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3/30/06 ~ Thursday 12:20 pm - Taiwan time ~ 11:20 am - NY time

Status: distracted ~ Listening to: tv

Pics finally loaded!!!

Gomen ne for the delay.... My laptop suffered from low RAM and virtual memory. I had to disable a bunch of things and was finally able to get my poor laptop to work. ^-^;

Pics under here. ^.^

3/29/06 ~ Wednesday 8:30 pm - Taiwan time ~ 7:30 am - NY time

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: silence

Taiwan 101 'The Tallest Building in the World'

Today, I did a touristy thing: see the tallest building, Taiwan 101. The elevator was totally fast, getting us to the 85th? floor. From there we walked up a couple of flights to the 90th floor which was an open deck. It was very windy, but I got some good shots (of myself. ^^;) Also, I had a chocolate ice cream cone to commemorate my visit. ^^;

2:00 am - Taiwan time ~ 1:00 pm - NY time ~ Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: silence

Tylenol Cold medicine = sleeping pill

I woke up with a slight cold this morning, so I downed two Tylenol cold pills. The side effect was drowsiness, but if I remember correctly, they didn't make me drowsy. However, 2 years later, I'm sleepy in the head and practically fell asleep while getting my hair washed. -.-Zz In any case, I was sleepy for most of the day. I had to stay awake though...can't exactly sleep while riding a motorcycle. ^^;

A walk down memory lane...literally.

As a surpise, my cousin took me to our old neighborhood...where I lived when I was 1.5-4 years old. The surrounding area didn't change much and I had the sense of 'I've been here before' since I really have. ^^; The day care that we were at was still there, at the low roof of one of the buildings. I remembered the area where we played in and saluted the flag every morning. *sigh* Happy memories...I think.

Shiling night market: food spree

In the evening, my cousin and I hit the most popular night market in Taipei: Shiling. We took the subway (since it was more convenient than biking there.) After eating some smelly tofu and oyster pancake, my cousin and decided to take our eating to the streets where I bought a corndog (which isn't really common in the U.S., ^^;) a bag of yummy eggy bread and a lemony drink with jelly. My cousin bought hardened sugar covered stawberries and we shared a 'burger'.

One replacement bag: check

In the latter part of the evening, I finally bought my bag. It doesn't look exactly like the one P-chan gave me, but it's nice. The price of the bags that are around are 390NT. However, the store that we encountered priced them at 290NT. Of course, I had to decide and buy it right than and there. (No bargaining down...since it's store policy...not that I'll be much successful. ^.^;) So I got my pretty bag, and even bought a Kurama charm for 10NT. (I was going to buy a second one for you, P-chan, but there was only one. Gomen ne.... ^^;)

All in all, the evening went really well and as promised, pics will be up soon enough. Tomorrow morning (Taiwan time?) maybe.... ^.^

3/27/06 ~ Monday 11:30 am - Taiwan time ~ 10:30 pm - NY time

Status: tummy full ~ Listening to: Cat Woman the movie ^^; (I've been watching alot of movies....)

Issues revealed

I know it's been while, but you know pain doesn't really disapepar. I try hard to hide things, but my hatred for the male species is not without any reminders as to why. (Double negatives, I know...aren't they killer? ^^;) Anyway, my cousin and had a 'talk' (before my mother and aunt came in and interrupted the convo) and my cousin didn't say anything stupid beyond 'there are good guys out there.' I told her that people are full of sh*t...just that some people are sh*ttier than others. (Guys moreso than girls. ^^;) Anyway, all this is review and I shed a few tears but nothing bad. This moment just serves to remind me that I'm still not completely 'better' and I don't really care.

Shopping highlights and pissed off salesperson

Well, although I told myself to stay away from bookstores, I ended up there anyway. (I needed to buy stuff for church ppl. ^^;) After thinking for an hour or so, I bought over 700NT ($21) worth of Jimmy magnetic bookmarks. Jimmy is a famous Taiwanese author, my fav. books being 'Sound of Colors' and 'The Moon Forgot'. The bookmarks were so cute, I'm totally keeping the one with scene from 'The Moon Forgot'. ^^;

Good news, I bought a cute totoro and black soot thingee. Its for the hair, but once I buy a bag (to replace the wonderful bag you gave me a long time ago, P-chan ^^;) I'm going to put it on it. ^.^ Bad news, I checked out all the stalls that sold bags and found some that I kinda liked...but didn't buy. The one I liked the most, still didn't feel 'right' to me. So I didn't buy it. My decision came after the salesperson even thumbed down the price by $1. I told her I decided not to buy it (I would've said, I'll come back later-which is more polite-but she was closing so that wouldn't have been a good lie. ^^;) She gave me such an attitude and got really pissy. I'm glad I didn't buy the bag. I wasted about 4 min. of her time and she was about to close, but she didn't need to have an attitude with me. XP

Oh yeah, my cousin bought a pair of shoes that cost less than my bookmarks. ^^; That was yesterday. I'm going to clothes shopping today as well as bag shopping. Hopefully, I'll find some more cute things to buy...like cute manga.... ^^;

3/25/06 ~ Saturday 11:50 pm - Taiwan time ~ 10:50 am - NY time

Status: tired but still awake ~ Listening to: Matrix 2 the movie ^^;

Hello from Taiwan ^.^

I made my second rounds of calls this morning: I contacted Alby and Jenn-chan. I'm hoping to call Pearl-chan tomorrow morning, after I'm alot more awake than now. ^^; After that, another round of calls before I leave Taiwan. I'm not sure if I can call you guys from Japan. You don't have Skype...and neither do I. ^^;

First time: Church service on Saturday

My cousin goes to the largest church in Taiwan. I'm not kidding. It's so large that their small group has to separate every so often due to the growth that keeps on happening. (Not exactly a bad thing though. ^^;) It's so large that there are four services (two on saturdays and two on sundays) in order to accomodate all these people. My cousin and I went to the first service today. It was nice going to church on saturday...we can wake later tomorrow and have breakfast at the hotel. ^.^

3/24/06 ~ Friday 11:00 pm - Taiwan time ~ 10:00 am - NY time

Status: estatic ~ Listening to: No One - KOY (Momo, Girl God of Death OP)

