Free hotel room
June 20, 2008
I got a free hotel room for one night near Newark Airport! WOOOHOOO! I am SO good! Yes I’m very VERY VERY freaking proud of myself. So what did I do to deserve a free room?
Rob suggested I stay at Howard Johnson for my one night layover and me not knowing what’s good or not I was pretty much leaving it up to him. Anyway, he was about to book me a night through hotels.com and I curiously wanted to know more about Howard Johnson so I went to their website to see what it’s all about.
While I was reading I heard Rob talking to himself through the process of booking me a room and he mentioned how much it was going to cost. I checked how much it would cost to get a room directly from Howard Johnson’s website and to my surprised they charged MORE. Strange I thought. I would think if customers buy directly from you, they would get the best rate right?
I continued browsing the site and came across a banner saying “Best rate guaranteed or it’s free”. I read it out to Rob and he was like “Huh??” We couldn’t believe it, there HAS to be a catch. After much deliberation and persuasion from my end, Rob called Howard Johnson to make a “reservation”. Thirty minutes later, he emails Howard Johnson making a claim for the free room because he “found” a better rate at hotels.com “after” making reservations.
And then the next morning he got an email saying they are giving him a FREE ROOM! How easy was that?!?! All we had to do was try and it worked! 😀 We just saved over US$100 so that means more shopping money for me. I can’t wait!
So here’s my tip. When you book hotel rooms online, make sure to check different sources. Hotels.com is a pretty good site and always always checked at the hotel’s website before purchasing anything. You never know what kinda deal you’ll get. 😀
Oh yeah, on a totally related note, about 4 more weeks to go!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait!!!! Ok, I feel better getting that outta my system.
Needless to say I am scrambling trying to lose weight and dieting like crazy. I made steam fish for dinner tonight. The result wasn’t bad at all considering it was my FIRST try. Will post up pictures later. I haven’t tasted anything artificially sweet in over two weeks! I miss coffee, I miss cakes, I miss ice cream! I miss chicken skin!!! Even the ad on tv about KFC is making me hungry.
Alrighty, back to reality.
High maintenance
June 2, 2008
Many random things for this post…
We had a couple units of air conditioners installed in the house today and they were drilling and whatnot, making it hard for me to focus on my work. So I messaged Rob…
S: so ummm i cant concentrate
R: I’ll give you a dollar if you lean out the window and spill some cheap perfume on the installer
S: a dollar? i’m not that cheap hmmmmphhhh *Looks away*
R: Its a dare bet honey, i didnt ask you to flash him 
S: nope, i aint doing nothing for a buck hmmphhhhh *tosses hair*
R: Ok ok, a mcflurry
S: anything else?
R: 2 flurrys
S: 5 and you have a deal
S: am i too high maintenance for ya now honey?
R: 
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A couple days ago I noticed an increase in my page views. I later on found out that I have been getting a lot of hits from an online forum site. Apparently, someone was interested in my shoe post a couple years ago. I also got some comments from the users that they are now reading my blog so a great big shoutout to the girls of paranting.net!! *waves*
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Now that June is here, excitement is escalating with Rob and I. Yesterday he purchased the ticket from Newark Airport to O’hare Airport so you can imagine my excitement. You guys are probably sick and tired of me babbling over my trip but I really cannot help it. I get the feeling that June is just going to sweep by without me realising it. That’s good and bad. Good because I get to see Rob sooner, but bad because I get very stressed out to finish the thesis as much as I can.
Anyway all that’s left to do is book my hotel stay for a night at Newark before flying off to Chicago the next day. I will arrive in Newark Airport around 7pm and there aren’t any flights to Chicago after that so I have to take a flight the following day. It’s a bit spooky to be on my own for a night but I suppose that will be my little mini adventure. Heh
I have planned out my food menu for my first day in Chicago so it’ll be great. It consists of IHOP for breakfast, then off to Woodfield Mall to get Baskin Robbins’ Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream, and dinner at Chili’s with Molten Cake for dessert. 😀
Because of all the yummy food I will consume while I am there, I am in the midst of TRYING to lose weight before going over. I rather lose weight, and gain it back while I am there than coming back FATTER. Lol
It’s late, my bed is calling me. Will write soon.
