digging for nuggets

mcdonalds is having a promotion, and i'm possibly 1 box of 9 mcnuggets away from 365 boxes of free mcnuggets! everytime you buy some mcnuggets, you get a card. you win if you can make the big picture (which is only divided into 4 cards).

at first i thought, no way, too easy, what's the catch? i mean, i expected to get a ton of 1 card and maybe 1 of the other three...but now i realize that their gimmick is not giving people cards unless they ask for them. they've even stopped branding the mcnuggets boxes with the promotional picture. but you can't make me forget mcD, i've got your number! you and your nuggets are mine! of course, i'll have to share the loot with jon once i win. he's such a crybaby otherwise.

come on lower left quadrant! come to mama.

jon the giant

china nationals

we lost to beijing 8-7 in the finals. we were up 7-2 at half. they bageled us in the second half, going on a 6 point run to take home the first ever championship title.

i'm a little bit pissed, but not as much as i normally would be...most of our turns were first pass turns by handlers...one stupid upwind hammer from handler to handler (a guy in the cup got to it first)...one dropped chest-level pass...silly mistakes that had nothing to do with me. maybe this is a bad attitude, but a kdob philosophy that i take to heart = you should change the things you can change and let the rest be.

i had an almost perfect game. i think i scored 2, assisted 2, threw 1 turn (an around backhand in the redzone that floated a bit too much--i had another backhand that got caught in the wind, but i think that was against shanghai)...no drops, no one scored on me, and the girl i was covering only touched the disc once or twice (both on dump passes). i'm pretty proud of the no-one-scoring-on-me clause, considering i was constantly playing transition d. you win some you lose some. it would've been nice to be the first ever china national champs though. and it would've been nice to actually hold a lead in the finals for once.

otherwise, the fields were much nicer than i expected. we played most of our games on a super nice turf. fields were narrow, allowing more poaching on our ho stack than we would've liked...one endzone was roughly 10 yards shorter than the other--very noticeable b/c the turf was striped lightgreen-darkgreen like a football field (one endzone had 3 stripes, the other 4). personally, i need to work on catching. i couldn't get my hands to close fast enough on saturday, prolly cuz of sleep dep, but i used to be able to catch without sleep (or it could be bad karma from commenting on yelena's blog about catching). i think i had 3-4 drops in the first two games on saturday, 0 on sunday (yay for sleep!). something else to work on: i'm much better at triangulating with a flick force than a backhand force.

food was pretty good, i ate lots and lots of baozi (a type of dumpling). saturday night, we snubbed the tourney buffet and found a restaurant built inside of a temple. there were buddhas everywhere (some headless), they even had a donation box. a donation box in front of an altar inside of a restaurant. we ordered too much food for the table (the plates wouldn't fit). i think we got 7 or 8 dishes for the 5 of us (if you count all the dumplings as 1 dish). it got to the point where waiters would bring us random food that other ppl ordered, cuz odds were, any food coming out of the kitchen should be coming to us.

anyways, there were 3 types of baozi, sweet and sour shrimp wrapped in crispy noodles, pot roast (chinese style), fish, soup noodles, and lots of veggies. when we tried to take pictures of the food (we remembered halfway thru the meal), a waiter came by to tell me pictures weren't allowed. luckily, i was the only one who understood mandarin, so jon continued snapping away (earning concerned glances from the waiter). i bargained for flashless pics, and then for pics only of the food, not of the relics (their actual concern), which i got, b/c it was pretty obvious that the foreigners were gonna do what they wanted, and this was a good face saving solution for all.

