Happy Halloween! My friends back in LA are choosing to celebrate Halloween by dressing up in tin foil and going to Chipotle to get free burritos. Ahhh, I'm so jealous ... not just because I'm on a diet and am craving junk food (well, not so much anymore, but more on that later) but also because I MISS CHIPOTLE! Considering how I had Chipotle at least twice a month during the summer, I'm suffering from Chipotle withdrawl after two months of no Chipotle. =( I don't know why, but it's just so goooood, especially with steak, corn salsa and tomato salsa, sour cream, and some guacomole. Oh damn, I need to stop thinking about it.

But anyway, today is day three of the diet regime and I've lost about 3 kg (holy!), but I think I regained it back this lunch time. Why did I regain it? Because I went out to eat with my colleagues ... Why did I do that? Because I can't say no! I'm still a newbie here, so need to socialize and ingratiate myself (har har har) with my colleagues. Besides, right now I'm still a part-timer, but after my part-time is up, they want me to do full-time (SWEET! I have a JOB!). So, even more reason to make myself favorable to my colleagues, especially those higher up than me. Hohoho. Anyway, they're also really nice people, so it was all good. Mostly listened than talked during lunch, but hey, it's what I do. >.< I need to learn to start ... talking .. as I keep telling myself but never succeeding.

Anyway, so that's why I kinda failed in my diet today, but it's not the end! I'm just going to continue with it tonight and for the rest of the week. Oh, the pasta was so good, but it also curbed my real-food cravings. :P so it's a good thing, as I see it. Hehehe. Back to salad, fruit, and soup tonight. Tomorrow is banana and milk day, oh and soup of course. Mmmmm ... can't wait (sarcasm x1000000).

This becoming full-time throws some kinks into my original plan, but it also sets me back on my original original plan, which is to get a job, a full-time one. It also allows me to obtain some of that much needed job experience that everyone seems to want nowadays. So I'm happy. Kinda. I'm going to miss going to Belgium for winter and also learning Chinese, but eh, it's just a sacrifice I'll have to make, I guess. As for the future, I doubt I want to work here for the rest of my life, but I think I'll try to save up some money to get to grad school in New York. I think that's my next goal - just to continue with psychology. Eh, I hate making long term plans, though, because they never seem to work out. So. I guess we'll just see what the future brings, eh? Only time can tell. :)

For now, I shall just wait for my Leopard impatiently! L-E-O-PAAAAARD!

Today's food is romaine lettuce, soup, and a baked potato for dinner (oh my God, looking for this picture just made me hungrier ...... baked potatoes filled with sour cream, cheese, bacon, broccoli ..... All I get on my potato is a small piece of butter. SNIFF).

T~T oh man, this is harder than I thought. Yesterday, breakfast and lunch were ok, I could handle it ... but then I finished my fruits at like 3pm and got hungry and had to wait till 6 to eat dinner, which was just soup. JUST SOUP!!!! and water. T~T And then, and then, my cousin (Karen)'s bf (Ryan) had pork cutlet curry for dinner, and the smell totally permeated the room and it just looked and smelled so gooooood. Ahhhh, that was torture. Had to avoid tv shows that had to do with food and cooking; had to avoid talking to friends about food .... Actually, still have to because otherwise I just might give into food cravings. One thing about dieting by restricting what you can/cannot eat is that you just end up thinking about what you can't eat more than you normally would, so you want to eat eat eat! But you can't can't can't! So, this is a true test of self-control. Haha. Why am I depriving myself of my favorite fooooooods?! Aih, for my own health, I guess. Haven't eaten so healthy and so little in a long time. It's good, just HARDer than previously thought. No wonder diets are hard to keep.

On the happy side is that I did lose a bit of weight between yesterday and today. SCORE! But I think it might be like, water weight because all that soup and water and fruit make you pee a lot more. Heh. Poo. Well, the first day's always the hardest. Today is a bit better - salad with a little bit of sauce feels more filling than fruits. And then potato for dinner! YES! I am excited ....

