I hate needles

I had blood work done like two weeks ago and I just knew that there was something wrong with the way the lab lady stuck the needle in my arm at a perpendicular angle. Even my arm muscles felt terribly sore a few minutes after she drew blood. This, for the record, is the biggest bruising I ever got from getting blood work:

Poor phone camera quality but I swear the yellows, greens, purples, blues, blacks and reds are much more vivid in real life. It took two weeks before the bruise went away. :-(

I was browsing through old food photos and found this from June, at Smith and Wollensky's. It's their white chocolate mousse. It was good but a little too sweet for me.

I'm not really a fan of white chocolate. I prefer mine dark, if you know what I mean. ;-p

Valentine's came early

I got a box of Godiva Gold Collection from Amir as a late birthday slash early Valentine's gift yesterday.

I also got my period. Not that getting it ruined any plans, it's not like I'll be getting any action any time soon, if you know what I mean. It's been what? Six months man. Six months. No wonder I feel so stressed. I need release. Maybe a massage will help relieve some of that pent up steam.

Today, I received three red roses from my sister's boyfriend and a single rose from my other sister's boyfriend. I am touched that they gave me flowers. So thoughtful. That, or they felt bad for me not having Gerd here. I don't need your pity! Sob sob sob. *throws away flowers and locks self in the room*

Kidding.

I am so immune to the self-pity thing by now. I've accepted the fact that I am technically engaged to someone who lives halfway around the world who never ceases to amaze me with the fact that in this day and age of connectivity, still finds sending an email too time-consuming.

I know he tries.

I just think he's not trying hard enough.

I honestly think I'm stuck with this situation for eternity. Like it's something I have to accept because I have no other choice. I'm not happy about it and I know I shouldn't be such a bitch about it but whatever.

I think, no, I'm sure that if we weren't engaged we would've been so over by now. I need to feel that I am missed. I want surprises that make me go all giddy. Sucks for me, he is seriously lacking in the romance department. No matter how blunt I am about wanting surprises, he still doesn't get it. Tip for the ladies: Hints do not work. If you want something, say it. Men are stupid like that.

So anyway, he called to greet me a happy Valentine's though we both know that neither of us would be having a good one. Last year was a bit better because we spent a week together in Hong Kong but it wasn't to have a post Valentine's date. It was to try to make things work. I think I've mentioned it in previous entries, though not in detail.

Earlier in the week, there was this shocking incident about Rihanna and Chris Brown. I'm sure you're well aware of that by now. I think it's wrong to hit a woman, unless she's a psycho axe murderer who wants to eat your brains. Nobody really knows the real story but as I said, hitting a woman is just wrong.

I don't know why I don't feel hatred for Chris Brown. Maybe because he has a clean image? Maybe because I have a crush on him? Yeah I know, he's too young for me. Whatever. All the guys I've been with are younger than I am but the most is like a year my junior. Gerd is eight months younger than me. What can I say? I like 'em fresh.

Another plane crashed in NY but this time, nobody survived. My sister worked with the first officer on that flight two weeks ago, on a flight to Buffalo. Really creepy. You really don't know when your time is up which is why I always make it a point to tell my family that I love them every single day. I don't want to be one of those people who said I love you too late.

I would like to have lived my life with as few regrets as possible.

Lately I've been noticing that I've been looking at wedding stuff. I don't know why I do that. It just makes me feel sad because I know I won't be getting a church wedding. I don't know why I still make notes and bookmark pages when I know I won't be using them.

Maybe I'm a sucker for punishment.

Or just plain stupid.

Maybe a little of both.

To top off the depressing tone of this post, I would like to share a text message sent by my dad:

Hppy valentine i cant give you any material things but only love and care love you till i am gone

Now do you see where I get my flair for the dramatic from?

Bleeding love

Not in the mood right now.

Went to the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

I've been sick for most of the week, sneezing and coughing. So sick in fact, that my boss ordered me to take a sick day. Pretty funny if you ask me. I think it has more to do with him not wanting to get sick than wanting to make sure I get rest. I keed.

I'm lucky he's not one of those people who don't give a shit even if you're practically dying on your desk. He's really easy to work with and he's very patient with me when I mess up. No, I'm not sucking up to him because I'm sure he doesn't know that this blog exists.

