Asian Adventure: Day 1

So you know how I told you The BF moved to Singapore?  Well, he did. He’s still there. And now I’m going to visit! I’ve been planning this visit pretty much since before he left, so I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. We’ve planned side trips to Indonesia (awesome little beach resort on an Indonesian island) and Cambodia (touring around Siem Reap and the temple ruins at Angkor Wat) and Malaysia (Malacca and Kuala Lumpur. KL has some REALLY tall buildings. Like the hotel double tower thing that used to be the tallest building in the world until they built the Burj Dubai…or whatever they’re calling it these days.  But yeah, that’s pretty much why I want to go there. I like tall things. Eiffel Tower, Space Needle, window seats on airplanes: I like looking down on things from up high. It’s fun!)

I’m literally en route, writing this from the Tokyo Airport (which is lovely).  With the time difference, it’s just about midnight in Seattle, so as a first post of my Asian adventure, I’ll start by giving you the highlights of today. To make it easier, I’ll break it up into things I did and things I didn’t do.

Things I did today:

• -          Got up at 5am to finish packing and getting my apartment ready to leave.
• -          Washed some dishes that have been sitting in my sink/on my counter for LITERALLY weeks, waiting to be washed. (Go ahead, judge away. I judge myself for that.)
• -          Went to The BF’s storage unit to get his flip flops and bathing suits (for said island beach resort trip). Somehow, despite talking about it several times –and visiting the storage unit several times (ahem, tent) I managed to not remember to do that until TODAY.
• -          Got a tetanus shot. Technically, I got the full DTAP booster, for tetanus and diphtheria and pertussis. Been meaning to do that for a while. Figure I should really make it happen before leaving the country.
• -          Took a shower. (This may sound unworthy of mention, but when looking at the rest of these lists, I think you’ll understand the feat this was.)
• -          Packed a ridiculous amount of stuff into 2 suitcases and a carry-on tote. Managed to keep one of the suitcases under the 50 lb weight limit. Speaking of, when did they change the international baggage weight limit to 50 lbs?!
• -          Watched the cab I called to go to the airport drive off without me. I was wrestling the aforementioned heavy suitcases out my apartment door and the cab driver apparently got tired of waiting and drove away. I watched him drive away.
• -          Talked to my mom, The BF, Queenie and texted with Julie Vegas, Fritha and KJ.
• -          Drove to my office and picked up two large boxes of Christmas china. Took them home.
• -          Interacted with co-workers assisting me in this endeavor without earrings, make-up or combed hair. I also had not showered or brushed my teeth. They helped me anyway.
• -          Bought vitamins. Fit them into the aforementioned suitcases.
• -          Attended a conference call for work.
• -          Met a Gamecocks fan in the Tokyo airport. He’s from SC and his brother is a linebacker on the football team at Carolina. He was impressed to meet an alumni from SC in the Tokyo airport. Or maybe he was just scared cuz I’m so old. Either way.
• -          Read a whole book.
• -          Watched The Avengers. It was good….kinda wish I’d seen it in the theater though.
• -          Watched The Hunger Games. Twice. Even though I have seen it. In the theater. At IMAX.
• Made it onto my 1pm PT flight, with bags checked and carry-on stowed and even had time to get an iced coffee at the airport SBUX.

Things I didn’t do today:

• -          Watch tv or use the internet. Cuz I canceled cable while I’m gone and it shut off at midnight.
• -     Remember that I had no tv or internet. Until I tried several times to access both of those things , including Netflix via XBOX 360, several times.
• -          Brush my teeth. I know. Gross. I felt gross all day. I was basically naked when my cab driver called to tell me he’d arrived, so in the rush to throw clothes on and wrestle my suitcases out the door, tooth-brushing didn’t happen. Of course, if I had known that my cab driver was leaving me and I’d have to wait 10 mins for another one, I could have brushed my teeth. And put on face cream. And maybe even make-up. Because those are things I also did not do.
• -          Sleep on my first flight like I’d planned.
• -          Work out. (ha!)
• -          Wash my hair. I meant to do that, but….well……you know.
• -          Remember to put deodorant on BEFORE I packed it. Fortunately I was able to quickly pull out some deodorant from my travel toiletries bag and did wear deodorant today.

So that’s the first day of my Asian adventure. More to come. 

The Bachelorette

Ok, y'all know I watch some bad tv. I mean, this isn't news to anyone, right?


So, I'm watching The Bachelorette, starring Emily Maynard in the title role. For those less...attuned....to the reality tv world, here's the brief synopsis:


The Bachelorette gathers up 25 DUDES and puts them in a house and gets them boozed up so we can watch them literally fight over a girl. In this case, Emily. She was one of the girls on The Bachelor, trying to win Brad Womack's heart. She was chosen by him, but they broke up. So now she's turning reality tv once again to find her true love. Right.