Akihabara of Taiwan

Akihabara, Japan is nicknamed 'Electric Town' since electronics of all kinds are sold there. The streets are filled with black market goods as well as anything else you can imagine. Also, it's an otaku haven since it holds Mandarake as well as other Japanime stores. Today, I went to the Taiwan equivalent of Akihabara. I don't know what the Chinese name for it was...but it was big and awesome. I've been there before, but I forgot how awesome it was. O.O *drool* All those electronic thingees...and all those DVDs and VCDs and CDs...and manga. This was where I hoped to be when I hit Hismen. But at least this area is still alive and kicking. I'm so happy..... ^.^

Why am I happy? ^.^

*takes a deep breath* ^-^ I bought a new mp3 player! Not me actually, but my father bought it for me. (I feel kinda strange about that since I technically make more than him...anywayz.... ^^;) My new no-name brand mp3 player is labeled 'mp4' since you can play videos on it. *dances happily* Now all I have to do is change the format of my anime to amv format (as opposed to mpeg) in order for it to be played. The screen is 1.8in., the biggest size screen for a little player. The 2in. ones are big.

The price of player was priced at 3400NT, but I bargained it down to 3300NT. Actually, it was more like the seller said '3400NT' and I said '3300NT' and he said 'Okay, for you 3300NT.' ^^; This was my first successful haggling attempt. O-kaa-san laughed since it wasn't much of a haggle, since most sellers would give in at 100NT difference.... lol ^^;

All about my player (tl;dr = Too long; don't read if you're not interested ^.^)

Other pros of my new toy includes the fact that it works likes my old mp3 (no software is needed to transfer music or any other files...so no repeat of yesterday, ^^;) it records and has an FM radio, it displays pics and .txt files and-as said before-.amv files for vids. ^.^ The battery is rechargeble through USB, and the USB cord can be connected to an adapter (which is included) which actually becomes a plug so I can charge in a regular socket. Oh yeah, the memory size is 2GB. o.o Isn't that cool? *grins* The cons that I find now are that I can't read the stupid manuel (since it's in Chinese >.<) so I can't find out how long does it need to charge and how long can it be used. Also, I don't know why but the speaker doesn't work. Yes, I have external speakers, but for some reason no sound is coming out. I don't really mind...but I hope it's only because I didn't enable something since I already moved everything from my old player to this new one. ^^;

Manga discovery

I spent alot of time at every booth that sold mp3s. In between my search for the perfect mp3 (which was 2GB, vid screen, black and small ^^;) I checked out all the bookstores I encountered. There were a whole bunch of used bookstores as well as regular stores. My otaku self was gloriously happy when I found that used manga was half the price of new ones. And there were so many yaoi ones too.... O.o I found two books by Eiki Eiki: 'Dear Myself' and 'World's End' was nonexistent, but I bought 'Unmei no Kiss' and 'The Art of Loving.' I bought them used and they were in wonderful condition. *hugs the books* ^-^ Between that and my mp3 player, I didn't even care that I spent nearly 4 hours there and was kinda hungry. ^^; It was time well spent. (I'll be spending much more time in Akihabara...my father thought so too when I told him. ^.^)

I never left Taiwan!!!

I went to a governmental office today to get myself back into the 'system' of Taiwan (since they 'delete' you once you leave for more than 1 year...or something like that) as well as get a new ID card. After waiting for 20 mins. (it's so much faster here than any government office in NY ^^;) we went to the lady and found out that both me and o-kaa-san were never deleted from the Taiwanese system. O.o Besides whats stamped in our passports, the system basically states that we never left Taiwan. ^^; lol All we needed was new ID cards and it was alot easier on the worker since she didn't have to do so much. ^.^; I have a new ID card now...and the pic is horrid. They are very strict about how you're suppose to look in the pic: your ears must NOT be covered, your bangs must NOT cover your eyebrows >.> (which is nearly impossible for me-without gel-since I have short bangs >.<) and you can't show your teeth (so you have to give a half curvy smile. ^^;) At least that thing is done. ^.^

Friday 1:15 am - Taiwan time ~ 12:15 pm - NY time ~ Status: sleepy

Ipod Idiocy

Since Dorcas has a new Ipod nano (like all the other 12 year old girls with Ipod nanos ^^;) she enlisted my help with transferring all her songs from her CDs to the Ipod. The first one was easy, importing songs included transferring song from one drive to another. The itunes program automatically turns it into a file recognizable by the Ipod. However, other CDs that does not have their songs in little files (like all of disney CDs,) I would need to first copy the CDs into mp3 or wma format and than transfer them into the Ipod. Dorcas has alot of Disney cds. I spent most of my afternoon transferring songs, trying to figure out why my windows media player likes placing the songs in separate folders when I copy from cd to wma format.... (BTW, I still haven't figured that out. >.<) After I transferred a couple CDs, I relinquished the Ipod to Dorcas, with the expressed wish that I did not want to continue at this menial, but annoying task. She understood completely and was quite happy with the songs I have been able to transfer for her. ^^;

Highlights of today and plans for tomorrow.

I contacted P-chan this morning. I hoped to contact Alby, Pearl-chan and Jenn-chan as well...but I was called on babysitting duty (and I use the term 'babysitting' loosely. ^-^;) I hope to talk to the rest of yous tomorrow morning, Taiwan time. ^.^ I wanted to eat some yummy rice or noodle dishes from subterrain food court, but they don't allow take out for those dishes. (I couldn't eat there since the kid was kinda sick and couldn't step outside. I had to bring food back ot her. ^^;) I plan to eat there tomorrow or next week. Tomorrow, I need to go do some governmental thing. I want to hit Sogo (a large department/mall store. I hope to check out some anime (if they have any) and of course some clothing (as insisted by P-chan. ^^;)

Weird Japanese movie (tl;dr = Too long; don't read if you're not interested)

I don't know the title of the movie since it was shown on tv with no subtitles at all. I want to find out the title or some more info since the story is kinda weird. It was like 'Outer Limits'/'Twightlight Zone' kind of thing. I was just flipping through the channels when I encountered it. The movie is really several different mini-stories. I only caught part of 2 of them.