(you can even see the temple creatures in the background)

people still heckle white ppl in china, or at least in tianjin. something was even thrown out of a bus window at us (jon and i)--i'm assuming it wasn't incidental. BUT he was also the sole reason we caught our train from tianjin to beijing...the taxi wasn't licensed to drive within tianjin city limits. he took his taxi light off and made us pay before we entered tianjin. if we were asked, we should say that a friend was dropping us off. if it weren't for jon, the driver would've suspected me of "fishing", a practice wherein undercover inspectors try to trick drivers into taking them into the city, fining them for their trouble at the other end.

back to food. my favorite chinese foods are still jian bing (a crepe thing with a crunchy and an egg--still only RMB2.5!!), chinese yogurt (thick and sour), and chinese popsicles. my parents call me a peasant whenever we go back. seriously, the simple stuff's the best.


the end.

happy birthday, mr. buddha!

tomorrow is a hong kong public holiday, in honor of the venerable mr. buddha. i may have dropped my harvard buddhism class faster than a goose drops, well, droppings, but i kinda feel like instituting a public holiday may go against the tenets of buddhism. you know, the part about not having any idols and finding your own way. not that i'm complaining of course. here's to you, sid!

shuangy is coming this friday! i am veeeery (read: VEE-HEEE-EERY) excited. unfortunately (or fortunately), i'm heading to tianjin this weekend to play in the First Ever "china nationals" (can you have a nationals if you don't have a governing national body?). It's run by a bunch of college students so i'm not expecting too much, just a slice of history. and then shuangy is heading to china with her parents...so i'll probably only get to spend a weekend with her. nevertheless...better than being shuangless. AND henri is coming next monday to start her internship. soon, i will be very friendful.

and foodful:

fried milk
shrimp dumpling
lily on a rock (not for ingestion)

incidentally, i've joined the CS dragonboating team. i managed to get myself noticed last week (by sitting behind someone who sucked even worse than i do), so next week i get to move up in the boat. don't you see? it's like a mini-promotion in the one thing that i'm definitely good at: dabbling in sports.

competency

work is getting stressful. i'm hitting the 1Y barrier at which i'm required to be more than just pretty and enthusiastic. add to this that we're short staffed by 2 (leaving brian and me to do the pricing and philipp to do the managing), and well, my days are not happy. i keep reminding myself that banking is a windfall for me, and it isn't the rest of my life, not necessarily, so if i screw up and get fired, meh. i'll just go back and...what? get a masters? go to law school? go to MED SCHOOL?! ha, fat chance. i'm not freaking out, just taking a step back. gosh.

its funny the things that keep you sane. i'm only 22, i've still got options. i feel like i'll be saying that well into my 50s, but that's ok.

korea

last last weekend, i sojourned with a cast of nine to jeju, korea, the land of wind, rocks, and women (seriously, that's what it says on all the brochures). poor jon was so disappointed when he found out that women didn't necessarily refer to hot women, just female women (many of whom were as old and as wrinkly as the seaweed they sold). our team, love parade, gathered from all over asia, and we had sweet jerseys to match our sweet temperaments. our cheer was a group hug and a proclamation of LOOOOOOVVVVEEE. sometimes we would sing it at people in nine part cacophony.

korea is a 9's tournament--limited rosters, 6 guys, 3 girls. it caused lots of drama in cities that had to cut ppl. skill always trumped commitment. yeah politics.

i really enjoyed the enforced PT. it helps that we managed to keep our games short, forcing fast turns at the other teams endzones with our female cup. the fields were the best fields i'd ever played on...world cup practice fields. i even laid out in our last game for a one handed catch in the endzone. it was totally unexpected. the thrower zipped the disc right past me, and all i remember is annoyance that he couldn't throw it better. actually, i wasn't expecting the throw at all. my teammates were pretty surprised cuz i'd played in perth with some of them and they never saw me layout, even after lots of heckling. i think my catch was our last score...we lost to shanghai 15-13, which earned us $50 a piece for coming in second and all the soju (sp?) anyone could ever drink. this may be the best asian tournament of the year (jazzfest will be better, of course).


