Currently Unforgettable (It Girl Novel #4) By Cecily Von Ziegesar see related

Boo!

Did I manage to scare you all? Haha! I know that was silly, but hey, it's Halloween and I'm in the spirit. No pun intended.  Seriously though. I noticed a lack of Halloween spirit these days. Yes, there are quite a few who dressed up in their scariest or naughtiest(is there such a word?) costumes and went trick or treating around the streets, but I used to see more when I first came here. Has everybody "grown out" of Halloween? 

In my opinion, you can never be too old to dress up and be someone you're not(or secretly are) for a special day like Halloween. Even if you're living in a country that doesn't celebrate it, such as Malaysia.

I didn't really celebrate Halloween the fullest(aka trick or treating), but I did dress up for the day and night. That's right. 2 different costumes in one day. That day happened to the the day before Halloween. I dressed up in my usual witch costume to work and class. It was a little uncomfortable wearing a costume to college though.  For those who had never seen me in my witch costume, here's a picture of me on Halloween 2 years ago:

Yes, that was me with my lovely broom in the background two years ago.

No pictures were taken for this year though. Partly because nobody else in the store dressed up for the occasion, except for Jessie who opened the store as a postal lady. Like I said, lack of Halloween spirit.

After class, I went home to shower, and check my mail and Facebook before getting dress for Maureen's Halloween Birthday Bash at the cigar bar. Maureen was told that they were going to check IDs outside the bar after 9pm, so all I had to do was wear a lil revealing dress, dab some makeup, and  get in before that time. Despite getting a little lost, I managed to arrive 7 minutes before 9.  And just to curb your curiosity, I was dressed as a Latin Ballroom Dancer. How befitting considering the fact that a live Salsa band would be playing that night.

Handed Maureen her gift(Ferrero Rocher and Chamomile Tea. Who could resist them?). Besides, I'm always reminded of upper class English ladies with straw hats and frilly white dresses drinking tea with their pinky finger sticking out whenever I think of her.

I was introduced to the rest of her friends at the table, minus Drew and Ben since I already knew them. As the evening went on, I got a little bored. Everybody seem to have somebody they could talk to, while I'm just sitting there like a party pooper, eating quisadiles(somebody please correct me if that's not how it is spelt), and choking on the smoke coming from the cigars around the courtyard.

And then, the live Salsa band started playing inside(Our table was at the courtyard)! Jeng Jeng Jeng! All I needed was a little nudge from Ben, and then I took off my coat and hoodie before heading towards the dance floor, albeit a tiny one. 

I was a little worried that I might be dancing alone for the rest of the night, but I did not have to. Pretty soon, I was dancing with one man after another. Some were real good, while some were trying too hard to be hot, if you catch my drift.

Being on the dance floor, I felt like the life of the party. Now that's what a party should be. To have fun. And boy, was I having fun. The only downside was that the place was too crowded and the dance floor was too small. Some drunk spilled her cocktail on my dress and the floor while dancing. Who on earth carries their drink while dancing?  

The Salsa band took a 10-15 minute break, which felt like an hour. I was back to being Ms. Party Pooper Who Was Being Ignored at the table. That was when I miss my Malaysian friends. Texted a few and only received a reply from Tsing. Thanks for consoling me, Tsing!   Jose came later. Yay! Finally someone to talk to in my dance breaks.

Take one. Failed.

Take two. Jose and I with bunny ears courtesy of Ben and his girlfriend, Hitomi. Barely pass.

Sorry guys. No head-to-toe picture of me in my favourite dress. It feels awkward to take a picture of self among your friend's friends. Maybe some other time.

And like Cinderella, I left the party at midnight, except with no glass slippers or Prince Charming left behind. Jose walked me back to Market Street before we parted at the train station. Aww...ain't he sweet? It pays to have a gay friend sometimes. Alright, most of the time. Haha!

And that was my not-so-spooky Halloween story of this year! On the actual Halloween Day, I experienced a headache and did nothing. Was supposed to go out with Oscar, Gilma, and Anna after Gilma gets off work, but it was too late and we couldn't think of anything to do at that time. Which was kind of sad since Gilma and I were kinda excited that we would be doing something that night. Oh well.