Best phone call etiquette EVER
May 27, 2008
Yesterday I got a phone call from this number: 016-6628085.
I didn’t recognize the number but I answered anyway.
Me: Hello
Stranger: Hello boleh saya cakap dengan Encik *my dad’s name* ?
(Hello may I speak with Mr. *insert dad’s name*)
Me: Who are you?
Stranger: Nama saya Nadia dari ……(whatever name that I couldn’t make out) agensi.
(My name is Nadia from ….. Agency)
Me: What is this regarding?
Stranger: *something about credit card*
Me: Oh not interested
*click* I hung up.
She calls back a few times and asked for my dad again and again. I ignore the subsequent calls from her but she kept calling and calling. I was very annoyed and decided to finally answer the call but little did I know…
Me: Hello? *in all nice voice just to annoy her*
Nadia: KAMU NI PEKAK KAH??!?!?!? I CAKAP SAYA NAK CAKAP DENGAN ENCIK. *DAD’S NAME*
(ARE YOU DEAF??!?!?!? I SAID I WANT TO SPEAK TO MR. ….)
Me: *cuts her off* Yalah memang saya pekak, dengan orang bodoh saya pekaklah. When you know how to speak English you call me back k?
(Yes I am indeed deaf, with idiots/stupid people I turn a deaf ear)
*click*
When I clicked to hang up I could still hear her going at it in her loud sharp voice. Needless to say I was laughing my ass off after hanging up on her.
With that kinda attitude she expects anyone to sign up for a credit card with her? What a joke.
I suspect it’s a scam of sort because I would like to think that no legitimate credit card agency would have this kinda staff calling up people and being THAT rude and speak no English at all. Another thing is why the hell did she ask for my dad by calling MY number? The only connection is that my number is registered under my dad’s name. So that means the cellphone provider gave away that information right?
But regardless I had the last say by calling her stupid. It was so satisfying! LOL
I’m still giggling about it until now.
A new door
May 10, 2008
I’m getting a new door put in as I am typing this. The carpenter is just ripping the old door out and hammering the hinges and my ears are suffering for it. NOTHING comes easy I suppose.
I know it’s like totally trivial and uneventful getting a new door installed in my room, but somehow it symbolizes something. A new door, opening to new opportunities and possibilities. Yes, corny I know but literally speaking, it does makes sense.
Rob and I have been planning on my next trip over and we decided late July until late August if there is a seat available for me during the dates we picked. We have started planning on what to do during my visit, where to go and what to see. It’s more than two months away but we are really excited. We haven’t seen each other for over a year. To be precise it’s been 1.5 years.
Money as always is an issue when travelling in general. With the exchange rate (even though it has come down since I last visited) certain things will be expensive, especially accomodation. Domestic flights are also increasing in price. Last month it was sitting below US$260 and yesterday it cost over US$350. That’s almost an increase of US$100 in less than a month. We keep checking daily in hopes of finding a good deal. I really do hope it will come down when it’s time to purchase the tickets.
How I wish money wasn’t an issue. Then I could stay longer. With all that has happened in this past few months I am ready for a break away from all of it. A month to unwind, a month to relax, a month to have tons of fun, a month to love each other more, a month to live life together, a month of pure bliss…
It’s two months away and I can’t wait.
Rekindled
April 20, 2008
It’s been over a week since I found out that I will not be graduating this year.
I have been moping around, at times feeling sorry for myself and at the same time, doing some soul searching on what I want to do with my life. I have concluded that the one thing I love doing is writing. (Ironic considering I don’t love writing the thesis per se) I want to keep writing. I wanna write about love, relationships, friendships and just life in general. It enriches my soul and satisfies my hunger for creativity, no matter how terrible my writing can be sometimes. The Shin Yi inside of me yearns to be a writer but I know my writing isn’t good enough to sustain a life of my own.
With that said, starting next week I will get up off my lazy-moping-feeling-sorry-for-myself-ass and do what needs to be done. I fell, bruised my ego and pride, and now I am getting up on my two feet. I shall not depend on what the world or anyone will offer me nor will I expect anyone to give me my future on a serving platter. Instead I will make my future…my life the way I always dreamt it would be; being happy and complete.
