Two Tidbits

(1) Matt the Brit hasn't been in touch with me at all since our last correspondence over a week ago. We hung out two days in a row, had a great time, he bought me DVD's... Then on Sunday night we were texting back and forth as he was leaving for his Tokyo business trip the next day. He said he would let me know if he needed me to make a reservation for him at this exclusive restaurant that I could get him into because of my cousin... then I said "Have a good flight"... aaaaand nothing.

What's GREAT is that Sara knows he got back into town yesterday. I thought he was out of town this week as well. At least I know he's here and not getting in touch. If he doesn't get in touch to go out this weekend then I'm going to let this one go. At least letting go of the idea of him being a boyfriend because he's obviously not interested in that.

(2) When Sara and I hung out Friday night she told me that she had dated the French DJ I hooked up with before the holidays. I was CRACKING UP! I love that Sara and I have known each other a few months and we already have a guy in common. HK is seriously SO SMALL (I also ran into Sara on Sunday on the escalator - seriously small). Although she actually had a MUCH longer thing with him. We decided to go to Gecko (the lounge where he DJ's) and get a drink and she would tell me "The Benjamin Story".

So we walk in and he's there! Haha! He didn't see us so we sat on the other side of the bar and she told me the story. I fucking love it!

So Much Better!

MAN, the winter blues took a brutal hold of me this year. Jesus! I've finally snapped out it and I feel so much better!

A few events over the past week helped me a lot. It helped to have a couple of dates with Matt the Brit. Mostly because I could hear myself complaining as I was talking with him and I sounded pathetic. So that was a wake up call.

Then I went out Friday night with my friend Sara and she's just great. Having some social interaction helped.

Then Saturday night my friend Jan texted me on accident. He was wasted at the Wynn casino in Macau and meant to text someone else. But the text was a little disturbing so I called him and he said, "I'm about to jump off a bridge." I was worried about him. He was basically losing his shit in the same way I was this winter. He was sick of every interaction with people being so difficult and was missing home, etc. Not that I want my friend to suffer but it helped me to know that I'm not completely insane for not 100% loving that I live abroad. It's really tough. And he's been here for 3 years.

Then Sunday the weather finally got a bit warmer. It was a beautiful day so I decided to explore in the New Territories a bit and takes some pictures. I hadn't taken a small photography trip since November and I guess I really needed it. I didn't realize how much I need my little photography/exploring creative outlet. And I also didn't realize how much prolonged cold/bad weather effects my mood. We'll see how long I last in London.

After the New Territories I came home and finally went to this Mexican restaurant I've been hearing about. OMG - it's SO GOOD! I had an extreme margarita (with Grand Marnier) and the best friggin' enchiladas I've ever had. In Hong Kong. Who knew? Then I was texting with my friend Scout because he was my margarita buddy in LA and he always makes me laugh.

So by Sunday night I finally found my way out of the fog. As Patti Labelle would sing, "I've got a new attiTUDE!!!" (shut up...Patti rocks the mic)

And yes, I don't like 90% of my job duties but I've climbed the mountain of ridiculous self pity and can see the big picture again and how spectacular it is. Being able to pay off $25,000 of credit card debt by September is fucking amazing.

[Sigh] I can finally start 2008!

Let Down

I wish I didn't care about Valentine's Day. I know those girls. They have a great perspective on life and realize that life could be much worse and is for most people in the world.

But I'm not one of them.

Just ONCE I want to be the girl at the office that gets flowers from the great guy in her life. That's not her father. Every couple of years my dad will send me an email or a card. One year he sent me a little package. He's very sweet and he tries. I should rejoice in that. I love my dad.

But again - just ONCE - I want to be dating someone on Valentine's Day. My whole life I've never had a true Valentine. This year I was SOOOO close with Matt The Brit. He's such a sweetheart so I thought that he would probably text me today saying something cute and that would've made my whole day. I would've been on cloud nine.

But he didn't. I am by no means expecting him to do anything since we JUST started dating but it would've been a smooth move on his part.

I tried working out to see if the endorphins would help my mood but no luck.