The first one I saw was about a mother with twin daughters. For some reason, one of the daughters was treated as if she was a dog or an abused pet. She was literally given scraps from the table, she ate whatever was given her, even something that her twin sister spit out. XP Eww.... She was not mentally retarded; she just seemed naive and very unsure about herself. Her outward features seemed wild; her hair unkempt and there were bruises on her arms and legs (I dunno from where.) Her sister was not very kind either, looking down on her even at school. It seemed as if the dog girl only had one set of clothing, her school uniform. (Of course, the twin was the favorite of the mother, not the dog girl.)

One rainy day, the mistreated girl found a dog on the street. She returned the dog to the owner, a woman (not really elderly, about 40s-60s in age) who was thrilled with having her dog back. She welcomed the girl into her house and gave her some tea and cake. The girl seemed to have not learned any table manners and just picked up the cake with two hands and began eating. When she was done, the woman gave her a second slice and began to teach her how to eat the cake with the little fork. The girl ate the second slice alot neater. She and the woman became close. I think she even slept over the woman's house sometimes. (I don't think the woman had anybody else living at home.) There was this once scene where the girl was in a pretty kimono and the woman led her to a dresser and sat her down. She proceeded to brush her hair remarking at the beautiful girl before her. (I figured that much out. And she does look better with her hair combed. ^^;) The girl covered eyes from her reflection, but the woman gently made the girl accept herself. The woman gave her a brass key...but I don't know the key to what. The girl was also given the book 'A Little Prince' since she read the book at the woman's house and liked it so much. ^.^

The story quickly winds down afterwards. When the girl returned home, she was put down by her mother. Later on, the woman (who friended the dog girl) died. The twin girls made some sort of agreement and changed clothes: the regular daughter wore the school uniform (and messed up hair) and the other wore her sister's nice green dress. They played Jun-ken-po and the regular sister lost. In the next scene, you see her fall off a building and died. I'm assuming the dog girl has assumed her sister's identity. Later, the girl (all normal and pretty) left her home (with the dead woman's dog) and went off to start a life of her own. (More guesses. ^^;) That was the end of this part.

I won't say much about the next story, since I only caught a bit of it, but it was confusing as ever. The title that showed on screen was 'Seven Rooms.' A woman and her son (I'm guessing it's her son) woke and found themselves in a room. They don't know how they got there or anything else. There is like a gutter at one end of the room with murky water and small worms. *yuck* XP In order to try to get out of there, the son (a young boy) took off his clothes and slipped down into the water. (It's deep and wide, enough to kinda swim.) He swam under the steel pipes (or whatever they are) and found himself in another room. O.o It seems there are more than one room, all connected to each other, seven in total hence the obscure title. Each room, except for the last has a woman trapped inside. They have different reactions to the boy that strangely pops out of the smelly gutter water. I guess only he is small enough to swim through, only than have they found out more about the rooms around them. The son went back to his mother and they drew out a layout on the wall in chalk. I saw them staring at the water, so I'm assuming they're waiting for the tide to go down. ^^; Whatever the case is, one of the woman (not the mother) somehow died. Her blood stained the water in the gutter. That was when I took my leave, but I'm assuming that the empty room wasn't originally empty. O.O Still, I have not idea what the movie is about and what is happening to these women. >.<;

Sad...I tried to look up more info on this movie, but no go. I guess typing it out in detail will help me to remember. It's such a weird movie that perhaps I can find out more about it later on.

So much...sorry for rambling. ttyl! ja!

3/22/06 ~ Wednesday 9:45 pm - Taiwan time ~ 8:45 am - NY time

Status: headache ~ Listening to: movie on tv

Something cheaper in Japan than Taiwan: Japanese stuff. ^^;

I went to Hismen today in search for artbooks and other stuff to buy for myself and friends. ^.^ After the first 10 min., I came to the startling discovery that the Japanese artbooks cost more in Taiwan than in Japan. The price of a Hikaru no Go manga artbook in Taiwan 1700NT (about $50) and 3600yen (about $31) in Japan. O.o The other artbooks have varying differences, but the prices have all been estimated to be more expensive. Since the Japanese prices are lower, I'm going to buy it in Japan. ^^;

3/21/06 ~ Tuesday 11:55 pm - Taiwan time ~ 10:55 am - NY time

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: o-kaa-san and auntie's convo

Manga hunt

I've only been in 2 manga stores since I came to Taiwan (not counting all the bookstores that had miniscule to average manga sections.) The first one, my cousin took me to on sunday. The second one was the one my father took me to. It was near my house (where my grandmother is currently living.) I spent an hour there searching for my manga. Afterwards, I collected my treasure of 5 books, one of which is for my godsister and the others for myself. ^.^ I bought 2 FMA character books and a 2 book set by Kusanagi Mizuho. Kusanagi-sensai writes shonenai...although I don't know to what depth. ^^; There were alot of shonenai/slash manga, but I only chose this set since the title and covers were not as provocative as the others. ^^; While looking for the artbooks, I'll be searching for more manga. ^.^

Black dude walking...in Taiwan

In all my years of living/visiting Taiwan, I have never met a black person, until now. While shopping with my cousin tonight, we went to a U.S. outlet store that sold Calvin Kleins, Abercrombe and Fiche, Polo and others. There are alot of foreigners living in the area, so there were some caucasians that came into the store. We had already started talking to the only worker at the small store when a black dude came in asked about the underwear there.

He had a thick speaking voice, difficult to understand if you're not listening very carefully. (I was trying, but it was still hard.) Since it has already been established that I live in the States, the salesperson request that I speak to him. It wasn't much, so I did. Basically, he asked how much that thing was, I told him the price. He said that he got a better deal last time (for different underwear O.o) and the worker replied that it was the final price. Since I was assisting in this convo, he asked for my name. I gave him 'Ray' and just turned my attention back to my cousin. Later, he called me over and asked for my phone number. I just simply said 'no thanks' and ignored him. The worker, my cousin and her friend (who was shopping with us) asked what did he want. I told them what happened and added that 'he was a pervert.' Which was what he was. ^-^

Insert card into slot for power.

