My almost plans this weekend

Bali with brits - flight got back sunday night 2 hrs after my mom...so no

Phuket with other coworkers - expensive... plus wasn't sure i'd get passport back in time

got passport back from the US

Chiang Mai with awesome marketing googlers in thailand for maps launch - too expensive...and i would have told manager on wednesday that i was tkaing friday off

Rawa with other Googlers - failed bc i'd get back at 7pm on sunday and already committed to doing jiu jitsu at 1:30pm on sunday

so yea...  4 differnet opportunities to go to 3 different countries this weekend...and i passed up on all of them :(  But it's ok cuz instead my maid is coming, i'm doing jiu jitsu then wakeboarding in sg and possibly some rollerbloading...

interesting fact i learned today... filipinos take a lot of spanish things... and massacre them by making them simpler (taking away letters of the alphbet, etc).  For example:

Fencing in Spanish = esgrima -> escrima = filipino stick fighting!  

cuz like, they don't have swords or something.

and then i was looking for jiu jitsu classes and I saw:

http://www.jujitsu.com.sg/main%20main.htm

I can learn the art of filipino stick fighting!!

haha, i guess the "footwork" is similar?

Thought that just ran through my head

Hmm...it's 8pm.  I don't feel that hungry but I should eat because I will be hungry later.  Something light, easy and relatively healthy...  I know!  Burger King!

Yea, seriously.

On a separate topic, I realize I write almost nothing about what's actually going on and what I've been up to.  Do ppl want that?  Or are just random inner thoughts good enough?  

Fear of Insects

A long time ago, we had a conference where one of the ice breakers was to tell people what your biggest pet peeve was.  Most people said, dishonesty or traffic or immorality or smoking but I said bugs.  Just in general.  Bugs.  Of all things in the world, the thing that bugged me the most were bugs.  

I didn't realize then that moving to Singapore would be my worst nightmare come true.  It's like a safe haven for bugs.  90 degrees and humid means that it's always warm enough for them to survive and there is a plentiful supply of water nearby.  The most disgusting experience was one morning when I got to work and there were ants crawling out from inside my laptop.  I got rid of 5 of them but I'm pretty sure there's still another one lurking...  

I was really freaking out that day but then remembered that there was a time when bugs didn't bother me.  My reaction towards people shrieking when bugs were around was similar to my reaction to kids turning away in screaming "ewwww!" when cinderella finally kisses the prince.  I didn't get why it was gross.  You'll have to kiss a boy someday and bugs are the most numerous creatures in the world.  Just live with it.

It dawned on me why I dislike bugs.  It was all because of 1984, the book.  

While reading the book, I decided that I wanted a stupid fear.  One that wouldn't actually cause harm.  I thought that the fear of spiders wasn't too bad... but spiders could still be dangerous.  So, I decided that I would be scared of ALL bugs and when they came after me, all they had to do was surround me in a room of ants and I'd be all set.  So, I did my best to convince myself that I'm terrified of bugs.  And it worked.  Much too well.  I also didn't realize that I chose something so banal that really, it can be encountered anywhere but still the cause the same amount of distress.  I set it up so that Singapore would be similar to an interrogation room to me.... yep, good job. 

Well, now that I realize this, I've declared to myself that I'm no longer scared of bugs.  Unfortunately, I read 1984 when I was like, 13 so the fear of bugs has been instilled in me for about a decade and instilled during a time when my mind was much more impressionable (oh, Great Expectations, I really don't think I should have read you when I was 12).  So wish me luck.  So far I'm no longer afraid of bugs less than 1.5cm, which I think is a pretty big accomplishment :) 

I'm up for that = I'm down for that

I realized that I find unemployment an attractive feature in other people.  how weird.

Many volunteer organizations require you to pay in order to volunteer with them... that to me implies that you're doing them a negative service??  Like you dig this hole so they can put a pipe thru and have drinking water but what they're really doing is taking half your money to cover up the hole and using the rest to buy bottled water.  I'm sure it's not how it works...still feels weird.  isn't my time valuable enough?

I'm in Finance and I'm a trader

Now apparently means that you manage import/export of steel, manganese and other raw materials between Singapore, malaysia and the middle east.  Apparently it's a family business.

In the past, you might have traded oranges, or whatever was hot back then.  

Wow.  So different from my concept of what a trader is.  

Who wants a trip?

So I know that this has limited viewership...and is prob limited to those who I've talked to already...but who's in interested in a SE Asia trip this summer?  

I was thinking I could arrange one of the following:

Any subset of:

Singapore, Malaysia(kuala lumpur or langkawi), Thailand (Phuket, Bangkok)

Singapore, Cambodia (angkor wat), Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi [It's french!])

Singapore, Indonesia (Bali + ?) , Phillipines (not sure where)

or...

Golden Triangle tour?

So flight from singapore to any of these places is <$300.  Buses to malaysia and thailand available for like $30 and travel in beteween seems cheap too..

I guess you just have to wait for a good flight to singapore...

Any interest?  Should I start watching out for deals?

No pics coming... camera lost :(

Recent thoughts that have come to mind...that sound a bit strange:

- is he gay?  Or just Filipino?  Love of musicals, the movies Step Up and Bring it Ons (all 4), desire to go take a street jazz class and intimate knowledge of the male stripper move = gay? ... or just Filipino...

- if you constantly feel like I'm really smart in every little thing I do... maybe it's not so much that I'm smart as much as you're...

okay, that was basically my confession that I'm a bad person.  Done now.  

You know what I want?

A social blog where other ppl can enter posts too...  Cuz I feel like this should be on my list of sites to check (gmail, friendfeed, facebook, blog) but really all I'm looking for are comments on my thoughts...which don't occur until I write something... but I guess that's more of a forum.

In Kuala Lumpur!  Went to Batu Caves where there was some type of hindu celebration in the temples there...involving a decent amt of self flagellation by very strict hindus on the way to the steps of the temple.

Also, went to china town and got fake bags, tshirts, necklace, tie... oh chinatown, you are the same everywhere...

Pics to come.  Petronas towers are so pretty!  

Prioritization?

I think I've become more scattered and dilettante-esque than ever so maybe other ppl can comment and try to help me prioritize

Things I've been getting into or trying to get into:

Golf (coworkers have been starting...goal is to go to Indonesia for a day to play a game.  International Golf trip!)

Make a Wish Foundation (really excited!  hopefully this goes through)

Jiu Jitsu / thai boxing

Board game nights

Trivia nights

hip hop dancing/ salsa dancing

Fencing

swimming

[want to do more yoga too]

All of this has been put on hold due to my lack of internet and need for apartment cleaning... from a practical standpoint this shouldn't happen since i have internet at work...but still, shows where my priorities lie...

Internet coming on Thursday!!!!