Emily has a daughter, with her deceased fiance, a race car driver, who was killed in a plane crash before the daughter was born.


Here's my thoughts on the show so far this season: homegirl be frontin'. She's got all these elaborate questions and scenarios and excuses LINED UP to keep the dudes jumping and dancing. 


She asks them their thoughts on children. She asks for their top ten things they want in a woman. And when they say something like "I want a woman who's kind, faithful, honest, smart, fun, blah, blah, compliment, blah, blah, normal," she says "you didnt say loving family as #1. No rose for you."


Rather than listen to a dude or ask questions to understand his POV, she tells them to "get the F out" of the house. I mean, I know it's dating on reality tv, in a compressed setting and timespan. But still.


She's got all these guys jumping and dancing. Jumping and dancing at arm's length.


I stand by my assertion that homegirl be frontin'.

Do you ever forget? Happened to me

Sometimes I forget what day it is. Most of the time I can remember within a few seconds, but I frequently have to remind myself what day it is. I get involved in what I'm doing and just sorta..forget.

I rarely really know the date, but can usually tell you what day it is, within one or two. Last Friday, I knew it was Friday, but had NO CLUE what the date was. Actually pulled out my calendar to figure out what the date was.

Today, I kinda know what the date is. Probably didn't know it until 3pm or so, but kinda know it.

About an hour ago, I forgot what day it was. I was confused about what I was going to watch on TV tonight. Stopped to remember what day it is and was REALLY excited to remember it's Monday!

Leonard, Sheldon, Ted, Barney and the gang are here to play! Yay!

RILLA #6

Reasons I Love Living Alone: #6

I wear a retainer every night when I go to sleep. Sometimes I wear it when I take a nap.

Sometimes I like to come home from work and lie on the couch and wear my soft clothes and my retainer and watch bad tv until I fall asleep. On the couch. With the lights and tv on. And my retainer in my mouth.

You know...occasionally...sometimes...not that often....

I love television

I watch a lot of TV. I do. I admit it.

A lot of it is bad TV. What?

Generally I maintain a pretty firm grip on reality. But sometimes I wish TV characters were real. For example, I want Leonard and Sheldon to be real and live next door to me. They would be so entertaining. Also, if Ted Moseby were a real person, I would totally want to date him.

Drive-bys

So, when I was in high school and college, it was a favorite pastime of ours (Queenie and me) to drive by people's houses.

Friends, boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, wannabe boyfriends, friends' boyfriends...you get the picture.

This is pretty much how Queenie and I spent a lot of evenings:
I'd drive to Queenie's parents' house. Chat with the fam for a bit before telling them we were headed out for ice cream. We'd hop into the better car option for the evening (Had I scored Mom's Buick? Had she snagged the Queen Mother's Volvo? Or were we stuck with the 1989 Camry wagon or the 1986 Pontiac? We later had the options of Nissan Sentra, Honda Accord and Jeep Cherokees...but still) and drive off.

First stop: D'Lites Emporium. The pioneering healthy "ice cream" shop. They served sugar-free, fat-free and low-carb ice cream before that was en vogue. They always had chocolate and vanilla, then would rotate in other flavors. Queenie would try the weird flavors...I'd stick with vanilla soft-serve with Oreo crumbs. We'd hang around and flirt with the guys who worked there, then we would hang around the parking lot with whichever friend we ran into (because we always ran into someone). THEN the real fun would begin!

We'd jump into the vehicle of the evening and head out to ride by houses. We'd usually start with SW's house. SW was a guy who went to our high school, but we didn't really know during high school. And we didn't really know where he lived until college, when SW and I interned together and had an ongoing flirtation. We went on some dates once, nothing serious. But he was cute and I was perpetually interested in what he was up to.

From there we would head to Queenie's former neighborhood, where AR, KB and others lived. We'd assess the cars in front of AR's home to determine if she was home, if her mother was home and if either AR or AR's mother was entertaining a "guest".

KB was near AR and almost always home, but so were her parents and her 86 brothers and sisters, so we'd keep driving. Then depending on the mood, we'd either drive my MM, CW, KC and/or others, just for fun.

We'd always conclude the night by going back to Queenie's parents' house and watching crap late night TV. Like, "Fifth Wheel" or "Elimi-Date" or "Mad About You" re-runs.

We'd discuss the drive-bys of the evening, what we'd seen, what we'd experienced and when we'd do it again.

Then I'd go home.

It was awesome.

I want to do it again. REAL SOON.