The only pic from my birthday

I love that I dragged my heavy ass camera out for my birthday but only had one photo taken. I always do that. This is my friend Alpha and I. She and I worked together at WB in LA. She took a photography class and inspired me to take one. Now she lives in Atlanta and is the casting director for Tyler Perry's studio. She kicks butt.

ATL so far

Atlanta's suburbs must be THE most convenient places to live in the world. I swear to God (and I don't swear...or believe in God...but I always capitalize the "G" juuuust in case). I've never seen so many shopping plazas. Every year I come home there are more and more.

Got in late Friday night. My poor parents picked me up at the airport at 1:30am. They're troopers. I've been shopping my ass off. I actually feel normal-sized here vs. HK where I feel like the girls in the stores look at me and think, "The baby in her tummy must be ready to come out any day!" So I'm like a kid in a candy store here.

Went to the movies with my dad. One of my favorite things to do. And he still insists on paying.

Went to a girls gift exchange and had great food and conversation(thanks again, Haywood).

Then last night a bunch of people came out to celebrate my birthday with me. It felt really good. I didn't get much one-on-one time with everyone but at least got to say hello and catch up quickly and give/get hugs and see their faces. I'll be here for awhile so I'll get more QT with everyone.

Switching gears - The company I work for is so unorganized. There have been about 6 different events where they've given me the wrong information or something to that effect. Then yesterday I received an email that said they accidently put over $12,000 into my checking account. They were only supposed to put in about $950 to reimburse me for my November expense report. I tried the "Thanks for the birthday present" response but no-go. So now I have to write a $12,000 check and FedEx it to the accountant.

Then today another accountant gave me a wrong credit card number and caused a whole long confusing chain of emails. Then the HR chick told me that I have vision insurance if I'm in the states. So I went to the eye doctor today for a much-needed exam and new glasses and they said they couldn't find me listed with my insurance. Sure enough...after calling the HR woman she said, "Oops. I was wrong...you don't have vision insurance." So $600 later I left the doctor's office.

Then the travel agent gave me wrong information that caused about an hour's extra work for me.

It just never stops with these people. It's a multi-billion (with a B) dollar company. You think they'd have the best people working for them. Of course, I'M working for them and I'm a lazy piece of shit so I guess that's their "thing".

Back to birthday - I received a sweet email from a guy named Aaron that I had a crush on in high school...then briefly dated in LA when we were both there. Then he left after 9/11 and moved back to ATL and has been here ever since. I replied to his email last night and gave him my number and he already called me today. Ohhhhhh yeeeahhhhh. Will have to tell my parents I'm "spending the night at a friend's house" one night soon ;)

Also got a sweet email from the 40-year old Swiss/Persian guy from Hanoi, Pascal. I don't know how he or Aaron knew my exact birthday. Usually I'm obnoxious and tell people but I didn't do that with them. I love those surprise birthday emails you get every year. Makes up for the assholes that forget.

Random

I was walking up the escalator the other day and an old Chinese street musician man was playing his jinghu and the song sounded really familiar. After listening a minute I realized he was playing "Oh, Susannah". A Southern folk song?

"Oh, Susannah!
O don't you cry for me
For I've come from AAAAlabama with
A banjo on my kneeeee"

I thought that was so random but fun at the same time. I sang it the rest of the day and now that I've typed it out it's back in my head.

Tokyo Trip

Went to Tokyo this past weekend for our company's Christmas party. Very quick trip. Got there Thursday evening and left Saturday morning. Thursday night I got to meet Izumi, Yuko and Chihoko - 3 secretaries at various proficiency levels of English. But they were all good enough so that they understood most of what I was saying.

Izumi and I have been talking via email for quite awhile so I was excited to meet her. I wasn't sure what the custom was in Japan for introducing yourself. Handshake? Would she want to hug? I thought I'd wait for her to make a move.

Well, she sort of just stood there and I went in for the hug and then she stuck out her hand but I was already in there so then I kissed right by her cheek and tried to go to the other side because I've been doing that for the past month with all my Euro friends in HK.

It was the most awkward hello ever. I joked about it with her and told her I'm all messed up with the different cultures I've been encountering lately that I don't know how the hell to physically say, "Nice to meet you" anymore. We laughed.

They took me to Inakaya for dinner and as soon as we walked in I thought, "Waaaait a minute...I'VE been HERE before!" It's the same restaurant my cousin took me to 4 years ago when I visited him in Tokyo. Cracked me up.

Then Yoko Ono walked in!




This is my Blackberry picture of her. She's past the British dude in the white hat. I almost went up to her to introduce myself as Paul R. is good friends with her but I thought I'd just let her eat in peace.

Peace is what she's all about after all.








During dinner the girls and I were getting to know each other which meant that I was doing most of the talking as they can only ask basic questions in English and then I had to carry the conversation most of the time.

Izumi and I were getting along great and I thought, "we're not so different" until her reply to a question I asked slapped me in the face and made me realize that she and I are on totally different life wavelengths.

Me: "So do you always want to be a secretary or do you want to have another type of job?"