In this hotel, the electricity for the sockets are powered on by inserting our doorkey into the slot (that is right next to the door.) This is actually a wonderful concept since it saves electricity. (No person in the room, no power needed. You must take your keycard, so you will never forget to turn off the lights. ^.^) This was alright except that I wanted to leave my comp on to download torrent stuff. ^^; Later, my father told us that (with the knowledge after living in millions of hotels) the doorkey is not the only thing that can be inserted to turn on the power. Anything can be used: my library card (which works beautifully) and even a paper business card. ^.^ Yay! Now I don't need to be worried about leaving the room with no power. (Besides the point, the plug the fridge and tv is connected to is the only thing that doesn't power down after you pull the 'switch.') In other words, we can save our keys and just leave the paper card in the slot. ^.^ Hope the cleaning lady doesn't mind...they have their own key cards. ^^;

12:20 pm - Taiwan time ~ 11:20 am - NY time ~ Status: jumpy ^.^ ~ Listening to: HBO movie

Points of interest: bookstore and mp3

After a wonderful Taiwan breakfast (soy milk, oily fried dough and egg pancake *yum* ^.^) I came back to the room to rest. I'm going to get my hair washed later.

Yesterday, I spent most of my time at bookstores. It was nice, although I have to hit a manga store in order to really look for the stuff I want. Besides picking up stuff for others, my wishlist include the FMA character book and some new manga. (I'm also considering picking up some yaoi manga...but I dunno. Might be to risky...since it'll be in chinese and everything.... ^^;)

Unfortunately, I found out that the 2550 sony mp3 player turns out to be just a flash drive...not a player. >.<; No wonder the 1GB was so inexpensive. ^^; Oh wellz, I'll check out some and see which is good. I might buy one...or maybe not. Afterall, I need to save up for my cell. ^.^

End of FMA

This past saturday, the last episode of FMA was shown on Cartoon Network. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join the aim chat to talk over the episode with the others. *cries* >.> Sad...I love that episode.... I know I watched it many times...but still... *sigh* The next thing to wait for is the movie...which I have, but haven't seen yet. ^^;

O-tou-san (father >.<;)

He is here, back from China. He is staying at my grandmother's place. My relatives know I'm here. Although I do not wish to insult them, I know that will result since I refuse to visit or even speak to them. XP My cousin has been sleeping over since the hotel is close to her work place. She hopes to take me out tonight. It's fun, but I wish to have some 'lone' time to move around. I guess that's what now is for. ^^; Oh wellz...time for lunch. Ja!

3/19/06 ~ Sunday 11:55 pm - Taiwan time ~ 10:55 am - NY time

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: Talent for Love (English) - Tenchi Muyo OP

Holiday Inn Hospitality or lack thereof

Well, turns out that high class hotels does NOT equal high class service. The authoress (o-kaa-san's friend) is a priority member in Holiday Inn Taipei. Hence, she gets a 'presidential suite' and we get a big suite in association. (Huge...bigger than Mohegan. ^.^) However, it seems that she has used up her upgrades and will have to pay the usual price. No biggie, she just pays another 1000NT ($30) which isn't alot. HOWEVER, the priority club woman encounters her on the way to dinner (we were with her) and she wouldn't let her go until she signs a paper saying that she will pay the usual fare. She even stops the elevator and steps in to get her to sign it. O.o How dare she? Outraged at their attitude and rudeness, we moved out of the hotel this morning and into another one not as fancy, but nicer in mannerisms and staff.

Motorcyle/scooter: the only way to travel ^.^

My day wasn't as bad. (I just woke up with the news that we had to leave...baka hotel.) My cousin came to pick me up for church...on her scooter. It was so much fun, I haven't ridden with her in 3 years. ^.^ We spent the day crusing around bookstores. It was pretty cool (temperature-wise) so I wore my jacket. Good thing too, since the rush of the breeze from speed gets pretty cold. *happy sigh* I definitely don't want to any sort of vehicle in Taiwan (especially not Taipei,) but I really enjoy riding with my cousin. Oh yeah, on the road, I saw a girl sitting at the back of the motorcyle ('passenger side') reading a book. The wind was so rough...how could she concentrate? O-O lol I know you can't really sleep on a motorcycle...but reading-I guess-is another story. ^.^

bookstore

I finished the second FMA novel 'The Abducted Alchemist.' It was funny. ^-^ At the bookstore, there wasn't an FMA vol. 13 yet...but there is a character info book for 90NT. I kinda want to buy it...though I don't know how well I would be able to read it. ^^; *contemplating* There are other books I want to buy...but I'll have to see. Don't want to be rash decisions...afterall, I can't buy out the store no matter what my cousin saids. ^^; (She had an idea that I should partner up with her and try to import manga into the U.S. I told her that job has already been done. (But think of all the manga that I can buy...I'll be my own otaku. ^^;

Shopping Spree? Food spree?

My 'vacation' type plans have taken a back seat with all these different things; Fri.: Move in to hotel, hair salon, book meeting prep. Sat: book meeting, sleep. Sun: church, bookstores...sleep. Mon: undetermined. ^^; Not bad, considering how tired I am right now. I will be heading over to the bookstore and do some serious manga searching as well as 'eating-everything-I-see.' ^.^ No, I haven't contacted anybody in the States nor Taiwan pals. Perhaps tomorrow.... Oyasumi! ^.^

3/17/06 ~ Friday 9:00 pm - Taiwan time ^.^

Status: happy ^-^ ~ Listening to: English oldies music (in hotel lounge) <.<;

Out of all the wheelchair people in the airports, Asians are the nicest

Since o-kaa-san had a wheelchair (arranged with the airlines,) there was always someone there to push her around. (That sounds weird.... ^^;) In Narita airport, I spoke with the wheelchair person (with my limited Japanese-saying thank you and please. ^^;) In Taiwan, two people were there with us to pick up the suitcases. (Yay for me! My mother has heavy stuff.... ^.^) I arrived in Taiwan last night and the first thing I bought was a phone card. ^^; Despite trying to avoid my relatives, I had to stay overnight at my aunt's place and saw my cousin. It was nice though, I haven't seen her in 3 years. This afternoon, I checked into the Holiday Inn, a LARGE hotel in Taipei. P-chan, Dorcas saids hi. She still remembers you and I told her you remembered her as well. ^.^ She got really tall.

