R.I.P. Donny and Leo

I am sorry for leaving you out in the sun all day long (well turtles DO need sunlight for the UV light in order to harden their shells). I really didn't mean to shorten your lifespan by 100 years. I hope you enjoyed your life during the few months that we had together.

Although you were never able to reach live water in life I hope that by putting you into the eddys of the Mystic River will bring you closer to home.

May you join B.B. Smurf and Chi in the pet underworld.
I hereby swear that I shall own no pets because I don't want to contribute to the death of any more animals.

Until I am "responsible" enough anyway. 

What has Nancy been up to?

A few weekend ago I attended my first scientific conference sponsor by the Endocrine society (heheeh how dorky is that?) instead of a relaxing Friday night till Tuesday, I was sleep walking half the time. Plus that weekend was raining like crazy!!! On Friday evening after work we decided to attend a sessions but in the process of waiting for the express bus to come, my pants were soaked up to my waist!!! This pattern stayed the whole weekend. The sessions ran from 8am-9pm and since this was the first conference for my co worker and I, we were overzealous in planning resulting in trying to attend everything. After a while all the glamour of freebies and free food wore off since I was waking up at 6 to get to the convention center and plus the food was catered by Aramark which also catered UVA’s menu, which is still as bland as anything! All in all it was a great experience. It reminded me of how great science is, how much I find it fascinating. It reaffirm that scientists are ones truly worthy admiration over MD’s because they will be cramped up in a small underfunded lab trying to discern a small pathway that may never see the day of light for a lot less money too! But at the same time, how glad I am NOT the one doing all the pipetting, giving up all of my life in the laboratory, and facing null results, hehehe guess I made a right decision in some respect.

As for July 4^th, I wasn’t originally planning to go back to NYC to visit my parents, who I haven’t seen for 2.5 months already since my company didn’t plan on giving us Monday off then lo and behold the CEO shoots and email giving us the day off so I went back, got dragged to a lot of BBQ’s where there are a lot of married people with babies and ate TONS OF MEAT!!! I swear that I usually don’t eat that much meat but somehow on that day I was just a carnivore devouring every piece of succulent, juicy, well marinated meat. None of those “bbq” food such as hamburger or hotdogs but delicious and wholesome marinated ribeye, ribs, and porkchops in sweet soy sauce mixture. Then I rushed back to Boston to attend another bbq and in hopes of catching the fireworks. I ate fat filled bacon oil burgers but missed the fireworks due to iffy weather. Instead played a heat game of Monopoly and caught the fireworks on TV.  

I always hated Monopoly as a kid.

Not only because it took forever and a day to finish playing the game but also because it brought out the most competitive nature out of people! I used to get quite angry about not being able to buy property and would thrown tantrums so now if I do play I would expect not to do well and no really care. Surprisingly that has yielded some good results J I think games like these always bring out the worse in people. It really shows who has a competitive streak or maybe it just shows the survival of the fittest law that we try to hide under our veneer of civilization.

Ok prepare yourself for some quality [subjective here] reading time cuz it’s a long post

Just came back from Florida, had a great time, but can’t say that I am completely refreshed and ready to face work again and you’ll find out why. I set out with 2 of my high school friends, Joc and Mei, from Atlantic City to hop on a plane to visit another high school friend Sarah who is studying in Orlando and was gracious enough to house us, drive us, and amuse us for more than a week. Well originally there are suppose to be FIVE since the five of us have been meeting since the last two Thanksgiving and are trying to make a tradition out of it BUT she wimped out. You KNOW who you are so don’t bother hiding! If you skip out next time you WILL have to face our wrath.

Although sadden by the fact that one will not be with us, the weather in Florida quickly perked our spirits. Did I ever mention that I HATE the cold? And isn’t it ironic that I went all the way to Boston for work? Well EVERYDAY in Florida was in the 90’s with the sun shining brilliantly! Leaving our skin sun kissed/tanned at the end. I rather it be hot and humid than cold and biting any time!

The first day we went to Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Having already been to all the theme parks I was surprised how much I remembered of the place. One thing that I did forget, or actively suppress, is the sheer amount of KIDS there. I know, I know complaining about kids at Disney is like complaining that birds fly but still!!! They were everywhere! Making waiting in line not so fun. We took pictures with Timon and Rafiki, went on kiddy rides, saw the night light parades, and watched beautiful fireworks at night. To my friends consternation I dragged them to the teacup ride which is one of my favorite rides of all time. While I spin away like a mad woman, not only did they offer no help but pretend to not know me!!! Exhausted we went in search of dinner and at a really cool place call Café TuTu Tango which serves tapas like appetizer dishes and had alligator meat, like chicken but chewier J BUT the cool thing there was not only the art work surrounding us but also BELLY DANCERS. They were there to entertain people waiting for a seat and it was just hypnotizing to see their bellies move and gyrate independent of their hips or shoulders. Very sexy but not as sexy as some on their bathing suits ^_~

Next day was uber shopping. I laugh at the fact that my college friend consider me the “shopper” my hs friends shopped for over 6 hours at this premiums outlet! By that time I was dragging my feet and dying but they were champs and kept going! *bows down* Found some good deals but can’t buy much since I had to lug them back to AC then NYC then Boston again.

The next day we met some of Sarah’s cool friends Tony and Joe, dim summed, went shopping, and did hot pot. Ok when a guy says “I’ll only take 5 minutes at the Gap,” DON’T believe him! But its good to know that some guys worry about their appearances just like girls, because we all appreciate when you look good. Then hot pot which I haven’t had in a loooong time. Yummy.

