Westlife

Every night after I shower, I would go to imeem.com to listen to my favorite songs. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Michael Buble, James Blunt, Phantom of the Opera, Enya…etc. Tonight, for some unknown reason, I typed “Westlife” into the search box. Sure enough, playlists after playlists popped up, filled with Westlife songs. I clicked on one, fully expecting to cringe when the music starts.

Not.

Not only did I not cringe, I found myself humming and singing along with those familiar tunes. Yep. I’m a Westlife fan. Was would probably be a more accurate term, because it must’ve been about 5 years since I last listened to their songs. But back in the days (in high school, that is), I listened to them over and over again. For some reason, they helped me study, especially when I had to memorize stuff, like History or the ever ridiculous Moral Studies. Even when I was doing Add Maths, I liked to play Westlife songs softly in the background. They were, to me, a sort of meditation music, odd as it seems. 

However, much as I liked their music, I never bothered learning the names of the band members. I had no idea which voice belonged to whom, and still don’t. I supported them fervently though, even insisting on buying an original copy of their first album. Then, after I came to the US, I abruptly stopped listening to them. In fact, prior to writing this post, I had no idea they were still releasing albums as recently as 2007. As a fan, I have to say that’s really lame of me.

Nick, Kian, Mark, Shane, and Bryan…thanks for being there when I needed the support.

Great quote

People who know me well knows that I love shopping. I go through phases…sometimes I’m obsessed with shoes and that would be all I shop for. Then sometimes I go crazy over jeans. Currently, I’m in my bag phase.

So I just had to share this fabulous quote I came across today, supposed uttered by Carrie Bradshaw (from Sex and The City):

“I’m thinking balls are to men what purses are to women. It’s just a little bag, but we feel naked in public without it.” – Carrie Bradshaw

That totally made my day!

Back

I realize it’s been a long time since I last blogged. What with work, shopping, and procrastinating, I haven’t had much time lately. Usually by the time I get home from work and finish dinner, it’s usually close to or after 9pm. With my infamously long wash-up/shower time, that would bring me to 10 or 11pm by the time I’m in jammies. Such is working life. But I’m not complaining! In fact, back in school 11pm is just about when I would start doing my assignment/project…shhhh.

Back in school I can easily pull off 2 or 3am bed times. Now, however, going to bed after midnight two days in a row is enough to zombiefy me. It’s quite sad, really. It’s a constant reminder to myself that I’m slowly but definitely growing older. 

Much as I wish time wouldn’t rush by so quickly, I have to say that I’m at a happy place right now. My eyes have finally healed so I can finally seriously consider getting LASIK procedure. I had just received encouraging news related to work, and I had celebrated it by buying a little something for myself. My parents are visiting this December, and I’ll also be going home for Chinese New Year next year. 

Speaking of getting LASIK done, I have so much reading and thinking to do that I wish I had an assistant to do that for me! I’ve been dreaming about having this done ever since I heard of the technology many years ago. Yes, it’s scary, but I’m so so so sick of wearing my extremely heavy glasses, which I have to wear right now because I’m still not allowed to wear contact lenses. I’m sick of having to constantly push it up when it slips down my nose, sick of feeling so dependent on them, sick of feeling lost and blind without them. So I’m definitely looking forward to get the LASIK procedure. Hopefully it happens soon!

New recipe :D

So I had a piece of salmon that has been sitting in the freezer for a while now. I rarely cook salmon so I wan’t quite sure what to do with it. Then I saw the tomyam paste in the kitchen and thought, “I wonder how salmon tastes like with tomyam?” And thus begun my little experiment…

First, I diced half an onion into teeny pieces. Then, I stir fried them with a little bit of oil. After they are slightly soft and fragrant, I added a few teaspoons of tomyam paste into the wok and mixed the paste with the onion. When the tomyam paste turned slightly brownish, I added half a bowl of water into the wok and stirred it around. Once the mixture is nice and thick, I added a few sprinkles of light soy sauce, salt, and sugar. 

Next, I placed the slice of salmon in a baking pan and poured the tomyam sauce evenly over the salmon. Then into the oven it went! Taadaaa!!!

Tomyam salmon

The oddest book I’ve ever read

So I read Wei Wei’s blog post about Roald Dahl’s book, My Uncle Oswald. Her description of the book was captivating, so I couldn’t resist borrowing a copy of it from the Mountain View public library. 