But today's test is going to Costco because we need to buy more lettuce and fruits for tomorrow ... boo. All those tempting foods passing before our eyes. Can we do it?! Can we do it?! YES! WE CAN! (hopefully)

I hope it gets easier as the week progresses ............

I have no idea if this actually happened, but it's so funny ... Quite an entertaining read ... Enjoy!

THIS APPEARED ON CRAIG'S LIST

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful(spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes atleast half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.


PostingID: 432279810

THE ANSWER

Dear Pers-431649184:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

I never thought I'd actually go on a diet because I just love food TOO MUCH. I love eating .. well, not the act of eating, but the taste of the different foods, and the satisfying feeling of being full after a meal. Unfortunately, due to my laziness and eating too much during my last quarter at UCLA and during the summer, I must resort to some dieting. More like, watch what I eat and start exercising. har har.

My cousin found this dieting plan and it's not bad to the point that I can't eat any carbs or protein. It just regulates what I eat everyday - it's something different everyday. For example, today is day one and all I'm allowed to eat is fruits (I've eaten guava, apple, and grapes) and this veggie soup that's low in calories and all that bad stuff. The consequence of eating nothing but fruit and drinking nothing but veggie broth and water is that I am currently starving. Ok, not starving, just very, very hungry. I'm out of fruits even though I tried to ration it out so that it'll last till I get home, but I suck at self control. Day two is salad w/ low-fat dressing (because they don't seem to sell non-fat dressing at Costcos) and some more soup. Oh! Bonus is I get to eat a baked potato for dinner. Woot! Day three is ... I don't remember. It's on a list somewhere ... but I think it's veggies, fruits, and soup. Ehhhh ....

I wonder if this diet plan will even work, if I'll be able to last till the very end. It's only for seven days, so I could just keep telling myself, it's only seven days, it's only seven days. And I think it also helps that my sister and cousin are both doing it, too, so there's some moral support in suffering together. Also since the whole apartment is doing it together, we can stop each other from eating and buying food that is not allowed. The only sucky thing is that my cousin's bf stays with us when he's not at work, and even though it's only been one day (not even), he keeps tempting us with what he can eat (burgers, fries, etc.) ... makes me wanna smack him, hard.

But no. I must control myself! Must lose weight! If this diet plan isn't lying, you're supposed to be able to lose 10-17 pounds by the end. Let's see if it's true ... I'll just have to think of this as an experiment ... Jia yo jia yo!!

(Yes, I know, losing weight that fast means I'll only gain it back once I start eating regularly; but it would be good to know that there's some sort of diet plan I can do if I need to lose some 10-17 pounds FAST (kinda ...). Besides, this might just start me eating healthier and being less lazy when it comes to cooking. :D)

The title lies ... :P We went to a Japanese restaurant for my sister's friend's 25th birthday .. but there was no sushi involved. There were other kinds of good food - food that are good with plum liqueur or any alcohol for that matter (except maybe beer because beer just sucks in general). Mmmmyum. The restaurant is tiny. It's like a little bar area and one room for parties of more than 5 ... I think the whole place can only fit approximately 20-25 people, so obviously getting a reservation if you have a large party is a good idea. We had four people and thankfully we had a reservation, so no waiting. Although I don't think too many people know about it so there really was no waiting for anyone. Towards the end of the night, when we were just about to leave, this famous hairstylist who regularly goes on one of those beauty shows here in Taiwan arrived. I didn't know who she was, but birthday girl did. =P


Anyway, although the place is small, it's got super nice ambience. Kind of dark, but not so dark that you can't see what you're eating. =P And the shelves behind the bar (as you can see from the pix) were filled with different kinds of alcohol - plum liqueur and sake mostly, but lots of different brands. I think the place is known for it's Japanese alcohol supply. ^^ I thoroughly enjoyed our 1400ish NT$ plum liqueur. So gooooood. I want more now! =P

