I was out with a college friend 2 nights ago at a restaurant/bar in Georgetown. My sister and I wanted to order some drinks (alcoholic, of course), but we had totally forgotten about one thing. They card here!!! We have this really bad habit of not carrying any ID when we go out with our parents, so the entire time I've been here, my wallet and passport have remained in a drawer. So when the waiter asked for ID, I stared at him in incomprehension also because I'm so used to the free flowing, un-carded alcoholic ways of the Belgians.

Why are the Americans so strict when it comes to alkie?!?!? Sigh. So we ended up drinking water while my friend and SOS enjoyed their alkies. Sadness!

I don't remember us ever going to an outlet day-after Christmas in the States. But then again that was 10 years ago, and there was no economic crisis. Today we went to Leesburg Premium Outlet and the discounts were insane! And by insane I mean, I've never seen things at these stores so cheap! I still haven't gone through the purchases to come up with the total amount spent on my items, but everything was already discounted and on top of that most of them had 50% off as well. Gee! So basically I bought like 25 dollar Fossil bag, 30 dollar Roxy jackets, 30 dollar Kenneth Cole shades, and many more. We headed out at like 9 am, had mcd's breakfast, shopped until 2 pm, had lunch, then continued shopping till 5 pm. I can say this is the first time I've ever spent a whole day shopping. And it wasn't as packed as I'd expected. There were some long lines, especially at PacSun and Coach, but it wasn't unbearably long.

I am now super pooped and all our purchases are still in their bags. We're all too tired to do anything but sit here in front of our computers. Poor mother still has to cook. :(

Ah, my French sucks, still.

But yes, I went to the dentist today and got the news that two of my wisdom teeth have grown out, but the other two are struggling and failing to completely grow out. They're only halfway out, and that's why I keep getting infections there. Sigh. Which means I will have to schedule a dentist appointment some time in the future to get them pulled. I don't want to (WAAAAAAH), so I'll probably end up putting it off some more. :P Can't do it here because no available time slots, and also it's way pricey. Should probably get it done in Belgium, but I don't want to suffer the pain and figure out what to eat at the same time (aka, I want my mommy). Heh! So ... Will see.

But yes, I hate the dentist!!! >.< Ouchie.

Sign for sale at the Christmas Market (hah!)

I feel like recently I've been half-assing the entries here. Random posts from Flickr, little blurbs about random things, etc. I feel kind of bad, although I don't have that many readers. But still, for my own sake I feel bad as this is supposed to be a place where I record memories and such for posterity's sake. Especially when my memory fails (as it is slowly doing nowadays).

So why this lackluster, half-heartedness when it comes to blogging? Well, it's not just blogging, I've realized. I haven't drawn anything in the past month. I actually did start a Christmas-oriented one the day before I left for D.C., but it's sitting in my moleskin unfinished and untouched currently.

For a while, it was because I felt like my slacking off during the semester was catching up to me, with all these assignments due before the start of break. In between panicking and actually doing the work, there wasn't any mental energy left to do anything besides watch CSI or catch up on Numb3rs. :P Terrible, I know, but got to find some way to let the stress out, no?

Then we (classmates and I) realized that there actually wasn't that much, especially with one of our papers' deadline pushed to final examination time (phew!). So instead I asked the girls if they wanted to go into Brussels to check out the Christmas Market (since I heard about it last time JC was here, but didn't get the chance to go). More bonding with the girls these past few weeks thanks to the presentation meetings and coffee breaks between classes.

After realizing that all my classes for the last week were canceled since materials were all covered, and there was no reason to meet, I decided to, quite last minute, find a flight and fly out earlier to D.C. Why not right? My last assignment due Friday is turned in via e-mail, so no worries there. Although since landing here last night, I've felt no motivation to do anything but play with the new macbook and ipod touch, so that's not good. :P

So now I'm here. The last two days in Leuven before flying here, I was trying to finish all my perishables which made for very weird meals. My last dinner consisted of salami and fried egg sandwich (which is a really weird combination. Note to self, don't do that again) plus leftover ramen soup with corn and mushrooms. Then I OD'd on oranges. I also didn't get a chance to do laundry, so I brought all my dirty clothes here. Wahahaha. Plus a lot of chocolates and some Belgian waffle biscuits. For the mom.

The flight here was long with many delays. Having woken up at 5:45 am to get to the airport by 7:30 am (thankfully I had a ride), I was exhausted throughout the flight even though I couldn't really sleep well (I hate flying. Hate it.). My period also decided to grace me with its presence halfway through the flight (perfect timing as usual). But, my luggage and I got here in one piece, so all is well. ^^ I also raided the supermarket that very night (pancake mix and chocolate chips, POM juice, cheetos, Pepperidge Farm chocolate chip cookies ...). I am ready to EAT.

My first full day in D.C. was spent at Montgomery Mall (now known as Westfield Mall, but will always be Montgomery Mall in my heart) at the Mac store. I thought I would have to check in my laptop for like seven plus days for them to fix it. But after sitting at the Genius Bar for a bit while the Genius attempted various ways to get my keys to work (unsuccessfully), he checked to see if they had the part in stock (which they did, PHEW!), and after an hour, my macbook pro had a brand new keyboard with the fan not making funky exploding noises. I also had a brand new Aeropostale jacket (it's FURRY!) and Body Shop Shower Gel. Exciting!

Fixed computer (it's a laptop once again!), new jacket, new iPod Touch, new Macbook (although not for me, but I have made it my own - all the setup/configuring/softwares are pretty much identical to my MBP, just on a better computer than mine *tear*). Then there's the parents (and sister and cousin soon), Maryland (it's kind of like coming home after all these years - trying to re-orient myself and remembering bits and pieces), vacation time (although still have to do hw/study). What a perfect holiday season. :)

Typing that last sentence makes me scared because whenever I type something about how I'm happy or things are going well, things tend to go south. But. It is what it is, and I shall not spoiled my content entry with pessimistic thoughts, so I just want to wish everyone (anyone?) reading this, Happy Holidays! And a Happy New Year. Hopefully 2009 will be a much better, healthful, and happier year. :D



Last thing - new Stanley Huang album that's out (We All Lay Down in the End) is pretty friggin fantastic. I've had it on repeat all day long. Now I need to get my some Tyrone Wells and the Wong Fu DVD Picker got me, and I'll be an even happier/contented poo. ^^

Currently typing this on my sister's new macbook. Well, my sister's not here yet, so I have a week of fun times with this computer before she comes. MUAHAHAHA. Also because my mbp will be in repair soon, I will just be using this computer nonstop. <3

It's so PRETTY. I thought I wouldn't like this black on silver, but it's actually okay. I guess it does grow on you. The keyboard takes a little getting used to since I've been using the old keyboard on my old old mbp. Also the track pad is huge! And it takes some getting used to as well because I used to rest my thumb on the clicky part, but now I can't do that. Ah well. This is so cool!!!!