I'm gonna go back in time now. What am I talking about? The last Salsa in the Square party of the year, of course!  This time, I invited Maureen since she wanted to learn how to Salsa. She came late an hour late with Jose, but they still managed to have some fun before the party ended.

Overall, it was a fun night. Did Mambo for the first time(and won't be trying to do so anytime soon), got led into a dip(which was freaking awesome!), learned a little LA style Salsa and a different version of Cha Cha(let's just say it was like learning how to dance all over again).

The insides of Macy's are already decked out with Christmas decorations.

Apart from Salsa in the Square, I had my midterm voice recital a week ago. I was the 6th in the program, but was the 2nd to go because the first 4 did not turn up. I sang They Were You, which was performed by the Fantastiks and Over The Meadows, a Czechoslovakian folksong.

I tried to tap more into my emotions in this performance and it showed. Yee Wen is probably gloating right now since I already told her I was thinking of her while singing Over The Meadows. =.=" As for They Were You, there's no question that I had to think of someone I like since it's obviously a love song.

I'm going to be a little emotional from here onwards, so you guys can click the x button now if you want to stay happy.

PMS have been forcing me to think a lot this whole weekend. Don't laugh, but I realized that ever since I was a little girl, I had always wish to be a princess. Not the fairy tale kind, but a princess that came out of a fantasy book.

I would always imagine myself in a foggy mystical forest with beautiful sunlights streaming down through the trees and fog. Then there's me me dressed in a beautiful white flowy dress sitting on the grass, filled with pretty flowers. I said don't laugh! Not even a snicker!

I guess that's one of the reasons why I like classical music. The music makes me feel like a princess from my imagination. It temporarily removes the guard from my heart that I always have to protect myself from the harsh reality of life.

It also made me forget about how I sometimes feel about myself: selfish, unintelligent, immature, pessimistic, bitchy, boring, and et cetera... I know. Horrible thoughts of myself, huh? It is unfair to me to insult myself. But I bet everybody feels the same way to themselves at some point of their life.

Whenever I feel negative about myself, I have the tendency to go to my love(or loveless?) life. Everybody wants to be loved. Same goes for me. I want to feel comfortable being myself around a certain someone. I want a certain someone to be there for me through happy and sad moments of my life. I want to be loved by a certain someone. I want to love a certain someone. Unfortunately, I have not met a certain someone.

I have the tendency to fall in love easily, even though I warned myself from the beginning to not fall for the same trap again. But I always ended up having my hopes too high and get myself heartbroken each time. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever have a certain someone. I don't believe in Mr. Right, but just a certain someone whom I can love and be loved.  Is that considered selfish?

By the way, that's just my PMS talking. I know some of you wanted to know what's really been going on with me emotionally and I admit I haven't been writing much about it. I always blog about the surface because I want to seem tough and mature. But I guess it made me sound like a robot instead. So I guess this post should be a little refreshing.

A random picture before I sign off,

Taken from a classroom at City College. 

You know you love me(reading too much Gossip Girl lately),

Currently The Morning Gift By Eva Ibbotson see related

It's October Already?!

Hey, guys! If any of you are still making it a ritual to visit my blog despite my almost 2 months of disappearance, that is. Haha! I must admit, I kinda miss blogging. So many things had happened for the past 2 months.

First of all, my laptop is currently rebelling against me as some of you know. It refused to be turned on by me. What? Am I not sexy enough?  I'm just kidding about the sexiness part. Haha! But yea, it refuses to turn on, so I have been using the public library computers for the past 2 weeks. Yes, you heard me right. 2 weeks. Not 2 months.

Apart from my sad heartbroken love story with my laptop, I have been really busy at work and school. Midterms is approching next week and my grades are just too average for a perfectionist like me. As for work, my shift took a 3-week vacation off to visit Taiwan. This meant I had to work harder and more hours in order to ease my manager's burdens. Not to mention the Starbucks VIA sales.

Speaking of VIA, the company is currently promoting Starbucks VIA instant coffee in the States. Our company's coffee beans were micro-grind and pulvarized directly from our beans, so the taste is closest to real coffee beans in comparison with other instant coffee brands. 

