SE Asia behind a Safeway.

Having gone out for a drink with a few buddies last night, I woke up today with a significant deficit of sleep. I am trying hard not to fall over as I sit in the “worse” (which ironically is the most successful one in my division) for technical review.

I escaped for lunch. And by golly! I found a bit of paradise in this manipulative heat. About 3 miles north of my office building, lays a "Little Indochine" village.

Its amazing how the comfort of home can be found in the oddest of places, in the strangest of times. (Thanks to Garmin)

I had Bun. Burped it up in my cubicle. Now I hate myself. :(

Sometimes I believe in fate.

Substance.

Living in Seattle for about 2 months now, I’m beginning to notice a trend. Much more than anywhere else that I have been in America, this city and its people are very healthy. They claim and are proud of their fortune in having the wilderness in their backyard, fresh produce from their seaside, and, most significantly, their wide variety of everyday organic ingredients.


Being pretty YUP-pi-fied myself, I buy into this trend once in awhile. I remember buying natural-grown baby-carrots (I hate carrots, unless in Caldereta or Bo Kho), pork chops, and a bit of herbs here-and-there.

But as good as they are for my body. They sure are not good for my spirit. The thought of 6 bucks/lb. Tomatoes and another 8 dollars for pork chops makes me reminisce for the days that I could feed a family of 4 for less than 15 dollars. And I shudders.

There is something profound about the fact that my long-term, and immediate, well-being is on the line when I take my basket out for a re-fill. Even Organic.

Shouldn't I find something to do?

Predictability. I love you.

steve.agate: edit it

steve.agate: u can edit it
steve.agate: or just leave it as it is

steve.agate: and on the caption of my picture
steve.agate: a few decades older
steve.agate:
...
steve.agate: I have not really grasp this Outlook Calendar thing
steve.agate: from ur first blog
steve.agate: should be grasped
...
steve.agate: have should be accompanied
steve.agate: with the past participle form of the verb
steve.agate:
jcb20008: lol
steve.agate: babe, its constructive criticism
steve.agate: i love the blog
steve.agate: i expect ud correct me too
steve.agate: i make mistakes when i write fast

...
jcb20008: I did save this convo
steve.agate: im just commenting
steve.agate: hehhee
steve.agate: why?
jcb20008: cause I am going to blog about it
steve.agate: aiya
jcb20008: lol
jcb20008: hahahha
jcb20008: I was right
jcb20008: ...
steve.agate: im just
jcb20008: I know
jcb20008: you are
steve.agate: living up to ur expectations
jcb20008: baby
steve.agate: hmp
steve.agate: did/do/does
steve.agate: also need to be
...
steve.agate: accompanied
steve.agate: with the present tense of the verb
jcb20008: huh?
jcb20008: I did do that?
steve.agate: common errors u see
steve.agate: heheh
steve.agate: there was one i saw
steve.agate: hahaha
ne chicken, at 3.99 frozen, fed me for 3 nights and did not once failed to make me smile.
steve.agate: there
steve.agate: MWAH

...

Biggest fan and critic. :D

My biggest Come-on.

It was a chilly day today in the factory. Through dockdoor openings, the sun was taunting and teasing.

He's sexy, so sexy that my pupils dilated just a little. So sexy that I couldn't help to stare, long, and fantasize. Goosebumps.

Daydream, I did.

Seduction. He's still waiting outside, baiting me to cheat. Leave my work behind and divorce my priorities. To frolic, play, and let him glide against my skin. "Sweat a 'lil," he moans.

Perhaps. If its going to be our little secret.

Bourdain Illness.

Living abroad for a few months and then having to adjust back to American life is very strange. (Well no DUH!)

Not strange in that I am slightly lost or even that I question my growth as a human being, but strange in the fact that my memory is engrained with images, smells, thoughts of another life. Sometimes it is horrifically tough to snap myself out, back into the life of attempted responsibility I live in the US.

Nights like tonight, that is something very hard to do.

The sun…



…reminds me of…


… and a small mediocre Thai restaurant (Thai Ocean, don’t go there) pulls me back to this little nook-in-the-wall place in Tai Koo Shing, Hong Kong that Steve, Enan (Steve's X/roomate/my friend), Tina(bestfriend), - the three major characters in my life abroad – and I would hit up every Saturday morning for young coconuts and curries.

I try to watch a movie (pic below). But scenes from beautiful Beirut bring me back to the curb side of Ho Chi Minh.


Is Bourdain Illness deadly? Nope. But it is dumbfounding-ly infectious.

We make our own bed.

I wake up at 5am each morning only to linger for 10-20 minutes in my sheets. For those like me who toils and turns in this 100/1000 count softness each day dreading the departure of its protective shield from the brisk morning chills, dont you find it amazing how someone would not spend the extra 10-15 minutes each day to perfect this place of solace?

I often wonder, why sometimes I obsssseeesssss over it while other times I disregard it as frilly busy work...

For me, most recently, the difference has been...

(a few decadeS older of course!)

So... what or who ever your homecoming is. Lie sweetly... tonight. (And be sure to make your bed so that it will be there waiting for you the next)



Good night.

"Something witty about Chicken"

The last week was messy. I have not really grasp this Outlook Calendar thing. The software is not a bad program to farmiliarize with, the time planning part is. When meetings spill an hour late, traffic holds you up for twice the amount of slotted time, and waking up in the morning is just impossible, Outlook Calendar becomes your living nightmare. 15 minutes, an Hour, a DAY late "reminders" flashing at you when you run back to your laptop for a quick 15 minutes catch-up of emails.

I had a long week.

So the weekend following it, I cleared my calendar and blocked it. I needed time to catch up. I made chicken. I roasted, shredded, baked, and pulled. One chicken, at 3.99 frozen, fed me for 3 nights and did not once failed to make me smile. Paired with cheap champagne and badly rated Blockbusters makes a wonderful weekend.
I have friends now that would call my life boring, dull, some even push as far as "pathetic."


But I dont mind, a 3.99 chicken gives me a project that I can complete without stress, a sense of control in my nasty schedule, and reminiscent of my childhood hobby: to cook.


Though my family is scattered around the globe and my fiance is in Hong Kong, chicken brought them all here when I recalled their favorite meals to the table.

They werent kidding when they tittled "Chicken Soup for the Soul"... in my case, it was Chicken DinnerS.