So anyway, I'm on my way to recovery and I'm thankful that I took days off but the downside is that I only have three sick days left. And it's only February! :-(

Good thing the weatherman said we'll be having relatively warmer temps for the next few days. And by relatively, I mean it's about as warm as frozen yogurt could get when you stick it in the freezer.

Speaking of frozen, look at what I have in the freezer. Well, not literally in the freezer but whatever:

The Neapolitan is Bom's favorite. The other two are for me, when I'm stressed. The coffee for a cold caffeine fix and the Bailey's for the alcoholic in me. The ice cream seemed like a good idea then but I'm having second thoughts. My doctor said I need to lose 40 freaking pounds. Yes, four-zero. Forty. O_O

I know it's for health reasons but that means goodbye to my boobies and my booty. It's a fact that when you lose a lot of weight, you also lose the fullness of those body parts which would result in un-perkiness and un-firmness. Even if you exercise, you can't bring it back to the way it was before the weight loss. Sigh. Now I really have to resort to plastic surgery. Dr. Belo? Dr. Li? *waves frantically*

I'm seeing a nutritionist next week who will probably charge me $50 per visit and tell me the same things that my mom used to say when I hated veggies. I know, I know, I don't make any sense. Whatever. I just want to give it a try.

To happier things! Makeup haul! I decided I needed to update my makeup and change my color palette. So I went a little crazy at MAC the other day. Love love love love eet! Pics and swatches on my next post. :-)

Me like ramen

Friday saw me going to a house party for the first time in four years. Bring on the beer, wine, vodka and tequila. Woohoo! I'm such a wild child.

I have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, mostly due to the fact that it takes a significant amount of alcohol to intoxicate a large body of mass not unlike a baby elephant, and slightly because of all the booze I've imbibed during the period in my life that I refer to as my Dark Ages. Now that would be an interesting blog entry.

Trust me when I say that it is never a good idea to drink on an empty stomach.

Since I get off work at 4:30, Hayden and I decided to grab a bite before heading off to Peter's for the party. I was craving for ramen after seeing reruns of Naruto so we went to Ippudo NY.

It was a good thing that we went early, around 6:00, because by the time we left, the lobby was packed and the line stretched out the door. People are standing in line in 20 degree weather freezing their butts off just to dine at Ippudo. That should give you an idea of how good their ramen is.

I apologize for not having pictures of the restaurant itself and for the poor quality of the photos. I only had my phone camera and the place has very dim lighting. So anyway, I had the Shiromaru Moto-aji which is your basic pork ramen with seaweed, cabbage, egg, scallions, some kind of veggie that reminded me of bamboo shoots but tasted like ginger and the naruto, which is the white round thing with the pink swirl on it.

I think what makes ramen good is the soup. It has to have a slightly thick texture to it and it has to taste like it has been simmering in the pot for hours, infusing the broth with a symphony of flavor from the pork and whatever secret ingredient they use. Yums!

A bowl starts from $12 which I think is a fair price for such a delicious meal perfect for a cold winter night. I wouldn't recommend ordering a bowl for yourself though unless you're really starving (their serving is big enough for two to share) or if you have a guy's appetite.

We wanted to get dessert but decided against it as we were too full from the edamame and the ramen. We still have to have room for alcohol yes?

Afterwards, we went to Peter's where I had half a cup of red wine and mingled for about two hours with past acquaintances. Most were my co-workers from the company who had the nerve to fire me. Me? Did they even realize how great I am? Their loss really. My previous co-workers told me they laid-off about 99% of their workforce and are almost non-existent. Payback's a bitch no? Harhar.

I felt a little awkward at first since it seems that everybody was tight with everybody else but I forced myself to go out there and talk to people and I actually had a good time. I had a lot of laughs and made new friends. I don't have pics of the party but I will grab some from Peter once he's posted the staged photos. :-)

Also, somebody told me that I was so Asian because I was taking photos at Ippudo. Like that's a bad thing? Whatever. You're just jealous that you're not from Southeast Asia. *death stare at Hayden*

I miss my drinking sessions with the peeps back home. All the sexy photo shoots, the comedy, the drama and the action. We should get together soon. I promise, no more Pier One episodes. ;-p