What a roller coaster past few days I had!
Im right now at Narita, Tokyo airport waiting to go home to my family.
I am convinced that being a stewardess is NOT my cuppa tea. yesterdays flight was the longest 13 hours of my ffffreaking life.
And in about an hour and a half, Ill go through another 7 (or 8?). I dont even dare checking my itinerary.
I had to leave my boyfriend on my birthday. And seeing him walking away at the airport was pretty hard. Yes, yes, its only for 2 and a half weeks, but he will not spend christmas and new years eve with me. Though hes pretty cool about it.
Now, for those who didnt wish me happy birthday, shame on you! Didnt you go to friendster & see the wrapped gift icon bliping in front of you by my picture???
Hehehe... just kidding. :P
But, yes, Im old, as old as,... uhm,... 21.
Yes, Im 21 again this year, next year I want to go with 59, coz like my coworker said, if you admit that you are 59, then in a year, youll retire and receive pention money every month.
Hm,....
Interesting.
Oh well... Im bored. Time crawls in an unbelievably slow speed when you are waiting for something.
And if youre wondering why i dont have any single quote marks in this posting, thats because I dont know how to make one. This computer im using in this public waiting room is set to japanese characters. I think Im satisfied enough to even be able to write this blog.
So, for those who celebrate, merry X-mas, happy hanukah, or Kwanza. And if you dont fall into any of those category, well,... congrats on having some days off.

I'm Coming, With 2 Big Luggages Full of Crap

Two more working days for me. Then I'm off to home.
As predicted, I'm going somewhere else after I land my butt home. We're going to Bali, which is not too bad, considering it's only a little bit more than an hour (compared to Hong Kong, around 4 hours).
I'm 95% done packing. I shocked everybody a few days ago when I told them I haven't packed, not a single thing. Then their wave of panic was contiguous enough to make me start packing (and done in a few hours,... thank you very much).
And I also went to the bank to get some crisp, clean, unfolded hundred dollars bill. To get the best rate, the year should be 2003 and up and the serial number should NOT begins with C or DB or DH.
Can you imagine how stupid those rules are?
Unbelievable.
The teller looked at me like I was mental. That was pretty embarrassing.

I only packed less than 10 pieces of clothing, I figured that since we have maids back home, I can just recycle them and wear them over and over again.
But then I called my mom & she start advising me about all the occasions I'll attend and what kind of clothing is appropriate, and now I have about 30 pieces of clothing, for the 13 days I'll be home.
Sigh...
And the shoes,... I'm not even going there.

Next step is to figure out on how I will sleep on the plane.
Thinking about buying some sleeping pills but, not really fond of the idea.
Plan B is to ask the lady in uniform to bring me something strong like vodka or something like that. That might work.

Lastly, prepare myself to face it.

And what is it? (This is so like that Ebay commercial).

It is my lovable, crappy Indonesia.

Lefties Rule!

I don't think I ever reveal that I am a lefty. I eat, cook, write, hit, serve volleyball, brush teeth with my left hand. I only use my right hand to shake hands, use scissor (don't know why I am dexter for that one), dribble a ball and trim my left hand fingernails.
I hate it how the culture in my country always see the right hand to be the superior hand. The left should only be used for cleaning yourself up after you answer 'nature calls'.
I hate it when people asked me, "So, if you are a lefty, then with which hand do you clean after yourself in the restroom."
To be honest, I don't know, because I don't keep track. I guess it depends on which side the toilet tissue is placed.
Another thing that annoyed me so is the manner issue. "Don't use your bad hand when you hand people something. Hand it with your good hand".
What the hell is wrong with all the left hands in this world? Or at least in my home country.
My left hand is a good as the right one.
I really do appreciate my parents who never seem to care which hand I use.
My kindergarten teacher called my mom up for a meeting at school when I was 5 year old. She told my mom that she had been encouraging me to use my right hand. But I kept on using my left one. And every time I, subconsciously, moved the pencil to my left hand, she placed it back to my right one. She also showed my mom my workbook. None of them were finished. My progress was very slow.
My mom only said one sentence to her: "So? Let her use her left hand".
And ever since, I caught up and did just fine.
Another story, my elementary stupid headmistress nun caught me when I held the spoon with my left hand during class break. She, angelically, sat with me and tutored me to use my right hand, I had to finish my stupid lunch struggling with my right hand to get the last pieces of my meal.
Now, I am an adult and no one tells me what to do anymore. I'd like to meet my ex-headmistress and slap her with my left hand. That would be a great pay-off for all the snickers behind me when she 'tutored' me "How to Use Your Right Hand 101".
Too bad I'm not residing in Indonesia anymore, I'd start a Lefty Equality Campaign and gather all the lefties in the country, just to piss the "righteous" righties.

