Plagued with foul mood. Checking in next week.

These final notes will complete my scrapbook - WAHOOO!!!

;o)

Unfortunately, first impressions can really be a lasting one.

After Richard had long gone home and we were getting settled in, I had ranted about his BO to everyone (UGH!). Andy was able to substantiate my claim since he had gotten a whiff of it when Richard passed by him coming into the house. Andy's well over 6 feet tall and (Richard stands at approximately 5'7") is accustomed to seeing the top of my head.

Somehow the topic of Richard's extreme red-eye was brought about and he had explained to the couple that his tear ducts were blocked. As a result, he had never cried since he was a child. He's supposed to lubricate his eyes with tear drops but he was too lazy to do anything about it.

Okay...

Oh, now I remember why it was discussed. Presumably, Ching was concerned with Richard having woken up at some ungodly hour to fetch us at Heathrow and appeared sleep-deprived.

While we were joshing around about poor Richard, Sarah came up with a hysterical theory regarding his signature BO - maybe it's because his tear ducts are clogged that his tears has to come out of him somehow!

He always appear sopping wet and trust me, it has NOTHING to do with the rain or the muggy weather!!! So if the tear ducts can somehow get unblocked, then it won't have to ooze out of his pores!

OMG - we're bad.

However, he might not need to sweat so much if he would wear a lighter jacket. When I first met him in January, he wore the same down coat in our frigid 10 degree weather. If I donned the same pea coat during our initial meeting to the UK (in April/May), then people would conclude how I must indeed be suffering some chronic illness in the head.

Okay, after Richard left us for good, we had a quiet walk around the Bayswater and concentrated on whatever spiritual essences there were to be experienced. Although we were tired, we definitely enjoyed our trip to the max. So much so, we couldn't stop talking about anything and everything related to the UK - especially the men, ahem.

In our lovely little room, I heated up a can of Heinz Cream of Tomato soup in this strange microwave/convection oven medley. Fortunately, I didn't blow up anything and fiddled with the buttons and somehow operated the damn thing. While I feasted on the mock English food - it was yummy - the phone finally rang. We both breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the little Brummer boy is safely back at his abode.

I also noticed that it took him well over 5 hours to get home! Why?! What happened?! The trip from London to Brum only takes 2 hours!

Richard had forgotten that Friday (04/29/05) was a bank holiday and many people were off. As a result, the coaches were overbooked due to the long weekend and the earliest reservation wasn't until 9PM (open tickets don't work on such days). So, he waited at Victoria Station for 2 hours and had a lovely meal at a pub. Probably babe-watching too.

Okay, that doesn't sound too bad, does it? It gets better.

At 9PM, he boarded on the National Express coach along with a massive congregation of Muslims...with no air conditioning. Bwoken.

Oy. That's bad.

But that's not all. Not only is the air conditioning bwoken and Richard is still donning his winter coat, but the HEATER IS ON.

WTF?!?!

Yes, the A/C is shot and heater is on FULL blast because the entire heating/cooling unit is busted. Apparently, the bus company decided to drag out their bwoken vehicles to quell the high demand for travel during the long weekend.

OMG!!!!!

The best part of this story? Richard was complaining how AWFUL the Muslims smelled and how he wanted to DIE in the bus!!!! A stinky sauna!


And who's calling the kettle black?

Okay, my trip ended when I got my ass home. But...our beloved female lead, Ching, still had another trip to go - back to her 2-story flat in Delaware.

Our heroine spent the night on my mum's leather coach and passed out the minute her head touched the pillow. We were so blasted tired that walking and chewing gum simultaneously was an impossible task. In the morning, mum woke Ching up so she could catch her early bus from NYC Chinatown to Philly Chinatown (round-trip fare: $25). A natural-born sprinter, she made it to the bus in 7 minutes from mum's place before it pulled out of its parking spot.

Well, it turns out that the transaction couldn't be defined as, "easy sailing." The bus had trouble leaving the city as the NYC marathon blockaded every exit known to mankind. After much ado, the driver took one last shot and attempted to leave the city via George Washington Bridge. For over an hour, she caught sights and sounds of NYC that most folks would have to pay $45 for.

Luckily, she made it home in one piece. Again - another roundabout, but this time, in NYC. So the roundabout business began when Ching took an earlier bus to NYC but got booted off because of registration issues back on 4/21/05.

So...the trip ends here.

Now...can we plan the NEXT UK trip!?!?!!

Damn...it has been almost a week since I've posted!

Been ebay watching all week...needless to say, this fascination with Creme de la Mer and handmade soap has gotten me fixated. Rest assured, I managed to clean up 50% of my home and will embark on another big project tomorrow. One of my shelves came down 2 months ago and I have all of my clothes scattered on top of Mikayla's crib mattress.

