names, weather and all that jazz

you know mother nature has screwed you over when 0 degrees and a little sunshine qualifies as a "fine" day. no need to walk with the head bowed over and eyes squinted today because the cold is not biting...just nice enough to walk tall.

amor es perros. andrew said, "you know it means love is dog?" so i played the dvd wondering why a movie would be called "love is dog". then the title flashes on the screen and the subtitles below say "love's a bitch". talk about lost in translation.

the family below has a baby. i have never seen it, but i hear it crying all the time and today i hear the father talking baby talk. baby making baby sounds is cute, grown man making baby sounds is not.

a girl was mugged and shot yesterday on the lower east side. just a block away from where i used to live. the poor girl died in her fiance's arms. peiru called and said thank goodness you moved out of that gangsta neighborhood. kelly called and said, yo, you got the dominican experience.

heroes for a day

so hang and i diligently woke up at 930 to get try and catch the free shuttle to ikea at 11. we get there and find out most buses aren't running but we are determined to get some furniture so we paid 4.50 and 50 mins later we are outside ikea in armpit new jersey. the entrance is snowed in and it is obviously abandoned. F*** F***!! it's like 10 below freezing and we're and hour away from home in the middle of suburbia with NO way to get back. the manager in the parking lot informs us they are opening only at 2 because of the snowstorm. can you imagine this ever happening at ikea at alexandra rd? sorry, too hot lah today--half day half day.

we take the next bus we see back and head to home depot. we picked up two cartfuls of house makeover materials and try to hail a cab in the grey snow which has melted into a revolting slush. of course with our luck we can't get a cab back for 15 mins in the cold. (only 20% are running post snowstorm and those that are don't want two girls with too much furniture anyway). we go back into home depot trying to get our stuff delivered and they say "sorry no delivery today" ok how about tomorrow? "sorry we don't hold items for guests" then what should we do? "you have to return it and come back tomorrow to buy it" wtf.
"hang, let's just go. let's just take the trolleys. to get to the subway"
"jia, but how are we going to get the trolleys onto the subway?"
"i don't know but we'll figure out when we get there"
"huh, than let's just push them all the way back lah"
"ok"
so we pushed them past security smiling like innocent little asian girls and roll them down the block. on the way, two guys who were just in the store with the same problem (and actually returned their stuff) saw us and were like "oh man, those girls just rolled the carts out! you're our heroes!!" they cheered us on.

the adventure ends somewhere there because we managed to flag down a cab and proceeded to load it up like maniacs for fear he would drive off. we tipped him a 100% too after, and he didn't even step out to help us. what a dick if you ask me.

at night we painted a long wall half orange and half pink. got a nice chandelier for the living space and cheap dining and coffee tables. the best thing was the lazy susan for the tv because now it swivels to face the "living area" or the "dining area" how blissful. :)

my chandelier is also up and it is quite the stunner. takes the attention away from the mess i've made of my walls. this apt is coming together very nicely and pictures will soon be posted.

mao just paid hang a surprise visit. can you believe it. halfway round the world. what a lucky chick.

snowstorm

it was a blizzard of snow the whole of today. i met andrew and we walked around soho in the feet of snow. it felt so surreal because whole roads were covered in powder and sidewalks were totally snowed over you had to trudge--actually maybe it was the nostalgia of walking through the snow in AA. my jeans got so wet and mucky and it really bugged me so i went and got myself a pair of fuzzy suede UGG lookalikes. for $39, i thought they were a steal. i tried them on at the store and didn't take them off after. i felt invincible like the abominable snowman and went on to stomp around in the snow like i was.

hang got in last night and we got excited thinking about how to decorate our living space. i also am super thrilled because the chandelier is here and it's beautiful.

i think i might also be skipping the auntie stage and moving straight to ah ma because i feel the need to buy a shopping trolley for when i go grocery shopping.