It still saddens me that I won’t graduate this year but it is not the end of the world. Fine, I don’t get to graduate this year but I sure as hell will finish the thesis this year. To be completely honest, I cannot see myself quiting even though I have thought about it many many this in this past week. I even have an email written for my supervisor drafted but I didn’t click the “send” button after reading through it many times. You know how when you’re driving on the road and someone cuts you off or whatever and you just SO badly want to run them over with your car but you don’t? I suppose that’s how it is with me and the thesis. I wanna quit so badly for it has caused grief in me but I just don’t.
It may not the best thesis on earth but it will be mine. My words, my thoughts, my work. I will strive as much as I can. I will work as hard as I can and willing to because I know me. Procrastination will always prevail. I know, sad isn’t it? Heh
Wish me luck and keep me in your prayers? 🙂
Drama drama drama
April 15, 2008
*Thank you to those who left your words on encouragement. I appreciate it*
I know I was probably overly dramatic in the last post, it’s not like somebody died or anything like that. I shouldn’t be too hard on myself? Yeah, I know. But I am human. I cannot help what I feel/felt. It’s hard to control emotions, especially those of sadness, anger and frustration.
Like I said, my way of escape is through writing. I do not expect any responses. I do not expect any solutions. I just wanna express myself, in my own way, in my own space. But I am thankful for the responses I got, don’t get me wrong. My absence from online chatting simply means I need time for myself. It is extremely hard to mend matters of the heart.
I don’t really know what I wanna do regarding the thesis. I spent the weekend by myself and the only time I am not alone is during dinner with the parents. I pretend nothing is bothering me. I talk like usual (at least I think so), laugh at some corny things like usual. But deep down inside there is sorrow, there is sadness. When I am alone in my room, my mind goes in circles. Different personalities in my mind argues with one another.
The quiter in me thinks of quiting this torture. The stubborness/ determination in me wants to keep going. The cynic in me wonders if I will ever finish. The dreamer in me thinks of writing a kick-ass thesis. The realist in me knows it won’t ever be kick-ass-perfect if I decide to finish it. So many me-s inside of me. I wonder which will prevail…
I will decide soon enough. In the mean time, please bear with my somber, melancholic mood.
Protected: Numb
April 12, 2008
Random thoughts
March 23, 2008
I have this urge to write suddenly. I don’t know where I am going with this but just bear with me and my thoughts.
In world that is losing hope, I am blessed. I am blessed for I have people in my life, people who make life good.
At the same time I have people in my life that make me ponder why they are in my life. I wonder why I let people like those into my life. I wonder why or how I can put with them so much. These people can be family or they can be friends. Many times they frustrate me, they piss me off, they disappoint me, they disgust me. I am sure you have people like that in your life too.
So then how do you deal with these difficult people? My personal philosophy has been to always ignore them because in the end, karma will get them. But how much can you endure before you totally “lose it” with them? My personal experience have taught me that sometimes you just need to “lose it” with them. Sometimes it is easier when you totally eliminate them from your life and suddenly the burden of pleasing them is lifted.
When it comes to people I care about I am often very “cincai” (anything goes attitude for the lack of other terms). You can have your ways, you can have your opinions. I’ve had a hard family member to deal with once. Initially I would just let this person do and say what he/she liked. I also mastered the art of “in one ear, out the other”. Don’t get me wrong, I listen when it matters but when it comes to like gossip bitching crap amongst family members I rarely want to get involve, unless that person has pissed me off immensely. Anyway to cut (pun not intended) it short, eventually this family member went too far, as far as to insult my mother in his/her quest for righteousness. It was there and then that I lost it.
I cut ties with this person. What use is a family member who hurts you like that after all you have done for them? I have not regretted my decision since.