Lemon extract takes away oil in hair.

Dorcas, her mother and I went to a salon and had our hair washed and cut (no cut for me of course, only my bangs trimmed. ^.^) Afterwards, I had my first back-in-Taiwan passion fruit, green tea and tapioca. (I love this stuff. ^.^) Dorcas and I hit the shopping mall thats right next to the hotel and checked out stuff. We found two books written/illustrated by her mother at the bookstore. One of the pics was a sketch of Dorcas when she was small. ^.^ In the electronics section, both of us stared at the mp3 players for such a long time. So cheap! (FYI, Dorcas was born in the year of the dog-yay for us doggies! ^.^-and she never had an mp3 before.) A Sony 1GB mp3 player is 2550NT ($79.) O.O Dorcas wants a player and so do I.... ^^; She is going to ask my mother...and I'm going to check out my funds. *grabs expense budget*

Tomorrow is the book signing/meeting/thing. I'm going to wear my dress from graducation...which is black. (What else is new? ^^;) I'm going to be taking pics, as requested from Dorcas's mother. There will be a professional videotaping the thing...but I'm hopefully going to be in the background. (Me camera-shy...and not so photogenic. ^^;) Short term plans include hitting the night markets and manga hunting. Of course, I take requests by phone and e-mail. One of my co-workers already e-mailed me requesting for Naruto-in-pjs plushes. ^.^ I'll give you guys a call once I figure out the phone card thingee. Ja!

3/15/06 ~ Wednesday 3:15 am

Status: sleepy... -O-Zz ~ Listening to: silence

Packing...at 3 in the morning...

Yup, that is why I'm up right now. ^^; *yawn* I'm almost done. Our ride (me and o-kaa-san's) is coming to pick us up at 8:15am today. Hopefully, I'll be awake enough to lug the luggage into the trunk and myself into the backseat. *double yawn*

Work was kinda tough...trying to get everything to a level where I know that things should be fine when I leave. I can't exactly put work behind me though...not completely. I gave my co-workers my personal e-mail address in case something happens to one of my clients.... ^^; I wanted to do this since the last time a counselor (although I'm only a lowly case manager ^-^;) left for an overseas vacation, there was a major problem with one of her clients. We hardly had enough info to go on...but we managed without needing to send the US embassy to track her down. ^.^ Hopefully, my co-workers won't need to contact me about my clients.

virtual memory, virtually low

I had some computer troubles...with good news and bad news. Bad news, my computer is still stalling when I'm in the middle of watching anime. >.< Good news is that my laptop wasn't stalling because of viruses. ^.^ Bad news is that because my laptop has low RAM which draws on virtual memory which ultimately depletes it until my computer shuts down on me. >.< Turns out that since hibernating takes alot of virtual memory (which I don't have alot of,) my laptop shuts down. So, in conclusion...I will not hibernate my laptop anymore. (*points at laptop* No more sleep for you! The lack of sleep is getting to me.... ^^;)

Closing remarks....

I changed some of the html coding of my site...hoping that my site will be presentable in a Mozilla browser. If there are any gliches, please let me know. *triple yawn* I'm gonna finish packing now.... I'll call you guys in the morning...or when the sun comes up. Ja! ^.^

3/14/06 ~ Tuesday 3:00 am

Status: sleepy...and confused ~ Listening to: silence

*warning* nonsensical confusion and sadness: Reflections

I'm not too fond of this word...'reflections.' However, being that I'm contemplating my past and present, reflections is a good word.

Question to self: Why am I doing this? My answer: I don't know. I should be sleeping (and I'm super tired) but here I am, typing in the middle of the night. Many people have asked me lately, 'What are you goals? What are you planning to do after this [work]?' My answer has always been, 'I'm not sure, I haven't really decided yet. I'm taking one day at a time.' I say this to convince myself moreso than others. As you may have noticed, I'm scared of making any major decisions. I try to act like I'm in control, but I tremble at the thought of having to care for my mother financially. (I can't even support anyone emotionally....) Perhaps I like being by myself since I'm only responsible for me. If I make a mistake, I'm the only one that is effected. Hence, I'm overly apologetic if my actions affect others in any way at all, positive or negative.

I'm still living in my past. Every day, I remember. I guess it's because of the meds that I'm taking that my thoughts don't oppress me into darkness as before. I don't want to go back into depression. I shudder at the thought of what happened. But it's still a part of me. I feel that if I take a step, I'm going to fall back in. I try to stay angry. I try to concentrate on the fact that 'the world sucks' and 'life sucks' so live in any way possible. I know my interests are superficial. I used to have genuine love for music and writing. God, friends and sometimes family were important to me. My priorities were straight. But I can never get back to that point. God is the one immovable being/essence in my life, but everything else is not.

I'm not too fond of the person I've become. I'm angry most of the time. I'm rude. I insult people without thought and even without remorse. I blame the world for my past...but should I really blame myself? I think thats how I got into depression in the first place. I'm not focused. I had a passion to continue going no matter the cost. I actually believe life is worth living for and 'everything isn't that bad'. Now, I don't have a passion for anything. My work is something I enjoy, anime is something I enjoy, but neither is something I can think of as a set priority in my life. Even my work is a hobby. I don't want to do this for the rest of my life. Why not? Well, I feel as if I'm taking a passive role. I'm taking each day as it comes. I'm wasting time. Yeah I'm learning alot and I'm earning money and I enjoy this immensely, but it's still not me.

I'm faced with a horrible dilemma: my mind acknowledges the fact that I can't stay this way forever. I can stay angry, I can hate guys for the rest of my life...but I don't want to continue remembering. Emotionally, I can't seem to get past what happened four years ago, two years ago. No, it's more like five and three years ago. (See, I can't even get to the present day. >.<) I want to change this. I don't want to continue being rude to anyone and everyone around me. I don't want to be selfish and not think about myself. But, it's kind of difficult for me to think about others. You guys noticed, I don't call you. Why? Because my mind is selfishly thinking about myself. My work, my trip, my thoughts. Even this blog is filled with stuff about me. But I want this to be a reminder to myself, to push myself out. I don't know how I'm going to do it, I don't even know if it's going to start today...but I guess I just want to let you know that I'm thinking. Please don't push me. My tendency to snap at anyone who tries to control me is still prominent in my actions. I guess the first thing I should do is sleep at regular hours. And not hang up on my mother prematurely. But, I'm still not going to talk to my father. Not yet.... I'll give you guys a call and not talk about myself. Okay? Thanks for reading this....