Sigh. I want one. :P

:) I <3 Christmas Markets I've decided. I love how festive things are here around Christmas time. Definitely gives off a Christmas-y feel. I mean, they have markets where they sell spiced wine, warm beer, handmade crafts, food stuffs, Christmas decorations, etc. And then everywhere you go you see a decorated Christmas tree, maybe not with ornaments, but definitely with lights. All the stores and restaurants have Christmas decorations. It's just so festive. I swear, I overuse that word, but I can't think of a better one. It's awesome!

Ok, so the picture up there isn't a good representation of what a Christmas Market is, but there's always more pictures at flickr.com. :)

I love Christmas season in Belgium!

I like how some of my friends wonder if Leuven is a ghost town because in most of my pictures, there generally aren't any human beings in them.

It's not, a ghost town. Not really anyway. Just certain parts are devoid of people, especially during the weekends, which is normally when I go out and take pictures. I also tend to stay away from the people-populated areas, like the center where the shopping streets are. I always feel awkward shooting people or having people stare at me while I take pictures with my little point and shoot. I also tend to think people ruin the picture, especially if I'm taking scenic/architectural shots. Ah, might have to change my mentality a bit.

Maybe it's time for me to incorporate some humans into my pictures, so it doesn't seem like I live in an abandoned town. :P

Feeling guilty for lack updates for a while, so I shall massively update! Just kidding. But I thought I'd share these two Youtube artists that I've recently discovered who are both amazing. They both did covers for Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, and they're both good. Different feels though. Especially from the original version.


Sarm Hart


David Choi


Jason Mraz

Other videos to watch/listen:


David Choi - I Can Get Used to This (original)


Sam Hart - Atlantis (original)

Back in UCLA, after I moved out of the dorms, one of my staple foods was ham and cheese sandwich. Well, here in Leuven, my ham and cheese sandwich has got a definite upgrade. Their bread choices here are insane! So many, and they're all pretty damn good. Their ham selection is also intense. Not just ham, they have all these different kinds of salami (all are pretty tasty) and saucisson. Cheese. well, there's cheese all over the world, but their selection here is also enormous. When I first went to pick out cheese, I stood in front of the cheese section trying to figure out which one to try. Most I'd never heard of (probably because I don't know anything past cheddar and swiss cheese). So, I just grabbed a random one. The only issue I have with cheese is that it STINKS. My whole fridge currently smells of cheese, and it's a pretty nasty smell. Good thing it tastes way better than it smells.

So, currently I'm in love with these sandwiches. Easy to make, super tasty, and filling, especially with soup.

Yummy in my tummy.

(Pardon my picture of a half eaten sandwich. Was too excited chowing down :P)

I've been neglecting the blog, haven't I? Swore I'd update about Berlin, but I feel like I've told everyone who would possibly read my blog about it already that there's nothing to blog about. Well, I'll write anyway, just in case you're interested. :P

First, impressions of Berlin. It's huge! Maybe I'm just used to tight, packed cities, but Berlin was sprawling. I think that's a good word for it. It took a good amount of time to go to different areas, at least 30 to 40 minutes a trip were spent on the public transportation. Speaking of public transpo, there is a lot in Berlin. You have underground, overground, trains, trams, buses ... did I miss anything? And I thought Brussels had a lot already. Berlin is also COLD. I have to say, definitely colder than Belgium (specifically, Leuven and Brussels). It snowed the second day I was there, and we spent a decent amount of time outside during my time there. I was wearing four or five layers and still it was cold.

So what did we do?

First night I arrived, we went to a Christmas Market, which is an entirely new concept for me. Taiwanese people don't really put that much emphasis on Christmas, there was no such thing in the States (at least not where I was), and I don't ever remember hearing of it in the other countries I've lived in. So, JC took me, and it's awesome! So festive, so happy, so holiday-spirity. We had sausage with mustard and ketchup, SO GOOD. Then met up with JC's friends in a white tent. They had a little heating stove in the middle. After that we went and had some spiced wine. That was fantastic especially in the cold since it was a hot drink with alcohol. Definitely warmed my extremities up. After that, went our separate ways from his friends and since JC was still hungry, went to a Kebab place. So big, so much food, could not finish. Then we called it a night and I played with his iPod Touch (looooove it).




Did not get a good night's rest due to me being in a strange place. >.< I think I have problems with that. Sigh.

Woke up and headed to Bill's to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Well, they cooked, I just helped in some preparation. Honestly though, coffee and alcohol on an empty stomach is a bad idea. I was super jittery, I think mostly from the caffeine and had trouble focusing on anything and everything. Despite some stress outs during the cooking process, dinner turned out fantastic. Mashed potatoes, turkey, corn souffle, corn bread, sweet potato pie, spinach dip, and wine ... yum!!!! Now I really want to make some mashed potatoes. :P And if I had an oven, I'd make the corn souffle as well. The only potential problem with Thanksgiving dinner is the amount of butter and cream used. Man, too many meals like that will give you a coronary.



Anyway, after dinner, we went to a theater for a showing of Felix the Cat with live music accompaniment. It was actually pretty awesome. I've never seen shorts of Felix the Cat, mostly just see pictures of Felix the Cat. But the shorts were in black and white, pretty funny, and the music fit in pretty well with what was happening. Talented artists. Sigh. There was a reception afterwards with open bar. Chilled around for a little bit, and after some deliberation, we went to a gay Turkish club with a couple of JC's friends. It was an interesting experience. Nothing like Tiger Heat or Rage in LA. They played Turkish/Arabic music. Yup. :P


After that, it was late, we were all exhausted, so it was bed time.

Day three started late. People *ahem* were unable to get up until it was 1 pm. We rushed to eat all you can eat brunch that ended at 2 pm. Pretty yum. They have good bread there as well. :) Then we headed back to Bill's apartment to do some cleaning since we left all the dishes and such in the sink the night before. Oh! During brunch I asked JC if I was actually going to be able to see the sights in Berlin. So, after cleaning we headed out to do some night sightseeing. I wish I could remember all the places and buildings and locations, but right now my mind is drawing a blank. :P I just have pictures to prove that I was in Berlin. Also had my first Starbucks in a whiles (since my dad left Brussels, actually). It was fantastic. I don't know why I love Starbucks so much, but I do, and I'm still very sad they don't have any in Belgium (except at the airport, but who wants to go to the airport just to drink Starbucks?!). I also had a German dinner - we ate schnitzel! I got the mushroom cream schnitzel, and it was YUM! but so big that I couldn't finish it. They really don't skimp on their portions. After that, we all went back to our respective homes and just chilled around some more before bed.







Last day! Woke up somewhat early and headed to JC's language school for him to deal with some business. That didn't work out too well, so then we went to American Apparel. Yup, American Apparel in Berlin. Aieeeeeeee. And it's so much more expensive there than in the States (ripoff!). After buying some briefs for JC's friend, we went to Harrod's of Berlin (forgot the name), but yah, after milling around the lobby for a little bit, we left. I figured, after seeing Chanel, Dior, etc. that we couldn't afford anything there. There were also too many people in there just milling around as well. >.< Walked down the street to the memorial church. Inside, there are millions of square blue-hued stain glasses. It was so beautiful and magnificent and awesome. It gives a feeling of peace.