So I came home and ate a bowl of popcorn, a bowl of cereal, too much chocolate and a glass of wine by myself at home. And I cried today because my boss emailed me something and I couldn't grasp the time zone change so I didn't understand if a meeting was happening today or tomorrow. If most poeple read the same email they would've assumed what I did but of course we were wrong. And I started crying because I'm PMS-ing, it's Valentine's Day and I'm single and I have the biggest guilt complex in the world because I'm getting paid too much to do a simple secretary job that 10 years ago I would've kicked ass at but now at age 33 I keep fucking up because I just don't care. And even when I push myself to care because I'm getting paid a lot I still fuck up. I used to maybe fuck up like one time every few months...now it's much more often. I think my cousin is surprised at how many stupid questions I've had to ask him. His reactions are priceless and very telling.

I'm having a very big ego-hurting-feel-sorry-for-myself-pathetic day. But I'll get over it. I always do!

Annoying

I joined Facebook and despite the fact that it's constantly freezing my computer I enjoy it. But now I'm starting to get random people asking to be my friend. Annoying, but I can deal with that.

But this morning I got this message from Allen Hong:

u can ignore me if u dun.
I am looking for someone to go out eat, watch movie, and sex.... would u be intrested?

WTF? I don't want to deal with this shit!

Great weekend with Matt

Turns out Matt had texted me the next day asking me to brunch but my stupid phone didn't deliver the text to me until after midnight. So the poor boy thought I was NOT texting him back all day.

So we got lunch on Friday. And then he suggested watching the Chinese New Year fireworks that night. I love that he wanted to do that. We met up and watched them outside with about 50,000 Chinese people. He brought 4 beers with him (you can drink in the street here) and made sure to bring Smirnoff Ice for me because he thought I'd like that more (it's the small things). After fireworks we went to a pub and then to another place for dinner. It was a great date. He walked me to my apartment and I told him I wasn't inviting him up and he said, "I love that you're not inviting me up." Then we proceeded to make out for 15 minutes.

Yesterday he called again and we went to dinner. I felt bad for him because he started yawning like crazy towards the end of dinner. Last night was the 6th night in a row that he had been going out so he was exhausted. He said he didn't care because he wanted to see me again since he's going to be in Tokyo all week. Awwww.

And he gave me a gift! Bought me the "Schindler's List" DVD because I had said at some point that I had never seen it before. How sweet is that?! And he bought me the "Clerks" DVD too because he couldn't remember if I had seen that one.

Love this guy. And his accent. He'll ask me, "What do you fancy for dinner?" I'm like, "Hee hee...I don't knnnoOOOOOooowwwwww."

The next day

So hungover today. When I woke up I remembered that Matt had texted me after we parted ways last night just to say hi. The end of the night is a blur but I do remember saying something about how I didn't want to hook up with him because I really like him and don't want to mess it up. But who knows how the hell I phrased it when I was wasted. God.

But I do remember him texting me and I texted him back asking him his last name. He texted it back and asked for mine and I shot back some stupid ass text about how I wouldn't give it to him and he has to earn it. Why couldn't I just be nice and answer the boy's question? I swear...

I didn't get anymore texts after that. Today I texted him saying that I couldn't remember what my stupid text said and gave him my last name.

Another part of the reason that yesterday was a happy day was because this girl I met last weekend, Amy, texted me saying we should get together this weekend. She's a pretty cool girl and has a bunch of guy friends. I texted her back today as well.

Then tonight I decided to watch "Bridget Jones Diary". A few minutes after it started I thought, "Why am I watching this movie? I'm going to be depressed after it's over." But then I got a text that said, "Hey there - I'm not feeling well today so I'm not going out but will hopefully feel better tomorrow and will keep you posted."

I thought it was Matt because we had talked about hanging out this weekend. I thought about how to respond and did...and then continued watching the movie thinking, "See? I'm not Bridget! I have a guy!" And then I double-checked my phone again and it was Amy's number that had just sent the text. Not Matt's.

Loser. I'm just glad that my response to Amy that I THOUGHT was going to Matt actually made sense for her as well so I didn't have to explain myself. Ha.

Happy Day!