The promotion will last for 7 weeks and being the top store in the city, my store was pressured to meet impossibly high goals. Instant coffee is a new idea to the consumers in the States, so it was insane for the higher people to expect us to do that.

But you know what? We achieved the impossible goal and even sold enough to have a Christmas party! Woohoo! Our VIA sales is currently Number 1 in the whole Northern California!!!  Now we can fianlly shut up about VIA. I was exhausted from talking so much about it to customers. It's kinda sad that the company has reached to a point that they're setting a certain number to achieve in sales to survive the recession instead of selling VIA as the product itself.

That's all for now. Just a quick update to let you guys know I'm still alive and well. A huge storm is currently taking place outside the library. The worst of the storm will take place in approximately an hour and a half. And I wanna make it home safe, so adios for now.

Currently Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Kitty Norville, Book 5) By Carrie Vaughn see related

August Babies

Is it just me or does August seems to carry alot of babies? Anyways, the first shouout I would like to give is to the youngest member of our gang: Pei Li!

PL is the one in the middle. Sorry Pei Li! I don't have a pic of you with longer hair. This is the most recent pic I could find in my folders. We'll take new pics when I see you.

Don't let her age deceive you. I think that she's the most mature one in our gang. She thinks about alot of stuff deeply, more than people her age normally would. And yet, she is able to act like her age whenever she's with her friends. I really admire that. Maybe it's because she mainly surrounded by people who are a year older than her. See? Our gang's maturity rubbed off on ya.  Haha!

Pei Li, I'm not holding any grudge against you for forgetting my birthday. I was only afraid that you people had forgotten about me. I guess I shouldn't have worried about that. I'm just glad I'm still in your memory, even though the memory includes my embarrassing moment in our Bio class back in high school. =.=

I don't want this post to be too long as I just had my medicine and it's going to take effect soon. So, I'm just gonna wish ya Happy Belated Birthday!

Next up in the list is none other than my best friend, Tsing Yie aka Sinki.

Our braces days. Hahahah! I can't believe I still have this pic.

Best friends for 7 years and still counting. Distance is not an issue for us(Well, not much anyway. Just can't get hold of you often). Enuff said.

Woman, like I said in my text message, be good and don't party too much just because you're in KL, okay?  I can't wait to visit you in Sabah and KL, though I don't know exactly when I'll be back.

SELAMAT HARI JADI LEWAT, TSING!

Fall semester has begun and I'm currently taking American Government, Voice, and Beg Conversational Spanish. So don't be surprise when I greet you guys "Ola!" instead of "Hi!" when I get back.  Spanish class starts tomorrow. I wanted to add Bio too, but unfortunately, all the Bio classes are already full. Same goes for Intermediate Algebra. Oh well.

For the past 3 months, I've been attending the Salsa party at Union Square. I never thought that I would have the courage to ask strangers to dance with me. And no, I did not have the chance to dance with lengchais at all.  However, I still had fun.

Here are a couple of pictures taken during the party on June.

I attended the most recent one 2 days ago. But surprisingly, I had more fun at dinner, even though it was at the food court in the mall. Maybe it's because I was with the right companion. =3

Currently What Can I Do By The Corrs see related

Cold and Foggy Summer

Sorry for the MIA again. I guess I'll be only updating my blog every 2 weeks from now on. The past couple of weeks were full of ups and downs. Feels like an emotional roller coaster ride.

Four weeks of Voice class finally ended on a nice note 2 weeks ago. Although it had only been a month, it was crazy what with me facing my fears of performing in public and meeting new people(the good and the bad). The final 2-days recital went pretty well despite a few mistakes. I bobbed my head too much(a bad habit I developed from my choir days) and missed my cue on the 2nd verse for the first song on the first day of the recital. 

On the last day of the recital, students were allowed to bring guests, so there were many unfamiliar faces in the audience. I got so nervous that I stopped breathing at times and ended up breathless for higher notes. I still considered it an achievement though because I did not begin to cry or run away like I would in the past. Instead, I ignored my mistakes and went through my performances til the very end, no matter how embarrassed I felt. 

My teacher and classmates' encouragement had been very helpful through out this whole experience. Their support gave me courage to sing again after the Jessie bitch brought my confidence down to the gutter a few years ago. I thank them for it from the bottom of my heart.