The food was good too. We had them set us up with the food, picking their more popular ones. At first we thought it wouldn't be enough because the portions seemed small, but towards the end of the night, we were all pretty full. I wish I had taken pics of the food, but alas, I was enjoying it too much. There were dishes of mushrooms, fish, chicken, beef, salad, etc cooked Japanese style-ish. There was this one particular dish that was different from anything I'd ever ate at a restaurant. Chicken cartilage? I'm not sure if it's cartilage, but it's the soft chewy white bone part of the chicken. They kinda BBQ'd like 5 pieces on a stick and served it to us. It was pretty good, except after a while my jaws got sore from all the chewing. :P

I wouldn't mind going back there again one day .... although it is a bit pricey - the four of us ended up w/ a bill of 4500 NT$. Not thaaaat bad, but not that great that'd encourage me to go there more often. Oh, what's the name of the place? I have no idea. ^^ And to end, here's a picture of the yummy liqueur in a glass w/ a cube ice cube. Heehee, don't ask me why I didn't take a picture of the bottle itself. =.=

awww. this is sweet ... kinda. you know, the concept is sweet, but implementing it would probably cause some problems, as the author notes. But, still sweet nonetheless.

Work is busy busy ... barely have time to finish all my RSS feeds! Hohoho. Put up the sharing box on the right so all the fun stuff (I think) that I read I can share. Woot! Leopard's finally being released on Oct. 26th. Weeee! I can't wait. Well, I'll probably have to because I doubt it'll be released on that date here in Taiwan (we don't even have an Apple Store, just Apple Resellers, POO!) Well. I'll just have to wait and see ....

Anyway, the title is because I think I've caught a cold, again. I think I just got over my last cold two weeks ago and now I'm hit with another one. Damn weather turning cold and everyone getting sick .... Sigh. My head's all weird and my eyes are shrinking to near non-existence (considering how small my eyes are to begin with. Gah!). And my nose is runny and stuffed at the same time. Hate that feeling. >=(

There's this lady at work who's always so impeccably dressed. Very stylish, very fashionable, and I feel like she wears something different everyday. But I'm not very observant so who knows if she does. Just makes me wonder how much she spends on clothing and how big her closet is at home. She's not exactly young either, but guess she has a nice figure. Interesting. What makes one person dress so nicely everyday and other people dress so sloppily (me) everyday? Haha, I think I should start wearing things other than jeans and UCLA shirts. =P

Ahhhh!! I still feel like a little kid!! I feel like everyone else is older than me (they are, but not that much bah) and that they all know more than me. I don't know how to change my attitude so that I can stop feeling so incompetent and stupid.

I also shared an article about the Dalai Lama - I just thought there are some similarities between the plight of Tibet and the plight of Taiwan. The Dalai Lama says he wants autonomy for Tibet, not independence, but what exactly is the difference?

I'm actually surprised how Bush actually met with the Dalai Lama in the face of China's "furiosity." I thought Bush wouldn't do anything to piss of China, especially considering his stance on Taiwan and China's relationship. Lame. I wonder if he would meet with President Chen - most likely not. Why is it that he'll meet with the Dalai Lama, but not the Taiwanese president when both would cause the same reaction in China? It never made sense to me how the leader of a country that espouses democratic ideals and supports democracy can look away at the plight of another democratic country who just wants to be independent from a communist country. All for what?

My cousin is sick. I live with my cousin in a tiny apartment ... noooooooo. sickness! After reading this article about chicken soup, I decided to make her some so that she'll get better sooner (hopefully). The weather is turning colder, so many many people getting sick. Even at work. Crap. At this rate, I'm going to catch a cold too .. :( AHHHHH!!

Anyway, so I suck at cooking. If I needed to feed myself, I could probably survive on my own cooking, like when I was living in the apartments and had to feed myself back in college. It was decent, but there wasn't much variety in what I could cook - pasta, corn soup, corn salsa, rice and chicken, eggs .... err, yah, I think that's about it. My not-so-greatness when it comes to cooking made me aprehensive about making chicken soup because this was for someone else! If it's only me and it tastes like shit, that's ok! But I can't expect other people to eat my shitty food! Still, I decided to give it a shot. Got a recipe from my buddy who can cook like a pro and told her to make it easy, and she did. Woot! After an hour of standing and cooking (wow, haven't done that in a long, long time), SUCCESS! :P

Kinda ... it's a tad bit too salty because I was stupid and thought it was too sweet at first, so I added more salt. Still felt it was too sweet, so added more salt - oops, a little too much. Added some water, but it's still a bit salty. OH WELL. It tastes a little better than decent, so I can't consider it a failure. :D Yay! Now if I could just get motivated to cook more often so that we don't have to spend money eating out so much ... maybe that'd help me lose some weight too, since outside food is so much more oily.