BAD FENG SHUI!

Last week was Miki's final days at school. With the child being sick, rehearsals and half days, I had to scramble to get 3 makeshift scrapbooks completed for the teachers. The parents took up a collection for the teachers, headed up by yours truly. At the very last minute, I decided to create a mini scrapbook with the children's names written on 3 labels - one for each teacher. I couldn't find a mega-sized greeting card for the children to sign, so why not shove all of the signatures in a little book?

Plus, I didn't want to use any of the money contributed to purchase these supplies. I wanted to create an original and simple collection of items made by the children, not those stupid frilly embellishments that comes with those ready-made scrapbooks.

Then I was stalked by Grace. OMG - it was so not kosher. She was practically following me around the place and I knew what she was up to. So...instead of taking Mikayla and Joyce to a restaurant to chow down, I ate the school's lunch. Yup. I was so put off with her anxiety-ridden behavior that I was NOT going to take her out to lunch with her devil child. Both girls had already eaten and were too busy ripping down the halls to even care how starved they were.

Enough of this shit. The cards on the hand have already been dealt. Time to move to the next hand.

Since I'm obsessing over my skin and cosmetics this week, I've compiled a list of my favorite to-die-for products:

Estee Lauder Almond Clay Pack
A little goes a long way (Cost: $30+)

Creme de la Mer moisturizing cream
Overpriced, but a great indulgence (.24 oz for $25, less on ebay)

agnes b. Rouge
Nice colors and pricing is affordable - better than buying the stuff at Duane Reade or Target (Cost after 50% sale: $5.99)

Dove Shampoo & Conditioner
Fabulous scent, cheap and CLEAN (Cost: $3.29)

Muji Facial Scrub
Available only in the UK & Japan, their skincare is inexpensive and lasts for eons
(Cost: £3.50)

Naive Bath Soap
Smells heavenly, non-drying and found in Japanese supermarkets (Cost: $1.50)

Fa Bath Soap - Pink
Unique floral scent, hard to find in the US, but great European stuff! (Cost: $1.50 for 2)

Estee Lauder Crystal Glow Scrub
Spa quality, smooth and soft skin (Cost: $30+)

Lush Bath Bombs
TO DIE FOR! (Cost: $6)

Burt's Bees Lip Balm
Feels great, non-drying and handy (Cost: $1.99)

Due to my insatiable thirst to find the 'ultimate' product, I also have a list of to-die-for household items. I really don't believe in getting down on your knees and scrub with lye, if there's a product that will reduce the time and effort, why not?

I will confess to purchasing excessive amounts of useless crap, but I think the attraction is more or less related to the presentation of the product. In other words, if the packaging looks good, I'm gonna buy it. Maybe that's why I like Japanese art, food, and merchandise. In truth, I even don't use half of the stuff I buy, but I do like obtaining. Silly me.

I was listening to CSZ.com's radio tonight and good ol' Heather is playing my top 5 picks of the month (YEEHAW!!!). I hadn't heard "Don't Drink the Water" for awhile and there's a line my brain manages to completely scramble. It goes:

Don't shake it, goddamned those pimpled freaks

The ACTUAL lyrics are: Don't say "Thank god for simple truths"
I had this problem as a child when I was trying to decipher the lyrics to "Space Age Love Song" by A Flock of Seagulls, so this isn't anything new to me. Since I already brought up the previous topic about massacring English, I decided to blog this!

Someone shoot me!!!

For whatever the reason last week, I just couldn't speak properly or anunciate any of my words. It was so bad that even Ching was in tears. Although it's quite easy to make her laugh, it's rather difficult to have her convulse in a fit of hysteria. But many of the people she's related to and attracts, can't pronounce anything if their lives depended on it. Plus, this odd lot of people make up words as well..



This is probably the only time where you'll hear me making excuses by saying that this was due to a bilingual upbringing.


I'll send you something nice in the mail if you get most of them right! Hyuk!

:oD

Every six months, I go into a whack phase where I just HAVE to buy cosmetics. It's a stupid mental disease I have, and the compulsion to buy is rather strong. I used to hop over to the Estee Lauder Outlet near my company for a 'fix', but because I'm no longer an employee, the benefits can't be reaped.

So, what do I do? Check out ebay. Because some of the products are just dirt cheap, it gives me an opportunity to test them and decide whether I should continue buying them. Oh bad...

But that's not all...I have recently discovered Creme de la Mer and it could eventually blow out my budget. I've always wanted to try it just to check out the hype, but never had the willpower to do so. Since ebay sellers were offering deluxe samples up for sale...why not?

The stuff is to die for. I don't think I've found a better product and I'm still trying to determine whether it's really worth the $110 for a puny 1 oz. I really do think the lines around my eyes are minimized, resolves dry patches I have on my cheeks and it smells like my mom's Chinese cold cream.

