Long distance

Long distance relationships are hard no matter how short the period you're apart for, it seems. At least for me it has been. I've been in two, no three long distance relationships in the past and everytime I swear I'd never put myself through that again.

What makes me think a fourth one will be any different?

My quote of the day

Sometimes you want something so bad you forget the journey to get there is what counts the most.
~ Cindy Soo, 2011

Loving winter in TO

Although it can get into the chilly minus teens here in TO, the winter here is always a treat... we get mostly sunny skies, the light glistening off the snow!

Loving it!

Fighting fair

A great list I got from long ago, when I was going through a rough relationship. Thought I would share with all you loving couples out there :)

1) Understand and agree with each other what you are discussing
2) Stick to only one subject at a time. Identify and define the issues.
3) Talk about how you feel, not what you demand
4) Keep discussions, fights, issues, private
5) Don't try to read your partner's mind
6) Don't expect your partner to read your mind
7) Don't use "you". Don't put blame.
8) Take responsibility. Use "I".
9) Don't talk each other down
10) Don't hit below the belt
11) Don't wear your belt too high
12) Don't bring up past fights or issues as ammunition.
13) Actively listen with confirmation by paraphrasing
14) Don't interrupt. Give the other person equal time.
15) Ask questions that will clarify not judge. Don't begin with "why"
16) Don't involve other people's opinions.
17) Do not assume, guess, imagine, take for granted, theorize, surmise, speculate, make gestures, judgements, funny glances or faces about what your partner means. Find out!
18) Don't be afraid to apologize when you are wrong.
19) Don't argue about details.
20) After all feelings have been heard, agree to focus on a solution.

An interim post!

I've been busy trying to catch up on sleep from my late nights of searching the internet for our trip to Mt. Fuji and our Donsol trip, as well as going to classes that I haven't had time to catch up on my posting.

I've got 茶道 once a week for 3-4 hours a lesson, 和装 2-3 times a week at 2 hours per lesson, and 日本語 2-3 times a week at 1 hour and 50 minutes per class. I've joined a gym so will be heading there at least 3-4 times a week until I leave.

Now that R is here, I've been trying to balance all of that plus spend some time with him and show him around.

Tomorrow, we're heading into Tokyo... hopefully I can get up in time :P

Japan - Day 2 - ______, Chiba and on the way to Izu islands

September 20, 2010

Today we met up with a few of B先生's friends and went to an old Edo-period town in Chiba. We ended up getting dressed in old Edo-period kimono (I was a Maiko-san and B先生 was dressed as some samurai warlord! We walked around the Edo-period town for close to an hour, getting our pictures taken and trying not to sweat too much in all the layers of clothing. I wore these majorly cool 下駄 (picture to come!) with a 4 inch height increase. It made it really difficult to walk up the stone steps to some of the older buildings on the premises.

After romping around in our cool get-up, we picked up our framed picture and headed back to Kashiwa. I hurriedly showered and packed last minute stuff and headed out to the station to take my train to Hamamatsu-cho to catch the 東海汽船 boat to 御蔵島.

I slept for about 4 hours in and out in a cabin with 4 bunkbeds. Luckily nobody was booked in that cabin as well so I had the whole cabin to myself :) I got up about 15 minutes before 6pm, thinking that I had 15 minutes at least to wash my face and brush my teeth. Little did I know that we made great time on the water and I almost MISSED my stop! Luckily the guy who was coming around to make the beds saw me and told me to hurry my a&& as everyone for my stop was already off the boat!

I rushed out of my cabin and was the last person to get off the boat... man that would have been bad if I had missed the stop!

Japan - Day 1 - Kashiwa, Chiba

September 19, 2010

Wow.. I'm going to Japan, I thought, as I sat in the Emergency row window seat next to an icky American dude. I was happy but at the same time sad as I thought this might be the last trip for a long time... I was excited to see all my friends again, and I was excited to do what I had come to Japan to do, excited to see places I used to visit, and just excited to spend the 7 weeks there enjoying all of what is Japan.

I didn't get much sleep from packing the night before. I tried to pack as little as I could into R's smaller suitcase even though I'd be in Japan for quite some time.