Work's going to be a bit busier this week till next Monday. Learning new stuffs so I can do it when one of my colleagues takes a break. Ahhhh, always afraid of messing up, especially when it has to do with pretty important things. There's so many procedures, though, I'm kinda worried I'll forget and screw it up. BLAH. Meh, all I can do is try and learn!

Played around w/ PS yesterday and made a small collage of some old works on a nice stock photo-background by pixeltool-stock @ dev .. 'twas fun and a good stress-reliever. Click to see full size ...

My desk at work is pretty empty. Since I'm only staying here for three months, there really is no reason to make it feel like "home". The sad thing is that the one thing I did bring from home, besides my water bottle, is a bottle of painkillers.

I think I've come to rely on painkillers too much. I'm not addicted to it; I don't need to eat it everyday. However, whenever I have a headache or any other kind of pain that bugs me, I tend to take one. Probably not a good idea and I should just deal with the pain since my pain tolerance isn't that low, but I just don't see why bother when I can get rid of the pain by taking a pill.

Eh. Main reason I brought the bottle was because of the lump on my leg that was really, ridiculously painful, so I think that was justified. But after that pain's gone, the bottle's still here. Meh.

Speaking of lump on leg, doctor tonight to get minor surgery done and remove the lump that is the cause of this repeated infection and swelling. Kind of scared, never had any kind of surgery - minor or major - before; at least none that I can remember. Phooey. Hope all goes well and FAST. It's Friday (FINALLY), and I want to be able to enjoy it not at a hospital clinic. Har har har? Sigh.

[UPDATE] Well, surgery's over. It was fast and painless in the beginning w/ the anesthetic, but I think it wore out a bit too fast because towards the end when the doc was stitching me up, I could feel pain pricks. Ouchie. And the pain just gets worse with the wearing off of the anesthetics. Like now. OWWWWW. :( So the best position for me is to be belly down on my bed ... sigh. Might not have stayed too long at the hospital clinic, but now I get to enjoy my weekend in pain. YES! I'm am so excited! [/sarcasm] But anyway, I've experienced more pain with this infection than ever in my life. I exaggerate, probably, but things always hurts less with the passing of time. :( Hope the pain disappears by Monday; can't imagine sitting on a chair all day long.

Oh, and leaving my painkillers at work was a TERRIBLE idea ... What am I to eat now since Mr. Doc didn't give me any prescription strength painkillers? Woe. And my panadol has expired. Must go painkiller shopping tomorrow!

I miss my Ooklah friends. =( It's only been two months, but it feels like foreeeever. I think it's particularly hard when they've got all these activities that I used to take part in going on while I'm stuck in Taiwan, all alone. =( It sucks, going from being surrounded by friends to being alone again. Ok, I have my sister and cousin and relatives, and they make it INFINITELY better than going to a strange country where I know no one (like when I first got to UCLA), but it's still hard lacking in a social life. Making friends gets harder the older one gets, so I'm definitely not making any at work, and I guess it's also because I feel like it's pointless since I'll be gone in a little bit over a month. WAH.

It's also particularly hard to see your old friends continuing on with their lives while you can't let go of the past. Damn, I thought I already learned my lesson about living in the past.

Ok, enough ranting for today. :)

Happy Double Ten Day! Taiwan's birfday. :) woot. So much political drama behind it all though ... why can't people just be happy and get along for one day? Meh, guess that's too much to ask from anyone.