Izumi: [thinks for a few seconds, then] "Mmmmm...I think I'll stay secretary because it gives me time for my housework."

Me: "..."

I was so ready for bed by the end of dinner as I didn't get any sleep the night before but the girls wanted to get a drink. I couldn't refuse. They were so sweet and wanted to show me a good time. So we went to The Oak Door in the hotel I was staying in. That was quite the hip place. Filled with white banker boys that are only in town for a few days and are getting wasted. My ass was grabbed on the way to the bathroom. I slapped his arm and he called me fiesty in his British accent. I wanted to kick his little ass (he was only about 5'4").

Friday I put on my conservative suit and worked at the bank. My voice was almost gone and I was starting to feel like shit. Great. It felt a bit strange to be sitting in that office. Not just because there were various people on the phone at all times speaking Japanese but because I hadn't worn a suit to my job at a bank in about 10 years.

Izumi took me around to various offices and introduced me to a bunch of different people that I've been emailing with. She was such a trooper. Had to listen to me answer the same 3 basic questions about 15 different times.

Got dressed up for the party which started at 7pm. I really had no idea what to expect. I got there at 7:07pm...walked into a HUGE room (you could hold the Oscars in there - well, almost) and there was the Chairman of the company on stage giving a speech and EVERYONE WAS ALREADY THERE AND IN THEIR SEATS.

Oops.

I felt like such an asshole. I've never been to something like that where it starts at EXACTLY 7pm. Now I know. Be on time to the party in Japan.

I thought I'd stay in the background until he was done speaking and then he said, "Randy will speak about the funds..." and my cousin started to stand up. So I thought, "Here's my chance" and I started walking fast to my table (all the way up front with my cousin). I'm about half-way there and the Chairman says, "Just kidding, Randy. You'll be up in a minute."

Doah.

I had already committed so I just kept going and sat at an empty seat at our table. Turns out I sat in the Chairman's seat. Lovely.

I apologized to my cousin but it wasn't a big deal. Phew.

Listened to some financial speeches in Japanese. Then my cousin gave a speech and had a Japanese interpreter. I felt so bad for that chick because he gave her about 2 paragraphs of info about private equity funds with no time to practice beforehand.

They gave out prizes for a couple hours (I didn't win, damnit) and then it was over. They had photographers there so below are a few photos.

















Izumi, Me and Diaa. He's the head of the IT department and flew to HK to set up my computer. He's really sweet.

















My cousin Randy, the big wig, giving his speech (there were hundreds of people there)

















Akiko (she's hysTERRRRical), David Nishida (very nice guy - big wig exec), Yuko, Chihoko and Izumi

















Me and my new Japanese peeps. Every other picture from the party had someone giving the peace sign with their fingers. Hundreds of people there and I was the only white girl. I love it. When I walked up to get my name tag they shouted, "Ahh, Stacey-san!"

Had a great time. I feel much more connected to the company now. Their names aren't so foreign to me. I have a better understanding of how awesome my cousin is and how much he's really accomplished. Have had an insane cold all week. Am prayyyying it goes away by the time I fly home this Friday. I have a 20+ hour journey with 2 connections. Ugh. But am SO looking forward to being at home for 3 weeks! Yay! Christmas!

5:01 Club - 12/2/07

Junk cruise was a blast!!! I knew there were cool things to do in HK like this but I just didn't have the people to do them with before. What a great group of people. So laid back and nice and fun to be around. It's just an easy time. It was probably 75 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze. So perfect. We were all commenting on how we couldn't believe it was December and all of our friends from home were in cold weather.

There were only two caucasian girls on the boat. Me and Sara. Sara's boyfriend, Dominic was there so I got ALL the guy attention. It was so much fun! At one point I had five guys sitting around me. I was fucking loooooving it.

There were the following guys:

Alex, 21, Scottish - ADORABLE and in love with me for some reason. He was calling me "honey" and "sweetie" all day/night. He has 1,000 funny stories and tells them well. Plays on the rugby team.

Matt, 31, British - I've mentioned him before. VERY cool guy but I'm just not attracted to him - damnit! I can tell he likes me too. Argh. Beat him in arm wrestling at the pub that night (he only used 2 fingers though).

Jason, 26, British - Has lived in HK for 6 years teaching English. Plays on another rugby team. Totally cute and sweet guy.

Leo, 25, British - HOT but of course too young. We were eyeing each other the whole time. Very attracted to him. Was bummed when I found out his age. On the same rugby team with Jason.

Jonathan, 32?, Scottish - "President". Love this guy. He has the energy of an 8-year old. On the rugby team with Alex (they lost the day before to Jason & Leo's team).

The night before they had gone out late night after their big, final rugby match dressed up as either Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera and went bar hopping. They had endless stories. Why do British guys like dressing up as women so much?