brian's squeezing jim out of his ass. jim got so drunk that he used his body to stop balls in the batting cage. both front and back. boy had red welts all over his torso...one ball came pretty close to his balls, but did he flinch? no sir, he did not. this is the type of person who can own a furniture store in beijing. go give him some business.

mmm...korean bbq...

jon and i stayed an extra day to explore. apparently, i'm pretty good at shooting clay discs (50% hit rate!--jon didn't get any, but he was much better at the pistol. we've decided that if we're attacked by terrorists, he'd shoot the stationary ones with a pistol and i'd shoot the moving ones with a rifle). spycard, chaching!





he didn't want to lie in the hay, but i made him, cuz i wear the pants.

deep fried hot dog! no, not a corn dog, the dough is gooey and ricier. yum!

the joke that jon's enjoying is...these are NAVELS...haha...ha. besides setting an extraordinary number of korean dramas, jeju is also famous for its tangerines, as displayed here in the tangerine museum (unfortunately, we didn't learn of jeju's sex museum until it was too late to go).

and this is sunrise peak, a volcano. we woke up at four to try to catch the sunrise, but it was cloudy. all we saw was a dumb rabbit and a bunch of chinese tourists.

ah, and of course, the pig rock.

jeju is pretty and nature-y. the end.

cowabunga

we had a pseudo-end of year bash for frisbee saturday night...if the year never ends, you still need to have an annual party, right? theme was night at the palace:

From toscars 2007

From toscars 2007

From toscars 2007

naturally, we went as the ninja turtles.

From toscars 2007

From toscars 2007

we even painted our own shells.

From toscars 2007

other notable costumes: king prawn (he made antennae and a huge head thingy) and a frog.
does this guy look like toadstool from mario bros to anyone else?

From toscars 2007

FDA changing definition of chocolate?!

Today's the last day to send the FDA a comment, but this site tells you how. Basically, Hersheys is petitioning the FDA to change the definition of chocolate so that it doesn't have to contain cocoa butter (the most expensive ingredient), using hydrogenated/trans fats instead. BOO! BOO, i say, BOO! do your part people, preserve the chocolate.

amber rainstorm warning

the time is now 10:46 am. the sky is purple/black, and i can barely see the docks two blocks away from my 21st floor window. an opaque black cloud obscures everything...very ominous and heady. it feels like any minute now, a swarm of something (hornets, bombers, men?) will burst out to smite us. the weather report calls for "squally rain". you're mom's squally rain. days like this make me feel important in a hobbity way. hang on mr frodo! also, villainous. come my minions rise for your master, make your evil shine (in the dark of the night in the dark of the night).

this confirms my nocturnalness. i feel so much more comfortable and happy in the dark, maybe just because i'm excited. MWAHAHAHAHAHA, BE PREPARED!

wow

sometimes hk is a 3rd world country

in all of the civilized world, today is ben and jerry's free cone day, a day that ranks only slightly behind thanksgiving and the superbowl, a day that heathens like me hold sacred. because the density of b&j's stores here is not less than in the US (3 within a five min walk is nothing to wink at), i had hoped that i wouldn't have to forego this holy day. alas:

me: hello? ben and jerry's?
them: hello. ben and jerry's.
me: hi, i was wondering if you guys participated in free cone day.
them: yes, but the date hasn't been confirmed yet.
me: oh, but on the website it says its tomorrow.
them: well, that's for the US and canada.
me: when's it for hk?
them: no one knows...
me: when will they know?
them: no one knows...
me: but you guys do do it.
them: yes, but the date hasn't been confirmed yet.
me: well, how will i know when the date has been confirmed?
them: i don't know...

so, ben and jerry's is having a free cone day...someday. and when they have it, i will probably be sitting here, oblivious. the horror!

i know i'm spoiled and hedonistic--are you really that surprised?

whine and cheese

reading all the posts/emails about smite sectionals. it feels like it matters so much more than anything i've done in a year. i can't believe its been a year.

maybe smite is a cult. i can't imagine feeling much more deeply about a religion. maybe religion is only people loving the same thing very much.