My latest experience is with a friend I’ve known for years. This friend is essentially not a bad person in my opinion but holds on to some very funny (in my opinion) beliefs. I’m not talking religious beliefs, I’m talking about self morals and principles. Not wanting to bore you readers to death, I confronted this person and made it clear that I do not appreciate the things he/she did or said regarding me. I lost it with him/her. Not because I didn’t like his/her beliefs but because his/her actions have hurt people around him/her and he/she just doesn’t give a crap and walks around all high and mighty, at least from my observation.
And again I thought, what use is a friend who hurts you like that? None. Lose them. Life has since been a lot peaceful.
Of course it is hard to give up a friendship. I value my friendships and to a certain extent I protect my friendships deeply. But one thing to always remember; love yourself first when it comes to people who do not love you. Why bother about people who don’t care about you? Let them go, let them ruin their own lives. Don’t let them drag you down with them.
Life is a beautiful thing. I try not to waste it being resentful at other people. Instead I let them go. Sure it’s easier said than done. I have a hard time NOT being resentful towards other people but I think I can safely say that I am managing much better now, as compared to a few years ago.
If you think I am writing about you, I’m not going to say I’m sorry. I’m not here to apologize. I’m here to write my thoughts, in my own territory. 🙂
That
March 5, 2008
It’s one of those days today that I wonder why some people are the way they are. It somehow “amazes” me that there are people out there who are THAT selfish, THAT irresponsible, THAT vain, THAT inconsiderate, THAT childish, THAT stupid…just so THAT. Get what I mean?
I’m not saying I’m perfect nor am I Miss-Goodie-Two-Shoes. Far from it actually.
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So some girl bumped the back of my car this morning. I was going really slow looking for parking at work and this red Kancil was behind me for a few minutes. Suddenly I hear a thump(!) and my car inches forward. My first thought was “WTF?!?!?!?” I launched out of my car looking like some fierce wild lion (I swear I heard thunder like in the movies in my head) and checked my car. The girl in the Kancil looking quite worried and might I add, pretty intimidated, got out of her car and went “Sorry sorry….” I swear I looked scary. I continue ignoring her and checked my back bumper, lights, everything….
And nothing…not a single scratch. Seriously, there was nothing. Either that or I’m just THAT blind. I then returned to my car still fuming and went my way. I calmed down eventually and I felt bad for being so rude to the girl. Later on I saw her car parked nearby the office. I’m guessing she works in the same area. Wonder if I’ll see her again.
So now I have a question. I get bumped at the back of the car and I see no scratches. Can someone please explain the laws of physics regarding this?
I’ve been contemplating whether I should tell my dad about this because NOTHING gets by him when it comes to our cars. Most of the time he sees lines or scratches I didn’t even know exist, and it’s my car! So far he hasn’t said anything yet and I think I will keep my mouth shut to spare myself. So you readers who know my dad, keep your mouths shut or I will bitchslap you to kingdom-come.
On to more happier things…
Rob and I are planning on a trip for me to visit him around June. Hopefully it’ll happen…wait, it HAS to! I need to see my honey so I can claim my hugs and kisses, candy bars, and random pink things. Right baby? =D
It’ll be warm out and lots to do. We wanna do a roadtrip again. We had so much fun the last time we did a roadtrip there that we decided that this time it would be a longer drive. We shoved candies (more accurately the chewy Gummi Bear) and competed who could fit the most in our mouths. I don’t remember who won but I have a very distinctive memory that we ended up like a couple of hyperactive monkeys in the car. It was so much fun!
*sigh* Memories…
I miss you Robbie. I miss being close to you. I miss seeing that twinkle in your eyes when you laugh. I miss your bear-hugs. I miss holding hands with you. I miss you kissing me on the forehead.
Okay…so I just scrolled up to read what I wrote above and realize I’m totally bipolar. First I get all feisty and bitchy, then I get all mushy and lovey-dovey. =S I think I need therapy or something. Either that or I have ADD. For you non-psychos out there, ADD stands for Attention Deficit Disorder.
I blame this on PMS so BLAH!
Damn %$#@! cockroach!
February 5, 2008
With Chinese New Year around the corner, needless to say many of us are busy preparing for the new year which means a lot of baking, cleaning and/or shopping. I have been busy helping clean the house. It’s very dusty from the construction work done.