BEACH TIME!!! After spending much time trying to persuade Tony to come with 4 good looking girls we set out with him in the passenger seat, aren’t we nice to let him stretch out his legs? We headed out to Lido Beach at Sarasota about 2 hours from Orlando and it was GREAT. Our hotel was a literal 2 minutes from the beach. Joc and I tried to soak up every ray we can since both AC and Boston are deprived of sun while Mei and Sarah were nonchalant since they were nicely tanned. And let me point out here that my high school friends are HOT and make me feel like pork chops standing next to them but oh well they cant help it!

BEACH TIME part two. After a 4 am pillow fight in which we gang up on Tony and in which he smartly raps on the adjoining door to pretend that it was the neighbor being mad, we headed out to Siesta Key, reputed to be the “2^nd best beach” after Tahiti. Having never seen Tahiti before, I was impressed. The sand was soooo white and fine! The water so blue and warm! Unfortunately all the places that we can rent are only for a weeks time and we only had a few days. Here is when I am struck by the fact that I am over 1000 miles north while people in Florida take the sun for granted!

Off to Universal Studio we go. This time I was barred from kiddy rides so we did all the adult rides which resulted in poor Joc getting massive headaches. Met Tony and Joe for X-3. Having been a rabid Xmen fan when I was a kid, I was disturbed by the changes in the movie but it was still good. Then we went out to dance a bit and let me say that a lot of Asian guys were checking out my girls when we head in. heheheh guess they know a good thing when they see one!

Then slowly the good byes, Mei first for graduation then Joc then me (stupid me for not booking same flight with Joc making Sarah drive 3 different time to the airport, gomen). It’s interesting how we still keep in touch after all these years. Granted we don’t call each other every week or know of every little detail in each others lives but the fact that we do make an effort to stay in contact once a year humbles me. We are all in such a different point in our lives and you may say that our past binds us all. Yet you can’t only rely on the past completely to substantiate your relationships, people change and relationships that have flexibility to accept the changes are beautiful. It’s going to be a decade soon, what will happen and where will be another decade later?

NOW comes the frustrating/scary/hateful part. I arrived around 9:20 ish for a 10:30 flight. Check in was crazy!!! There were 4 flights flying within an hour so there were herds of people. I checked in around 10:11 but missed the flight L since we were using a minor airline the next one is not till 6:30 and it would be cruel to have Sarah get me and drop me off again so I stayed in the airport for 8 hours!!! Gah thank god for ipods or else I would die! On the plane I was seated around to 3 couples each with at least 1 kid and when one kid cries…so does another L after 2 grueling hours, I met Joc and had some food. I was planning to catch a Chinatown bus from Atlantic City to NY that would take me straight to my neighborhood, the catch? Its at 4:15 am! After catching some zzz’s at Joc’s place I head out but the bus broke down!!! The next one wasn’t till 6:30. As you can imagine by this time I was at my wits end and tired! I barely got 2 hours at Joc’s and I cant fall asleep now or else some guy will rob my stuff. Got back to NYC around 10. Then went to get a hair cut with my cousin since all my hair is split BUT someone must hate me because the guy who cut my hair saw off 3 inches when I told him no more than 2 and proceed to give me scattered layers. The thing is that I have really thick hair and getting layers is good since it thins it out BUT he did it in a way that my not really straight or curly hair is adverse to, resulting in frizzy hair. Sigh.

A big thank you for Chew for treating Ethiopian food. Very interesting spicy food that you pick up with sour flat bread with your hands. It was yummy but interesting it is own way. After a while the spices get to you that you forget that the bread is sour at all!

Then I got to Boston and thought “Oh boy get me on the first plane back to Orlando” it was rainy, dark, and 40 degrees colder! WHY!!! I feel like I need a vacation from vacation. Next time just the beaches, none of these amusement parks and airport mayhem or else!

Tagged by Jin: 6 Weird Habits/Things

"Once you are tagged you MUST write an entry about 6 weird habits/things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next six people to be tagged and list their names. "

1. I tend to talk to myself in either English or Chinese when I am trying to figure out something. It happens in my sleep too, so I heard. So if we happen to be sleeping in the same area, no I am not yelling and threatening to hurt you, just happening to be sleeping and talking out loud. And I usually exclaim “Aiya” out loud too.

2. The state of my room/office reflects the state of my mind hence when it is finals/project deadline time the place gets progressively messier to the dismay of my roommate/officemate but then after everything is said and done I will go into a cleaning rampage for hours! Rinse and repeat.

 3. I have something against feet…actually the whole human body in general. This means NO feet can EVER touch my bed since it’s quite disgusting. The human body is also not that pretty looking so I encourage people to cover up their flaws with expensive designer clothing or non-ill fitting apparel, unless they have no flaws then cover-ups are not necessary :p To say nothing of enzymes and juices of the human body which are all quite scary.

4. I procrastinate and I talk too much/big which is a dangerous combination. But then in talking about things I am supposed to do I feel that I am actualizing it more or at least pushing my mental state towards the goal more, although the physical state is still lazy as hell!!!

5. I have good memory for useless things and bad memories for important things. It’s a wonder that I got through the education system at all! Certain small insignificant details will stick with me while huge events I forget the details of.

6. I didn’t realize this but I tend to get annoyed at people who seem not to get it so I’ll try to help them out but in helping them out I addressed them in this annoyed tone which must sound so bossy to them!

I tag: Sam, Shasha, Jocelyn, Christina, Jennie, and Elizabeth.