3/13/06 ~ Monday 4:15 pm

Status: impending headache ~ Listening to: me typing

I got my voucher! ^.^

This morning, I stopped by midtown and purchased my Studio Ghibli Museum voucher from JTB. The staff was really nice and it was only $15. ^.^ Contrary to many worries, I was able to order and pick up my voucher within 20 mins. (Initially, there were some thoughts that I would have to wait 3 days, and have it mailed to me...which is impossible since I'm leaving on wednesday.... ^^; Good thing it's not true...at least this time. ^-^)

Formating my laptop...takes hours....

I stayed up until 4:50 this morning, formating and reinstalling stuff into my laptop. >O< *yawn* It was tough, but needed to be done for quite some time already. For some reason (viruses?) my laptop keeps on stalling which means I would need to reboot every time. This happens constantly when I'm watching anime/video (which is totally annoying since I'm in the middle of watching anime....) Since I got my external hard drive, it's a lot easier formating and stuff. *hugs hard drive* ^.^ My laptop is almost back to 'normal', I just need to install aim and update/scan my laptop with the antivirus. That'll be tonight. ^.^

Just a day and a half before I go!

3/12/06 ~ Sunday 8:30 pm

Status: slightly tired ~ Listening to: me typing

I just realized I typed so much about cellphones...gomen, it was late, I was delirious.... ^^;

2nd FMA novel ^.^

Yesterday, I finished shopping for gifts for my Japanese co-workers and...bought the 2nd FMA novel 'The Abducted Alchemsit' for myself. *grins* ^-^ This will be my going-to-Asia reading...along with some new manga I'm going to pick up there. ^.^

3/11/06 ~ Saturday 2:15 am

Status: sleepy -.-Z ~ Listening to: Korean drama

The better cellphone.... aka. Cellphone rant

I'm not going to link pics because I'm too tired. You guys know that I've been researching cellphones for quite some time. Sprint (my carrier) came out with several bluetooth enabled Samsungs. (Finally!)

Both the Motorola Razr and the Samsung Blade (A900) are thin, very wide (compared to the small compact cells) with wide screens. The plus about the Razr is that it's thinner, a little bit wider, weighs less and has x2 the talk time than the Blade. (Practically all Motorolas have extensive talk time.) The plus on the Blade is that it has a wider screen, lots more memory and a better camera than the Razr. (There are other pros and cons on these phones, but I'm only concentrating on these things. ^^;) Comparing the two cells, I feel that the better camera and more memory of the Blade makes up for the less talk time and the slightly heavier weight.

But thats only between the Razr and the Blade. After kicking the Razr out the window, I turned to the other bluetooth phones by Sprint. A quick comparison revealed that A920 was the better phone. Comparable with the Blade, they have similar size, weight and camera abilities. The Blade still had the larger screen and more memory. However, with an 512mb MicroSD, the A920 would equate and may become better than the Blade. A920: more talk time, higher memory, lighter phone. Blade: wider screen, thinner cell.

My decision: the Samsung A920. It's just a bit bigger than my current cell, w/ lots more talk time, better camera, and (once I buy the MicroSD) lots more memory. I'm going to buy the phone once I come back from Asia. Maybe I can find the MicroSD in Asia for a cheaper price. Maybe I can even find the phone. Honestly, I wouldn't mind buying either phone, just as long as I can get a new one soon enough. ^^;

3/10/06 ~ Friday 5:15 pm

Status: htmling ~ Listening to: phonecalls

2 down, 3 to go

I called my hotel in Japan last night. I was going to confirm my reservation in Japanese...but I chickened out and spoke English. Apparently, the proprietor speaks English (pretty well really ^.^) and I told them I was going to arrive later than expected. (Not 7pm...but 9pm. Gotta give me time to find the place. ^^:) The person I spoke to was so nice, he advise me to call the hotel if I get lost. ^-^ I think...I will have to do that. As much as I like wandering around Ueno in the dark...I rather wait until the sun comes out. ^^;

Second thing, I gave my Quatre pic to Christine-nee-chan so that the va can sign it at I-con. *sigh* I envy them...regardless of where I'm going to be. *wails* 'Why must I be somewhere else when my beloved Quatre comes to Stony?!?' *emo tear*

I'm going to buy my Ghibli museum voucher on Monday. It's past 5 and they close at 5. >.< Aiya, Rai no baka. Hopefully, I'll see P-chan tonight so that she can give me the Darth Vader potato head. Is that alright, P-chan? I'll give you a call later.... ^^;

Remodeling chatterbox

I spent most of the morning trying to figure out the code so that I can fix the popup feature and get rid of the ads. I had to do alot of 'trial and error' but I got the thing figured out. ^.^ For the time being, the popup and previous messages feature have been disabled, but I'll enable it later on. (There seems to be an image malfunction on the flooble server, so when they fix it, I'll be able to enable the features. ^.^)

3/9/06 ~ Thursday 5:00 pm

Status: headache >.< ~ Listening to: silence...because of headache

Japan itinerary finished ^.^

After extensive searching and thought, I have completed my itinerary for Japan. Basically, I have a list of places I want to hit and an idea of which day I will go. I need to do this since I have to figure out when the places/parks/museums are going to open/close. Also, reservations need to be made for the Studio Ghibli museum. I'm going to the JTB (Japan Travel Bureau) to get my voucher for the museum. (I'll get the ticket when I get to the museum itself. ^.^) The voucher is for only for the day I reserved, so I must go there at that time. I totally can't wait. ^.^

Besides the museum, the only other place that I'm definitely going at a certain time and day is Ueno park. I will be there on 4/1/06 in the park...at the fountain...looking at the sakura blossoms. It'll be just like the movie 'Para Para Sakura....' *happy sigh* ^.^

Things to do: trip related

Besides the packing, I still have some last minute stuff to do:

FYI, the potato head, baby clothes and oatmeal are for my co-workers in Japan. lol...yes, I know these are the appropriate gifts to bring...I already checked with my Japanese friends. ^.^

Besides the preperations I need to finish my work. You know...my work-work. ^.^ So...gtg!