After that we went to an Apple Store (of course). I saw Guitar Hero for Mac there! I really want to get it. Hahahaha. It'd be so fun!!! I could neglect school work even more! Just kidding, of course. Then we went to Taiwanese restaurant to grab some beef noodles, pig ears, and dumplings. SO GOOD. Ahhhhhhhh. Seriously, any food not cooked by yourself tastes infinitely better. Sigh. Then we took a long train ride to the airport, and that concluded my Berlin trip.


As usual, more pictures are up on Flickr. :)

Had a lot of fun, will update, but for now, pictures are at Flickr ... :)

These definitely bring up some memories.


跳 Everbody 跳! TEEHEE. The clothes are fantastic as well.



Oh man. It's been so long. And listening to these songs again makes me wonder if I really liked these guys .... =.= HAHAHA

I went to the botanical garden to take pictures of the snow. I figured it'd be one of the few places that the snow/slush would be relatively undisturbed. I was right! :) So prettyful.

More pictures at Flickr.

It snowed for maybe 10 minutes with ominous looking clouds, and now all of the sudden it's sunny! with cloudy skies. Man, this weather is insane!

BUT IT SNOWED~!!!! And I was looking at the weather forecast for the rest of the week, not much snow, but some sleet. Although there's still chances for snow tomorrow. Snow! Snow! Snow! Exciting. But I hope it doesn't ever snow too much because I don't have the shoes for it. BUT SNOW!!!! (can you tell I'm excited? I am!)

Sun and snow! I think I will have to go out today. :D As long as it doesn't sleet or pour because it was pouring this morning before it turned to snow.

Ahh ... <3 snow!

Ok, so it's not really homemade because I didn't make the crepe skin (is that the right term?!) from scratch, bought it from the store. But! I did add some pork and mushrooms and cheese and eggs to it. SO GOOD. Although my crepe wouldn't close, and it kind of became a pancake with toppings, but hey, it tasted good! Then I did the old banana and nutella crepe with strawberry ice cream dessert thing. It was so good. You really can't go wrong with nutella and banana. Now if only strawberries were cheaper, but we'll stick with strawberry ice cream for now. Ahhhhh, I love crepes! Thank you Europe for having ready-made crepe skins. They also have batter/powder, but that's too much hassle. Mmmmm.

I was looking for pancake mix because I was craving chocolate chip pancakes, but I couldn't find any. So I might end up trying the crepe batter. Make it thicker and add in the chocolate chips. Wonder how that would taste.

I should've taken a picture, but I was too excited and just scarfed it down. They're also not very big because the skin is kind of small. Oh well. Yummy in my tummy.

Also! I got an external ISP, so not dependent on school's limited internet any longer. Wee! I am excited because I can watch youtube and stream tv shows without having to worry about limits. Oh my! It's fantastic. :) Although I heard there's potentially problems with Skype, so still have to try that out. But, I can always just revert back to school internet to do the webcam/internet telephone thing. I guess having options is good. :P

I've been accident prone and stupid lately. What with falling flat on my hands and knees on the stairs or hitting my head against the upper bunk or oversleeping class, but I think today's takes the cake. It's so stupid and ... stupid that I don't even know what/how to title the entry.

Basically I was enjoying my hot ramen for lunch because it's a cold day here in Leuven. Mmm, warm, steamy, hot soup. Good stuff, right? Until I decide to share it with my laptop. Yup! I spilled my soup all over my desk, in the electronics area. Basically my laptop. My Mac. My baby!!! Ahhhhhh, I think I nearly had a heart attack and proceeded to have an emotional rollercoaster ride for the rest of the afternoon.

So as soon as it happened, I turned off the computer, unplugged everything and started wiping and cleaning. It was a mess because it was all over one side of the table, had to wipe my speakers, save my white printer paper, etc. and it was on the floor as well. I didn't realize it was on the floor, so I was tracking it everywhere in the room with my slippers. Well, long story short, it was a lot of cleaning and cursing and thinking, what the hell was I doing?! Even now when I try to think back to what happened, I can't remember how it happened. It didn't fall out of my hand or anything, it just tipped and spilled. But how did it tip? Why did it tip? I have no recollection. Sigh.

Anyway, so after that I called my sister to try and figure out what to do with the laptop because I had no one else to call (sigh). So after hearing that I should either air dry it or take it to an Apple service center, I decided to take it to a center just in case they had better advice. There's an Apple Reseller downtown near the train station, so I walk out in the cold (AND RAIN) to wait for the bus. I get to the Reseller, and the salesman tells me I have to take it to their service center, which is a 15 minute walk away. 15 min. Ok, not so bad, so I take his directions and head out into an area I have never been before. It was also where the Stella Artois and assorted other manufacturing companies were located. They even had a port-ish area with a canal and boats! I have to admit, I was a little sketched out and scared because it was kind of desserted and didn't look so ... um ... friendly and clean and happy like the rest of Leuven.

After wandering around a bit in the area (because salesman just told me how to get to the area, but not where the shop is actually located), IN THE RAIN, I finally find the service center. Turns out what they advise is pretty much the same thing, use a blow dryer to dry it for 30 minutes and hope it turns on. If it doesn't, then I take it back to them, pay 70 Euros for an inspection fee, and wait 5 to 7 days. Definitely not the alternative I wanted - expensive and long and no guarantee on how much more it'll cost to fix it (what if I had to replace the logic board?! AHHHHH). So, I trek back home and proceed to blow dry my laptop.

And pray pray pray that it would turn on. After 30 minutes of drying, I plug in my battery, cross my fingers, and hit the power button. Wow, hearing that startup chime has never been sweeter. Seeing the password screen has never made me happier. Then I tried to type my password. Nothing. Nothing came out. Well, technically not true. One or two keys actually worked, but everything else was dead. !@#$@#$!#$%! Ok, I told myself not to panic. It turns on, right? Just the keyboard's not working. I can go and get an external USB keyboard, plug it in, and all will be well (for now), right? So, I head out to my local computer store (which is pretty close by, thank God) and get the cheapest USB keyboard I can find. I come home, plug it in, turn on the computer, and type my password. IT WORKS! Yessssssss.

Then I realized I needed to plug in my ac adapter because I was using my crappy battery. *Plug* Why isn't the light coming on? WHY ISN'T THERE AN ORANGE LIGHT?! I unplug, replug, clean the plug area, plug, nothing. I couldn't believe it. By this point I was so frustrated at the computer, angry at myself, and all this negative shit, that I just couldn't take it anymore. It's like up and down, up and down, up and down, all in the matter of 2 hours. The soul cannot take it, at least not mine. So I call my sister and BAWL like no tomorrow because I'm just so mad and angry and UGH, and suddenly, mid-bawling, the light comes on. AHHHHHHH!!! I stare at it for a few seconds unsure if it was a fluke or me hallucinating or it really came on. And after it stayed on for a few minutes, I proceeded to bawl with relief.