Delta's blankets are so thin, that you seriously need at least 4 blankets to keep warm. I was too lazy to ask for another 3, so just put up with the 1 blanket I had. The plane's bathrooms seem to be designed pretty well -- the sinks were much larger than traditional airplane bathroom sinks and the lights seemed to be a bit softer somehow. The food was gross of course. I didn't watch a single movie. Just tried my best to get some shut-eye.

I got in right on time via Delta but had to wait close to an hour to go through Immigration and all that jazz at Narita.

I was a bit apprehensive as I thought I'd have to figure out how to get to Kashiwa on my own, but to my pleasant surprise, B先生 was there to greet me! I was so happy to see him!

We made our way to the train platform after deciding that renting a sim card would be a bit pricey as opposed to roaming on my mobile. An hour and a half later, we were in B先生's cosey マンション, gnawing on some おにぎり and downing 麦茶！ B先生's flat is amazingly spacious, although his kitchen really needs more counter space.

It was HOT... at least 30C. I took a nap and then we made our way to Woody House for a salsa party! (Stay tuned -- pics to come!)

After a sparkle tattoo and some crazy dancing with people I didn't know at all, we walked home and got caught up on things. It's so good to see B先生 again. I LOVE his quirky Australian humour and his no-nonsense, tell it like it is attitude. He's such a breathe of fresh air from all the BS we'd get in HK.

Exhausted, we got ready for bed. I packed my snorkel bag, ready for the next day, as the day will surely be jam-packed!

Hello Japan!!!!! :D I'm back!

Trying to post again... :P

Ok, so I'm going to really really REALLY try to blog again. I hope I haven't lost what little readers I had :P

Just to give you a lowdown of what's to come, me and R spent some time in the water on a liveaboard to Komodo for 11 days, then some R&R in Ubud, Bali in September.

I'm currently in Japan and LOTS has happened even though I've only been here a week!

R's heading over tomorrow, so I better get to bed and get some sleep.

Hopefully I can slowly start blogging about my Komodo and Bali trip while at the same time blogging about Japan.

Talk to you all soon!!! :D

i'm so bummed out...

It's been about 2 weeks now and I have somewhat survived the crazy insane workload.... BARELY.

That's right I've now got the flu and a nasty infection in my tonsils that has got me flat out since Sunday night. I've missed 3 days of work, saw 2 doctors, and now I'm drugged up on Codine, Prodex, Eurofed, Paracetamol (for the fever), and Tylenol, with a shot of Manuka Honey and Olive Leaf Extract. My throat has never been this sore! Unfortunately the flu shot I got doesn't do much for this flu. According to the doctor, the flu shot protects me from the 'super-flu' but not from the one I got right now .... GREAT :(

So I had to do something to cheer me up. Being holed up at home, with sick-face and sick-skin, and having to explain to HR how sick I was (that's another story all together) over the phone has got me so bummed out :( Luckily I've found some cool bloggers (ok *I* think they're cool, but you may not) and decided to try out a couple of products that I've seen on the shelves in, no other than, Mannings!

You must be laughing right now but laugh no more! ;) This line, My Beauty Diary, from Taiwan, has been getting incredible raves online and I intend to find out what the rage is all about :b



I'm really sick, hacking away each time I open my mouth, so I won't try everything tonight. It's just going to be the Intensive Refining Eye Mask after I take a shower and we'll see how it goes :) The website suggests continuing use for 7 days so since I bought the 7 pack, I'll know how well it works in a week! :)

Wish me luck and hope my germs go away quickly! I'll post updates along the way (I hope!)

day i've-lost-count of hell

yes i'm still alive.
and yes i'm goddamn tired.

a part of me is screaming to just dump it all, yet the more rational part of me knows i just have to see it through. if only i had some support (ie. the Ops team should have been more proactive instead of hiding their head in the sand, and deal with the situation 2 weeks ago). instead everyone ran around wasting each other's time fighting and arguing for days -- no solution in sight.

it's funny how some people come running to me acting all nice to try and get on my side. what they don't know is that i can see right through it.

a word of advice to you-know-who-you-are: just do what's best for the client, the project, its team members, and the business, and everyone will be happy. don't bury your head in emails and paper trails -- life is dynamic, and so is this line of work. the key is being flexible and dynamic along with everyone else.