Anyway, spent the day off with the relatives, which is always a stressful and deafening experience. Seriously, my relatives don't know how to speak quietly - they yell. A lot. And then there are two dogs who enjoy barking, in high pitched tones. >.< But eh, they're family! Family is muy importante afterall. That's one of the reasons I came back.

Ahhhh, I had the worst luck today. I stepped in shit, TWICE. The first time was random food items, but the second time was literally SHIT. Stepped out of the cab and felt something squishy, looked down, saw brown stuff, cried. :( haha. Sigh. Jackpot! Hopefully something good will happen tomorrow to balance the lousiness ... har har har. But, it's back to work tomorrow and then minor surgery on Friday night. =( Can't see anything good happening. Haha. Ok, must think positively! Think positively!

Ran out of data to input, so here I am. :) I think they're thinking of something else for me to do (woot! something to do!) I get the feeling updating blogs at work isn't exactly encouraged, but oh well.

I've actually been back in Taiwan for less than 2 months. Feels like it's been way longer ... probably because I've done quite a bit since I came back. Ate. a lot. YES! Taiwanese food, I <3 you! Visited Hong Kong (much fun!). Found me a part time job (whoa! Connections, yah!) Met up with some high school friends (Aww, the good old days). Clubbing (fun fun fun fun)! Miss my friends in LA (sadness x10000; it's ok, there's Facebook to keep in touch with). And of course, visit the relatives in Taipei and the South, and do some major damage to my bank account. Ouch.

One constant question I keept getting once someone finds out I was in the States for college is, WHY DID YOU COME BACK TO TAIWAN?! I don't get it. Is Taiwan that bad? I love it here. It's awesome. Besides, I'm a Taiwanese citizen, easier for me to find a job legally here than in the States. Har har har. Of course I wouldn't mind going back out for school, but I still think, ultimately, I'm going to end up in Taiwan (hopefully with a nice paying job). =)

One thing I miss about LA, though, is the Mexican food. Oh. So. Good. Can't get any good Mexican food in Taipei (sadness). Oh, and the radio stations play better music than ICRT. Ugh. I appreciate having a radio station in English, but the songs .... =.= If it's not oldies, it's hip hop; if it's not either of those, it's pop. T~T Aih.

I live for lunch time during the week, although I'm not sure why. Work consists of me sitting in front of the computer, surfing the internet, ocassionally inputting data, and feeling guilty for not doing anything productive. Meh. But lunch time, oh, sweet lunch time, is the time I get to take a nap! College days rarely required me to wake up at 8 am, except when I had opening shifts at the Store. But nowadays, it's e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y (except weekends) that I'm awake by 8. Shit.

This lunch time sees me creating and updating my blog. Yay! I'm heading back into blog-world after the death of my xanga and livejournal after high school graduation. How fitting that I should start another blog after college. Why did I suddenly want to start blogging again? Well, many reasons actually.

1. Bored at work. Seriously, there's nothing for me to do at work except read news articles (thank God for Jezebel, The Superficial, CNN, BBC, Engadget, etc. - they have saved me countless hours of sheer boredom), look for interesting articles on Wikipedia.org (Yes, I have actually read up on Taiwan, various bands and actors, cults, list of people who committed suicide - it actually makes for interesting reading - and assorted other random articles), and actually read full-length books on Google Books (Well, only one so far - Jane Austen's Persuasion). Therefore, having a blog is another form of time-killing at work! Woot!

2. Want to document life after graduation. I really had no idea what I would be doing once I got my bachelor's degree, so here I am back in Taiwan with no concept of what I want to do with my life. What better way to keep track of my doings than with a blog! Provided I actually continue to update my blog. Hmm, always had a problem with that.

3. Share my finds on those various gossip and news sites. Ok, not sure about this one, but it's a possibility since Google Reader allows me to post interesting articles on blogger! Weeee. I less than 3 (<3) Google.

Ok, that's about all I can think of for now. The most important one is to relieve my boredom at work. Except, I would have to have motivation and interest in blogging. Eh. I'll manage, somehow.

Now to nap. :D Yes, it is time for my daily 15 minute nap.