everyone is in limbo. i hope everything turns out alright. but even if it doesn't turn out alright, it will. i think that's one of the biggest things i learned last year. we are bigger than results.

and then mr. vonnegut died last week, and i didn't even know about it. i'm so out of the loop here.

the world is a dangerous place

today i hurt myself in the shower with the shampoo dispenser. yes, i was that desperate to apply apply apply rinse reapply. long haul flights always make me feel icky, and yes, i'm bathing about 12 hours after my flight...but hey, no one likes rewashing hair within 12 hours of washing hair...which is my way of saying i didn't want to shower and then shower again after spinning class. right, so i was at the gym, in the stall with the extra tall shower head (not that i'm extra tall, but it's a special stall and it makes me feel special and greedy when i have it, my precious, all mine, screw you actually-tall ppl...its kinda like how ppl like to use handicap stalls even tho they're not handicapped, unless, i guess, if you're a hoverer in which case the extra tall toilet must be a nuisance--personally, i only hover in chinese restaurants (and equally sketch situations) b/c chinese ppl are known to hover and the seat is usually already pissed on anyways--and yes, i did compare tall ppl to handicapped ppl, take that! and no, of course i'm not bitter that i'm...not as tall as either of my parents, sigh).


ahem. so i was pushing the button for my normal 10 counts of shampoo (shush, the stuff is awfully weak, so don't talk to me about ecological footprints and such truck), applied, decided not enough suds, went for another 10 counts, but i got cocky, oh yes, hubris invites the fall yet again. but no, i didn't fall...it's a figurative fall. instead of using my left hand to push and my right to collect, i used my right to do both, and BAM! around count 9 (or 19 cumulative), my thumb slips hard and bangs (BANG) into the...something...i'm actually not sure exactly what happened, but it led to a world of pain and whimpering and now my thumb is bruised under the nail. it doesn't actually hurt unless i press on it, which means its pretty out of the way, except when i grip a frisbee...which you know, i like to do every once in a while. so f'ing a, league is gonna be painful tomorrow. boo. i hate pain. which is why i do dangerous things like this:

snapshots

kohl's has a mannequin in a wheelchair. georgia makes me smile in small and surprising ways.

last night i had a cinnabon for dinner, washed it down with hot cocoa con real milk--lactaid. speaking of which, they built a trader joes 2.5 miles away from home. 4 real dumpsters. count em. next time i come home, i'm bringing one of those headlamps. dive in.

new fav show? hannah montana. that's right, i said it.

home on the range

ah the return to america. so far, i've eaten a lot, shopped a lot, and planted myself firmly in front of the tv. the joys of the homeland. i can't believe how much i've missed SVU, and all these random sitcom shows...when i look at tv guide, i feel like i've won the lottery (happy gilmore is on tuesday!).

speaking of which, i won the lottery! WOOHOO!! it happened just as i imagined...i needed change for the pay phone, so i bought a 1 dollar scratch lotto thingy...i needed to match one of the six numbers to the serial number. the serial number was seven...lucky lucky...at the first number, i was hopeful...5. the next one was 1, then 3, then 1 again...only two more...come on lucky 7! and then, on the last scratch...it wasn't 6, it wasn't 8...i won! i won! 7, you fearful beast, they told me you 89, but i didn't respect, yo. now, i believe! i was shitfaced grinning when i went to the register to claim my $3. baby steps. next time, i'm shooting for $5. after paying parking, i was still fi'ty cents in the blue. HOOHA!

i love this photo. thank you minwah, the disc seems to love your face. i think you should use it as your facebook photo. and some more of the kiddies that i just had to share...i love this team.

can someone give me some names to go with the new faces?

dor-dor loves her sauces. saucy wench.

phne-ne, not so much.

anyways, the spring in GA is really pretty. every tree in my neighborhood is in bloom. and its not that gag me blooming of botanical gardens...its dogwoods and oaks and light pink flowers. really relaxed.