Sigh. So right now basically all is well *crosses fingers* except the keyboard. And since it's my fault, it won't be covered under warranty. Since for now I can get by with an external keyboard, I think I may wait till I get to the States and hope it's cheaper there to get it fixed. But yah, that was my stupidity for the year, I hope. I am keeping liquid away from my computer from now on. Ahhhhhhh. SO STUPID. Why am I so CLUMSY?!

And of course this has to happen in a totally foreign country where I don't have the computer store and employees to help me out. Sigh. Just my luck. Woo.

Being sick always puts a damper on my study plans (heh heh heh). So, I actually have a bit of work I need to get done, but right now, I just want to cough up a lung. In order to pretend I'm doing something productive, I'll list down the things I need to get done and maybe this will spur me to do some actual work.

[x] Research for group presentation (meeting Mon.)
[ ] Read Ethics/questions/theses (Fri.)
[ ] Sexology Seminar paper (due ?)
[ ] Heath Prevention readings (Dec. 8)
[ ] Sexology Presentation (Dec. 10)
[ ] Biological Reproductions Questions (Dec. 15)

First two most important. Actually should have started on Ethics reading this weekend, but this cold it crazy! Worse than the last two considering how the tears and snot don't stop dripping out (ewwww, GROSS!!!).

Also need to grocery shop. Running low on stuff. Sigh.

And buy train tickets to Germany. I don't understand why I can't buy it online. GRRR.

Did I mention how much I hate being sick? MMHMMM. Sigh.

Yeeeeep, I have caught meself another cold. That's the third one in the three months I've been here. Averaging one a month so far, not a good sign. I don't even know why I got sick this time. It's not like I haven't been dressing warmly and none of my classmates have a cold. Oh wait. Except one. Ah .... mystery solved. Oh this sucks. CURSES.

But yah, this time around it's worse because I have stuffy and runny nose (that seems like an oxymoron until you realize one nostril is being runny and the other one stuffy. Ironic!) and sore throat and headaches once in a while. Blah.

I don't want to be sick. I don't like being sick especially when there's work to be done. My brain's all muddled and not wanting to do any hard thinking but will be forced to tomorrow. Sigh.

Woe. :( This is one sucky year. Need it to end .... like now. Sigh.

Oh my, blogger update as become sporadic! Mainly because I don't have anything interesting to say currently. Seems like school work is catching up and biting me in the butt! Well, not yet, but I'm starting to feel the same old sensation of deadlines approaching (not quickly just yet, but approaching nonetheless). How is it that in a little over a month it will be winter break and I'll be heading to D.C.? Where ... did the time go?!

I can't believe I've been in Belgium for ... three months only. What. Why did I feel like it's been way longer than that? Time is messing with me. Passing so fast, yet passing so slowly. I'm confused.

Speaking of time! Yup! I totally missed my class this morning due to oversleeping and bad alarm clock setting. Basically I set my alarm for 7:45 pm rather than am ... and since it was a morning class, and I've been having problems falling asleep, my body clock did not wake me until 12, which is an hour after class has already ended. I woke up, thought to myself, "my I feel good for five hours of sleep." *Looks at cell phone* OH SH!T. Aih. So stupid. So I frantically called my colleagues because we were supposed to stay after to talk about a presentation for another class. Thankfully they were still photocopying readings for next class, so I was saved to go and meet with them. Also thankfully they are super nice people and photocopied my readings too and didn't make fun of me too much for oversleeping. Although I was all over the place because I was still in shock at my stupidity ... aih. Anyway, so yah, that was my adventure for the morning, week, weekend, ever (I hope). Never again!!!!!!!

I don't know why I'm having problems falling asleep. It's not like I'm stressed or have much on my mind. I just end up tossing and turning though, no matter how early or late I go sleep. Ugh. This sucks. Any remedies for insomnia?!

[EDIT] It's 5:30 am and I'm awaaaaake. Talk about ridiculous. There's also a mosquito flying around and it bit me! three times!!!! AND IT WON'T STOP BUZZING IN MY EAR. ahhhh. and I can't find it!!!!!! and I can't cover my head with the comforter because it's hoooooot. sigh. Woe. But yah, why can't I sleeeeeeep? :(

Prettiness at the Botanical Garden. More pictures at Flickr. :D

Did some more decorating and rearranging around the room. Went out and bought some of those really flimsy but pretty clips (as you can see in the above pictures\). Got the idea to decorate one of the less used cubbies with ribbon and pictures. =) Maybe I'll do that with two other cubbies as well, but still debating because not sure if I have enough ribbons.

I love doing these little decorating/artsy things! They're so fun and kills a lot of time.

Don't want to just list and complain about all the bad things. Have to balance it out! So ... here goes.

- I get to run around naked without worrying someone will see me (as long as I keep the curtains closed). WAHAHAHA. Not that I do. Just that sometimes I'll forget something after I've de-robed for showering, and I can come back out and grab it. It's actually quite a free-ing feeling.

- Music can be blast as loud as I want! When my mom was staying with me, she'd always complain that my music was too loud and noisy and giving her a headache, when it really wasn't that loud! or noisy! Aish. But now I get to just play it at whatever volume, especially during the weekends because no one else is here. All the Belgians have gone home, and there aren't that many people around.

- I can be a slob and no one will know! Unless I blog about it. Hah! or if my classmate comes over suddenly. The other day due to some mix ups about class, we had an hour to kill before the prof showed up. We didn't realize this at the time because we hadn't checked our emails, so ended up coming back to my place since it was the closest. Thankfully we did that or we would've missed that class, but that's another story. Anyway, I felt so bad when she walked in because my room was kind of a mess, and I hadn't had time to do dishes before I had to go to class. Sigh. I was so flustered. But yah, I can be a total slob until I gross myself out.

Hmmm, that's all I can think of for now. :D

On another note, I found the public library today, and they have English novels! and movies! and CDs! Of course the selection is kind of small, but hey, better than nothing. And the membership fee is pretty cheap, 2.5 Euro, and I just have to pay .50 cents per cd or dvd. So, I'll have more to read after I finish all the books I brought/bought. Yay!

Another crappy thing about living alone is you have to take care of your own bugs. :( I just had a pretty big insect (picture above) crawl up my lamp ... I sat there for a good three minutes before taking a picture while complaining and screaming at a friend via IM. Then finally went in search of a little plastic container to trap it in so I can release it later. But first I had to stand there for another good five minutes panicking and sweating and shaking. After it took like five circles around the lamp it finally decided to head back down. And that's how I caught it and shut the lid and dropped it outside on the balcony and prayed it wouldn't land on me and just hope no other bug would fly in through the open window. And it sucked. AHHHHHH. I hate bugs I hate insects I hate these .... THINGS!!! They look so gross ... antenna's all moving around and tiny little legs and .... eeeeek. I still get all shakey when I think about it. >.< Sigh. Someone save me from this phobia.

