to hang in there. This year I resolved to work less. It didn't work out so much the first week of the year but I'm trying.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Lots of babies but no one on the inner circle. (Thank God) Oh, Julie and Monica had girls but no one from the regular krew.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Lowell. My sound guy from Virginia.

5. What countries did you visit?
China, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, and Macau is a Special Administrative Region like HK but I'm going to count it anyway.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Nothing. I could not have packed more into 2008. But now that I've been here for a minute I'd like to make travel the serious priority.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
All of them. I F'ing rocked '08. Vietnam was insanely fun and so was the Olympic Opening Ceremonies party. And winning the Vegas Bowl. And riding a segway. And getting kicked out of the Sands casino.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
When I said I wanted to live in a city where I wouldn't need a car, I didn't realize it would happen NOW. That's pretty huge. As well as filling my passport. And having this job longer than any other.

9. What was your biggest failure?
ALMOST turning around on a hike. It was pretty embarrassing.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I think I was really weak after spin class and fell down the stairs while taking out the trash at work. I was on crutches for two days and only stopped using them because it was such a hassle to get around. HK is not handicap friendly.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A tattoo?

12. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
There are a handful of people that upset me. First, there's nothing wrong with having a real job and earning real bucks. Second, why you gotta be like that? I ain't keen on drama.

13. Where did most of your money go?
Rent (ouch) and credit cards/school loans (double ouch!)

14. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Fridays/the weekend.

15. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Anything by Air Supply. And the Whistle song!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a. Happier. Duh.

b. Fatter. Yes, I wish it made me sadder so I could stop eating.

c. Richer. First stable paycheck in my life.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I dare you to try and fit anything else into my 2008. Other than eating less and exercising more.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work. I work a lot.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

With my family then Pepper's family then with Marley and Me.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Constantly. My heart has more chambers than a whorehouse.

23. What was your favorite TV program?

Since the programming and schedules SUCK here I couldn't watch anything regularly. But I got a lot of Miami Ink and LA Ink. I've seen a bit of Californication and I liked it. Heroes too. Heroes Marathon this weekend. And Pepper gave me Entourage on DVD. Loved it.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I would prefer if one person went away. Too much drama drama drama.

25. What was the best book you read?

Only squeezed in a few books last year, but I liked Veronika Decides to Die.


26. What did you want and get?
A raise.

28. What did you want and not get?

A moral dilemma.

29. What was your favorite film this year?
I saw very few movies last year. Maybe Once?

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Turned 28. Went to Shakeys Pizza and played air hockey!

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
More visitors.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Walkable, practical shoes. I miss impractical shoes.

32. What kept you sane?
Weekends. Lots of alcohol. Meredith.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Sarah Palin/Tina Fey?

35. What political issue stirred you the most?

Prop 8?

36. Who did you miss?
EVERYONE

37. Who was the best new person you met?

I met like a million people this year and probably a dozen of them made a big difference in my life here. But it wouldn't have been the same without Rachel, Sebas, and Neda.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

You never know what you are capable of doing until you jump.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

The Three Week Commute



HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm not entirely aware that it's 2009 yet. I'm completely discombobulated and the last 3 weeks may have something to do with that. It's been great, but I'm totally spent.

It started on Dec 19 and went a little something like this:


I left home.

Flew to Taipei



Flew to LAX



Met Pepper at the airport and flew to Vegas.

For the record, it was really tough and if I hadn't met him in that last leg I probably would have thrown myself off the plane.



Spent roughly 40 hours there and flew to SF.



A few days in SF and then finally home to the Valley for Christmas eve.



Drove down to the Orange Curtain for New Years.



And a couple of days later did it all over again.

LAX to Taipei to Hong Kong.

And when I woke up, I headed to Sri Lanka. With a layover in Bangkok.





I was only supposed to be there for one day and ended up staying for the bulk of the week. I was really messed up by the time I got back to Hongkie so I slept. For 17 hours.