ADAH

i think i suffer from attention deficit. i realize why i hardly get anything done. take for example: after collecting my laundry I came into my room to put the folded clothes back into my wardrobe. for some reason i was drawn to the computer and started chatting and checking email. i look over, and on my bed sit the folded towels still waiting to be put back in their place.

and how i'm installing the chandelier (yes, i did get one in the end--from amazon because i cannot stand the suspense of the bidding process) and halfway through i grab packets of seaweed and just veg out in front of the telly watching some crazy show about plastic surgery and gastric bypass.

i have to make a concerted effort to rectify this problem. i need to focus on doing one thing at a time. i think this is the reason why i'm also constantly late--because i get distracted along the way to the destination. it's an uphill climb guys, this attempt to change myself...so give me time coz i'll probably get distracted along this way too!

tv dinner

should i bury my face in shame because i like trashy chinese food? actually i don't like ALL of it--just good general tso's chicken. found a pretty good place just across the street today. i bought in dinner in celebration of the arrival of my new futon and tv. i just had to do the whole chinese take out and tv thing you know. it was my breaking in ceremony for apt 6e.

yesterday the tv arrived and i set it up. i just sat (on my new futon) in front of the tv in extreme contentment, flipping channels for about ten minutes and grinning to myself. i went through all the channels twice but for some reason there's no HGTV or food network! and no discovery channel!!! so i've been watching room raiders, the ashlee simpson show and newlyweds. (to add to the patheticness of having chinese take out)

and have you noticed when you buy sugar-less ice cream, for some reason the sweetness is fleeting? like it doesn't linger the way real ice cream does. i was craving some ciao bella pistachio, but they didn't have any close by so i got ben and jerry's sugar-less strawberry, a poor unsatisfying substitute. boo.

i need to go to the gym but it is so cold outside it's suicide to leave now. i just knew the punishment was on its way-- the last two weeks felt more like fall than winter. now it's like we're in a freezer box in a freezer box. -13deg celcius--makes my legs itch once i'm out of the cold. damn this weather be over soon.

on crack or something

i'm losing my voice. it's 12.45 am and i am so tired. but instead of plopping into my very comfortable bed with mattress pad, i am scouring ebay for chandeliers. i'm hoping that a successful bid will make me a happier person momentarily.
i like to "get it now" on ebay which totally defeats the purpose, but i hate the wait and usually with those, i get beat anyway. either that or i think i will and then bid way too high and actually win something i didn't really want. i haven't mastered the art of ebay yet evidently.
mothers know best and mine certainly does because she was a darling and booked me a flight out of singapore to london (she says it was cheap) so i can stop over for a couple of days and spend them with my bf (if he still is at that time--otherwise sarah and shouzi, it's all you.) on the way back to ny. my mum is supermom really. she always has it planned to a T.
huiling and i went for filipino food today. had some pork stewed in beef blood. the thought is pretty scary, but it tasted ok. of course i got the comment i look filipina which is cool because i like that indigenous identity and being in the export category (oh sorry that was a bad bad joke-pui!). huiling was told she could pass off as a rich filipina girl (chinese-filipina that is). i am going to get myself that guide to ethnic eats in ny and try out ukrainian breakfast one of these days. if i can't travel, i have to at least say i've tasted the cuisine.

stuyvesant town

finally got all my barang into the new place with the help of the kelly and the guys. this time i drove the u-haul around the city and it was quite the experience. we were gangsta - double parked on some streets and even left the hazard lights on while we moved the boxes upstairs.
mattress arrived the next morning and the guys who installed it should have a guiness record for putting it all together in under a minute. i just lay on it for five minutes and couldn't wipe that smile off my face. call me crazy, but anyone would've if they got pins and needles from sleeping on the floor the night before.
i'm also on the quest for the best general tso's chicken. had the crappiest one on saturday and now i'm determined to find something that'll keep me coming back for more.
i've been buying supplies from bargain bazaar and the 99cent store across the street - it's all very wonderfully cheap so i am quite happy. i can't wait to actually start furnishing the place and once again pretend i am the designer from trading spaces. haha.
the name abc carpet and home sounds really sanitary and boring, but my oh my the store is a heaven for vintage/kitchy furniture buffs like me. it's like the home section of urban times ten. of course though i could not afford even a cushion but just walking through the store was such an inspiring experience--chandeliers, luxe fabrics, flea market finds and all. they really should change the name because it sounds like a place for old suburban fogeys.

shake it like a polaroid picture

loopy laura makes as though it's my fault she had ZERO in her bank account and therefore bounced her check. HELLO--please check you have enough balance before you even write one out airhead. and i can't imagine at 41 not even having a $1000 in my bank account. not that i'm some joe millionaire, but not even enough for a rainy day? that's scary. not right now when i'm 22 and have no cares, but at 41 and about to hit menopause, i hope to have enough to tide me over a couple of months if i decided i needed to stop working for a while.