After a very bleak January I finally had a good night out in Hong Kong. I had emailed my friend Sara who's my only connection to the happy hour group I was hanging out with. I heard back from her but she was in a post-holiday funk like everyone else. Then yesterday I ran into her at the grocery store. I know about 10 people here but I run into them all the time. HK is so small.

We joked about how we're hibernating, etc. Then when I got home she called and wanted to get a drink. We were going to make ourselves wake up from our hibernation.

I truuuuuly planned on just drinking a couple glasses of wine, catching up with her and going home but she got in touch with Jonathan who's the main instigator of trouble and we met him out. Matt was with him. Matt is a guy that I really like a lot. He makes me laugh, he's smart, confident, loves to dance, is laid back, etc. I was so excited to see him because I had no way to get in touch with him directly and now I could get his number.

We talked all night long (like we always do) and drank a lot (like we always do) and danced. That boy can dance. I LOVE IT! [sidebar: hanging out with Matt reminded me of my ex-boyfriend Dave from NY and how much he sucked. I was so uncomfortable around Dave and felt awkward. And he was so serious. Couldn't be goofy. Would never dance. He wouldn't even bowl when we went to a BOWLING birthday party for a friend of his. Lameass.]

So we all ended up getting wasted. He and I danced for awhile and then started making out on the dance floor. So cheesy but I couldn't help myself. SO attracted to him! Yay! It felt really good. I discounted him as a potential guy to date before because I didn't think I was feeling it. Part of the reason was that I was being really shallow. He has a really bad smile. One of those gummy smiles. Really, really gummy. But after having such a good time with him last night it started to matter less and less and then it just was a part of him and it didn't bother me.

I like that he always makes fun of me for being an American.

We'll see...

297

This is the number of stairs I had to walk down...

and then UP...

in heels...

to get to the bar I went to Saturday night.

So a total of 594 stairs.

They turn the escalator off at midnight so if you're out past that time you're screwed. Could try to get a taxi but it's tough.

I had to count on the way up to make it like a game to keep my mind off the fact that I had to walk up all of those stairs. At least you burn off some of the calories you ingest during the evening. Of course I did chow down on junk food when I got home so I'm sure I ended up in the mucho positive on the calorie front. Nice.

(^ ^)

What the hell does that mean in emoticon language? The Japanese secretary I communicate with the most uses it with me all the time. Given the context I'm assuming it's her version of a smiley face but wondered if there was more to it. Does anyone know? Raised eyebrows, perhaps?

Saturday night

Saved from going insane just in the nick of time...

I was sitting in my pj's this past Saturday night reading "Woman in Charge" by Carl Bernstein when I heard the sound of people having fun right above me. A guy was having a huge party that got louder and louder as the night went on. I was trying to focus on my book and tell myself that it's okay that I'm staying home by myself for the 3rd weekend in a row.

Then I got a magical call on my cell phone from Benji. A guy that I had a drink with a couple weeks ago. We have a mutual friend. He invited me to his going away party. THANK GOD!!!

I got ready in record time and went to this members only club called Prive. They're very big on the "members only" bullshit here. It's so stupid.

I entered the club, bought myself a drink and was immediately reminded of why I'm so not into dance clubs anymore. Three people knocked into me all in a row and each spilled part of my drink on my dress. You can smoke in bars here so this guy blew smoke in my face. I tried to find Benji but it was packed as hell and everytime I turned my head in another direction all I could see was this:


















I felt like a blind fly that was just caught in a spider's web. I was turning and spinning but couldn't find an opening. Finally, I find him and he's hitting on some girl. So he takes us to their table. That's another thing that's big at the clubs here. You reserve a table and buy huge bottles of champagne and vodka. It's great. They bring you mixers, ice, straws, napkins, etc. So you don't have to fight the crowd everytime you want a drink.

Benji introduced me to a guy. We small-talked for about 5 minutes and then it was very apparent that neither of us wanted to continue talking. So I kept getting pushed around and just started sucking down drinks hoping that would help. And it did.