And when I have a kid and she/he is weird in a way, I'd teach him/her just to kick everybody's asses when they try to mold/tell/advise him/her any other way. Be proud of what your quirks are. Never yield to be common and be the same as the rest of the world. Yes, that's what I'm going to tell the kid.

Hi everyone, my name is ***, I'm a road rager.

I just come to realize lately this very bad pattern when I'm driving.

First of all, let me tell you my philosophy when I drive. I'm generous at giving people way. I let people change lane in front of me. As long as they give signal beforehand. That's because I'm jumpy and don't appreciate it when I got scared.

I'm also big at 'the right of way'. I honor those who came to the intersection first, and I will wait and let them pass first. I also yield when I'm going to a bigger street. I don't like it when some bozo just expects me to hit the brake just because they decided to heck with it and cut me.

Lastly, I'm a slow driver. Slow means that I obey the max speed limit. At most I would go 5 miles more than what the sign said. Why? Because I was stopped by a police officer once because I went 52 miles/ hr when I should go 40 miles/hr (thank goodness I could wiggle my way out of it. I know... I'm charming when I try to). Also, I live on the biggest street in the town and there, policemen are constantly hiding behind every single bushes they can find and jump to every car that passes by with speed more than the limit. If I get a dime for every police car I see on my way back and forth to the office, I'd be rich.

So, given my mental situation. It is bad to cut me. I will honk you like crazy and chase you down and give you angry expressions. I consider it very impolite. No manner at all.
So, never cut me.

Once, I was driving on the slowest lane and this car behind me just pass me by and cut me right in front of my nose. I think I know why he did it and that's because I wasn't fast enough. But heck, I was going 40 when the sign said 'speed limit 40'.
If you want to go faster, then be my guess and pass me by. I won't get mad.
But don't pass me by and cut my lane only a few feet way from my car.
That day, I got so mad that I chased him down and not realizing that I already passed my apartment.

Yeah. I'm crazy like that.
It's not recommended though. I turned my boyfriend white the other day when someone cut my lane.

I'm a road-rager.
My temper has always been sort of my weakness. The more I think about it, the more I started to remember all the similar kind of outbursts: like that guy I chased (together with the equally crazy roommate) because he groped my butt, or the bus I chased back home because it hit my dad's car & it attempted to run away (yes, I ran and chased it and hopped into the bus and yell at the driver to stop).
I turned my dad white that day.
Later that night, my dad knocked at my room, came in and hug me and said: "I really really appreciated what you did, Honey, but next time, just let it go, okay?"

So, hi everyone, my name is Bluecactus, and a I'm a road-rager trying to recover.

Snow Dandruff

No 'warm' weather. Cancel 'warm' weather.
We have a snow storm at this very moment and I had the most intense drive back to home today. Only 2.5 miles away from the office, & I got home in about 30-40 minutes of driving.
It's crazy. I wonder how long it takes for my co-worker to drive back to her home on the far south side of Chicago suburb.
And this storm makes me look like I have a serious dandruff problem on my shoulder.
Sigh...
A tropical creature in this weather has the right to be grumpy.

Time for Bikini?

After the freaking cold weather these past days, I heard that we're going to have some warm days. Warm days mean: days in lower forties Fahrenheit.
I can't believe the weatherman announced it as warm.
Should I be happy with 40F and run around in a bikini outside?

