guppieluv’s blog

wow, can't believe this still works...

http://kevan.org/johari?name=guppieluv

an oldie but goodie.

i've gotta hand it to my sister... i am simply hopeless compared to her social butterfly ways. today she hosted a thanksgiving "block party" where there were more friends and acquaintances than there were family. juggling hosting duties with cooking and cuddling her kids, she somehow manages to stay sane and pleasant.

i, on the other hand, felt more comfortable cutting up parsnip, carrots, and yams rather than chatting up the neighborhood. inside i felt a little pathetic for not trying to make conversation, but at the same time, i really didn't want to make conversation with complete strangers. is that so wrong?

i guess that's the difference between me and my sister.

by the way, happy thanksgiving! and remember, don't drive under the influence of tryptophan!

i very rarely raise my voice and get agitated about things at work, but sometimes i find myself having to go that route because i just can't take things anymore. yesterday was one of those days.

i won't go through too many details of why, but to summarize, i find it really frustrating when my work priorities get reshuffled because i have to give in to someone else who cries louder than i do. you know, the whole thing about the squeakiest wheel getting the grease first. and i especially don't like it when i'm halfway through implementation already, and THEN someone decides to pull a fast one. more on this later...

ok... so here are the photos from my trip. i still haven't finished (and probably never will) all the notes and comments on the photos, but hopefully you'll get a glimpse of how things went. you'll need to be a "friend" to see all of my photos, but there aren't too many that are hidden from public view. enjoy!

so i'm off for my long-overdue trip to asia tomorrow, but seriously, i can't imagine a worst time to be going because:

i'm completely ill-prepared -- i cancelled my credit union checking account from college which, and i discovered this too late, was the most accepted across atm networks (it had cirrus, plus, maestro, etc.). instead, i'll be carrying around my wamu atm card, which is only accepted on the star network based primarily in the u.s.! plus, i had hoped to pick up a new camera (the canon g9) to bring on my trip, but didn't plan ahead to order it in time. on top of that, my rechargeable mobile sim card in hk is tiptoeing its expiry date, but that's not as big a deal since you can literally pick up a new sim card at any convenience store!

the weather is working against me -- so although it will be a balmy 73-76 degrees in both hong kong in taiwan, there will be scattered showers most of the time i'm there. that makes for slightly bad sightseeing and sailing... i had hoped to go to macau while in hong kong!

disease is back in hong kong -- apparently there's some nasty flu bug going around in hong kong again. you would think that i learned NEVER to travel to asia in march... the last time i visited during the month of march, back in 2003, sars had just broke out and began causing fear among the masses. i even stayed at the "sars hotel" (aka the former metropole hotel in ho man tin/mongkok), and found out when the rest of hong kong found out that this would be the hotel's new claim to fame.

everyone and their mothers will be in taiwan -- actually quite literally since d's parents will be in taiwan, which we planned, but we didn't expect that the entire extended family (and the rest of taiwan that's now living overseas) would return over easter weekend to participate in the upcoming taiwanese presidential elections. on the flip side, i get to observe some exciting times happening over there.

there's so much going on at work -- aside from my boss' unexpected passing, we've got lots of projects up the wazoo just starting off. i had been working overtime almost every day prior to today, just to make sure that most things were handed over to someone and taken care of. still, i bet i'll need to check in on work emails and such... wonder if that's enough justification for work to pick up the $15 per day internet fee at the hotel...

regardless, i'm still excited to be on vacation very soon, and look forward to eating lots, seeing lots, photographing lots (even with my lame little canon sd300... so what if i can't zoom out?), and just taking it easy. wish me luck!!

i always get a kick out of seeing asian pop stars speaking english... here are some pretty good ones:

hikaru utada

daniel wu

tony leung
jacky cheung
leehom wang
jessica hsuan (sun huen)
and the late lydia shum

as dedicated on my boss' memorial website:

I still remember the first day I met Linda back in October 2003, during an interview at ---- for a job position that didn't quite exist yet. I remember seeing her and thinking, gosh, she sure does remind me of an elementary school teacher! And indeed, she was the best kind of teacher, mother, mentor, friend, guardian, and leader at ----, watching over all the sometimes-unruly "kids" who were under her roof.

I am probably the youngest and most immature of all the managers and supervisors at ----, but Linda had faith in me still, valuing my opinion and trusting my judgment. I never understood why, but always valued and appreciated it.

Although I've only worked with Linda for a mere four years, I've probably gained more than double or triple the knowledge and experience thanks to her guidance. I can only hope that my contributions at work helped to make her life a little easier, and to give her peace of mind as she spent time away from ---- with her beloved family and friends.

Indeed, that was what I was doing the last time I saw her, as I sat in front of my computer at work typing away at another grant proposal, and she quietly left the office to head back home--telling us, like she often did, that she'd see us again soon.

rest in peace, boss.