roily

carleton does well at centex?! stanford loses in the quarters?! UCSB wins?!!! what the heck is going on? yelena, elucidate pls? is it because of subbing errors again? is emory tanking this year? how is wisconsin so strong? i'm so out of the loop...

does anyone have ultimax results? i only saw the men's on upa...

absolut junk

the first water made me yelp curses wide-eyed. i always forget about the salt.

we sat in the sand and picked pork with our fingers. passing joints and chocolate milk, all feeling terribly magnanimous, terribly worldly. we broke an oar on the canoe for rowdiness, but we kicked and pulled our way to shore. the waves came and went. we rinsed our sand-crunched hands and our shivering limbs, scurried back to our laughing circle, braves baptised in salt.

sampling

it's been a while since i've written a real post. i'm not sure what i'd define as a real post...i guess one that's not obligatory...i guess none of these are really obligatory. anyways.

i think we're gonna wimp out of the track workout tonight. it's really too much hassle to travel 30min there and back on a friday night. i'm really a little too full of (free) greasy chinese food. we're gonna jog on a treadmill at the gym instead...and then play at the arcade or in a pool hall. i'm not really dressed to go to the pool hall...it's in the fashionable part of town.

apparently, by real post, i meant a rambly post. i'm ok with that.

someone in the bathroom pees in spurts. i can hear her.

we have a junk trip tomorrow, which i think is more about alcohol than anything else. i've never been known to forego a junk trip. boats make me feel faraway and adventurous: the dread pirate roberts. still too cold for a dip tho. maybe i'll bring some hkupa discs to sell to the crowd.

next week is a huge conference for work and then the rugby 7's. a big deal. every client is bringing their little dog and their auntie em. every one will be sloshed all week. some guy decided to hold a town hall meeting at 7 in the morning at a remote location with the exec board. i wonder how many ppl will show up and how many of them will still be rockin the party last night.

the best sin=gluttony (why is it even a sin, really?)

someone just shouted lunch for the entire floor! that costs USD $1000! i just saw $1000 worth of food! my life is now a bit more complete.

and guess what? i'm still stuffed...

head, elbows knees and toes (knees and toes)

i did a headstand in yoga today. all by myself (sorta), for maybe all of 15 seconds. guruprit spotted me for lots of it, but for the most part, i was swaying on my own (mommy wow! i'm a big girl now). that shit is tiring. i think i'm disproportionately afraid of falling backwards. once in dance class when i was young* i tried to do a handstand , succeeded for a bit before flopping backwards and knocking out the breath (floor=marble)...painful. i was 6 then, the memory was bad enough to stop me from ever doing handstands sans wall/spotter again. until now...dum dum dum!

i can also touch my head to the ground in a triangle pose and touch my head to a spot a bit past my knees when i sit and reach. both feats of which i'm Particularly Proud.

a women in the class yelps like a little dog whenever guruprit tries to position her. i love it. i don't actually think she's in that much pain, her poses don't look very intense...maybe her tolerance for life is just plain low. wouldn't that be awfully boring? to yelp whenever you pang. what else is there? warm tea and broccoli. yes, i've discerned all this from watching her in yoga class. call me cassandra. actually, call me condescending.

yesterday we had a team dinner at lian, a thai/viet restaurant in ifc. hurrah for three course meals! boo for mornings after three course meals. the appetizers were meh...i had some eggplant thing that appealed more on paper than in form. dinner was pretty good. ox cheek curry with french bread and small potatoes. the slightly slippery parts of the meat tasted best...until i thought about it coming from inside the ox's mouth...for some reason, i'm more ok with eating gristle from the inside of an ox's crotch than from the inside of its mouth. for dessert, i had banana pudding with honeycomb ice cream. and then i was stuffed...and then it was morning...and then i'm still stuffed. so here i am, stuffed.