OMG - I'm sort of glad that I didn't discover ebay sooner...who knows what sort of damage I could've done years ago. It wouldn't be a surprise if my feedback was 1,000 based on purchases alone!

Over the past year, I had to adapt a few physical changes which are driving me absolutely crazy. I have now morphed into a walking and breathing zeppole when it comes to hair and face.

For over a decade, I would hunt high and low for extra powerful moisturizing products to combat dryness and now, it appears I have been making out with a block of lard in my kitchen. I feel as though I had ordered KFC for lunch and had forgotten to wipe my mouth after eating it. Ugh.

For a good chunk of my career, I sported a curly do simply to achieve a more mature look at the workforce. No one took me seriously and assumed immediately that I was some college intern for a semester. After I permed my stick straight hair, I started getting interviews and offers. I grew accustomed not having to wash my hair frequently to extend the life of these expensively processed curls.

Now? I can't go by a day without looking like I'm related to a Pu Pu platter. It drives me nuts having to refrain from slapping the extra moisturizer or conditioner simply because I don't need it anymore. It only took a year for these changes to take effect while my routine was set in stone for over a decade.

Dammit, growing up sure stinks.

Click here to read my posts:

Thursday, 04/21/05 [Day 1]
Friday, 04/22/05 [Day 2]
Saturday, 04/23/05 [Day 3]
Sunday, 04/24/05 [Day 4 - Stratford-Upon-Avon]
Sunday, 04/24/05 [Day 4 - Warwick Castle & Linda the Tyrant]
Sunday, 04/24/05 [Day 4 - ASDA Shopping]
Monday, 04/25/05 [Day 5 - Morrison's]
Monday, 04/25/05 [Day 5 - TFF Concert!]*
Monday, 04/25/05 [Day 5- Stranded] REVISED
Tuesday, 04/26/05 [Day 6 - Stonehenge & Bath]
Wednesday, 04/27/05 [Day 7 - London]
Thursday, 04/28/05 [Day 8 - Day in London Sights]
Thursday, 04/28/05 [Day 8 - Pissed Drunken People]
Friday, 04/29/05 [Day 9 - Last Day to Play]
Saturday, 04/30/05 [Homeward Bound]

Next: UK Notes which will certainly crack you up...

1. Sarah's Plugged Tear Duct Theory
2. Ching's Roundabout Trip Home to Delaware
3. Richard's Horrendous Trip Home to Brum
   

P.S. - My entries tend to be very detailed as I am planning to create a travel scrapbook based on this trip. And of course, I'm horribly verbose. If you have insomnia, then this is the place to resolve your problem!

* Really, really, really long...need to remember every bit of detail way after my teeth fall out.

Getting sloppy and lazy...I'm gonna have to force myself to get things done -whether I like it or not- and quit sleeping my ass off. All I want to do is sit at home, watch TV and drink coffee. Not much in the mood for eating either. Something's changed, but I can't seem to get past that.

One of the fringe benefits of having a medical professional around the house is the free subscription of eclectic and occasionally interesting magazines. Publishing firms obtain our home address through medical membership renewals and voila, I get free copies for a year.

Recently, I’ve received something called “Absolute” targeted specifically to the NY’s social elite. Hmmm. How did we get on this list??!!

The content does not capture much of my attention, but their photography and layout is indeed fantastic. For $8 per issue, you wonder why it’s not available at your local kiosk. They ‘spared’ no expense with the so-called quality for publication - approximately 90 lb stock used for the cover and 12 lb for the inner pages. That’s some serious printing there.

It goes into my recycling bin after I’m done thumbing through it. As nice as it appears, the topics bore me and the writing is mediocre - even though they invite some top writers and professionals in the entertainment industry. Those confessional articles found in Allure magazine have more beef than the drywall found in Absolute. Maybe the contributors and editors oughta have a few ounces of Absolut vodka before finalizing it.

However, this month’s issue captured my attention. On page 70, there was an excerpt about a new talent by the name of Heather Burns. Okay, it’s not the same Heather Burns I know and blog, but seeing the name in bold and large captions hit me like a ton of bricks. Although the two women look nothing alike, the only similarity I could see were the light blue eyes boring into your soul. Hmmm…

But that’s not all. Towards the end of the magazine, BAM! Another piece gripping me breathlessly: Roman Bath Holiday. Eight mesmerizing pages of Georgian splendor.

I received a concise tour guide of Bath from Heather back in February. While I did mention visiting Brum for a gig earlier this year, I made no plans to visit Bath until Ching decided that we needed to ‘properly’ see England in March.

Coincidence? I think not. I know there’s a message in all of this, but I’m not sure what it is yet.