But Prop 8 passes ... sigh.

Although not sure if Obama's good for Taiwan, but then again, our own gov't isn't so good for Taiwan either. And if our own gov't ain't so good, then does it matter whether the new president of the U.S. is good for Taiwan?

Speaking of Taiwan, there are pictures [Billy Pan @ Wretch] that illustrate the police response I blogged about yesterday. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? And I still can't put down my thoughts and feelings clearly, so these pictures will have to do for now.

But Obama won! And is it wrong that I teared up when I saw those pictures all over the net of people crying, hugging, cheering when Obama won and during his victory speech? There's so much hope for change! People are so excited about their new president!

Now if only Taiwan had something to hope for and be excited about as well.

It's been a while since I posted about Taiwanese politics, mostly because I'm further removed from it now. I get my news from Taipei Times and assorted English bloggers. Normally I just read the articles, but the anger and disbelief that I experienced back in Taiwan isn't there anymore.

However, not this time. On the eve of the U.S. Democratic Presidential Election, a huge event that everyone has their eyes on where the citizens of the U.S. pick their next leader, another democratic country is going through something it shouldn't ever have or need to. A high level Chinese official, Chen Yunlin is visiting Taiwan, and any sort of protest or any form of patriotic (Taiwanese) display has become forbidden. That is ridiculous. We are a democracy; we have freedom of speech and the right to express our opinions. But it seems like these rights have been disregarded and tossed away because of the need for "safety" of this Chinese official and the fear of pissing China off.

I may not be physically in Taiwan, hearing and seeing these things, but all the way here in Belgium, while reading the news articles about how Taiwanese people are being treated by the police for holding on to a Taiwanese or even Tibetan flag, I am in disbelief. And angry. This is not what Taiwanese people had in mind when they chose Mr. Ma for our leader.

Preventing harm from coming to the Chinese official is one thing, but when people who are expressing their pride in being Taiwanese and their opinion on the state of Taiwan (peacefully) are detained or forcibly removed from a location is a totally different thing. When did freedom of speech, either through speech itself or a visual display become something that can get someone arrested? My sister was so angry when she heard that she said she wanted to carry a flag in one of those locations where the Chinese official will be and see what would happen. When I heard that, I had the fear that she would get arrested or even harmed. I shouldn't have had this reaction because all she would be doing is holding on to a Taiwanese flag. There's nothing remotely threatening about that. She wasn't going to go throw eggs or do anything that would harm the official. This irrational fear is no longer irrational because it is occurring, right now in Taipei, the capital of a democratic country.

I can't stress enough how sad and wrong this is. When Mr. Ma was elected president, I was told that this is just a part of the democratic process - parties will win and lose. That is true, look at the U.S. - Republicans and Democrats have both been in the presidential office throughout its history. However, they never had to worry about one party selling them out to another country. The people of Taiwan didn't vote for Mr. Ma to reunify with China; he even said in his own campaign that it wouldn't happen during his term. Well, maybe in name it's not happening, but it certainly feels like he has a higher regard for China than for the people of his own country, the people who put him where he is now.

I didn't live in the martial law era, same with my peers. But from what I've read, many people who had lived during that time see a resemblance of what's happening right now in Taipei to how it was back then. And that is a scary thought. It might be only a temporary occurrence for now because of the Chinese official, but when it has happened once, it's that much easier for it to happen again.

More readings of what's happening:
- Measures Recall the Martial Law Era [Taipei Times]; detailed article of the protests and arrests that have occurred on Day 1 of Chen Yunlin's visit.
- Editorial: Fear and Loathing in Taipei [Taipei Times]
- ARATS Visit Roundup [Michael Turton]
- Martial Law Type Incident [A-Gu]
- Security Detail [The Foreigner in Formosa]; how many police officers will be protecting the official.

At around 5, my room was getting darker and darker because I hadn't turned on the light (lazy), and I realized there was a pinkish glow coming in. I look outside, and the color was absolutely gorgeous. So of course I took pictures. I didn't enhance or anything, that's just how the color really was. So so so beauuuutiful.

On another note, I am cold. I turned on the heater, but heat doesn't dissipate very well, it just stays localized to where the heater is. Ugh. I have half the mind to just sit right next to heater, except the floor is cold. I think I need to switch places with the printer. So the picture below is what I look like, in my own apartment (yup, hoodie and scarf). Sigh. And they say this is just the beginning of winter (*tears*). I just might turn into a popsicle.

I love it when random pictures I take without thinking come out well. Sometimes I'll overthink a shot. Sometimes I'll go with an instinct and just take the shot. Guess which one turns out better?

I wonder if that means I have no skills in photography. Sadness. But it's so fun! Now I really wish I'd paid attention in photography class (exposure? whatever whatever? random terms?) back at NEHS instead of skipping class or not paying attention to the poor student from Jiao Da or Ching Da trying to teach short-attention-spanned high school students. Hah! Regrets regrets.

But it's ok. Not like I have to waste money to develop photos anymore, so I can just take as much as I want and practice! Maybe one of these days I'll have enough money to get a DSLR, then I get to practice all over again.

Who wants to come and have a photo session in Europe with me? Let's go!

Although I've realized that I can't really concentrate on taking photos when I'm with other people. Alone and at my own pace is the best way to take pictures, but y'all are still welcome to join me. :)

I have little fruit flies flying around my kitchen area. I don't know if they're fruit flies actually, but they lookit. I don't know where they're coming from either! >.< I think it's the sink, so I've blocked off all possible entrances, but there are still some flying around. Ugh! It might be my trash, but the trash isn't close to the sink, so I don't know. I was going to take the trash out anyway, but! the light outside is broken or something, so it's super dark and I can't see where the dumpster is. Ugh! So I ended up just putting my trash out on the balcony. I hope hope hope there isn't a sudden rainstorm tonight *crosses fingers*. That would suck. Sigh.

It's also cold out. I nearly froze to death outside. Maybe that's because I only wore a sweatshirt. Heehee. But it felt nice. After being in my room all day long, a little fresh air is good.

Anyway, I hate bugs. HATE HATE HATE. Sigh.

Not sure how many of you actually visit Wretch.cc, but on their main page there's always a bunch of either "hot" looking girls or guys. I put hot in quotation marks because, well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Anyway, they all look the same! Well, girls look the same, guys look the same, not girls and guys look the same. I mean, it's the same hairstyle, same make up (on the girls), same webcam/digicam positioning, same trying to look cute expression. So much for individuality. I mean, nothing against conformists, I am one, afterall, but how does the Wretch staff go about picking which ones will make their main page? And how do girls (or guys) judge if a guy (or girl) is hot or not if they all look pretty much the same?

Also, how many guys do you know who like to take pages and pages of pictures of himself? Same with girls. Hmmm, I think I can count on one hand the number of people I know who love taking pictures of the self and posting them online.