My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl

I’m a Roald Dahl fan. Not a hardcore fan, but a fan nonetheless. I liked BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Witch, and etc. His books were always extremely imaginative and way out there. At the same time, they all share something in common. They’re innocent. Most were about children for children.

So after I finished My Uncle Oswald, I closed the book and stared at it for while. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. It is, of course, still extremely imaginative and, may I say, waaaaaaay out there. Just out there in a direction that I never imagined that Roald Dahl would go.

*Spoilers ahead. Please stop if you’d like to read the book yourself!*

The plot of the book is about Oswald’s project to collect sperm from famous men. He and his team members would freeze the sperm and sell them to wealthy women. Imagine having Einstein’s child! Or Sigmund Freud’s! (I’ve got to say he or she would most probably turn out to be a nutcase though)

It sounds like it’s just some people forming a sperm bank, right? But the process of obtaining those famous sperm samples was so hilarious that I couldn’t help laughing out loud while reading the book. If I had to use an emoticon to describe how I felt after finishing the book, it’d be this: 

I totally recommend this book to everyone. Especially if you happen to like Roald Dahl and sex!

What would I do without the internet?

Nowadays I find myself visiting Facebook several times a day. And I log onto Friendster almost every day. Whenever I take pictures, the first thing I think of is “that would be an awesome picture to upload onto Facebook!”. 

The first thing I do every morning is check my email. Before I go to bed, I check my email. I am logged onto MSN Messenger almost every waking minute of my life. I check Google maps for directions, check Yelp for restaurant recommendations, weather.com to find out if I need to bring an extra jacket, imeem.com for music, and of course, plurk.com to keep in touch with my friends. I even read Chinese novels on the internet too. At work, I check the internet for C++ references and information about how to use certain tools. I check user forums for tips on everything ranging from Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts to how to write scripts.

Some days I couldn’t help thinking…what on earth would I do without the internet? How would I find movie show times? Heck, how would I find the cinema’s phone number to call to inquire about movie show times without the internet? I shudder at having to actually look at maps to figure out how to get to the cinema. I hate to admit it, but I think I’d be rather lost without the internet.

What would you do without the internet?

Interesting Japanese menu item again…

I’m beginning to think Japanese restaurants specialize in funky food names. After Screaming Orgasm Special and Girls on Top, I thought I’d seen it all. But no! Introducing…

Sex on the mountain

By the way, I have no idea why my phone camera takes such blurry photos. *pout*

Damn you Cathay Pacific!

It’s not everyday that I get pissed off. In fact in general I don’t consider myself someone who gets pissed off easily. And even when I do get pissed off, I don’t show it easily. But right now I want to give a middle finger salute to Cathay Pacific.

First of all, their online booking system doesn’t work. AT. ALL. I’ve tried 3 different web browsers on both Windows and Mac OS X on 3 different machines, and they all failed at various different points of the booking process. Does Cathay Pacific have ZERO BUDGET for web developers or something? Do they not go through their own website and test the freaking pile of shit? “Oh, I guess I’ll have to call them,” I thought. Turns out, they not only do not have a 24-hour phone system, during the day time, they tell you “Since we estimate high wait time, we suggest that you call back later”. How freakin’ helpful is that? 

They’ve lost me as a customer.

Bits and pieces

It has been quite a while since my last post. A lot of interesting things have happened in between…a new haircut, a trip to Redmond, WWDC, funky desserts…etc. Here are some of the highlights.

Right after a haircut at Japan Beauty Center located in San Francisco’s Japan Town

The marvelous Sarah Bernard (I might have a typo here) dessert at a cafe in Capitol Hill, Seattle.

At the Microsoft Visitor Center in Redmond, WA

I suppose it’s easy to guess what kind of soup this is

Dinner with Dr. Witty and other E2′ers at Yuki Sushi in Santa Clara.

Attending WWDC 2008 in San Francisco

 

Picture perfect…NOT

I don’t know how the celebrities do it. They always appear flawless and graceful in photos. Even when they were baring their asses or eating something. I, on the other hand, always seem to be caught in the worst Kodak moments.

For obvious reasons I’m not going to post all the funky pictures of myself. And the ones above were only from Christi’s camera (*angry look*)!