The music was fun but then quickly turned to lame. The DJ played "Living on a Prayer" and I rolled my eyes but then started laughing my ass off because it was quite a sight to see people from all over the world screaming, "We gotta hooooold on to what we've got. It doesn't make a difference if we make it or not!"

Bon Jovi: Uniting The World Through His Song

I met a few people and one girl seems a bit wacky but cool enough and she has tons of guy friends here in HK. So hopefully she'll call. I got home at 4am and when I left they were all still there and had no intention of leaving anytime soon.

I swear, it really is spring break for 30-somethings with money here.

Nothing

My life is so incredibly boring right now. I haven't written a post in awhile because I literally have nothing to say.

I sit in my apartment all day long. Sometimes I work out, run an errand or two. I've actually had to work this week so that's good. Today I tried to buy a space heater because I don't have gas in my apartment so no heat and it's cold. But it was $100 and I figured that wasn't worth it since it's going to get warmer here soon.

See? I'm talking about the weather. You know it's bad when all you have to talk about is the weather. Speaking of...did you hear how bad it is in China right now?

UGH! There I go again!

Meanwhile, I'm booking flights and trips for my cousin's family to go to Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Aspen, Dallas, London, Tokyo, Beijing...I've never seen a family so busy in my life. The kids don't always go because of school of course.

One good bit of news is that my cousin's kid was accepted to one of the schools in London so now there's absolutely no chance that we'll be staying in Hong Kong for another year. Thank God for that (again, always capitalize the "G" in "God" just in case).

Helpers

Every weekend I see tons of maids/nannies sitting on the covered walkways on thin blakets playing cards, reading, etc. I don't quite understand what's going on but my understanding at this point is that they're not from Hong Kong and live with their employers during the week. But they can't afford their own homes. So on the weekends - when their employers don't use their services - they just sit outside.

Do they sleep outside? I don't know about that part. I'm going to ask them next weekend.

Skype

Does anyone else use Skype? It's great except for the random people that IM me. I get about one random person IM-ing me every few days. But in HK I get stuff like this:

"Hi plss I ‘ll like u to be my friend – Daniel from Dongguan, China"

That's a direct quote.

Although the name of your town makes you sound like you're the Chinese version of "Don Juan" and could indicate certain attributes about yourself that I may favor...I think I'm gonna have to decline.

Bangs

I got bangs.

I realize this isn't the most important thing going on the world right now... but it's the most important thing that's happening in MY little world and therefore is newsworthy on my little blog.

I think I look better with my old haircut but I was in desperate need of a change. New year...new 'do.

Tuesday

I went to my cousin's house today and saw them for the first time since the holidays. Mandy said that we might be moving to London sooner that I thought. I was thinking that I'd be here until September. There's still a chance of that but it'll more likely be May/June. I'm so excited for the possibility.

Hong Kong is fine but I'm in limbo here. Not really motivated to make friends because I know I'm going to be leaving. Probably a bad attitude, but that's how lazy I am.

Nothing much else to report. I've been keeping up with my Photo of the Day project. It's fun!

No Shit

Tell me about it.

Million Dollar Idea

I have another Million Dollar Idea.

It's a little extreme as it's a new torture device. But it's genius. It'll totally work.

Have the terrorists/bad guys/etc sit on a couch and let them watch TV.

You: "Huh?"
Me: "Hear me out."

Only let them watch the E! Channel.

24 hours a day. 7 days a week. That's all they're allowed to watch.

I guarantee you they won't last longer than a week and will confess everything... and then some.

I'm about to lose my mind. I only have 3 channels. HBO, Star World and E!.

The HBO channel sucks because it never plays any movies I've (1) heard of or (b) would want to watch.

Star World shows re-runs of Seinfeld, Ellen and Seinfeld. Oh, and Ellen. And eeeeevery once in awhile they'll throw some Seinfeld in there to mix things up.

Then there's the E! Channel. Right now I'm watching a show ranking different showbiz divas and they were talking about Barbra Streisand.

Fine.

But the only celebrity opinion on Barbra they featured was from....Daisy Fuentes.

?????

And the only celebrity they could get to do a talking head piece commenting on how hot each of the divas are is....Lorenzo Lamas.