We had six hours on the boat with good music and plenty to drink and eat...then we hung out at a bar until about 11pm. Alex - being 21 - still doesn't know how to handle his liquor so by 11pm we were having to babysit him so we called it a night. Plus, 11 hours of hanging out with each other was enough. I could tell that Matt and Leo were hanging around to see if either one of them could get "special alone time" with me but I wasn't into it. I'm not attracted to Matt and Leo's too young. Although, if I keep seeing him every Friday then I might change my mind :) Gotta take it slow since I'm new to the group.

I didn't get to take that many pictures because I only had my Blackberry but below are some pictures from when we docked and FEASTED on fresh seafood for only $20/person. It was right as the sun was setting...gorgeous.

And what was even better was they didn't do the peer pressure shit with the drinking. So I got to have a relaxed time and drink at my own pace. Which was much faster than it should of been but still in control.



















My new friend Sara in the middle, her boyfriend Dominic on the left, Jonathan on the right (In the hotel robe - Alex brought a huge SUITCASE on the boat with all sorts of stuff in it. It was hilaaaarious. Hotel slippers, a panda bear hat, robes, a superman blanket...on and on...he just kept pulling new things out of it every hour.)





















That's Leo resting on Jonathan. Jason is on the far right.





















Such a feast! I ran into Sara today when I was grabbing lunch. She and I live about a 2-minute walk apart so this is the 2nd time I've run into her during lunch. She said that her man's going to email her more pictures so I'll post them when I get them from her.

Was SO tired today and had forgotten about a GYN appointment I had at 10:30am. Always nice to show up to the doctor's office hungover. But it was just to get a BC Pill prescription. What was great is that in HK the pharmacy is inside the doctor's office. So you get your medicine immediately. SO much easier!

Picked up my new size 6 gray Theory suit and the pants fit a tiiiiiny bit better. They're wearable for the business trip this weekend. Still gotta a bit more to go though. Gotta get the booty down a tad. Spinning class has become my 2nd home. Such a great workout and it doesn't bother my knees. Halelujah!

And I FINALLY found size 9 shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A place called "Sole Town". Ohhhh yeeeeahh.... So now I'm set! Bought a Vivienne Tam dress for the Christmas party which I shouldn't have but I couldn't find a cheap one that was appropriate and in my size. I REALLY TRIED I SWEAR!!!! Here's a picture but it's crappy and looks sort of freaky on the mannequin and doesn't do it justice. I love it!

5:01 Club - 11/30/07

It feels like I'm part of the group now. They've always been welcoming but it just takes a few times to hang out with new people before you're comfortable with them and vice versa.

THIS time I REALLY planned on not staying out late. I did much better than last weekend with French Guy Benjamin however I still sucked down more drinks/shooters than I was supposed to.

You see, I had made an appointment with a Chinese doctor to discuss Eastern treatment options for my anxiety, knee joint pain, allergies, etc. today at noon. So I thought it might not be the best idea to be totally hungover for that. Plus, I've been wanting to do this for years and it's important to me.

You'd think that would be enough to motivate me to not drink that much. But nooooOOOOOOOoooooo. The problem is the ringleader, or President as he deemed himself, Jonathan. He's charming as hell and you just can't say no to the guy. We started out at a bar called Tivo. Good thing about HK is they serve you free appetizers at the posh bars. Yes, I just used the word posh. The appetizers are the size of a dime but they're FREE so I shouldn't bitch. Aren't we supposed to not complain anymore and wear a Lance Armstrong-esque bracelet and inflict pain on ourselves whenever we do complain now? I heard that's like...the thing.

Anyway...had a couple drinks at Tivo and then I should've gone home. But Jonathan turned on the charm so I went to the next place...Stormies. Stormies cracks me up. It's so cheesy. They play cheesy music, have cheesy expats pouring out into the street, etc. You're allowed to drink in the street in HK. Waiters come to you and everything. So cars can't drive in the expat bar area, Lan Kwai Fong. It's like spring break for 30-year old finance people every weekend. I just decided to let go of the fact that it's sort of loser-ish and dorky and just had fun instead.

I talked a lot with Matt. Matt grew up in HK and London. He's a very cool guy, smart, funny, laid-back. Loves the witty back-and-forth convo but can also talk about serious stuff. Looks-wise I'm on the fence with him. He has one of those gummy smiles. I hate gummy smiles. And he's generally attractive but I'm not drawn to him yet. Jonathan keeps asking me what I think about him. Last night I told him to just chill...that I think he's a cool guy and I'm trying to get to know him.

After Stormies we went to Le Jardin. I love this place. Tons of plants and it's upstairs. Feels like an oasis from the city. Did a kamikaze shot and drank a beer there. And I had a beer at Stormies. So 5 drinks total. Could've done better. But I wasn't that hungover today. And I had a great meeting with the doctor. I now have Chinese herbal shit I'm supposed to drink 2x/day.

All the 5:01'ers are going on a junk cruise tomorrow so we'll be stuck on a boat together for 6 hours. I'm scared but also excited. We leave at noon. Drink for a few hours. Park the boat somewhere and eat at a really small, local place with good, fresh food. Then it's back on the boat for another few hours of drinking. Then we'll be back on land at about 6pm on a Sunday and will be totally wasted lookin' for trouble.

Lord.