Anyway I was cleaning my room yesterday and decided that being the new year it would be nice to wear new clothes with new underwear. So I opened a drawer which I kept my new undies in and noticed that there were brown spots on my white bra. I scrape off what I thought it was just some form of dirt/dust for leaving anything white in a drawer for a long time. Then I flip through underneath that bra, and the following 3-4 bras all had those stains.
I was puzzled. I did not understand why my bras had stains on them. Then I flip to the bottom of the drawer itself and saw tiny specs of dark brown. What the hell are those, I thought to myself. I looked at a couple of bras, and the one that was down at the bottom of the pile had some slimey and gooey spots! WTF IT’S SOME KINDA SHIT!!!! EWW EWWW EWWW EWWW I ACCIDENTLY TOUCHED IT EWWW EWWW
And out of nowhere…
……….
……….
……….
……….
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A COCKROACH CRAWLS OUT AND SCATTERS OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DRAWER, INTO MY NEW PANTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
KNNCCBWTF!!!!!!!!!
Of course, I yelped in surprise/disgust. It wasn’t wise to remove my stuff out of the drawer and try to catch that little bastard in my room (cos it may run and hide behind my closets or something and I won’t be able to kill catch it [for all you insect-lovers out there] and it may come and crawl into areas of my body I shall not discuss because the mental image I am putting in my head is starting to gross me out so I’m gonna stop about this now) so I took out that drawer, ran to the bathroom with it and started unpacking that drawer.
Sure enough the little bastard flies out and scatters around the bathroom until I smacked it with a slipper. No no no I did not kill it. I smacked the lower half of its body and it was paralysed from the waist(?) down [Sorry I don’t know the anatomy of the cockroach]. I grab a wad of toilet paper and picked it up and the tentacles(?) were flinging around like the little bastard was going “Weeeeeeeeee!” and mocking me for my failure to kill it.
Such a naive creature it is.
What the cockroach didn’t know was that I had other plans.
I turned on the water heater, turned the shower heater to the highest possible temperature and ran hot water on the cockroach as I held it in the toilet paper. Water was running down its tentacles, onto its face(?). The tentacles stopped flinging around like some cheerleader flinging pompoms so I stopped, thinking it was dead. Was it dead? Oh no, as soon as the water stopped those damn tentacles were at it again. So I repeated the process of running hot water on it a few more times but it didn’t die so I decided why not maximized water pressure and sprayed the little bastard til its death.
Did it work?
No it did not. As soon as the water stopped, the tentacles were at it yet again. Pissed, I turned on the tap of cold water to the max and sprayed at its face(?). At one point I could see the skin(?) flapping cos I think I saw the insides of the cockroach. That’s when I stopped and thought “Yes! I killed it!!!”
But….I didn’t. Took it away from the water and there are those %$!# tentacles again!!!!!
Since I had failed I decided…
I placed it on the floor…
Got up….
Turned away….
and…
Grabbed the slipper and went….
WHACK!!! WHACK!!! WHACK!!! WHACK!!!
Yes it finally died. Ahhhhhhhhh pure satisfaction….bliss. That will teach you to poop on my undies again!!!!
By now you must think there is something totally wrong with me mentally but if you just figured that one out, I think you’re mentally slow. HEH
Some of you might also think that it’s sickening of me to blog about this but I really don’t care what you think so there! BLEH I think it’s humorous in a very sick way but hey, at least I didn’t like pop it in a microwave and cook it or something. hey that’s not a bad idea…I should try that next time….
Honestly, at that time it wasn’t my intention to torture the little bastard. I just wanted it dead but my intelligence took a dump due to the shock of realizing a cockroach shitted all over my new undies. You can tell my IQ dropped to like -4 when I thought spraying a cockroach with water would kill it. As if water could kill it…sheesh.
I told Rob, the smartass that he is, about my cockroach “saga” and his response was:
My God honey, I’m surprised you didnt wrap it in a couple tissues and place it back in the drawer as a warning to any future cockroaches that might wander into the area.
Needless to say I’m sorta kinda maybe proud of myself.
Ummm…yeah…I’m gonna go back to cleaning my room now. Bye!