3/8/06 ~ Wednesday 5:50 pm

Status: chest...hurts... >.< *ouch* ~ Listening to: Higher and Higher - Rave OP

Cosplay pics posted! ^.^

lol Actually, I only put up 3 pics. Reasons.... Although my hair was nearly perfect (but on the wrong side for being Miyu <_<;), the lighting was good (no direct sunlight ^.^) and o-kaa-san actually took really good pics...but my lack of photogenic-ness (new word ^^;) showed through in practically every picture. My face was just so bleh..and my expression.... XP I chose only 3 that I feel are okay enough to show to you guys. I didn't post the pics to cosplay.com...they're only in the hidden link of this site.

I modified the cosplay site since most of you guys seen my other pics already so I don't want to slow down your comps while waiting for pics to load. My older pics are still there, only under a link on the site. (Easy to find, no worries. ^.^)

3/7/06 ~ Tuesday 4:25 pm

Status: melancholy ~ Listening to: White Night ~True Light~ - D.N.Angel OP

X hiatus: explained

The manga, X/1999 by CLAMP has been on hiatus for quite some time (2+ years) and many speculations have been made as to why. In a recent(Jan.'06) interview with CLAMP, it has been revealed that the reasons behind the delay has nothing to do with disagreements over the ending or illnesses as some have thought. Instead, the hiatus stemmed from the tension of events from the manga that reflected too closely with the recent diasters in Japan. X is a story about the destruction of the world, eg.Japan. Death, destruction, earthquakes and other kinds of chaos have been key elements in the story. However, aware of the circumstances, CLAMP felt the inappropriateness and sensitivity of their fans reading about events that closely relate to real life. (Kinda like 9/11 events and the changes that were made in movies and books.)

CLAMP said that they will finish the manga when the time is right. For a wonderful story and even more wonderful group of people, I think the fans are willing to wait as long as it takes. *sigh* I didn't realize what went on in Japan. *smacks head* Insensitive me.... >.<;

11:40 am ~ Status: distracted <.<

Encounter of the worse kind.

Aiya....horrible. I saw him ('he-who-shall-not-be-named-because-I-would-scream') this morning. More like, he saw me. I was-as usual-in my 'I'm not totally awake, but I'm walking' mode. Sh*t You guys know my line of work. The different offices in the boroughs are all confidential. P-chan, you know one of them because you applied here before. I was heading there when he saw me. Of course, his first comment was 'You work here?' In order to buy myself more time, I did the 'You startled me!' thing. (You know, me taking a step back, lowering my head and pretending I'm in shock.) Good thing, one of my co-workers saw me and asked 'Are you okay?' I turned to her, said hi and told him 'I have to go.' And just walked away.

I must confess, my defense mode to alot of things is my 'You startled me' act. Yeah, it's an act, but of course not all the time. If I genuinely got 'startled', I would jump. (You guys seen that alot. ^^;) But my defense mechanism to encountering something I'm not too sure of how to handle, is me backing away. I think I mentioned before, I'm a dog with a chicken heart.

Strange though, this was the first time seeing him when I'm at 'work'. Usually, I run around alot and I don't hang around (me, no time.) Its been what? 1.65 years since I started? Sh*t I hope this is a one time thing, I don't want to see him again. (Hm...maybe it was because I was a little late...okay, must come on time. ^^;)

3/6/06 ~ Monday 1:10 pm

Status: sleepy -O- *yawn* ~ Listening to: Disillusion - Fate/Stay Night OST

Phone Scam Warning: Jury duty calls...but not really.

Here is a practical post (me posting something worthwhile...wow.... ^.^) One of my coworkers sent this to me (and the rest ofthe office.) There is a scam going on where someone calls pretending to be a court official. The self-claimed jury coordinator states (threateningly) that there has been a warrant issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury duty. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your SS#, DOB so they can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Sometimes they even ask for credit card numbers. Give out any of this information and your identity just got stolen. The scam has been reported so far in 11 states. The FBI and the federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their websites, warning people about the fraud. I haven't checked out the federal sites yet (lazy me, ^^;) but Snopes (a true/false rumor site) has an article verifying the scam.

In general, personal info should not be given out on the phone, UNLESS YOU were the one that contacted the person/company (for confirmations, orders, reservations and stuff. Like I need to tell you guys this.... ^.^) Just wanted to give you guys a heads up on the latest? scam. ^-^

3/5/06 ~ Sunday 2:05 am

Status: sleepy ~ Listening to: aim ringing

Going to stay at Hyatt...for work ^.^

I forgot to post this in my last post.... My work is sending me off to a conference...and they're paying for the expenses (travel+hotel+reg). O.O Isn't that cool? ^.^ They like me this much.... *blushes* It's a conference sponsered by CVB (too long to explain) and it's going to be held in Rochester, NY at the Hyatt. ^-^ My co-worker (who likes anime too btw ^.^) is going to go as well. I'm bringing my laptop so we can watch the FMA movie. ^.^ She has friends upstate so we might go to Toronto or Buffalo over the weekend. (The conference is Apr. 19-21...so after Japan trip. ^.^)

Outtings: 2006

These next few months are going to be busy.... I'll be going to Taiwan from March 15-31. I'm heading to Japan from March 31-April 6. Flying back on April 6 and heading to Gospel Camp from April 7-9 (or was it 10?) Than going to Rochester for the CVB conference from April 19-21. AnimeNext is June 16-18 and Otakon is August 4-6. O.O Wow...I haven't even found out when the CCF retreat is going to be...or if me and my wonderful friends are heading anywhere for our usual mini-vacation. I'm just happy that I have the whole month of May to work on my cosplay (which I still haven't started btw >.<) before my cons, AnimeNext and Otakon. I haven't traveled like this since 2000. *looks back and grins*

Flashback: 2000

Lessee...I went to England and Scotland (with Pearl-chan and P-chan) for over a week in February. As a rest before our big concert, I headed to a summer house in Conn. for a weekend with my orchestra members. (Beautiful lake and everything. ^.^) That was near the end of June. In the beginning of July, I headed to Florida with my orchestra for our concert. In August, me and the crew headed to Penn. for a little r and r, plus some horseback riding in the mornings. (That weekend was alot of fun for me...hopefully you guys also have pleasant memories. One thing I learned, never let Alby get overly tired...he becomes zombie-ish.... ^.^;) In December was the usual ski retreat hosted by my old church.