Sigh. It's just so random, but I guess everyone has their own interests. :P


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Now playing: 黃立行 - 妳身邊
via FoxyTunes

- I stumbled upon this blog Margaret and Helen written by this 82 year old grandma, Helen. Margaret is her friend of sixty years (60 years!! Geez, that's a long time). Anyway, her entries are really, really entertaining. I've only read the ones related to the presidential election. Some bits from the blog:

It must be hard to be both pro-war and pro-life at the same time and still look so perky that early in the morning. It’s as if she [Elizabeth Hasselbeck] doesn’t lose a wink of sleep over it. What a brave little soldier she is.

I started out in this election supporting Hillary Clinton because I believed our country needed a women’s point of view in the Oval Office. I truly believe that women approach education, war, healthcare, the environment, poverty, etc. differently. Of course then I met Sarah Palin and realized that some women are just bitches who only want to change their wardrobe and your religious freedoms.

Sarah Palin had the choice to talk to her daughter about sex. Her daughter had the choice to listen or not listen. Her daughter had the choice to have sex or not have sex. And once she was pregnant she had the choice to keep the baby, put it up for adoption or terminate the pregnancy. And as much as it scares me that the Palin clan is producing a whole new generation of women like my old friend Sally, the fact is they have a choice. All I ask is that women respect the right of other women to make their own choice because I remember what it was like when we didn’t have a choice.

[edit] Although if what this guy says is true, then *sadness*. Oh well, the entries are still funny and interesting and makes for good reading. So, still check it out![/edit]

- I started a Tumblr account. Yes, I know, I leave too many footprints on the internet. What can I say, I'm fickle? I like new things? I like using different sites? Well, each site serves different purposes, I guess. This one's for thoughts and long meaningful (pshhhhh) entries, Tumblr's for short thoughts and all the interesting things I find online, and Lines n Curves is for art. Although I kind of want to start a Wordpress account. Hah! I kid, I kid (maybe).

Anyway, on tumblr, I've stumbled upon some pretty pretty pictures and quotes and thoughts and stuff. So, I like it. And they're all short! So it's perfect when I'm not in the mood to read too many words (lazy mah). Heh.

- The U.S. elections is coming up. It's an exciting, nerve wracking, anxiety-laden next few days. Who's going to win? What direction is the U.S. going to head in for the next four years? Even though I don't get to vote or anything, it's still interesting to follow. After the debacle of the Taiwanese election, I hope my hopes won't be dashed again this time around.

- Speaking of Taiwanese politics ... eh. Nevermind. Don't want to think about it.

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Now playing: Garbage - As Heaven is Wide
via FoxyTunes

I've realized that living alone can be a terrible thing, not because I have to fend for myself. Rather, it's the side effects of living alone that can be bad bad bad.

For example, I've had to work very hard to not become a total slob. Like leaving the dishes to be done tomorrow (or the day after ... or the day ... after ...). Or throwing clothes randomly around the room. Or just keeping my work area organized and clean. Ah, I think I'm failing on keeping my work area clean. It's kind of messy right now.

Also! When you don't have to go out (for class or whatever) and meet people, it's also harder to convince yourself to shower. Hahahahahahaha. Ah gawd. This is not good.

It's also harder to actually go out when you don't have class. Yesterday I had to force myself to leave the room and go for a walk. Wandered over to the next town (not THAT far) and have discovered more places I'd like to explore with my camera. You know, even in town, you can find little plots of farmland (like next to my apartment). And this place is just so scenic that it makes you want to take pictures. Went wandering around the medical center today. There's a forest-y area next to it. Didn't get to explore as much as I wanted to because it was kind of muddy and I was wearing my white Converse - bad idea. Also it was quite cold, and my fingers were freezing and so was my camera. But got a couple of good pictures (like the one above).

So. Living alone. Never again. Must always have roommates to keep me on my toes and not turn into a total slob. :P

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Now playing: 陶喆 David Tao - Finally
via FoxyTunes

When pigs fly - sooner than we expect.

Taking a course on … well, ethics of sexuality. Sexual ethics. Find it interesting - who’s the judge what’s right or wrong or what’s considered a good conduct when it comes to sexuality. Some things that may be considered “wrong” in one society or culture may not be in another. Some things that are frowned upon by one social class may be prevalent in another due to necessity.

There’s such a wide range of sexual behavior along with different experiences, and it seems kind of ridiculous to apply a set ethical standard to it.

Not to mention, which set ethical standard are we talking about? The one from a Chinese person’s point of view? or from a Westerner’s point of view? or from a woman’s point of view? or from a man’s?

Margaret Farley, the author of the book, Just Love, that we're reading from argues,

"Whatever our intellectual theories about sex and morality, moral questions do emerge a the heart of our sexual lives. Hence, skeptical or not, efforts to develop or at least refine a sexual ethic are inevitable."

I guess I can follow that. We all judge one another (inevitable), and for some people, having a set guideline to follow would make their lives easier. But that just brings me back to the question of who decides on these set ethical standards of sexuality?

Well, it's just the start of the book. Will find out more as I continue reading, I guess.

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Now playing: Nine Inch Nails - physical
via FoxyTunes

Finally I've gotten around to cleaning up my room and taking pictures. Was supposed to be studying, oops. :P


The bunk area - originally the top's supposed to be the bed and the bottom a sofa. But I'm getting old and disliking having to climb up and down when I go to bed or have to pee in the middle of the night. Hah. So I switched it around. Bed on bottom, sofa (kind of) on top. There's a shelf up there, so I can't put the back up, so it's just wasted space for now. But! It's bed for those of you who want to visit me *hint hint nudge nudge*! The white thing next to the bed is a freezer where all the yum food my mom cooked me is stored.

Kitchen area. Kind of small and messy, but, don't know how to make it not so messy. It's as organized as it will get!

Window. Or door rather. My room faces the west, so in the afternoon, the sun shines in. When there's sun anyway. But it's nice, I can get a nice tan just sitting at my desk. Hah! But the only bad thing is I have to hide all the food and medicine, so they don't get shine on and melt or something. Sigh.

Desk area! My little cubbie holes. I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with how I've organized things (it's already been re-organized twice), but it'll do for now. Seems so messy still. I have too much random junk. Argh!

The bathroom. Sigh. The worst part of my studio. Haha. The rant from before hasn't occurred again, thankfully. But the sink is leaky. AHHH!! And yes, I told the landlord who said that a lot of people are having this problem, so it might take some time for them to come around and fix mine. =.= Sigh. One of my main priorities when looking for a studio was the bathroom too. Blah. I hate bathrooms.

View from my room - the left hand side. =)

View from my room. The people to the right have little gardens. So cute. =P

So! That's my room. We'll see how long it stays this organized/clean. :)

Woo! I am EXCITED to be going back to D.C. this winter break.

Why? why? why?

BECAUSE! It's like going back in time, you know? I haven't been back for ... a couple of years. More than 5. It was some time during high school, when my sister had just transferred back to Taiwan. My gosh. Geez, where does time fly? It'll be interesting re-visiting the old places - Beverly Farms, Herbert Hoover, Montgomery Mall, etc. I wonder if I'll still remember it all. I wonder if things have changed, much. I wonder, I wonder.