I heard Madonna new hit single. I don't like it. I'm old, I can't keep up with the new billboard top 40 or MTV hits. My boyfriend said my taste in music is no longer 'old school'. It has gone totally to 'oldies'.
I think he's right. I think I'd fit in perfectly well in the 50-ies with Ella Fitzgerald and such. But I don't think I can pull the role being a woman in the 50-ies. Plus, wearing a dress daily (sometimes in polka-dot motive variations) with full make-up and heels would freak the crap out of me.

I think I better go to bed. I don't know why I'm up at this hour of the day. This is a school day for crying out loud.
OK, I'm out.

Map on Skimpy Post-It: Bad Idea

Riding in the car yesterday with my boyfriend, I just realized how patient he is as a person.

And I'm trying really hard right now to write this blog without making it corny.
I don't like corny stuff/remarks. I don't like cheesy stuff. Period. That's why in our relationship, I always say "I love you" straight up.
There is no "You are my sunshine, you make me feel like I'm in heaven. With you I learn what love is"
Yeeeeccckkkss!
No offense to the poetic kind out there. But that's just not us.

Anyway, so, yesterday, we went to a Christmas party. And I had the direction ready from yahoo maps. However, long story short, the direction I gave him was like going from San Diego to LA through freaking Las Vegas.
To add on top it, it was snowing, his car almost slipped a few times, I turned white, and the stupid road was full of snow and 5 cars ahead of us was a U-Haul moving truck, crawling at, 18 miles per hour.

But my boyfriend wasn't mad at me for the crappy road I mislead him to.

Oh! And to add on top of the top of it, he was actually not feeling well.

I was so ready to take it from him, because, I thought that, if it were him who gave me the wrong direction. He wouldn't hear the end of it. Yeah! I'm mean like that.

But he was not mad.

Makes me think to gain more patience towards him, coz, I'm a lil bitch who, most of the time, doesn't tolerate.
Yes, that's me.

So, moral of the story.
Get driving direction from yahoo instead of just zooming your map out & draw it on a skimpy post-it.
Get a patient boyfriend, like mine.
He's da bomb.
Two thumbs way up!
I'm cooking the next time he comes by.

My ex-neighbor, Ms. Winfrey

Most people, I think, are really into Oprah and her majesty kingdom.
And maybe I am thought as a fan too, especially since I lived my first years in Oprahdom a.k.a Chicago, and her pointy apartment tower is within walking distance from my apartment.
And I was , actually, in awe of her power and her good deeds and her talk show which doesn't include stupid sessions like 'Who fathered my child: the Ultimate Paternity test' or 'I slept with your sister and I'm going to elope with her'. You know, Jerry Springer-ish kind.
And I like how she does her make-up. I mean her make-up artist does her make-up.
If you've seen her without make-up, you'll know what a major transformation it's been.
Bravo to the make-up artist.
But, nope.
Not a fan.
Do I hate her?
Nooo,... I hate Bush more. I don't cringe when I see her on TV, like I him.
I have this tendency to flip the channel when the person doing the monologue or speech stutters or do a lot of pauses or stare in blank when asked questions.
That's why I don't watch Bush. Because he is getting on my nerves.
But, back to Oprah.
I think, she's just not my cup of tea. I don't understand why she gave all that cars to the people coming to her show, or has sessions like 'Oprah's favorite things' where she would give out expensive stuff to her live audience.
Maybe that's because I'm jealous?
Hehe... that could be it. But I think, I was ticked because with her power, those stuff, or cars can go to a more deserving people, an orphanage or I don't know, anti-cruelty society (my favorite organization).
I've read that her crew picked out the audience carefully for the car give-away, but I also heard that many of them just plain lucky. Have you calculated the tax for the car per person? I read it in an article my boyfriend sent me, it cost each person $7000.
Again, American dollars, not Yen.
I also know that she would call to Newman Marcus before shopping so that the store can be closed and she can shop freely.
Yes, it must be hard being a celebrity.
Like I said, I don't hate her, it's just the petition going on for her to be nominated for Nobel prize is... just absurd.
And her blacklist to some people is just over the top. I can't imagine being angry to Dave Letterman for 16 years. Yes, he is mean at times. But that's his bread and butter. I think Dave mentioned Clinton in much more awful jokes, but he came to his show anyway.
Oprah should chill.
Be more like Ali G.
As he said at the end of his wacky interviews:
Booyakasha!