Oh my, where have the days gone by?

To some extent, time moves either quickly or slowly depending on your mood. The past few days has been totally fecal and yielded myself towards sulking. Seems that lots of sulking can make time go by pretty fast...time to let up, I guess.

Recently I have been positioned to be some kind of support system, which in turn, is wearing me out. Not only am I being saturated with so much negativity from people, the yin energy dominates my body by plaguing me with nasty mini migraines. Ugh.

Yeah, you could say that I'm a tad bit tired of being everybody's shoulder, "convenient friend", or better yet, bitch. Oddly enough, the miserable lot of people have been hunting and ringing me up with their suffering and grievances. Do I have a sign on my forehead that says, "Sucker Available this Week"? Since April, this is the first week I have to myself. Instead of clearing out my To-Do lists or dusting around the apartment, I am forced to shovel everyone's psychological shit. Rich defied evolution by morphing into a Cro-Magnon. With sticks and flints, he went off on his primitive tirade regarding hospital politics, colleagues and receptionists.

The worst part? Two more whackos are trying to smother me with their woes. I managed to evade one by calling myself on my landline to interrupt the conversation via call waiting.

Yeesh, talk about stepping on some serious karmic dog poop.

I guess after having a spent of month of callibrating my internal system from all of this wedding and travelling madness, today is my first official day where I got up to get my errands done. Instead of procrastinating and rationalizing on certain tasks, I went ahead and cleared out my desks and garbage pails. All bills have been paid up to date and now I'm going to head over the office and wield my baton once again. It seems that the operational aspect in the medical office has broken down and I am called in to readjust the settings - basically, to be a bitch.

Because my sole concentration has been on my two bridal buddies in May, I haven't done any 'unnecessary' shopping for myself and was on the lookout for all things appropriate for the wedding. Now that the deal is sealed, I was online last night for a couple hours trying to decide which Prada messenger bag I really, really wanted. It stinks because I find a bunch of them online for $200 and question its authenticity (they go for $550+). Then there are numerous choices where I can't decide between black, pink, or baby blue. Ebay offers these puppies at the cheapest price, but can I really put my money into it?

Aiyah. Headache. I can't justify paying retail, yet I don't want to carry a knockoff. If I wanted a knockoff, all I have to do is go over to Chinatown and someone will offer it behind closed doors - much like the sting operation over in Scotland when you want to purchase bootleg software. I have a serious weakness for handbags and I can't help myself. I'm surprised I never put myself in debt buying these things...then again, I have always been fairly sensible and even cheap when it comes to money. This is usually what happens when your parents threaten to marry you off in lieu of obtaining a college education. So, I have to find means to funding my own education.

So, whatdya think?

Pink
Black
Blue

Or you can give me a reason NOT to buy it. It's very likely I'll purchase the black one as my temptation to shop is analogous to a really bad itch. I'm pathetic, I know. I just bid on a bunch of completely useless and stupid items on ebay simply because I "need" to shop. The only reason why I'm enthralled with this bag is its practicality and durability - it holds extremely well to abuse and I can fit my entire sink in it as well.

Oh, will probably finish up my UK blogging - I'm still amazed y'all actually read it!! I was informed that it was a good way to pass the time during conference calls...

Miki doing her rendition of Spongebob Squarepants - of course, this is her USUAL behavior, not the girly girl you saw a few days back.

Guess what...her teacher sent the pic over. Says a lot, huh?

Jess & Miki - AWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!

On my way to London, I was listening to Kylie's Greatest Hits CD (80's-90's collection) on Virgin Atlantic and enjoyed it a lot more than all of the times I played it on my stereo. On my way towards the "Other Passports" line, I was still humming to "Got to Be Certain". During our stay at SAndy's lovely abode, I would hear Andy playing "Step Back In Time" every now and then on the puter. It ain't no coincidink...it's my "UK-to-Remember" song.

So...my Kylie CD hasn't left my CD drive on my own puter. I'm totally hooked on this song thanks to Andy -

Step Back In Time

(Sample) I wanna funk, I wanna f-f-u-f-u-n-k
I wanna funk, I wanna funk, I wanna f-f-u-f-u-n-k

Non stop dancing the bus stop
To the funky music
Hustle, pumpin the muscle
Blame it on the boogie

Remember the old days
Remember the O'Jays
Walkin' in rhythm, life was for livin'

CHORUS:
When you can't find the music
To get down and boogie
All you can do is step back in time
Ball of confusion
When nothing is new, and
There's nothing doin', step back in time

Keep on truckin' along
Riding on a love train
And then we can float on
You'll never go wrong

CHORUS

Step back in time
Step back I wanna step back, step back

Remember the old days
Remember the O'Jays
Walkin' in rhythm, life was for livin'