so out goes boho free spirit. but not so sure i can embrace corporate whore just yet. in the meantime i've taken to stuffing my face with all the snacks at work and of course they had to bring in new stuff today and of course i had to try all of them. by the time dinner rolls around, i am stuffed to the brim. today for a moment too i wished i was a brainiac programmer. the geeks at bloomberg earn so much money and they look like they don't ever spend it.

and no, greta is not with richmond...she just happened to be passing through on her way to dc to film a documentary (a real free spirit that one) and they were just hanging out. and no, bloomberg is not closed for cny, i just took time off. i can't wait!

so today the housing ordeal is finally over--i feel like i just went through phase 1 of hazing for kappa delta phi! i got the keys and breathed a huge sigh of relief. going to lug some stuff over now so i can sleep over there tomorrow night. also need to test if there's unsecured wireless signals floating around i can surf on for free. initiation phase 2: sleep on hardwood floor. let's see if i have what it takes to be a sorority sister. woo!

limbo rock

yeah rock limbo. i know this one all too well. one day it's good news from the broker and the very next day some paperwork has not been turned in on the guarantor's side and the apt is back floating somewhere between being mine and being theirs. it's the worst kind of limbo because i can do absolutely NOTHING on my end to get out of it--it's all documentation that has to be signed and notarized by my guarantor and i can't very well call someone i'm asking a favour from and bug them every few hours. so it's a fucking sit, wait and see what happens--for almost two weeks now.

but my parents have been darlings and without them i would be quite homeless, not to mention extremely penniless. i can't wait to be back for chinese new year. three weekends of bliss i hope. i miss home--the family, the friends, the weather, the town bee. things would be 200% simpler if i lived at home. for one, no need to rent a u-haul truck to transport my life from one part of town to another every couple of weeks/days. but otherwise, i would have never realized how expensive a bed is. i walked into sleepy's with a budget of $200. the salesguy walks me to the back of the showroom and pulls an ugly blue (in shiny and very cheena fabric) mattress onto the ground. "try it--see how you like it" first, all the other mattresses in the store looked absolutely LUXURIOUS next to the one he pulled out, with extra padding and all. second, they were displayed like regular beds. mine unfortunately was hastily propped up against the wall and felt like a box of springs. so i ended up busting my budget by double because otherwise i would have been better off sleeping on egg crates. but apparently i got a "good deal" because they needed to make a sale that day and so my $425 package included the base, the frame, the mattress pad and delivery. i guess i can't complain. plus, after sleeping on shanaz's bed, i need to have something half as comfy. everyone i've asked says it's not bad at all so let's just hope it is because i feel like i've been screwed left right center for the last 2 months.

i'm exhausted. i think maybe i have mono. or maybe it's the flu. whichever. it is giving me aches and my lymph nodes are inflamed. i wonder if one can overdose on vitamin c. been downing redoxen to save my life, soon even my pee will be orange and good for you.

u-haul, me-haul, goodbye LES

yesterday kelly and i went to pick up the u-haul van. we loaded, and unloaded in two locations in under 3 hours and even got a nice tour of manhattan along the way. i thought, dang, 19.95 for a day rental is cheap--next time i have friends over, i should just rent out a van and pack everyone in for a cheap ride around the city. but of course i missed the fine print and was charged mileage in addition so it isn't the greatest deal on earth anymore.

moving the last bags out of the hole in the wall apt i called home for two months, i felt a tinge of sadness leaving the lower east side. shady, ghetto, largely dominican and whatever else people say/think of it, i've grown to love the couple of blocks that make up my first neighbourhood experience in ny. i still haven't been to schiller's and now i will actually have to take a bus down there.

in limbo now and it's so frustrating living out of suitcases and boxes. i can't wait to move into the new place but i have to first get a bed. you never realize how expensive furniture actually is until you have to buy it yourself. i'm thinking of scrimping and stacking two mattresses if that's any cheaper. or maybe a futon.

i'm exhausted and i have a headache. i'm going to a comedy club with richmond who happens to be with greta georges (of all people!!). i'm praying hard it won't be weird, and the comedy will be good.

got my paycheck today and had a total of 712.48 in tax deducted. what federal withholding, social security, medicare, state tax, p0001 withholding (have absolutely no clue what this is even!). all these euphemisms (can they even be called such??) for "uncle sam wants your money". sucks man. i'm a poor girl with no love here.