I can't take it anymore. The only thing that's keeping me going is that I get to see Kim Kardashian cry Tuesday night because some photographer is threatening to go public with some some naughty photos of she and her sister. She totally crys and says, "I don't want to go THROUGH this agaaaaaaain!"

Then stop doing stupid slutty things if you want to be famous, Kim.

And then her sister, Kourtney (with a K) says, "I never thought anyone would see them."

O. M. G.

This is the only thing that's keeping me going at this point. That, and the fact that I just had a really good drink and it's now "my drink". Vodka, cranberry and champagne. Try it. It might make you write angry things about people and television networks but it tastes really awesome. And who knows. You might come up with your own Million Dollar Idea.

Lonely Hoo-hah

I just spent another night out by myself at a bar. I'm so over it. I did this several times in NY. Usually it was awful but a couple times I met people and was glad I went out.

Same thing here. I put in all the effort to look good. Texted the 3 people I know and they either weren't going out or didn't respond. So I went out anyway because "you never know".

I sat at a bar by myself for 2 drinks and went home. Guys looked at me but wouldn't approach. They were probably turned off by the pool of desperation that had formed under my bar stool.

While I was at the bar, I texted Hanoi Pascal so it looked like I wasn't such a loser and it of course turned sexual within 2 texts. He asked me to take a picture of my hoo-hah and email it to him. I resisted and said that I can't risk it ending up on the internet thereby dashing all of my presidential hopes. He said I could trust him.

So I sent one to him. Haha...

Why not?

Tomato / Tomahto

It always strikes me as funny whenever I hear a word pronounced one way my entire life and then all of a sudden "people" change the pronunciation. I'm like, "When did THAT happen?"

The word for the moment is: Empire

As in an Empire waist dress.

I thought it was pronounced em-PIE-er as in, The Roman Empire.

Now everyone is pronouncing it em-PEER.

When did this happen? Has it always been pronounced that way and I just missed the boat somehow? That's highly possible.

2008!

A belated Happy New Year. I've been so lazy about getting going this year. I figure now that it's officially Week 3 I should get a move on.

2008 has been pretty boring so far. My cousin is in London so I haven't had much to do workwise. Which I LOVED for about a week and then my brain started to ooze out of my left ear (I know, I would've thought it'd be my right ear too). So I actually started reading the Financial Times newspaper that I've been getting for about a month but havent touched yet. And I got further than ever before in the latest Economist (page 65 and still going!). I MIGHT actually finish it before the next one comes [sigh].

I also bought "The God Delusion" and Carl Bernstein's biography of Hillary Clinton. Figured I should read a book about her and then read Obama's to maybe help me decide who to vote for in November.

Note to self: must start AND finish two books by November. Fuck.

I finally caved and joined Facebook. Not because I felt the need to fill out another profile in the hopes that some gent will find me attractive and email me asking me out. But my friend Sarah said, "You can play Scrabble!"

Done.

Scrabulous, it's official name, is awesome! If you're on Facebook I highly recommend downloading it.

Sarah also gave me another great idea. She's taking one photo a day, each day, for all of 2008. I think that's a fabulous idea. So I'm stealing it.

I got a late start so they only begin on Jan. 10th but you can view them on my Picasa Web Page. They're not always going to be the most beautiful shots as a lot of them will be taken with my 2.0 megapixel camera on my Blackberry, but I think it's an interesting experiment.

Went to a music & art festival this past weekend with my friend Jan (guy) called Clockenflap.

Clockenflap.

Clockenflap.

There are so many things that piss me off about this name like the fact that it sounds like it's describing an uncircumsized penis, for example. But the the main thing that pisses me off (pun intended) is that they don't tell you anything about it. Why THAT name? If you're going to give something a name like that at least EXPLAIN to the people WHY for Pete's sake.

I had a good time but it was poorly organized. One alcohol line that was long as hell. We met some Canadians that were in HK to sell non-FDA approved breast implants. You meet all sorts of people here.

There was one great band though. The White Knives. The Brits seemed to already know them. They shouted "One more tune!" over and over again which made me laugh because I'm used to it being phrased, "One more song!"

Crazy Brits.