Sometimes it's better to leave places in your memories alone because things might have changed, and not necessarily for the better. Better to have your "idealized" memory of the place, I guess. But I don't think it makes that much difference because I actually don't remember that much from our four and a half years in the States. Just little bits and pieces.

Anyway, also because I get to finally eat Pho, Chipotle, Pinkberry (?) after a year and a half of going cold turkey. Yay yay yay. And also Starbucks. I know, I know ... Starbucks?! I can't help it. I really like their caramel macchiato, though. And I don't have an espresso machine or anything here that I can make my own with. And I have yet to see one in any of the restaurants I've been to here. Boo. :( I guess I could always take the train to the airport where the only existing Starbucks in Belgium is located, but that seems kind of a hassle and not worth the train ticket. Haha. :P

But yes. MARYLAND!!!! I am excited. Can you tell? But. I am not looking forward to the airplane trip out. =( Especially during Christmas season. Bah.


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Now playing: 范逸臣 - 讓我靜一靜
via FoxyTunes

In Gent, this little tunnel was totally covered in graffiti of all sorts of colors. I wanted to go through because on the other side there was even more graffiti, but we were with other people, and I didn't want to hold up the group, so I refrained. Sigh.

Don't think I'll be able to find that tunnel again. But it was awesome!

I suck at keeping a constant posting. :P

Why's it so hard? Probably because I have to think of something to post about.

My mom's leaving tomorrow. AHHHHH. I will, as someone put it, finally be alone. Sigh. I will have to fend for myself! Oh my!

As nonchalant and flippant as I try to sound, there are still many, many worries.

Didja know this is the first time I've EVER lived alone? I've shared a room with someone for the past five years. I've lived with at least one other person for the past 23 years. Sigh. So this will be the first time living alone in an apartment/studio in a foreign country (still so many firsts even now!). AHHHHH. I'm pretty sure I'm going to freak myself out with my overactive imagination. I just hope the phase will pass, QUICKLY, and I'll be able to ... uh, get settled and not think scary thoughts at night. >.< I'm such a wimp. UGH.

I think my cold is going away faster this time around. Thanks to all aspirin + vitamin C drink thing my mom's friend suggested. Yay!

Also, lugging huge ass comforter to and from the laundromat is NOT fun, especially in the rain. I don't see myself washing my comforters that often. Ewwwww. Thank goodness for febreeze. HEEHEE.

Ok, I'll stop now before I gross anyone out.

Yup. It's official. I have another cold. The other day when writing about the fantastic-ness that is European weather, I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm surprised I'm not sick again." Spoke to see too soon, once again. I need to stop doing that! Argh.

So this cold is kind of kicking my butt. Energy-less, sore and achey all over, brain dead along with the usual sore throat, coffee coughing, and runny nose. Sigh. Cold number two since arriving in Belgium. It's funky because I hadn't had a cold for a while, and now it's suddenly here with a vengeance. Sigh.

Waaaaaah. This suckeths. And I have no Nyquil to help me sleep at night. Sigh.

The slash outs are what I had typed before I realized what I'd typed. The mind and the hands are not coordinating. Sigh.

Me go drink warm water and try to sleep. Sigh.

I need to stop sighing. Sigh.

Working my way, slowly, through the webcomic Sinfest. Currently on 2002, still got six years to go, WOO WOO!!! Talk about time waster. :)


With winter fast approaching and the horror stories I've heard associated with it (mainly, cold, wet, and dark), this is totally going to be me.

A little peek...

And the full view.

This is sort of a guide to getting a resident's ID here in Leuven, if any of you fine readers should ever feel like applying for school here or doing an exchange program. To travel around the Schengen States, you will need this ID; just having the student visa is not enough (good for Luxembourg and The Netherlands, though). I went into this not knowing what to expect. I thought one or two visits to the Foreigner's Office would lead to an ID card. Ehhhhh. Wrong. So, here's the process, so you don't go into this blindly, like I did.

Report to the foreigner's office as soon as possible after you arrive, preferably have a place of abode available already. Grab a ticket (ticket for foreigners), which is currently on the right hand side of the flat screen TV (not sure if that will change later on). Your number corresponds to the screen showing which number is being called upon on the right hand side of the room. Take a seat for this should take a couple of hours, depending on the number of people ahead of you and the counters that are actually open (usually 2 out of the 4). Bring something to read or play or something! A definite must. It took me about 3 hours of waiting time. I was actually the last person. In this visit, they basically set up a file for you in a pink folder! Bring them your housing contract and also your passport, of course, and they will give you a yellow form, in return, of which you must complete prior to your next visit to the Foreigner's Office. When will that be? After the police visit your place of abode, or you get summoned to the police station.

After the police's visit, you await a yellow invitation card. This card allows you to not have to wait three hours because it tells you exactly when you can go (specific time people! If you can't make it, you have to call them and reschedule)! Yay! Once you get the invite, head back to the Foreigner's Office and go straight to desk three or four. Show them your yellow card and voila, you should be done in ten minutes or less. Give them your completed yellow form, a proof of registration at KU Leuven (should have gotten it when you registered for classes), and two (or three, forget) passport sized photos. Then they will tell you that you will receive another invitation in ten days (or a little bit longer) when you can come back to the Foreigner's Office and apply for a electronic residence card.

Wait ten days (or a little bit longer), and you get a letter telling you what to bring (two passport photos, passport, and 12.50 Euro) and when counter six (express counter!) is open. Go at the best available time for you, but I suggest early in the morning, so you do not have to wait an hour because trust me, there will be other people there either picking up their IDs already or applying for their IDs. The letter says you do not need a number, but they've changed the system, and you actually do. So! Grab a number from the person at desk 1 or 2. Do NOT mess with or touch their stuff. They get touchy about it and lecture you loud enough for the rest of the hall to hear (no, not me. Someone else.). Wait your turn. When it is your turn, give them the required items. Watch them do their thing. Then, they will tell you to wait 3 weeks when you will get another invite back to the Foreigner's Office to pick up your ID card. Take your leave and wonder,

WHY? WHY DOES IT TAKE SO FREAKING LONG AND REQUIRE SO MANY TRIPS TO THE FREAKING CITY HALL TO GET AN ID?!

And that is my experience thus far. Now I must wait for the last invitation, and I will complete this long and arduous procedure and entry (hopefully!).

Not to offend anyone, but man, people like to smoke here. I hate it, especially when we're walking behind someone, and he (because they're mostly guys) suddenly exhales. Then we get a face full of smoke. Gah. At least have some consideration and don't smoke while you walk! It's not just when he exhales, but also just walking and having a cigarette in his hands causes the smoke to come towards people behind him. Wish they'd be more considerate of people who haven't built up some tolerance to cigarette smoke and is semi-allergic to cigarette smoke.