Thinking, I usually travel alot every year. I don't know where I got the money for it. (Parents I guess...being an Only has its upsides. ^^;) Now, my yearly trips surrounds anime cons and church conf. But my fav. moments are still hanging out and doing nothing with you guys. Going to the beach and/or horseback riding is so much more relaxing than running around at a con.

Don't look for a job, just advertise yourself!

P-chan, I thought of you when I saw this link.... ^.^

DamnINeedaJob.com suggests that one of the ways you can find a job is by marketing yourself. Basically, the site sells shirts with your cover letter printed on it. (Dunno how much it cost, didn't read everything. ^^;) Wear the shirt with the letter (stating your skills and strengths) and people who are curious enough (which is everyone in this media saturated world) will come and read it. Perhaps one of the people who read it can recommend a place or may even offer a job. Sounds interesting enough. So people who wants a job should: a)Check out want ads b)Check out monster.com c)Nepotising <-new word ^.^ (job through networking friends/family) d)Check out this site. ^.^ Oh yeah, one more thing, don't forget to carry resumes in case someone asks you for one after reading your shirt.

3/4/06 ~ Saturday 7:30 pm

Status: sniffy ^^; ~ Listening to: me typing

Kimonos are not really warm... ^^;

After an hour of putting up my hair, I finally took my casual kimono Miyu pics in the snow. Lessee, o-kaa-san's photography improved...but my face hasn't. I still look ridiculous with a semi-smile that doesn't really look like a smile. Also, my 'tense' look makes me look tired. Oh well, I got some pics that I kinda like. I don't know if I should bother posting it up on cosplay.com...but I'll post it on the site later. (Gotta run them over with photoshop. ^^;)

Publish blogs for posterity...or for fun ^.^

There are many publishing sites...you can go send them your work, pay lots of money and they'll publish your work for you. Blog Book is the first one I've seen that suggests publishing blogs...placing their inane words (which the site refers to as 'insightful' ^^;) in a book for posterity sake. (I don't know...with all the drama in people's journals, I don't think anyone would want to have that as a keepsake. Hm...maybe I should get a copy of someone else's journal instead. ^.^)

Personally, I like Lulu publishing better. There is no minimum that you need to order and a 250 page book is like less than $10. (Blurb is like $30 for 40 pages. o.o) Not that I want to publish this way...but I think this is a pretty good idea for writers. Oh yeah, no fanfics are allowed...its listed on their FAQ page. They don't want to deal with the copywrites and ownership shit. They post that even though they know that fanfiction writers usually wants to distribute their stories, and not make a profit. (Not all fanficcers, but most. ^^;) It's a good venue either way. ^.^

3/2/06 ~ Thursday 2:30 pm

Status: busy ^^; ~ Listening to: Through the Years and Far Away - The Voice of a Distant Star OST

Underworld Evolution avi

P-chan, I downloaded the movie, although I think it's the cam vid (camera in the theaters ^^;) version. Since it just came out, all the downloadables are cam vids, but after checking it out, it isn't that bad: camera doesn't move, there aren't any heads (as far as I can tell,) the sound is clear, screen is kinda fuzzy (like you know it didn't come from a dvd.) Otherwise, it's watchable and doesn't give you a headache. Oh yeah, one more thing, there are no ending credits since it cuts off as soon as the credits roll. If you don't like this one, I'll download another. Now, I have to figure out how to get it to you.... ^.^;

More snow cosplay!

Yay! It snowed! (And it's going to snow even more tonight. ^.^) Tomorrow is my flex, so no work. ^-^ I'm definitely going to take my Miyu pics in the snow. I'm going to wear the blue kimono and have o-kaa-san put my hair up as Vampire Princess Miyu. ^.^ Finally, I can have cosplay pics that actually shows me cosplaying Miyu. ^^;

3/1/06 ~ Wednesday 12:00 pm

Status: dazed out *.* ~ Listening to: Cruel Angel Thesis (Remix) - Evangelion

New background! ^.^

I made this background last night...or this morning...at 3am.... O.o I'm nuts, I know. *yawn* Actually, I might redo it, since some parts of the background are too messy and I'm going to try to make the words more readable...without having to change the color of the text. ^^; The method of a lazy person.

On a side note, I'm going to play around with the html coding in order for my site to display correctly on most browsers. For the time being, my code only works in IE. (It's suppose to work for IE and Mozilla...but apparently, something went wrong. ^^;) If you see glitches on the site, just leave me a message. I'm still trying to figure this out.... ^.^

More anime series!

Thanks to my source (Pearl-chan, ^.^) my anime collection has grown substancially. Check out my anthology page to check out the new additions. Isn't she awesome? ^-^ Domo, Pearl-chan!

'You won't write my fanfic? Well, F*CK YOU!'

Many people write fanfiction about many fandoms. Sometimes the authors take requests, sometimes not. You can always ask and see what they say. However, cursing people out for not writing a fanfic is NOT the way to make a request. Apparently, this guy thinks cursing people out in CAPITAL LETTERS is the way to go. This guy ims/e-mails fanfiction authors (getting their info from fanfiction groups and whereever) and requests for NC-17 Buffy/Smallville femmeslash (f/f pairings.) If the writers refuse (since they don't write femmeslash, or they don't write the pairings requested,) he curses at them in capitals. ALSO, he sometimes contacts the same writer again after a month or so...three times. O.o Perhaps he forgot.... He mostly stalks fanfiction writers of the Buffy and Smallville fandom, so anime/manga writers are safe...for the time being. ^.^ There is also a livejournal community for people to share their 'encounters' with this guy. Check it out, it's totally funny. ^.^