Here are a few awesome people from my Voice class I would like you guys to meet.

This is Kristin. She's one of the two closest friends of mine in the class. Extremely nice and silly.  She's also a Mezzo Soprano like me and loves beer. Haha! She took me to this German bar and restaurant, and boy, can she drink. By the way, German beers taste so good. Lol! 

My other closest buddy in the class is Karen. She's in her late sixties and yet, she has the energy of an eight-year-old. I met her in the fall semester last year when I took a beginning piano class. She's awesome on the piano. Karen cracks me up everyday like no other with her craziness.

Put three of us together and we will drive you to the mental institution faster than you can say insane.

This is Arnel. Has an amazing singing voice and fun to be with. He's crazy in his own right.

This is Cheng. Don't let her petite and quiet-ness fool you. She can pack quite a punch and has a very beautiful and mesmerizing singing voice. Another Mezzo Soprano too!

We all have one thing in common. We are definitely fans of Ms. Hubbell.  She was also my piano lecturer in the fall semester.

These pictures were taken from Kristin's camera on the last day of our final recital. We had potluck too. I cooked basil fried rice and brought it over to the recital. By the end of the day, nothing was left in the container. They love it!  Kristin brought salad with a dressing that she made. I don't normally eat salad, but Kristin's salad was so darn good!

Voice class aside, I had a birthday dinner with Jackie, my friend from dance school, at Benihana a couple of weeks ago. The food was delicious especially their fried rice. I'm planning to go back there again some time in the future.

The waiter and waitresses at the restuarant are really nice and friendly. They came to our table and sang happy birthday to me after Jackie told one of them that it was my birthday(late birthday actually. Haha!).

Taken by a waitress. Yeah, complete with a neko statue and a birthday candle. Lol!

By the way, message me personally if you really want to know what's going on with me on the down side. I used to be really open about my emotions in my blog, but I feel uncomfortable at the knowledge of everybody being able to see the vulnerable side of me now.

P.S. Congatulations to Derek for winning the Most Wanted Ruumate!

Currently Iris By Goo Goo Dolls see related

The Big Apple, 4th of July, and My Birthday

I see cobwebs hanging all over my blog. Eww! Time for some summer cleaning?  I have been so busy for the past 3 weeks, so I apologize for allowing cobwebs to grow in here. So many things had happened during this short space of time.

For instance, I had already dropped my Ballet class, followed by Math. This means that I'm only taking 1 credit for this summer, which is Voice class. I realized that working 30 hours a week while being a full-time student during the summer is too hectic. 6 credits on a normal long term is actually very little, but summer is short, so the classes are everyday.

My schedule then was to work at 4am, go to class at 11am, and get off class by 7.45pm. It was crazy. I never had enough sleep, and I couldn't really pay attention at class. In addition to that, I had already missed 4 classes for Math and Ballet each because of my trip to New York. It's not worth it if I'm already failing the class. After much pondering, I finally dropped my Ballet class with full refund and the Math with a 'W' notation on my record. I'll take those 2 class in the future.

For Voice class, my lecturer, Ms. Hubbell(she was my piano lecturer back in fall term last year), checked my voice range and said that I am a Mezzo Soprano!!! Whee~!  The 2 songs that I picked for my final voice recital are The Water Is Wide and Beautiful Dreamer. It's not easy for me to sing in front of the hall as many of you know that I have a terrible stage fright. My main objective in taking this class is to conquer this fear. We'll see how it goes during the rehearsal next Monday. =S

As I had mentioned before, I went to New York City at the end of last month to attend my brother's high school graduation. Greg, my sister, and I took a few days off from work to fly to the Big Apple. I was very excited to see my brother as I hadn't seen him for 2 years.

I'll let the pictures tell the rest. WARNING: Heavy loads of pictures coming your way.

Sunset at Oakland International Airport

My lil bro in his graduation robes.

First pic together after 2 years

The two graduates, Chester and Alvin

His picture was on the screen!!

Graduates filling up the seats

Ryan(my cousin) and I

Something to be busy with through the hundreds of speeches given.

It was finally my bro's turn to get his scroll

My blur lil bro who doesn't know where his seat was.