I shouldn't be sexist. There are also plenty of girls who smoke here. So different from LA where there actually weren't that many smokers. Blech. Everywhere you go here, you inhale smoke. Sigh. I'll probably have inhaled more second hand smoke here by the time I leave than all my four years at UCLA. Hope it doesn't have any effect on my health. :(

I don't understand this need to smoke. I mean, aesthetically, it's not pleasing. Yellow teeth? Yellow fingernails? Mmm, sexay! Also, it stinks! Not just the smoke itself, but also the person is drenched in that smell, especially his or her breath. I hate sitting in the vicinity of a smoker because, frankly, s/he stinks! Sigh. And then there's the health side. People are striving for a healthier lifestyle nowadays, yet they smoke? Hmmm. It doesn't work that way. Cancer of many types are caused by cigarettes, so why smoke? 就是不懂。

Ok. End rant.

There's an old-school coffee making machine here called Belgium Coffee Maker (aka Vacuum Coffe Maker), which used to be made in Belgium but has now been outsourced to Portugal. But it's so cool. It's kind of hard to explain how it works, but basically on the glass container side you put the coffee grounds in and pour water in the metallic container side. The water side is a vacuum and is heated by the little candle on the bottom. So when the water heats up, it goes to the coffee ground side and then the coffee that's made goes back to the water side. Then you pour out the coffee via the spigot (so cute).

Okay ... that was confusing, huh? And I'm not sure how it actually does all that (like the mechanisms and whatnot), but it's super pretty (:D) and super cool. I wish we had one, but it costs like 300 Euros or more, and they're no longer sold as widely because everyone likes to use those Espresso Machines now.


Better than my lousy attempt at describing how it works ... Ha! Just turn off the sound because the music is .. eh ... and the demonstration starts around 0:25. So coo!

What? I didn't do anything.

Imagine having a huge, powerful German Shepard come straight behind you and, um, attempt to hump you from behind in front of a dozen moms. YAH. That's really all I have to say about that, besides, AWKWARD (turtle).

But I's so cute.

Anger's a bit extreme. I'm not angry. Just ... puzzled. I think that's a better word; REALLY REALLY puzzled.

I was going to leave my rant about my bathroom for the room picture entry, which will happen after my mom leaves. But! It cannot wait! I seriously cannot understand the person who designed the bathroom here.

Ok. You know how in Taiwan there are lots of bathrooms where there's no tub or shower stall, but it's just an open bathroom with a shower head (and the other necessary equipment for a bathroom)? Like the one at the apartment I stayed at this past year in Taiwan (for those of you who have visited). So it's just a floor with a drain in the middle somewhere (with a very, very slight slant of the floor towards the drain). To prevent water from escaping the bathroom into the outside area, though, the designers built a ledge where the door is, so the door is a tad higher, but it effectively prevents water from escaping. Basically, unless the water level is over an inch high, there's no way the area outside the bathroom will flood.

So my bathroom here is kind of like that. There's curtains, but curtains do jack to prevent your floor from getting wet. It just prevents the sink and toilet from getting wet, but not really because steam is going to get them semi-wet anyway. I don't really care if everything else gets wet in the bathroom because I'm used to it (thanks to Taiwan), but, there's two big differences between my bathroom here and the one back in Taiwan. One, there's no ledge. No ledge you say! Doesn't the water flow out into the room then? Why yes, yes it does. Not as much as you'd think because the floor has a bigger slant (than the one in Taiwan) inwards towards the drain. Smart, but not really because the slope is not steep enough. Two, the even stupider part, they put the showerhead right next to the door. So! The shower curtain covers two sides, the wall with the shower head covers the third side, and the bathroom door with a crack underneath covers the fourth side. Which means, inevitably, water will escape into the room.

When we asked the landlord, he said it's ok! The bathroom is designed so that not A LOT (just a little bit) of water will escape into the room unless the drainage pipe is clogged.

Hah! I had a near-flood tonight. It wasn't really a flood, but a decent amount of water came out (not just a little bit). The worst part is that I have a freezer right next to the bathroom, so the runaway water nearly got into the electrical part of it. Thankfully I caught it before it had the opportunity to kill my freezer, but I'm just so confused as to why they designed the bathroom this way. Why didn't they just make a ledge at the door? Why is there a crack under the door that allows water out? Why did they put the shower head RIGHT NEXT TO THE DOOR?! It makes no sense. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

But I can't really complain because technically, the shower/drainage in that bathroom is made for one person, and we have two people showering in there right now. After the first person showered, it was all ok, but during the second person showering, the near-flooding happened. Sigh. But the drain is not clogged because there's no flooding in the bathroom, and we clean the drain everyday. So I'm also puzzled as to why this didn't happen before but is happening now.

Argh. It's just frustrating because I HATE HAVING WET FLOORS - one of my pet peeves. Not to mention I used up a roll of paper towels wiping up the escaped water. Sigh. If only they built a damn ledge instead of thinking that slanting the floor inwards towards the drain would do the trick.

I've forgotten how ADD European weather is.

This morning I wake up (at 730, sigh) and it's pretty cold and drizzly. Then, we go to Brussels, and it's cloudy with some blue skies and sun shining through, so it's relatively warm. Then, it starts pouring like no tomorrow with the sun shining in the distance (wtf?!). Then, we get back to Leuven, and stepping out of the train station my mom says, "well, the weather here is pretty good - look, the floor is dry!" And we see some blue skies in the distance. Then, two seconds later it starts raining. =.= THEN! We're five minutes away from home, and the clouds clear and blue skies and the bright sun comes out. And it is hot and blinding because of the wet cobblestoned streets reflecting sunlight (see above picture). And right now, it's getting cold again. ALL THIS IN A DAY. I'm surprised it's not SNOWING. (Just watch.)

Sigh. It makes deciding what to wear in the mornings a difficult task. I known I should layer, but then I'm too lazy to have to take clothes off and carry them around. So I normally end up either overdressing (like today, wearing a sweater, a vest, and a thick jacket) or underdressing (hoodie and tshirt). Blah.


On another note, discussion classes at 9 am are a bad idea. It requires me to wake up at 730, and today in particular, it causes me to not think coherently after a long climb up the damn steep hill to get to a library that's hidden away in a small alley, which I luckily stumble upon, but get lost trying to find the room in the library because it's like four flights down on level 92 but not on level 92 exactly but rather between levels 91 and 92. WTF?! In that case, the room number should be 91.5.03 not 92.03. That is MISLEADING. And then the prof talks about ethics (ugh) and what we're required to do in the class and I hear her talking, but none of it is actually being absorbed. So, if you ask me now what she said, I would have to say, I have no ideas? Thankfully there is a syllabus. Phew! Then the prof asks me what I think ethics is, and I somehow manage to blurt out an answer without thinking about what I was saying. Sigh. I hope it made some sort of sense. Ah whatever, I can't even remember what I said. Sigh


Enough random ranting for today. And I actually wanted to blog about accents. But that'll be for another time.

Ah, I missed a blog post yesterday. >.< Sigh. Bad!