Salsa performance by the graduates

The siblings

Alvin: Yeer...the pic doesn't look nice with flash on la.

Me: Okay then. I'll take it without the flash this time.

Me: *Snaps*

Alvin: *Blinks*

Me: Gotcha! Hahhahahahahaha!

Rockefellar Center

The Chrysler Building near the Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station with Alvin and Ryan

Malaysian Queens Restaurant!!!

Yummy satay! I wanted to take a pic of their Hokkien Mee, but it was so good that I finished it before I realized I wanted to take a pic of it. =.="

Hanging out at Ryan's room

Nothing like a good dose of Starbucks wherever I go

At the Starbucks store that Ryan works at

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Japanese Tea Garden

Celebrity Path

Outside the Conservatory

Mosquito plant?!

*Quack*

Squirrel!!

We wanted to go Purnima, an Indian restaurant, for dinner since Chester watched his favourite chef, Gordon Ramsey, who did one of his episodes at that restaurant before. However, we had a weird feeling when we saw the building next to it being torn down and in shambles. We were right because Purnima was closed. =.=" In the end, we decided to have our dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the middle of nowhere.

Food was okay, but with the right people, it made up for the taste of the food.

Chester and I outside the underground Apple store with a glass elevator.

For more pictures, go to my Facebook album "The Big Apple '09".

I went to Rossmoor at Walnut Creek on the 4th of July with Greg and my sis. There was a fair at the area where Greg's parents live. It was a typical fair with food and game booths. They had 2 stages too: one was an adult stage and the other was for children. It was quite fun. We met up with Greg's parents and Lyndsey at their picnic table.

After playing all the games there(not to mention all the prizes she won), Lyndsey got bored, so we headed to the Liu's house and played the board game "Life".

Fake tatoo. Ain't it pretty?

Lyndsey and I in the car on our way to the Liu's house. Yea, she got a tatoo on her cheek.

The uncle and niece playing with each other.

Miss Lyndsey playing with the ball.

Guess what? A waitress mistook me as Lyndsey's mom! =.="

You see, Greg drove the 3 of us to Jack London Square to see the fireworks that evening. Greg and my sis bought cheeseburgers from a stall for dinner since my sister was craving for one throughout the whole day.

As Lyndsey and I didn't feel like having burgers or hotdogs, I took her around the area for some food. We stopped by at Hibachi and took a look at the menu. Lyndsey saw something she would like, so we went in to order takeout. After paying the waitress with my debit card, I told Lyndsey to wait where she was standing while I headed to the restroom. When I came back, Lyndsey told me that a conversation took place between her and the waitress.

Waitress: Where is your mom? When she comes back, please give this to her. *hands over the bill to sign and my debit card*

Lyndsey: *nods*

Lyndsey didn't even deny the fact that I wasn't her mom! =.=" She found this hilarious and began telling everybody about it. Lol! She's so cute.

As many of you didn't remember, it was my birthday last Wed. Yes, nobody wished me on my actual birthday except for 3 people: Tsing, Yee Wen, and Moon Ting. Not even my parents. I'm not upset by it, but I can't deny that I was very surprised and a lil disappointed. Thank you to all the belated wishes and gifts! I'm still grateful for them. Thanks, Derek for the design! Arigatou, Ryan for being the first to wish me. Terima Kasih, Chester for reminding peeps at New York of my birthday! And Mucho Gracias, Tsing and Yee Wen for the special posts! =)

On my birthday, I dropped my Math and Ballet class and skipped my Voice class. While I was bar-backing during the morning rush, my shift supervisor brought out a chocolate cake and started to sing happy birthday. I was really touched.  Since we were still in the middle of the rush, I had no time to make a wish before blowing out the candles. I cut and ate the cake later. It was delicious! Thank you, Vivian! Even though she won't be reading this.

For dinner, Greg, my sis, and I ate at Hotpot City. It has been years since I last ate Hotpot(or better known as Steamboat in Msia). The soup was bland but the experience was nice.  We were all so stuffed by it. Haha!

And then yesterday, I had dinner with a few of my partners at Borobudur to celebrate my birthday since my birthday was on a weekday. The atmosphere was good, the food was great, companions were awesome - what more could I ask? Too bad my camera battery went dead with me, so no pictures.